'Grey's Anatomy' Kills off Major Character Following Long-Awaited Reunion

Meredith Grey finally reunited with her ailing father in an emotional episode of Grey's Anatomy.

The long-running ABC medical series gave fans the emotional reunion between the series' titular doctor and her father Thatcher Grey (Jeff Perry), who has not been seen on the series since 2011 and was recently revealed to be in hospice after a serious cancer diagnosis.

Not having seen each other for almost a decade, Meredith and her father had a lot to talk about during their reunion, which began when Thatcher seemed delighted to see his estranged daughter walk into his living room.

"There's so much to say... I don't know what to say," Thatcher says. The two agree to just sit together for now, as he continues to stare at her in awe.

Meredith later looks around and sees photos from Thatcher's past, and reveals his aide put many of them for him to see, as it is supposedly comforting for someone in his condition. He reveals that after Lexie's death he headed to Zimbabwe to help build schools and be around people who appreciated life, but then got sick.

"I thought I'd just come home, do whatever treatment I needed to do and go back, but coming home gave me a chance... it was the right thing to do," he said.

Meredith tells him he was happy that he got a new life, but she called him out for "not giving a crap" of the people he left behind, including her. She later admits that she is mad at him for running away once again, like he did when she was a child.

She recalls how he promised to try and get to know her after she gave him a piece of her liver but he didn't. And after Lexie's death, he left and was nowhere to be found. Thatcher then revealed he was there for Derek's funeral, but he didn't want to bother her.

The conversation is interrupted when he begins to cough, but after he gets in bed he tells her he came back to Seattle for her.

He then revealed that he tried to call Meredith after Derek's funeral but since he couldn't reach her, he started talking to Richard.

He goes on to thank Meredith for the time he got to spend living after she gave him the piece of her liver.

"I had a life, Meredith, because of you... I just wish you and I could've shared it," he says. The pair then remember Lexie, before Meredith tells her father about her other sister, Maggie (Kelly McCreary), and he tells her he is happy something good came out of Ellis and Richard's affair.

They later laughed together remembering Meredith's "tyrant" but brilliant mother, Ellis. Meredith asks if he regretted being married to her. At that point, he recalled how Ellis was in denial about being pregnant until she was in labor with Meredith.

"We weren't perfect, hell we weren't even happy most of the time, but I'd marry all over again for that night," Thatcher admits, also saying he's grateful for their visit.

As he starts to get worse, he admits he wishes he had gotten the chance to know her kids. With her hands on his face, Meredith starts to talk about Zola, Bailey and Ellis and she says she wishes he had met them too, as he loses consciousness and passes away.

The heart-wrenching reunion during "The Winner Takes It All,' proved to be especially sad as it took place as the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial performed a surgery to remove Catherine Fox's (Debbie Allen) serious cancer tumor. Seeing Catherine fight for her life with everything she had was a direct opposite of Thatcher, who was diagnosed with leukemia, fought his battle and lost and was in hospice waiting for his final day to come.

Will we ever recover from Meredith and Thatcher's reconciliation? Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.