Original subtitles

That boy almost died today.

I think the hospital should pull Exsomadex.

It's not how things work here.

This is bigger than just one patient.

I am impressed with how you turned your life around.

Top of the list, maybe county juvenile.

He had a lot to overcome.

You're forgetting things, Bert.

Let's make an appointment with the neurologist.

The two of you are cooking up this nonsense

so you can get my money!

I'll get tested,

just to get you off my back.

Oh, good.

You made it.

Are you spying on me?

You have an appointment at my place of employment.

I thought I'd make myself available to you.

Look, I understand if you're nervous.

I'm not nervous. I told you, I'm fine, Sharon.

I don't need a damn babysitter watching my every move.

You know what?

If you feel that strongly about it, I'll back off.

Just let your children know what the doctor says.

Thanks.

- Hey. I'll do a-- - Good morning.

Hey, good morning.

Get you anything? - Oh, no.

I make my coffee at home. I'm bougie about my coffee.

Oh, is that so?

I'll do a medium drip, black, please.

Thank you.

I'm decidedly unbougie.

No, I hear you reserve your refined taste

for weird cocktails.

You're referring to my Sazerac?

Go to New Orleans and say that.

There you go. Keep the change. Thank you.

You were saying.

Ah, Dr. Ahmad, Dr. Marcel.

I have some news I'm sure you'll be glad to hear.

The hospital has put a temporary hold

on the use of Exsomadex pending a thorough safety review.

That's amazing.

I thought the drug and formula committee

weren't gonna take action.

They weren't, but at the urging

of one of our board members, Everett James,

the committee decided to reverse their decision

until the FDA sorts it out.

Great. Thank you, Ms. Goodwin.

You're welcome.

Look at you.

I always thought institutional inertia meant

we were dead in the water, but we did it.

You did it. Congratulations.

On my count, three, two, one.

- Oh, it hurts. - Okay, Lucas, we got you.

I need an X-ray. Single GSW.

As far as I could tell, I didn't see anything

on his back, but I couldn't stop the bleeding.

BP's falling. Rate's 110.

Hang a unit of O-neg.

Mike, chest X-ray.

- Yep. - Okay, on my count,

let's swap places. Three, two, one.

[machine beeps] - [groans]

Yeah, that's the subclavian artery.

Thanks, Courtney, we got this.

[suspenseful music]

Clear.

Yeah, bullet's retained behind the clavicle.

- I-I can't breathe. - Okay, just stay with us.

We gotta get this bleed under control.

Clamp.

We won't be able to get an angle on it.

Get me a Foley cath.

- For a gunshot? - Come on.

I'll insert the Foley to capture the bleed.

It'll let me inflate the balloon.

It'll temporize, buy us some time.

Yeah.

BP's still low but stable.

Page Trauma, have them open an OR.

Let's go.

Little pick-me-up?

Oh, no. I already have one. Thank you.

It's prophylactic.

Figured you'd need a second run after spending another night

in the on-call room.

How'd you know I slept here?

You're brushing your bed hair.

- Oh. - Are you okay?

You've been spending a lot of time in the ED

since the divorce.

Because the house doesn't feel like home anymore

and I feel like a stranger there.

Maggie, I need an assist.

Yep, right behind you.

Thanks for the coffee. - Yeah.

Hello, I'm Dr. Archer.

This is Nurse Lockwood. - Morning, morning.

I hear you're having some trouble with your ileostomy.

Deb. That's my son, Caleb.

- Hey, Doc. - Hi.

I'm pretty sure it's a prolapse again.

Do you mind?

Sorry, I know it's nasty.

Don't worry. We're not squeamish here.

Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely prolapsed.

You say this has happened before?

Every time he sneaks off to play basketball.

You took me to Chicago in the winter.

What else do you expect me to do for fun?

Not run off and hurt yourself.

We're visiting from Oakland.

Well, it's still too inflamed to manipulate right now.

We can reduce the swelling with some--

Sugar.

I figured that was the case.

Yeah, miracles of modern medicine.

I also want to order some labs, a CBC, BMP, and abdominal CT.

You got it, Doc.

Can I ask, I see some other scars here.

Some are surgical, but the others?

Caleb was shot two times in the fall.

Oh, my God.

A lot of car break-ins where I'm from.

One turned into a shootout,

and I caught a couple of strays.

Sorry to hear that.

You seem to be doing well.

He's a tough kid.

Tough on the court too.

One of the best guards in California before this.

Well, after the reversal procedure,

you'll be back on the court in no time.

Won't matter.

Dr. Davis, our pediatric surgeon back home,

said Caleb has to wait another 10 months.

By then, the summer's gone,

and so are all the college scouts.

Why don't we focus on getting through this

for now, okay, hon?

[apprehensive music]

Do we have your permission to contact your surgeon

to get Caleb's medical records? - Of course.

Okay.

Well, in the meantime, sit tight.

We're gonna get these tests going,

and then I'll be back to check on you shortly.

Thank you.

Mr. Sullivan, a doctor will be with you soon.

We just need you to get in the bed.

Fine, just both of you, give me 6 feet.

Okay. Okay, sir. Okay.

I'm giving you space. It's fine.

Morning, Anita. Early start to the madness?

Got a call about a bar fight,

picked up this charmer, Robert Sullivan.

I don't want any vitals.

I don't want anything. I don't...

He's still intoxicated and wouldn't settle down.

So I told him, it's either the hospital for his injuries

or the drunk tank.

- Hmm. He's no idiot. - Yeah.

He was adamant about being brought to Med,

said he knows a doctor here.

He say which one?

He kept asking for Rip.

- For Rip? - What are you gonna do?

I don't want any BPMs. I don't want nothing.

Hey, Mr. Sullivan, how you doing?

- Who the hell are you? - I'm Dr. Charles.

You know, Nancy's just trying to get your vitals,

make sure you're okay, take two seconds.

No, I'm already good. I feel good.

Where's Rip? I wanna talk to Rip.

Do you mean Dr. Ripley?

Just get him.

Nancy, let's give Mr. Sullivan a little space

and page Dr. Ripley. - Okay.

Thank you.

[sighs]

♪

Hey. Trauma called.

Subclavian repair went smoothly.

Patient's doing well. - Good. Thanks, Trini.

Hey, I got your page. What's up?

Oh, are you, uh,

are you familiar with this gentleman in five here?

Mr., uh--Mr. Sullivan, Robert Sullivan.

Yeah.

Gentleman is pushing it. What happened?

He got banged up in a bar fight,

insisted on being brought to Med because of you.

Won't let anybody else treat him.

No!

At the very least, I need your temperature.

No! No.

Great.

Yeah, keeps on asking for Rip.

[pensive music]

Yeah, uh, Sully and I used to run the streets together

before I left Chicago.

Oh, yeah?

You--you okay treating an old buddy?

I can find somebody else.

We're not that close, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks.

Okay.

I won't have this conversation with you.

Hey!

There he is.

All right, let's keep it down, Sully.

I told you I knew him.

I got this. Thank you.

Thank God.

I can finally relax.

[soft tense music]

Don't even think about it.

Jeez.

Cop might as well have dropped me off at jail.

Still an option if you keep acting this way,

showing up here, giving everybody a hard time.

And a bar fight at the crack of dawn?

What the hell, Sully?

Hey, some guys were talking down on my Bulls,

and I retorted, and they couldn't take a joke,

so we handled it outside.

Yeah, looks like they handled you.

Where else they get you?

Couple cheap body shots.

Not to mention your jaw.

I'm still a sex symbol, though.

I can't say the same for him and his boy.

They were on the receiving end of this.

Looks like what we call a boxer's fracture.

Hmm, I like the sound of that.

I gotta say, I'm impressed

you finally learned how to use your hands.

Could have used them back in the day

while I was busy saving you from getting your ass kicked.

[laughs] Still got jokes.

Fancy white coat and a pretty-boy haircut,

but at least you kept your sense of humor.

[coughing]

Little short of breath there?

[coughing]

Ugh.

Just a little cough I picked up over the holidays.

[clears throat]

Let me take a listen.

Deep breath.

[inhales deeply]

[coughing]

All right, I'm gonna order bloodwork

and an X-ray to be safe.

I just wanted my hand looked at.

Now you're trying to upsell me?

Just put the gown on and stay put.

Someone'll be by soon to image your chest and hand.

And don't give them a hard time.

♪

[coughing]

Throat doesn't look that bad.

How long have you been feeling this way, Adriana?

A few weeks, hard to say.

Been traveling a lot, so my sense of time is out of whack.

Anywhere fun?

Grand tour of the Midwest Hotel Convention circuit.

I organize tabletop and board game cons.

Anyway, I thought this was just another con cough,

you know, something you pick up when you're stuffed

in a ballroom full of gamers, but...

Can you breathe for me?

[coughing]

Ow, that hurt.

Your lungs do sound a little junky.

Just means that there's a lot of phlegm.

Could be from flu, COVID, or pneumonia.

But we won't know until we run a few tests to be sure.

I just got my shots, but pneumonia?

Wow.

We'll take good care of you.

Let's start with a chest X-ray, CBC, BMP,

swabs for COVID, flu, and strep,

and put in a CT for chest and neck.

Okay.

I'll be back to check on you soon.

Hey, I just wanted to double check on those CAT scans.

Shouldn't we wait for the chest X-ray first?

It seems aggressive.

Honestly, I'm not even sure that

this is just an infection.

But page me when those tests are back.

You got it.

There you go.

You're a real pro at this.

It's not a skill I planned on mastering, but thanks.

Caleb, Deb, good news.

Your labs came back normal.

Oh, that's great, hon.

Well, looks like your prolapse

hasn't reduced as quickly as we'd like.

It's probably because of persistent congestion.

So based on what I'm seeing here and Caleb's latest CT,

I think it would be better if we went ahead

with your reversal surgery.

- Excuse me? - Wait, what?

Truthfully, my recommendation would be to do this

as soon as possible.

You're telling me I can get rid of this thing, like, today?

I should be able to get you on the schedule

in a few hours, yeah.

Let's go!

Mom, we can call Coach Mark,

tell him I'm running with the soldiers this summer.

This is good news.

[apprehensive music]

Can I speak with you for a moment?

I don't understand.

You can't reduce the prolapse bedside?

Well, I probably can, but I think surgery

is the better long-term solution at this point.

Caleb is several months out,

and his recovery is going great.

His labs indicate that he's healthy, strong.

All due respect, Dr. Davis has been

with us since day one.

We've known you, what, two hours?

Dr. Archer has a lot of experience with this.

Our doctor was adamant we wait,

that with all of Caleb's surgeries,

the adhesions needed time to break down

before we can do the reversal.

That was a solid plan.

However, Caleb's recurring prolapses

could make it more likely for him to prolapse again.

And possibly make the eventual repair

more challenging.

You don't know for sure.

I won't trade my son's health for that.

I know you wanna hold off until you get home,

but I'd be happy to speak with your pediatric surgeon.

Like I said, Dr. Davis believes

Caleb is better off waiting.

So until he says otherwise,

I'm not discussing surgery any further.

♪

Can I get your eyes on something?

Of course.

Skipped right to CT scans, huh?

Patient came in with classic signs of an infection,

but with the shortness of breath and chest pain,

I was afraid that it was a septic pulmonary embolism.

I know that's a long shot. - No, you were on the money.

Look--definitely a small PE.

Check out this next CT.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at.

Peritonsillar abscess

with infiltration to the jugular vein.

What'd the swab come back as?

Strep.

Hmm.

This is Lemierre syndrome, isn't it?

I've only read about it.

Effective blood clot in the neck, yeah.

Very rare, very dangerous.

Explains a lot-- infection starts in the throat,

spreads to the jugular, starts throwing clots downstream.

Okay, we--

we need to anticoagulate your patient ASAP.

So go ahead and start her on a heparin drip,

prevent the existing clot from propagating,

and I'd also start her on antibiotics, okay?

Why wait when we can go after the clot with the thrombectomy

and eliminate the risk entirely?

We're not there yet.

Let's give the meds some time to get the fever down.

But if she doesn't turn the corner soon,

I think you're right.

Surgery may be our best bet, okay?

I'll get Adriana up to speed.

Good. And I'll call ENT.

They'll need to scope her, all right?

Mm-hmm.

[coughing]

Oh, Mr. Sullivan--

Sully, Sully, I'm so sorry.

Buddy, we can't really have patients

wandering around out here.

We just have too much foot traffic out here.

It's a hospital policy thing. I hope you understand.

But I just wanna find a place to smoke.

I just can't be in that room.

Totally get it.

It's such a drag having to wait.

But I promise you, Dr. Ripley will be by any second.

Oh, speak of the devil.

Hey, hard to believe it's the same guy who had us

stealing candy when we were kids.

Where the hell were you? I told you to stay put.

I'm sorry, Dr. Ripley.

Won't happen again.

I got this. Thanks.

Time for a bedtime story?

I'm tired as hell.

Actually, I think you're gonna want

to sit up for this, seriously.

Okay, okay, what?

[coughing]

I got the results from your chest X-ray.

They show a nodule in your left lung that concerns me.

And your white blood cell count came back low.

So you'll--you'll need a chest CT as well as a biopsy.

Can you explain it to me in English?

You got early signs of lung cancer.

[tense music]

Wait, what?

Look, I know it sounds scary.

But some lung cancers are very treatable.

I'll refer you to an oncologist.

That's a cancer specialist.

No, no, no.

I only came here to avoid jail and get my hand patched up.

Now you're throwing the C-word at me.

Like I said, I'll have an oncologist talk--

I feel fine.

The way I see it, this convo's over.

I want out.

You need a thorough evaluation and treatment plan.

No! I'm done.

Where do I sign?

All right.

At least let me get ortho in here

to splint that broken hand.

The bandage is just temporary.

It shouldn't take long.

Fine, but that's all.

♪

Excuse me.

Can you point me to your cafeteria?

I'm trying to find something Caleb can eat.

Absolutely.

Right this way.

I have to say, you've really got a handle on Caleb's care.

Must be reassuring for him.

[chuckles] Thank you, though I suspect Caleb wishes

he could see a little less of me.

I'd take that as a good sign.

It means he's a normal teenager.

Normal?

It's been a long road to get here, for both of us.

Yeah.

You know, after Caleb was shot, I was a mess.

The emergency room, the ICU, in and out of surgery,

I felt like I basically lived at the hospital.

I can't imagine how rough that was.

It was the waiting, you know,

the not knowing that wore me out.

But we finally made it home.

We figured out a routine together,

the bag changes, the diet, the cleaning.

Caleb hates it, but it's a version of normal.

Yeah.

Oh, the cafeteria is down the hall to the right.

Just follow the signs. You can't miss it.

- Thank you. - Yeah.

All right, Caleb.

I think we're ready to reduce this.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Okay, Caleb.

You're gonna feel a little bit of pressure.

Are you ready?

Okay.

So Oakland.

I know of some Hall of Famers at your position from there.

Gary Payton, Jason Kidd-- before your time.

I studied them both.

But Dame is my guy. - Ah.

So if I get this surgery,

what kind of recovery time am I looking at?

That depends.

Probably a question for your pediatric surgeon.

You've gotta have an idea, right?

I mean, we talking days, weeks?

How long I'ma have to wait to get back on the court?

Yeah, I think that's a conversation

we can have with your mother.

When your mother comes back from the cafeteria, we can--

She already made up her mind.

But it's my life.

There's a chance that I could still salvage

my high school career, I could still get a full ride

from a big-time D-I school.

And I could make a play for the NBA.

[apprehensive music]

You said you could do this today, right?

Come on, Doc, you did, didn't you?

Yes, I did.

Dr. Archer, may I speak to you for a second?

All right, your stoma's all set.

[sighs]

What can I do? He backed me into a corner.

He's a minor, and his mother made her wishes very clear.

All right, listen, now,

I don't need a tutorial on medical ethics.

Caleb has the right to know what his future holds.

And I feel for Caleb too.

But they just got their lives back

after a horrific experience.

Right, one I wanna help him move on from.

You can't just move on

after your life's been turned upside down.

Deb is just trying to hold on to something

that is normal for them.

That's the problem, okay?

She's clinging to a normal that does not exist.

So instead of moving forward,

she's not doing anything at all,

even when her son clearly wants to.

What-what does my son want?

Caleb reiterated to me

that he wants the reversal procedure, but I told him--

I thought I made myself clear earlier.

Yes, you did, but--

Has my son's prolapse been resolved?

Yes, it has.

Then I would like him to be discharged.

♪

Bert, how'd it go?

Bert.

You got what you wanted, okay?

What did the neurologist say?

I was doing fine till you had to go and screw everything up.

Well, I'm just concerned for you, Bert.

We're divorced. Stay out of my life.

♪

Dr. Charles, can you do a capacity check

on Sully for me?

Why, have you noticed some kind of behavioral

or cognitive change since you last connected with him?

He's being irrational.

He probably has lung cancer,

but he's refusing further testing.

Oh, boy. I'm sorry to hear that.

If I let him walk out of here AMA,

I'm basically handing him a death sentence.

Unfortunately, refusing further testing

is not really grounds for questioning somebody's

decisional capacity.

He's got a terminal illness and won't get treatment.

Sounds like he's got a problem

with his decisional capacity to me.

Okay, so this is where I have to ask you,

would you be pushing for this

if this were just a regular patient?

It's the only way I can see to save his life.

I mean, unfortunately, if he doesn't wanna pursue treatment,

there's just--

I mean, there's nothing we can do about it.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, me too.

[tense music]

[alarm beeping] - [shallow breathing]

Dr. Marcel, Dr. Ahmad.

Her blood pressure just dropped 20 points,

90/60 and still falling.

[groaning] Where am I?

She's disoriented.

And hypotensive. Must be septic shock.

Zola, start a central line and get her on pressors.

Need to get her BP back up.

Get a bag on her. Dial up the O2 to 15 liters.

And bolus a liter of crystalloid

and set up a norepi drip. - On it.

[murmuring indistinctly]

Adriana, slow, deep breaths for me, okay?

Pressure's still down.

Need to get that line in.

Got it.

Wire.

Go ahead.

We're in.

Okay, start the norepi at 10 and titrate up to a MAP of 65.

Norepi's on.

Okay, cycle the BP cuff.

♪

Blood pressure's coming back up, 95/65,

and sats are climbing as well.

- She's stabilizing. - Good.

Let's draw a culture, start her on vanc,

and let's get an A-line set up.

- Let's get a blood gas too. - Page us when she's lucid.

You were right.

She's gonna need a thrombectomy.

- Here. - What's this?

A little light reading a critical care committee

just drafted.

"Revised post-operative muscle relaxant

reversal agent protocol."

See, I heard getting Exsomadex pulled

was your little crusade.

Thought you might be eager to learn about its replacement.

"The new recommended reversal agent is Gamaverse."

There a problem?

No, except it's ten times the cost of Exsomadex,

which gets pushed on to the patients

when their insurance won't cover it.

That--there has to be

cheaper therapeutic alternative options.

No. Nope. No. Not according to the committee.

So the next time you think about sounding the alarm

off limited data, think twice.

♪

Mom, I got it.

Okay.

Um, Deb, I've got your discharge paperwork,

and I'll have someone by to walk you out.

Thank you.

Okay.

Caleb, I know this is hard.

But your life is more important than some game.

Not much of a life anyways.

I'll go pull the car around.

Deb, wait, please.

- What? - I just--

I'm sorry that you're leaving.

But Dr. Archer is an excellent surgeon.

And he just wants to do what's right by your son.

I really don't want to discuss this again.

I know you're afraid.

And it makes sense with everything

that you've gone through.

What we're still going through.

Of course.

It's understandable that you would want to hold on

to what's familiar while you can,

while your world has been turned inside-out.

[solemn music]

It has taken everything I've got just to make it this far.

Deb.

I don't know if I can go through this again right now.

What if it goes wrong?

I don't think I can handle that.

At least this way, I know what tomorrow looks like.

I understand.

But this life now,

is it worth holding on to,

knowing that there's a possibility of another way?

[sighs]

Dr. Malone, good afternoon.

Ms. Goodwin, come in.

Bert just left, so I have to assume

your visit is not a coincidence.

Well, I know given HIPAA regulations,

it's not my place to come here and ask about your patients,

but my family's worried.

I understand.

And there is no privacy issue here

as you're listed as Bert's primary emergency contact.

I'm listed as his emergency contact?

Yeah, it's what's in his file.

I'm sorry to have to tell you, but...

I've diagnosed Bert with Alzheimer's dementia.

Alzheimer's.

Now, there are treatments available to him.

But as you're well aware, this diagnosis

can be a long and rough road for everyone involved.

You likely know most of this.

But here's some information your family

can anticipate moving forward.

Yeah.

I offered them to Bert, but he, um,

he left them behind.

He didn't take the news well?

Well, in my experience, few people do.

♪

My door is always open.

To you or your children,

if you have any more questions or concerns.

Thank you.

♪

All right, Caleb, game time.

Mr. Sullivan, I assure you,

they're just printing your paperwork.

Keep it. I don't care.

I'm leaving.

I'm out of here.

Excuse me. Excuse me, lady.

Sully, Sully, come on. Knock it off.

Get back in bed. - I got my splint.

I'm leaving.

You need to see an oncologist.

Shut up already.

You got your little iPad and your name tag,

you think I'm supposed to do what you say?

I'm trying to help you, man.

And I'm trying to leave, man.

Move.

If you walk out of here, this will be

the dumbest thing you've ever done.

You can't leave. - Out of my way.

No.

Rip, I'm gonna tell you one more time.

Move! - Can't do it.

Security!

Hey! Security!

Dr. Ripley.

Dr. Ripley!

[both grunting]

[tense music]

♪

Calm down. Calm down.

Hey, calm down. Settle down.

You all right?

Yeah.

Should I call Dr. Archer?

Um, no, give me a couple minutes, okay?

[grunts] [locker slams]

No. No. I'm not--I'm not--

I'm not in the mood for a lecture.

You don't-- you don't know Sully.

There's only one way to deal with him.

By tackling him to the ground?

I was just trying to get the situation under control.

Mm, looked kind of like you lost control to me.

So file a complaint.

Let's go see Archer and Ms. Goodwin.

Come on. Let's get it over with.

So--so you can lose your job?

Is that what we wanna do now?

Yeah, I screwed up.

I screwed up, okay? I know that.

I'm just trying to--just trying to look out for the guy.

I get that, but ideally,

you don't wanna risk your job in doing so.

If I'd never left Chicago,

I'd probably have been right there with him, at that bar,

throwing down beside him.

That's how tight we were.

[soft music]

But I wanted out of that life, and I got out.

And that's a good thing, right?

But it can be a little more complicated for the people

who feel, you know, left behind.

You know, having said that, I think he came here

looking for you because he trusts you.

Then why won't he listen to me?

Maybe he wasn't looking for

some guy in a white coat with a fancy degree.

Maybe he's just looking for his friend.

♪

So...

you tolerated surgery well.

And from what I'm seeing, you're gonna be fine.

- For real? - Thank God.

A few days here, a few weeks at home,

and you'll be back on your feet.

Then I can hoop again?

Maybe in about eight weeks, but only if you take it easy.

That's cool.

I appreciate you, Doc.

Well, save me some tickets when you make it to the NBA--

floor seats, preferably.

Thank you, Dr. Archer.

And thank you for pushing me.

I'm just glad that you and Caleb get to move forward.

Sharon, I'm just so sorry.

Well, I guess the upside is,

now I know what I'm dealing with.

Exactly.

And you know what?

I mean, there are some very promising clinical trials

happening right now.

Some exciting new medications are being developed.

And I'm just--I'm confident if we get the right kind of help,

that we're--

we're gonna be able to navigate this.

We? [laughs]

You mean me.

The decisions that will have to be made,

the appointments, the treatments,

that's all gonna fall on me, Daniel.

What about the kids? I mean, the kids will be there.

No. They've got their own lives.

I don't want them to have to deal with this, either.

And how am I gonna do it?

I've got a hospital to run.

I got a new relationship that...

is really going well.

And then what?

I have to take care of my ex-husband.

I know it's selfish just to think about myself, but...

No, it is not, not at all.

I can't do it, Daniel.

I can't.

Hi, Adriana. How are you feeling?

Been better.

Well, look, we wanna talk to you about next steps.

So given the state of your infection,

it's our recommendation that we progress with a procedure

called a thrombectomy.

Dr. Ahmad said something about that.

Yeah, so myself and an interventional radiologist

would pass a wire up your arm, into your neck,

and basically extract the clot.

Oh, God.

The procedure is minimally invasive,

and it would eliminate any risk posed

by the clot, set the antibiotics up

for success moving forward.

We'll have you home in a few days.

This procedure, I really have to do it?

There's no other option?

Yes, that would be my recommendation.

Well, there might be.

We could wait. - What do you mean?

Give the antibiotics a chance to fight off the infection.

And the blood thinners haven't had that long

to break up the primary clot.

Which means it would still pose a serious threat, no?

But if we give the medications a chance,

then maybe we can bypass the need

for a thrombectomy altogether.

Really?

Very unlikely is how I'd put it.

Dr. Ahmad, could I speak with you?

[soft tense music]

♪

Now, what was that?

You undermined me in front of the patient.

And this procedure was your plan from the start, right?

We both know that going after an unstable clot is risky.

Same is true if we just sit on our hands here, right?

Now, IR is the only real path forward for Adriana.

You knew that hours ago.

So what's changed?

Everyone keeps saying that I'm impulsive,

that I make rash decisions.

And I think they're right.

I've been here a month, and already,

I've been assigned an ethics course,

pissed off the board, and now this disaster with Exsomadex.

Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

Stop.

She needs this procedure, period.

All right, go clear your head.

Go on.

♪

Okay, I'm off.

To the on-call room or--

No, I'm heading home.

Oh.

I think it's time that I move on.

Yeah.

[pensive music]

♪

[phone ringing]

Uh...

Tara, hey, sweetie.

How's it--

no, wait, wait, wait.

Slow down, sweetie, slow down.

Hey. What are you doing?

Tara called and said Bert's not answering his phone.

And I called, and it went straight to voicemail.

You know he's tried to take his life once before,

so I'm just gonna head over to his place.

- I'll come with you. - You don't have to.

- No, I'm coming. - Okay.

Still nursing that bougie coffee?

[chuckles] How's Adriana?

The procedure went well, no complications.

She's back in the ICU, awake and talking, okay?

- That's great. Thanks. - Sure.

Hey.

Yeah?

Do you know who that guy is?

Everett James? Yeah.

We sit on the board together.

He's a bigwig at Ward and Bancroft.

Yeah, the pharma company, so?

So I did some research while you were in surgery,

and guess who manufactures

our new expensive reversal medication, Gamaverse?

Ward and Bancroft?

Yeah.

Huh.

So this board member sells his product to the hospital.

Must have used our recommendation

to get himself a sweetheart deal.

That--that's a conflict of interest.

That can't be legal.

Look, I don't agree with it, either,

but it's not illegal.

This is all happening because of my recommendation.

Hold on, are you-- are you blaming yourself?

Before you spiral out any further,

let me remind you what's actually important--

your patient,

who's alive and well in large part

because you listened to your instincts.

You knew thrombectomy was the right call from the get-go.

Now, you might not be able to take down

the medical-industrial complex.

But you saved a life today.

And, Zola, if that's not good enough, then...

maybe you should think about another career.

[soft music]

♪

[indistinct chatter]

[mellow music playing]

♪

[deep sigh]

Bulls snap that losing streak?

Lost it by 2 in OT.

Old fashioned, neat.

Thanks. - Yep.

Fancy drink.

Well, it's a lot smoother than the rotgut

you got in your glass. - [scoffs]

Some kind of mouse trap?

I use this and I wake up under a knife?

Just a little something to help out with that cough.

[sighs]

[pensive music]

♪

Look...

If you need anything,

anything at all,

you know where I'm hiding.

Doesn't matter where or when.

I got you.

♪

[clears throat]

[sighs]

I'll see you around, Rip.

Hope so.

- Bert! - He's gotta be in there.

His car's out front. [keypad beeping]

- Bert! - I got it. I got it.

Bert.

Bert, you home?

Bert?

[apprehensive music]

♪

Bert?

[stammers]

I don't know what's going to happen to me.

Well, whatever comes, we'll deal with it.

I--I don't wanna make this anyone else's problem.

I--I have to deal with it on my own.

No.

No, you don't,

because I'm here.

And it's all right.

It's gonna be all right.

♪

[wolf howls]