07x03 - Be the Change You Want to See

[bunniefuu]

Sometimes you gotta choose between
being respected and being liked.

You told her to stick her neck out.

You continue to prove you
can't stay in your lane.

Because you've been running this joint

like a drive-through car
wash since I got here.

We supposed to be helping people.

You had a fair amount of experience
with bureaucracy in your old job?

Some years ago stray b*llet
hit a -year-old boy.

By some miracle, he survived.

It's what drew me to medicine.

You been taking your meds?

I can take care of myself.

But Mom... please, we've got
to get you off the streets.

Dr. Cooper has gotten
some very fat perks

since he started boosting the Vascon.

The more devices the hospital
buys, the bigger his kickback.

So I make him think I'd
do anything for money.

It's great. It's beautiful.
I mean, the beaches are...

I mean, they just go on forever.
The water is so blue.

Morning, Matt.

Will, my good man! Thank you.

Little upgrade there?

Oh, yeah. [CHUCKLES]

[EXHALES] Man.

That is sweet.

Thanks. Did you catch that Bears game?

- No, I missed it.
- Oh, oh, you missed...

- Yeah?
- So good.

I was at a buddy's poker night.

Big mistake.

You hungover?

No, worse. Man, I lost my shirt.

Bought in way beyond my means.

It happens.

Yeah, it's just the last
thing I need right now.

You know, I'm still paying back college,

med school, credit cards...

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've been there.

Not in quite a while.

Yeah, I'm doing all right in the moment.

Yeah, I'd say. Any tips?

'Cause I'm about ready to start
picking up the graveyard shift.

- You're desperate, huh?
- Well, how could you tell?

Wow. Okay, let me think about it.

Hey, listen, I gotta run
to make my : ,

- but I'll see you, Will, okay?
- Yeah, see you.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪

If you're not going to order something,

you're gonna have to leave.
I need the booth.

Why don't we try that again?

But this time let's start
with a "Good morning!

What can I get you?"

And throw in a smile,
just to really sell it.

[SIGHS] Gosh, I'm sorry.

- I didn't mean to...
- Two coffees.

Black. And bring back a couple menus.

Hi.

I brought you a three-month
supply of your meds.

I know you don't like taking them,
but you need to, Mom.

How about... we make a little deal?

I'll take them if you loan me $ , .

For the van, so I can
get it running again.

[SIGHS]

I'd rather give you the money for rent.

Don't start with that again.

You need a roof over your head.

- Heat, running water.
- Maybe you need all that,

but I don't.

Survived plenty of winters in the van.

If you don't want to spot me the cash...

No, it's... it's not
that I don't want to.

You just wanna call the sh*ts.

Tell me how to use it.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

Just forget it.

No, Mom, wait!

What about breakfast?

♪

I don't want to stay
anywhere I'm not wanted.

♪

[SIGHS]

- How's it going?
- Yeah.

There you go. There he is.

What's up, Dylan?

- Hey, what up, Kev?
- Uh-huh.

You show up late to surgery too... Doc?

And good morning to you, sis.

- What we playing, man?
- Oh, we playing .

Ay, don't look at me.
I'm not getting in the middle

- of that Scott sibling beef.
- Anyway...

you sure you want to dirty
those pretty fingernails, D?

Gotta keep them clean, case
you gotta cut someone open.

- Smart-ass.
- So back to the bust.

Simultaneous breaches.
Three houses, same block.

Bam! We knock the door off the hinges.
So we coming through, right?

[g*nsh*t]

Yo, that was g*nf*re.

Damn right that was g*nf*re.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Third floor, Kev.

- I'll call it in.
- All right.

, this is Officer Kevin Atwater.
Badge number .

sh*ts fired on the inside of
the southwest corner building

on Damen and Pershing.
Roll some cars this way.

You ready?

Let's go.

♪

Nah, man. No way you're coming in.

- You're not even armed.
- I'll be all right.

You need to stand down.
You are not the police anymore.

♪

Chicago PD, big guy. You okay? Huh?

Everything all right? Hey!

♪

Hold tight, we're gonna
get you some help, okay?

- [CRYING]
- Zora?

- Zora?
- D, over here!

We're gonna get you
some help, all right?

You're doing good,
you're doing good, okay?

Tender age male victim, GSW to abdomen,

- smaller caliber round.
- [GASPS]

We're on the third floor.

Oh, hey, little man.
You mind moving your hand

so I can take a look? I'm a doctor.

Oh.

♪

- Ow!
- I know it hurts, I know.

What happened here?

We were just playing around.

He wouldn't really mean to sh**t me.

He was being a super villain.

The b*ll*ts were gonna
bounce right off me.

Hey. Hey, hey!

Stay with me... uh-uh.
Open your eyes, come on.

There you go, huh? What's your name?

- Michael.
- Okay, Michael.

I know it's hard, Michael. Hey, Michael!

Michael, I know it's hard,

but you gotta stay with me.
You gotta stay awake.

Zora, how long on that ambulance?

He said ten minutes.

♪

Come on. Hey, stay with me. Come on.

Hey, hey.

Oh, God.

Stay with me.

Ow! [CRYING]

No retained b*ll*ts.

Dr. Scott, the trauma
attending is still in surgery.

He'll meet the team up in the OR

- after they get Michael prepped.
- Finish this unit of blood

and get him on the transport monitor.

Mommy...

Hey, your parents are on the way
right now, champ, all right?

We'll take you up for
a little operation.

- No, no, no.
- Hey, relax.

You're gonna be asleep the whole
time. You won't feel a thing.

- Asleep?
- Yeah.

The surgeon's gonna look inside
your belly and fix what's broken.

And, if there's time,

I'm gonna tell him to put some
superpowers inside of you

before they stitch you back up.

Okay. All right.

All right, come on. Let's go.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪

- See you later, sis.
- Yeah, 'course, do your thing.

Hey, good work, D.

Good morning, everybody.

By now, you all should've received
emails with your credentials

for the new online portal,
Patients Pro, okay?

If it's not in your inbox,
check your spam.

If it's not in your spam,
I guess... I don't know,

assume you've been fired.

You will be using this system
to log how much time you spend

with each patient from now on.

Special Forces has a slogan...

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

In other words, we need to
be deliberate and tactical

in our approach to medicine.

The more patients we're able
to see, the more lives we save.

Oh, and as an added bonus,
whoever ends the month

with the highest turnover rate,

will enjoy an executive
suite at the United Center,

watching the Blackhawks
game of their choosing.

Not bad, huh?

All right, let's get going. Thank you.

Not a Blackhawks fan, Dr. Charles?

Oh, huge Hawks fan.

Not a big fan of
incentive-based medicine.

- [LAUGHS]
- I mean, fast is slow,

but smooth... sorry,
I don't know what that means.

- [LAUGHS]
- I don't.

Hey, can I ask you something?

- Hey, Maggie?
- Yep.

Can I tempt you away from your brick?

- Yeah.
- Ah, Dr. Hammer, you too, as well.

Listen, Elaine Foster
is on her way here.

She suffered a minor fall at her home.

And her husband, Jim,
is driving her here.

Elaine and Jim Foster...
big-time moneybags.

No, no, they are two of our
most generous funders.

I've mingled over the years with
the Fosters at donor events.

They're really good people.
Very down-to-earth.

Anyway, I'd like the two of
you to look out for them

while they're in the ED.

And I'll stop in to see Elaine
once she's settled in.

Thank you.

VIPs aren't your cup of tea, I take it?

I like them... just from a distance.

Didn't you rub elbows all the
time with the rich and fabulous

- over in Grosse Pointe?
- Yeah, hence my reluctance.

- [BEEPING]
- Well, heads-up,

'cause here they are.

Mr. and Mrs. Foster,

- we're going to treatment six.
- All right.

How did the fall happen, Mrs. Foster?

Oh, Elaine, please.

I got home and smelled
something burning... ow!

- [GASPS]
- Sorry.

- Uh-oh.
- It's okay.

I'm just being a big baby.

Anyway, I hightailed it to the kitchen.

And tripped over my own two feet.

Happens to me almost daily.

Well, it turns out Jim here was
heating up some leftover pizza.

He didn't even smell that the
house was about to burn down.

He must've had COVID.

Isn't that one of the
long-term side effects?

I never had COVID. It's not
my fault you're a klutz.

Honey, I wasn't blaming you.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪

So what do you think, Dr. Hammer?

Am I going to keep the leg?

Prognosis is good. I don't
think that it's broken,

but we're gonna get an
x-ray to check it out.

I'm peckish.

We've donated a small
fortune to this hospital.

It'd be nice if you could
offer us a snack.

Jim, why don't you go grab
something from the cafeteria?

Fine. Honey, you want anything?

No, thanks.

♪

I'm sorry about him.

He's been a bit out of sorts lately.

That's okay. Don't worry about it.

We'll be back shortly to
take you for that x-ray.

♪

That was odd.

Goodwin's usually an excellent
judge of character.

I mean, maybe it's like Elaine said;

maybe he's just having a bad day.

Or maybe he's on his best
behavior at donor events,

- but around us mere mortals...
- Mere mortals?

Speak for yourself.

[LAUGHS]

[ALARM BEEPING]

- We're going to Baghdad.
- Candace Mason. -year-old female.

Pedestrian struck at low speed.

No loss of consciousness.

C-spine cleared in the field.
Vitals are stable.

And pain confined to her left elbow.

Hi, I'm Dr. Halstead.
And this here is Dr. Scott.

I swear, I looked both ways
before I crossed the street.

I'm sure I did.

I don't know how I didn't
see that car coming at me.

That's okay. We gotcha.

All right, transfer on three.

Ready? One, two, three.

Oh, my God. Candace Mason?

I have to tell you, your
website saved my life.

Reading about your journey with Lupus...

it finally inspired me to see a doctor.

Are... are you okay?

I read on the newsletter
you were having a flare-up?

Ah, yes, I am, but
that's not why I'm here.

- I was in a minor accident.
- Take good care of her.

She's an angel.

So you're having a Lupus flare-up.

What medications are you taking?

I'm not taking any medications.

- But if you're in a flare-up...
- Right, um...

anything I tell you in
regards to my health

is protected by patient
confidentiality, right?

Yes, that's right.

I'm not in the middle of a flare-up.

I know what I said to that woman,

but my Lupus isn't currently active.

Truth is I've been in remission...

for almost five years.

♪

Okay, Dr. Taylor, sh**t.
Ask me anything.

I was hoping you'd give me
feedback on my ten-year plan.

I'm sorry, did you just
say "ten-year plan"?

As in a full-on decade of planning?

- _
- Oh, wow.

You wrote it out.

Binder and everything.

You think I'd cut corners?

You always been so future-oriented?

No, actually. Kind of the opposite.

I spent a lot of my early
years looking backwards.

Backwards?

Oh, well, um...

I'm adopted.

So I just had a lot of questions
in regards to my origins, I guess.

I didn't know anything
about my birth parents.

But once I accepted I wasn't
going to get any answers,

I decided to focus all of
my energy ahead instead.

Oh.

Yeah, I get that. Makes sense.

Me, I tend to ride the wave.

See where life takes me, you know?

I can't say I've ever
let life take the lead.

Oh, well, whether you let it or not,

it's gonna throw you some curveballs.
And in my experience...

planning leads to expectations.

And expectations, they can, uh,
lead to disappointments. Yeah?

Dr. Marcel, could you take a look
at the patient in treatment ?

- What's the problem?
- I don't know.

I didn't intake her.

Just know she's refusing
to speak with anyone

until she sees a doctor.

Yeah, okay. I'll be right there.

- Sorry, I gotta cut it short.
- Actually, if you don't mind,

I would love to tag along.

- No, not at all.
- Cool.

Hey there, Ms. Hawley.

I'm Dr. Marcel. This is Dr. Taylor.

- How can we help?
- Hi, it's Gina.

You can take the scarf off now.

I'll close the curtain.

She didn't wanna come in.

I practically had to drag her to my car.

You're her...

Best friend. I left Chicago at
the height of the pandemic

and just got back last week.

- If I had known what was going on...
- Liza, I feel fine, really.

You are not fine.

You have to show them.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

Well, listen, Gina, if it's any comfort,

we've seen every wart,
boil, cyst known to man.

So you've got nothing to
be embarrassed about here.

♪

Uh-huh.

Remember when I said Cooper
was getting consulting fees

from Vasik and various other companies?

Well, I started looking
at those other companies.

And I found some peculiar things
like stock photos on their websites,

contact numbers that are connected
to overseas call centers.

So I got in touch with one of my
friends who's a wealth manager.

Asked him to do some digging.

And it turns out
they're shell companies.

So Vasik set them up as a cover.

Anyway, how'd it go this morning?

I cried broke, but I'm not
sure Cooper took the bait.

[KNOCKING AT DOOR]

Hey, we're gonna nail him, Ms. Goodwin.

- Come in.
- Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.

I gotta get back to the ED anyway.

All right. Thank you for
stopping by, Dr. Halstead.

Yep.

So where are you guys
at with this thing?

You got enough evidence yet
to go to the authorities?

Unfortunately, no.

What I told you about
the shell companies...

well, there's no way to prove
that Vasik was behind them

without being able to
look at their books.

Look, Sharon, I know how
important this is to you.

I do. But much more importantly,

I'm worried about your stress levels.

I mean, it's not like you don't have

other things going on
in your life, you know?

I'm really taking care of myself.

Really? What's your latest A C?

Daniel, I'm fine.

Look, I even got myself one of
those continuous glucose monitors.

And my blood sugar is under control.

- I'm very glad to hear that.
- Thank you.

Just got Candace's labs back.

Other than a slightly elevated
WBC, everything looks good.

Good.

- This is unreal.
- What's that?

So according to Candace's chart,

her Lupus hasn't been active since .

You wouldn't know it
by her website though.

It says she's been in a
flare-up the past month.

Can't eat, can't get out of bed.

She's also soliciting donations.

Claims they're going to
Lupus research, but...

You think she's pocketing the money?

I don't know.

You'd be surprised the lengths
people go to make a buck.

Yeah, anything's possible, I guess.

Anyway, I'm gonna go check
and see if the two-view

of Candace's elbow is back.

[SOLEMN MUSIC]

♪

Elaine, they're ready
for you in radiology.

Maggie's gonna bring you up.

Ugh, nothing makes you feel your age

like being helped into a wheelchair.

- Nonsense.
- [SIGHS]

- You're still young.
- Young at heart at least.

Would you like to accompany your wife?

No, I'll wait here.
How long is it gonna take?

I was planning to make a paella tonight,

and I still need to take the
chicken out of the freezer.

Let the rads resident know
we need a fast read.

Right.

♪

Hey, so good news...

the fine needle biopsy
came back and it's benign.

So that means it's not cancer, right?

- Correct.
- Oh, thank God.

However, the tumor does
extend into your upper chest.

And it's enveloping several
of the major blood vessels

that are coming off your heart,

so you will need a neck dissection...

possible sternotomy... to remove it.

The surgeon will make an
incision along your neck

to excise the mass.

Ideally, it'll come out in one piece.

But if not, the surgeon may
also need to open your chest.

Just so you know, we see a
high volume of both procedures

here at Med with excellent outcomes.

I read online that sometimes these
tumors are treated with medicine?

They are, yes. Radioactive iodine.

But I'm afraid it's
long past that point.

The tumor's already too close
to your big blood vessels...

- I've been okay so far.
- Gina,

I think you should listen to the doctor.

I'd like to at least
start with medicine.

I'm not sure you're grasping
how serious this is.

I get it.

You know what, Gina,
this is a big decision.

So why don't you take some
time to think about it

and we'll check back later.

Okay? All right.

♪

Radioactive iodine isn't
going to work fast enough.

This thing's a ticking time b*mb.

Yeah, but we need to tread lightly.

I'm gonna go grab Dr. Charles.

See if he can make some headway.

So your white blood cell
count is slightly elevated.

But that's pretty normal
following a trauma.

It's likely from the stress.

And your elbow x-ray was negative.

You'll just wanna ice it for a few days.

I feel like I should explain.

You don't have to
explain anything to us.

Well, I launched this website

a few months after I was
diagnosed with Lupus.

- "When Life Gives You Lupus"?
- Oh, you saw it?

Well, the only reason I haven't
advertised my remission

is because... I mean, you saw
that woman who approached me.

The website is a lifeline
for so many and I felt that,

you know, bragging about my remission...

it would kind of dilute the message.

And messaging is key, right?

Especially when it comes to fundraising.

Any questions for us, Candace?

No, I don't think so.

- Oh, my God.
- You okay?

You sure you didn't lose consciousness?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
It all happened so fast though.

Yep, let's get a head
CT just to be safe.

Mm-hmm.

Mr. Foster, I just wanted
to let you know

your wife will be down shortly.

Oh, how's Elaine's ankle? Is it broken?

No, it's not; it's just
a sprain, fortunately.

Oh, good. You're a runner, aren't you?

- Sorry?
- It's not a trick question.

- Uh, yes, I run.
- Mm-hmm, knew it.

See, women of a certain
age... how old are you?

I don't think that's
any of your business.

, ?

That's when women start to
get a little extra padding

around the middle, except runners.

Good for you.

- Excuse me.
- It's just a compliment.

Get your hand off me, please.

I'm not gonna bite.

I said let go.

- Would you... Just relax.
- Now!

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪

What the hell are you doing?

♪

Jim, are you okay?

[GRUNTS]

♪

Okay, so...

- where did he touch you?
- What difference does that make?

I'm... I'm just trying to
get all the facts straight.

My forearm.

Was he aware that this
made you uncomfortable?

I asked him repeatedly
to remove his hands.

So yeah, I think that
should've clued him in.

Of course, but do you think
there's a chance that...

Peter. Enough.

Dr. Hammer, I'm sorry and,
quite frankly, I'm at a loss.

In all of the years that
I have known Jim Foster,

I have never seen him behave
in a predatory manner.

If I had,

I never would have put you
and Maggie in this position.

But please be assured
that you will be supported

in whatever course of action
you wish to pursue.

And should you decide
to press charges...

Oh, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Now let's not get ahead
of ourselves here.

Okay, I think that our best bet
for all the parties involved...

most importantly Dr. Hammer...

to spare her any further discomfort,

would be to settle this without
involving law enforcement.

Peter, we are not going to
sweep this under the rug

because Jim Foster is a donor.

Ms. Goodwin, I appreciate the support.

I do... but I'm not interested
in pressing charges anyway.

Well, that's your decision
to make, Dr. Hammer.

But, with your permission, I'd
like to have a word with Jim.

Sharon, would you let...

♪

Hey, Nancy, any word on...

The kid, Michael? No.

And the OR asked me to please
stop calling for updates.

I'll let you know the minute he
gets out of surgery, Dr. Scott.

- Hey, regarding Candace...
- Yeah,

the techs just took her up to CT.

Oh, good, great. Listen,
I've been thinking...

let's say Candace is
pocketing donations...

Oh, so you have evidence?

No, not yet.

But if we call the charities
listed on her website,

and they don't support her claims...

No, man, I don't want
anything to do with this.

I would've thought you'd at
least be curious... as a cop.

I'm a doctor, not a cop.
And neither are you.

Though you sure seem to get
off on acting like one, man.

[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]

♪

Psychiatry?

Is this about the surgery?

If you're here to tell me that
I'm not in my right mind

- or to try to force me to get...
- No, not at all.

Not at all, Gina. It's very clear
that you have decisional capacity,

so nobody's gonna try and make you
do something you don't want to do.

Oh.

Okay.

♪

I'm not saying that I won't
have the surgery... ever.

I just...

- I just wanna wait.
- That's fine.

We can talk about surgery
later if you want,

but I just wanted to ask you when...

when did you first notice
the growth on your neck?

- A few months into COVID.
- Right.

That's why I didn't come in
for an appointment right away.

It wasn't that big and...

we were being told to avoid hospitals

- unless it was an emergency.
- Certainly, I understand that.

But later, you know, when
things opened up a bit...

I mean, it started to get
a little bigger, right?

I just sort of hoped that it would...

go away on its own. And I...

I realize how insane that sounds.

Mm, sounds hopeful.

Nothing insane about hope.

I was so afraid of...

what it could be that I just...

I just found it easier to...

Not think about it at all.

Oh, yes.

- It's very human.
- [COUGHING]

♪

Oh.

Dr. Marcel, coughing
up a little blood here.

I'm on it. Dr. Taylor,
get her on oxygen.

Ten liters please.

Trini, two of Morphine
and get me a basin.

What a load of BS.
I paid her a compliment,

which apparently men aren't
allowed to do anymore

without getting shoved to the ground.

Listen, Jim, she said you
grabbed her by the arm...

She assaulted me.

I should be pressing
charges against her.

Can you believe this?
Well, I've had enough.

If this is how you treat
your benefactors...

Jim, we are incredibly grateful
for your support; ho...

Yeah, yeah, you can consider
that well all dried up.

In fact, find someone else to
fund your hematology wing.

Jim.

We are withdrawing our pledge.

Elaine, I'm getting the car.
I'll meet you out front.

Jim.

[SIGHS]

Elaine?

A couple weeks ago,
a female grad student

accused Jim of making a pass.

I thought it had to be
a misunderstanding.

He has never been accused of misconduct.

Is this some kind of a,
I don't know, midlife crisis?

♪

Your head CT was clean.
No signs of a bleed.

It was likely just a migraine...

not uncommon following a trauma.

The nurse will be in shortly
with your discharge paperwork.

I'm not one of those people
who pretends to be sick

to, like, feed their ego or scam
people out of money, I swear.

I believe you.

I can usually tell when someone's
sh**ting straight with me,

and I think you are.

- Thanks.
- But I will say...

your fear that your message
will lose its impact

if it's not delivered from the trenches?

I don't know if that's true.

If anything, you give people hope.

I've considered that, but if
I'm being completely honest,

it's not just about the messaging.

Before I was diagnosed with Lupus,

I was pretty much a loner, but...

this disease, it gave me a community

for the first time in my life, and...

if they know that I'm in remission...

You'll feel like an outsider.
Yeah, I get it.

♪

But, you know...

walking a path that isn't yours?

- There's a steep price to that too.
- I know.

I hate lying to all these people.

Yeah, just...

Dr. Scott? Just wanted to let you know

your patient's out of surgery.

Oh, thank you.

No, go ahead, I'm fine.

You sure?

Yeah.

Thank you, Dr. Scott, for everything.

You got it.

Take care, Candace.

Hey, Nancy!

How'd Michael do?

[SIGHS] The nurse didn't say.

Sorry.

♪

Just a moment, please.

Is everything all right, Elaine?

I just want to speak to Dr. Hammer.

Dr. Hammer.

Over here.

♪

I'm sorry, Dr. Hammer.

I'm not making excuses
for him. I have none.

But I just... want you to know
he has never been like this.

I...

I don't know what happened
to the man I married.

♪

I'm ready.

I'll be in touch, Elaine.

♪

Dr. Hammer?

When they first got here, Elaine
said that he'd been out of sorts.

- Jim?
- And that he'd lost his sense of smell.

And when I pushed him away,

he couldn't seem to find his balance.

Oh, my God. We can't let them leave.

What? Why? What is it?

We have to get them back
here right now, please.

Okay.

Hey, Michael.

- I remember you.
- Mm-hmm.

Surgery went very well.

Hey, Michael, we're gonna
move you over to the PICU.

Your mom and dad are waiting to see you.

Am I in trouble?

I think they're just happy
that you're okay.

But, hey, maybe you learned
something about g*ns today?

- Not toys.
- Right.

I mean, besides, what superhero
do you know that has a g*n?

We don't need 'em. We don't need 'em.

[GROWLING]

[LAUGHS]

You know, if you hadn't
been there on the scene...

kid would have bled out, no question.

You saved his life, Dr. Scott.

Back shortly, okay?

[SIGHS]

She still wants to wait on the surgery.

If nearly drowning in her own
blood didn't convince her...

How does someone let
it get to this point?

You know, the mind can have this
mysterious and profound ability

to convince us to put
off almost anything.

Yeah.

Why is that?

One line of thinking is that
we have this bizarre tendency

to disassociate from our future selves.

There's this really interesting
experiment at Princeton

where two groups of students

were recruited to drink

what was described to them as this
disgusting, foul-smelling liquid.

Now they were given a choice

about how much they could drink.

And the group that was told
they had to drink it that day

agreed to drink very little.

But the group that was told to come back

in a couple of months and drink it

- agreed to drink much more.
- Right.

So they can kick the can down the road.

- Right.
- Right.

Okay, so how do we solve the disconnect?

You gotta find a way to
make her future self feel...

more tangible to her.

More real.

There it is.

An olfactory groove meningioma.

Hmm.

I had a patient early
on in my nursing days

with this type of tumor.

Caused a total personality change.

It has a profound disinhibition
effect on the brain.

And its proximity to
the olfactory nerve...

That explains Jim's loss of smell.

I'll page neurosurgery for a consult.

Do you want to deliver the news?

I think maybe it's better
coming from a friend.

Ah, copy that.

♪

Gina.

We wanna show you something.

♪

Is that me? What...

Where did you get that picture?

Your friend Liza sent it to us.

My daughter she just... she
loves these aging filters and...

What does this have to do with?

Well, we wanted you to take
a look at this photo...

and think about a future
version of yourself.

You know, what... what is her life like?

Who does she care about?

What does she love?

[VOICE BREAKING] I don't want to.

What is it, Gina?

I haven't thought about the future...

in a really long time.

Why do you think that is?

Because what if...

what if I don't have one?

What if you do?

What would you want it to look like?

[SOMBER MUSIC]

I guess...

I see myself with a kid. Maybe two.

Living someplace warm.

I have this dream.

I've always wanted to open
up an outdoor bookshop.

It's impractical in Chicago,
I know, but...

Not if you're living someplace warmer.

♪

Hey, Gina.

Look, I know you're scared. I get it.

But if you continue to postpone surgery,

you're denying yourself a sh*t

at what sounds like a
really great future.

♪

We're gonna give you
a little time, okay?

You wanna hold onto this for a bit?

♪

Wait.

Gina?

I'll have the surgery.

♪

Okay.

♪

Did Candace leave already?

Yeah, discharged her.
Ay, come take a look at this.

She came clean to her followers.

♪

_

Unfortunately, she's wrong.

Her Lupus is active again.
She's no longer in remission.

♪

My Lupus is active again?

Unfortunately, yes.

I ran another set of labs
which confirmed it.

How did you know?

So you told us this morning
you did not see the car

before it hit you, right?
So that got me wondering

if peripheral vision loss
could be to blame.

Combined with your elevated white
blood count and head pain...

if your Lupus had become active again

and was attacking your brain...

But I thought my head CT was negative.

It was. But swelling wouldn't
be visible on a CT.

That's right. We're gonna
send you for an MRI

to see exactly what's going on,

but all signs point to
brain inflammation

and optic neuritis due
to underlying Lupus.

I guess this is what I deserve
for crying wolf all these years.

God, you should see the
comments under my post.

They're so hurt and angry.

And now if I tell them
it's active again,

nobody's gonna care.
Nobody's gonna believe me.

Listen, I know you feel like
you lost your tribe right now.

But understanding? It's a process.

You did your part.

Laying out your truth.

Now give them a chance to get there.

Those who you want in
the trenches with you,

they'll come around.

♪

Good luck, Gina.

Oh, hey, Daniel. Glad I caught you.

I noticed that you didn't log any
patients into the new portal today.

If you're having trouble
navigating the platform,

I'd be happy to get somebody
from IT to walk you through it.

Oh, you know, I really appreciate that,

but it's not gonna be necessary.

I'm not gonna be using it.

Oh, yeah.

I know it's a pain, but, uh...

Well, not that it's a pain. It just...

it just doesn't make a whole
lot of sense for psychiatry.

Uh-huh.

We can't just do a
three-minute evaluation

- and, like, fire off a script, you know?
- Yeah.

Gotta spend more time with the patients.

- Not really any way around it.
- Yeah.

This young woman I was
working with today...

I mean honestly, if I hadn't
taken the time to understand

and then address the
root cause of her issue,

she probably wouldn't be
heading off to undergo,

you know, surgery... probably
gonna save her life, so...

Hey, listen, I hear you.
I think you're right.

Okay. Well, terrific.

Given the necessity for speed in the ED,

maybe psychiatry just
doesn't belong here.

[LAUGHS]

You think?

You go ahead and run that
up the flag pole, buddy.

Neurosurgery started Jim on steroids

to reduce the edema in his brain.

You should also know that he
finally owned up to what he did.

And asked me to pass along his apology.

I'll admit my guard was up from the
minute you said they were donors.

I've just seen too many
people use their money

as leverage over others, you know?

Well, my condolences to
anyone who ever tries that

with you again.

[LAUGHTER]

[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]

- Hey, Maggie?
- Yeah.

Mind if I take off a little early today?

I need to take care of
some personal business.

- No, go ahead.
- Thank you.

- All right.
- I'll see you tomorrow.

♪

- Hey.
- Hey.

[CHUCKLES]

Wait, is that you, Dr. Marcel?

In or so years, yeah.

I guess.

I thought you weren't into
thinking about the future.

"Planning leads to expectations,

which can lead to disappointments."

Oh, you were paying attention, huh?

Yeah, but I don't know.

Maybe you're onto something.

Maybe it's not such a bad idea...

giving some thought as to...

where I might want to end up.

Right?

Right.

♪

Dr. Halstead, hi.
I'm, uh, Jessa Rinaldi.

I'm a device rep at Vasik Labs.

Oh, hi. Nice to meet you.

Dr. Cooper called my boss
today singing your praises.

And a good word from Matt
goes a long way at Vasik.

I am honored.

I would love to talk to you
about one of our products,

the Vas-COM.

It measures cardiac function...

uh... output.

It measures cardiac
output by, um... by...

Well, it... it tells doctors when
patients need additional...

medicine.

I'm sorry, that's not right either.

It's okay. I'm familiar
with the Vas-COM.

You are? Okay, great.

Bottom line, we at Vasik
want to make the Vas-COM

the new standard of care, and
we could really use your help

promoting it across departments.

Doctor Cooper said that you
could be a real asset...

in that regard... if you're
sold on the device.

And Vasik would, of course,
compensate you

for your time and your effort.

All above board, of course.

♪

I am definitely interested.

You are? Okay, great.

Um, here, let me give you my card.

♪

Hey, Mom? It's me.

♪

It's , .

♪

Hey.

Stevie!

Stevie, wait.

You're okay with me using it on the van?

I'd prefer...

you already know what I'd prefer.

But it's yours.

No strings. Do what
you want with it, Mom.

♪

Thank you.

Yeah.

♪

Can we get dinner somewhere?

We don't have to go to a
restaurant or anything.

We could just get take-out
and bring it back here?

♪

Yeah. All right.

♪

Let me grab my backpack.

♪

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪

[WOLF HOWLS]