Hearts

**Hearts** is the fourteenth episode of Season 1 of *Chicago Med*. It aired on April 19, 2016.

## Summary

Dr. Choi deals with his PTSD while treating a veteran with a heart problem. Dr. Manning treats a child who she originally thought was being abused by his father, until Dr. Charles makes a shocking diagnosis. Dr. Rhodes must deal with the fallout of a child dying on his operating table. April starts to date a patient's father, against Maggie's advice. Reese faints in front of Dr. Halstead.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead
* Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton
* Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning
* Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese
* Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes
* Brian Tee as Dr. Ethan Choi
* Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood
* S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin
* Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles

### Crossover Cast

* David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann

### Recurring Cast

* Gregg Henry as Dr. David Downey
* Peter Mark Kendall as Joey Thomas
* Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Dr. Vicky Glass
* Deron J. Powell as Tate Jenkins
* Lorena Diaz as Nurse Doris
* Cesar Jaime as Paramedic Cesar
* Jeremy Shouldis as Dr. Marty Peterson
* Tonray Ho as Nurse Leah
* Mia Park as Nurse Beth
* Mace Montgomery Miskel as Eric Jenkins

### Guest Cast

* Quincy Dunn-Baker as Aaron Taylor
* Michelle Mueller as Nedra Taylor
* Collin Jarvis as Griffin Taylor
* Shane Patrick as Levi Coleman
* Graham Carlson as Bo Taylor
* Phil Ridarelli as Mr. Kellogg
* Clare O'Connor as Skyler Vance
* Patti Balsis as Skyler's Mother

## Plot

The episode begins with Dr. Choi looking out his home window, while Dr. Vicky Glass sleeps in his bed. She wakes and he shares that he's beginning to feel as though therapy is a waste of time, as he is still having trouble sleeping because of his PTSD. She asks him to come back to bed, but he elects to go for a run instead.

    At the hospital, a patient named Mr. Coleman tells Nurse Leah at the front desk that he needs to see a doctor at once, as he can hear his heart beating inside his skull. When she asks him to wait his turn in line, he becomes aggressive, running into the E.R. and throwing things, and demanding to see a doctor at once to make the sound stop. Maggie Lockwood and Dr. Ethan Choi attempt to calm him down, but Mr. Coleman grabs a pencil and stabs himself in the ear, causing it to bleed. Dr. Choi tends to his bleeding ear, and brings in Dr. Daniel Charles, Head of Psychiatry, for a consult. Coleman tells Charles that he is wearing multiple layers of clothing to muffle the sound of his heart beating, but that nothing helps. Dr. Choi tells Mr. Coleman that the pencil pierced his middle ear, but that it can be repaired through a procedure called a tympanoplasty. Mr. Coleman begs Dr. Choi to listen to his heart, which sounds normal to Dr. Choi. Choi tells Coleman that as a vet, he's familiar with PTSD. Coleman tells Choi that he took a back full of shrapnel, but the issue is his heart, not PTSD, and it's been three years since the surgery on his back, but just six months since his heart began pounding. The tympanoplasty is performed successfully to treat Coleman's ear. Dr. Vicky Glass joins Dr. Choi in talking to Coleman, and Coleman tells them he can still hear his heart thumping loudly. Glass suggests it could be auditory hallucinations provoked by PTSD, and recommends a psychiatrist at the V.A., but Coleman dismisses this, telling them it's useless talking to them. While examining Coleman, Choi notices that a tray containing a bowl of Jello, that Coleman is touching, on is vibrating significantly in time to his heartbeat, and tells Glass that they may need to order a chest CT scan to check his heart. When the scan is completed, Dr. Choi tells Coleman that his previous injuries showed that shrapnel wounds caused a lot of scar tissues. While his heart function is not affected, it has created a sort of echo chamber which amplifies the sound of his heart, carrying vibrations to his inner ear. Coleman is delighted to know that his symptoms are physical, not psychological, but is devastated when Choi tells him that they can't do anything to remove the scar tissue. He breaks down crying while Choi tries to comfort him. Later, Dr. Glass and Dr. Choi discuss the fact they were unable to find a surgical solution to Coleman's problem. Dr. Glass tells Dr. Choi that if the illness has a physical cause, coping with it is a psychological issue. Dr. Choi says it is a tall order to teach him to cope with this, but Dr. Glass says it is easier to deal with problems you can see. Dr. Choi agrees. He goes back to Coleman, and makes him listen to his heartbeat through a monitor. Choi asks Coleman to think of his heart as his 'brother-in-arms', fighting for him. He tells Coleman that while they can't remove the sound, if Coleman can try to think of the sound as a reassuring, comforting thing, then he might be able to live with it. Coleman, with tears in his eyes, listens to his heart.

In another room, Dr. Natalie Manning attends to a little boy named Bo Taylor. His mother, Nedra Taylor, tells Natalie that he fell off his hover board and ended up with a broken wrist. Natalie notices he has injuries from gravel, but there are no abrasions on the palm, suggesting that Bo did not land on it while falling. Bo's brother, Griffin, interjects to tell her that the wrist is probably broken because it made an awful noise. When Natalie calls for an x-ray, their mother, Nedra Taylor, initially refuses, telling her it isn't necessary. However, Natalie explains that without an x-ray they may not be able set the broken wrist correctly, and Nedra Taylor eventually agrees. She notices that his mom Mrs. Taylor has a bandage on her hand too, but the mom dismisses the injury simply saying she just got her hand burnt in the kitchen. While they are talking, Natalie notices that Griffin seems mesmerized by the man who just stabbed himself with a pencil (Mr. Coleman).

    Natalie gets the x-rays and tells Mrs. Taylor that while the broken wrist can be treated, she is concerned about the fact that the x-ray shows another previous fracture that has already healed, but his history makes no mention of it. Mr. Taylor, who has also arrived, tells her that Bo had previously fallen down some stairs the previous year, but didn't complain much, leading them to think that it was just a sprain. Griffin leans over to touch his brother's broken arm, telling them it feels cold, and Mr. Taylor snaps at Griffin, telling him not to touch Bo. He then apologizes, saying he just wanted to make sure that Griffin didn't make the existing injury worse. Natalie checks on Bo and concurs that his arm is cold, which concerns her because it may suggest that Bo is losing circulation. She and April rush Bo to the operating room for immediate surgery.

During the surgery, Natalie goes to speak with Sharon Goodwin, and shares her concern that Bo Taylor may the victim of abuse. She tells Sharon that the story told by Bo's parents is not consistent with the medical evidence, including the fact that the swelling suggests the injury occurred at least a day ago. She tells Sharon that while Dr. Reyes is confident that the hand can be saved, the situation warrants concern, but she doubts her own judgment, after she previously made an error in misidentifying a medical condition as suspected abuse. Sharon tells Natalie that as there is another child involved (Bo's brother, Griffin) as well, they should get a second opinion before they call DCFS (the Department of Child and Family Services) to report potential abuse. She suggests asking Dr. Daniel Charles. Natalie and Dr. Charles discuss the case, and Natalie tells Dr. Charles she is concerned the family won't react well when she brings a psychiatrist to see them, especially after she broke the news about the prior fracture on Bo's arm. Dr. Charles removes his white coat in an effort to reduce the impact of his presence. Natalie and Dr. Charles tell them that the surgery is going well, and Griffin introduces himself, telling them that once Bo is out of surgery, he will take care of him. Dr. Charles asks Mrs. Taylor if she would like them to change the dressing on her arm while they are waiting for Bo, but she refuses, telling them it is practically healed. At this, Griffin laughs and tells Dr. Charles, "Mommy's clumsy." Meanwhile, Mr. Taylor is suspicious of Dr. Charles' presence, and asks why he is there. Dr. Charles tells him that he is just there to address any concerns as having a child going through surgery can be stressful, but Mr. Taylor has realised that they suspect him of abusing his family. Griffin interjects to say, "Is Daddy in trouble again, Mummy?" which further concerns the doctors. They step outside to talk, not allowing Griffin to follow. Mr. Taylor tells Natalie and Dr. Charles that he has never laid a hand on his son or wife, and tells them that they can call the police, but he is innocent, and returns to his family.

Dr. Charles and Natalie both suspect something is off and decide to call Mr. Taylor's bluff, and contact DCFS to report potential abuse. While they wait for DCFS to arrive, Dr. Charles sits at a nurses' station, watching the family. He notices that Griffin is fascinated by the several incoming patients in the E.R., especially those with bloody injuries. He stands at the door of a room where Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Halstead are treating a woman, Skylar, who has been in a bloody car accident, watching closely. After she's taken for surgery, Griffin picks up a button covered in blood from the floor, sniffs it, and puts it in his pocket. He turns around and sees Dr. Charles watching him and greets him with a smile. Dr. Charles asks him what he found, and Griffin initially denies picking it up, but admits it when Dr. Charles tells him he saw him picking up a button. When Dr. Charles asks him what he plans on doing with it, Griffin says he will give it to the nurse to return to the woman it belongs to. Dr. Charles tells Griffin he will take him back to his parents, and away from all this scary stuff, to which Griffin says he isn't scared. Griffin tells Dr. Charles he wants to be a doctor, so he can use knives to help people. Mrs. Taylor returns and seeing them talking, rushes Griffin away from Dr. Charles.

Dr. Charles meets with Natalie and Sharon Goodwin in Sharon's office, and tells them that in his opinion, the abuser is not Mr. Taylor, but ten year old Griffin. He says that the parents are probably aware something is wrong and are likely to be protecting Griffin. In response to Natalie's skepticism, tells them that signs of sociopathy can be detected at a very early age. According to Dr. Charles, Griffin's fascination with blood goes beyond childish curiosity, and that Griffin poses a danger to his little brother, and possibly also his mother. Sharon says that there is little that they can actually do, as if they inform DCFS, the only thing they can do is recommend to the family that Griffin be transferred to an institution for treatment. The decision has to be the family's, and they cannot forcibly remove him. Dr. Charles and Natalie go to see Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and tell them Bo's surgery went well. Dr. Charles apologizes to Mr. Taylor, and tells them they were wrong about the situation. They leave Griffin on the other side of a glass wall, where they can watch them, to speak with the Taylors privately. Dr. Charles tells Mr. Taylor that he doesn't think he is an abuser, but that he thinks Taylor is covering for Griffin, who is an abuser. The Taylors initially deny it, telling Dr. Charles that he's jumping quickly to conclusions. Dr. Charles tells them that while signs of psychopathy are evident, and that Griffin poses a risk to Bo and them, they should get a detailed assessment. He tells the Taylors that with early intervention and therapy they might be able to help Griffin still. The Taylors initially refuse to listen, but then notice that he is missing from the other side of the glass wall. They track him down to Bo's room, where he is sitting on the bed with Bo, drawing in a book. Bo's blood pressure and heart rate are spiking, indicating he is showing an involuntary fear response to Griffin even while unconscious. Mrs. Taylor asks Griffin if he did anything, and Griffin denies it. Dr. Charles once again tells the Taylors that they know they have a problem and asks them to let them help. Later, Sharon tells Natalie and Dr. Charles that while DCFS recommended to the Taylors that Griffin should be separated from the family, the Taylors refused to do so. Natalie is shocked, and Dr. Charles says that it will not end well. As they leave, the Taylors don't speak with Natalie, but Mrs. Taylor makes eye contact. Natalie follows her to the elevator, where Mrs. Taylor tells her it is just a phase and Griffin will grow out of it. When Natalie tells Mrs. Taylor she has to protect Bo, Mrs. Taylor asks if Natalie has children. When Natalie says she has a son, Mrs. Taylor asks her what she would do, and if she could send her son away, and leaves. Natalie doesn't answer.

    At the nurses's station, Dr. Manning bumps into Dr. Will Halstead, and congratulates him on the fact that Jennifer Baker's family have dropped their lawsuit against him. Will agrees that it is a relief to have the lawsuit dropped, but that the case did not have a happy ending. Maggie notices Sarah Reese chewing gum while reading a medical text and orders her to spit it out before seeing patients, as it is unprofessional. Joey Thomas stops by to congratulate Reese on her impending graduation from medical school and getting matched into the Pathology residency. He brings her a gift: a slide of the bubonic plague bacillus, from the Royal London Hospital, dating back to 1893. She thanks him, describing the gift as 'beautiful', and telling him she loves it, before being directed to treat a patient by April Sexton. Meanwhile, Tate Jenkins, whose son Eric was previously treated by Dr. Manning, Dr. Connor Rhodes, and April Sexton, comes to the hospital with balloons for his son. Eric had accidentally swallowed some magnets, necessitating surgical removal. Tate continues to flirt with April, but is warned by Maggie that the only thing worse than dating a patient is dating an athlete, because in her experience, they are little kids in a man's body and are bad long-term bets. April points out that Tate is retired, and is not a patient. Later, April joins Tate and Eric to play with some bricks, and tells Tate she'll see them later that night. Tate tells April that he doesn't want to date her just because she is a great nurse. Seeing Maggie overhear, April tells Maggie she is wrong about Tate, and that he is a good guy.

Sarah Reese assists Dr. Will Halstead with a patient - a gymnastics teacher named Mr. Kellogg fell during a class. Kellogg insists that he's not injured, but needs a doctor’s note so he can go back to work, as he works in a public school and it is a requirement. While Reese is examining Kellogg, she gets dizzy and passes out, falling partly across her patient’s lap. Dr. Halstead and Mr. Kellogg catch her. Later, Reese is in a hospital bed and tells Will that she is so embarassed to have fainted on her patient and asks if he said anything. Will tells her the gymnastics teacher was very impressed with her dismount. He tells her the fainting was likely to due to low blood sugar, and gets her some orange juice. He asks if everything is okay, and Sarah assures him that she's pleased about her graduation, her pathology match, and tells him Joey is pleased to. Showing him Joey's gift of a bacillus slide, Sarah tells Will that "Joey gave me the bubonic plague," to which Will comments that Joey must really like her. However, in order to be safe, he orders a few more tests for Sarah to confirm it is just low blood sugar and nothing else. Later, Maggie checks in Reese and tells her the last time she saw someone swoon like that was when she took her niece to a Justin Bieber concert. Reese assures Maggie's she's fine. Joey arrives just then to check on Reese as well, and she snaps at him, telling him his job is to run labs and not interrogate patients. Joey tells Reese that he's just concerned about her, but Reese tells him the E.D. has protocols, unlike Pathology. He hands her the labs on their patient, the gym teacher, but she tells him to give them to Dr. Halstead instead.

    Later, Dr. Halstead finds Reese sitting with her head in her hands in the locker room, and goes to check on her. Reese tells him she had vertigo again, and Dr. Halstead decides to order more tests. Reese tells him she knows what the problem is, and that she is just anxious about taking up a residency in pathology. Reese goes looking for Joey, and apologizes for yelling at him before. She thanks him again for the gift of the plague side, but asks if he will still like her if she doesn't choose pathology, and picks the E.D. instead. Joey is surprised, but tells Reese to get over herself, jokingly. Reese tells him he is sweet, thanks him with a kiss, and leaves. Reese goes to Sharon Goodwin and asks if she can undo her match, and Sharon tells her matches are binding as legal contracts and can't be undone.

In the O.R., Dr. Connor Rhodes assists Dr. David Downey in performing a ventricular septal defect repair on a newborn baby girl. In the meantime, Dr. Downey talks Dr. Rhodes through the procedure, which is a key part of cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Downey advises Dr. Rhodes on being prepared to perform such surgeries on very young children, including newborns. Dr. Rhodes performs part of the surgery, but when a crisis occurs, Rhodes manages to stay calm and resolve the problem, fixing a suture that came lose. Downey tells him he made a good call. After the surgery, Nurse Beth congratulates Rhodes on staying calm through the surgery, telling him that operating on newborns can be extremely stressful. She tells Dr. Downey that Rhodes is "an ace," to which Downey concurs and tells him he did nice work. When Rhodes leaves to go back to the E.D., Downey tells Rhodes that he's missing the best part, which is telling the patient's family that he will be fine, and tells Rhodes that the honor of doing that is all his.

Dr. Rhodes returns to the E.R., where he, Maggie, and Nurse Doris treat a woman named Skylar, who has been in a accident after hitting a guard rail with her car. They have to persuade Skylar to let go of her purse while they try to treat her, and as they are treating her, Dr. Halstead joins to help. They realise that she has a tension hemothorax, which needs immediate surgery, and take her up. Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Charles operate on Skylar, discussing the fact that her injuries are very severe. The surgery is difficult, and they find her heart's right atrium is almost entirely torn. The anesthesiologist is having trouble getting her to relax, and during the surgery, Skylar walks up, looks at Dr. Rhodes and gasps, before dying. Dr. Rhodes is shocked, and has to be reminded by Dr. Charles that she is gone, before he calls her time of death. Outside, Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Charles talk about the fact that the woman's pericardium was filled with blood, as a result of which the anesthetic didn't work, as her blood wasn't circulating. When Dr. Rhodes goes to tell the woman's family, Dr. Charles says he will let them know of her death, and sends him back to the E.D.

At the end of the day, Dr. Rhodes is leaving the locker room, when Dr. Halstead walks in. He tells Rhodes that he heard he had a tough case, and commiserates. Halstead offers to buy Rhodes a drink, and Rhodes hesitates before accepting. They agree to meet at Molly's, but when Rhodes leaves, he passes the family of the patient who died during surgery, crying for her, clutching her belongings and asking for her back. He gets into his car and cries. Meanwhile, at Molly's, Halstead looks for Rhodes, but doesn't find him. Herrmman tells Halstead that Rhodes isn't there, and never came to Molly's that evening.

Dr. Choi walks Dr. Vicky Glass to her car, and when she asks if he is going to attend group therapy the next day, he hesitates. She reminds him of his patient, Coleman, and tells him he has to fight as hard for himself as his heart does. He promises her he'll go, and kisses her goodbye. Natalie Manning goes home and watches over her infant son, in his crib. April has dinner with Tate, and they laugh together. Tate leaves after dinner, to be with his son and apologizes for going, telling her it was not much of a first date, but after he leaves, April says to herself it was perfect.

Maggie and Sharon go to Molly's for a drink and Maggie asks about Sharon's husband Bert. Sharon tells her that Bert is still fixed on going traveling and is now taking lessons in speaking the Hindi language.