Chyler Leigh is still suturing her heart back together after Eric Dane‘s passing.

The Grey’s Anatomy actress—who played Eric’s onscreen love interest in the medical drama—detailed the moment she learned of her costar’s death, sharing that the news brought on a flood of emotions. 

“It had been a while since I had connected with him, and then I got the news,” Chyler recalled on the May 13 episode of the You Might Know Her From podcast. “Then, it just hit me. At first, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this happened.'” 

The 44-year-old—who starred as Dr. Lexie Grey on Grey’s Anatomy opposite Eric’s Dr. Mark Sloan—admitted that she “didn’t know how to comprehend” that Eric had passed. According to Chyler, the news didn’t truly settle in until she was on a flight home to Nashville from Los Angeles a few days later.

“All of a sudden, it just hit,” she recalled. “I had to keep getting up and going to use the lavatory because I was just sobbing.” 

“I didn’t know it was going to hit me that hard and especially that fast,” she continued. “It was definitely a grief.”