The Fog of War

Season 1, Episode 12

Mario and Heather share a romantic moment.

**The Fog of War** is the twelfth episode of the first season of **Code Black**.

## Short Summary

As the doctors treat patients from the chaotic multi-vehicle accident, a love triangle begins to build between Mario, Angus and Heather. Also, when Malaya learns that Carla is at the hospital, she goes against Carla's wishes and stays by her side during the delivery of her baby.

## Full Summary

Neal sees a phone ringing with a call from "Mom" as he searches for Christa, Mario, and Heather. A nearby car has a woman with a black tag on her.

Christa continues to ventilate Elliot as they wait for help to arrive. Lily says the stars are beautiful and Christa agrees. She also notes that the fog is lifting. She gets an idea and says she has something she wants Lily to do.

Heather and Mario continue to try in vain to save Gary's wife. She's barely alive, but he tells them to keep working.

Jocelyn has arrived at the hospital. They have 500cc of output from her chest tube. Her pupils are responsible, but she's unarousable. Hypoxic injury is likely. Rollie asks about the chest tube and Malaya says she did it solo. Gina calls that she needs to talk to Leanne and tells Leanne to find a moment to do it.

Neal asks a medic if she's seen any of the doctors from Angels. She hasn't, but offers him a ride, which he declines.

Lily is flashing the headlights in her mother's car. She says she's using morse code for SOS. Katherine says she's a Girl Scout.

Rollie checks on Carla. He says Malaya's back. He asks again if he can tell Malaya Carla's there. Carla refuses. She says when she refused treatment, Malaya was done with her. Rollie says Malaya just cared about her. Carla just wants to will herself to live longer for the baby. Malaya won't help her do that. He reluctantly agrees and says he's there for her. As he goes to leave, she tells him good morning and notes that she made it one more day, like she said she would.

Neal looks over the edge and calls out. Christa replies and says she has two red tags and one green. He tells her they're coming to get them.

Leanne enters Gina's office, which she has settled into. She says they're slammed, so whatever Gina needs has to be quick. Gina asks what happened in the field. She got a call from Miles. They're initiating an investigation into Leanne and Neal. Gina asks for information about the situation. Leanne says Connie survived. Gina asks why she ignored a black tag. Leanne says she did it to save a life, which they did. Gina reminds her that Jocelyn is still in a coma and they don't know if she'll make it. Leanne stands by her decision and leaves. Gina says she is trying to help. Leanne doesn't want her help. Gina quips that she doesn't want to floss, but if she wants to keep smiling ...

Lily asks when help will come and Christa tells her soon. They start to hear the sound of a helicopter. A light shines down on them. Christa tells Katherine she can get excited, but she can't move.

Mario and Heather stop CPR and tell Gary his wife has died. He refuses to accept it. He points the gun at each of them and then starts to break down crying. He then puts the gun to his own head. He says this way, he gets to see her again. Mario jumps at Gary and there's a gun shot.

Rollie greets Mario at an ambulance. He gives report on Gary, who shot himself in the head. A cop wants to talk to Mario, but he says he has to help Gary first.

They work on Gary. The bullet didn't penetrate his brain. Mario wants to rush to treatment, but Rollie shows him not to skip steps.

Jesse tells Leanne that he's on her side. She wasn't aware people were taking sides. He looks at her and asks if she's okay.

Neal brings in Elliot. Leanne is surprised to see his crike, saying it's been a hell of a night when she learns Christa did it with a child's help.

Christa tells Lily she has to get back to work and she's going to leave Lily at the nurses' station. Christa tells Lily she saved her mom and brother's lives. Lily says they both did.

They work on Elliot in Center Stage. They go to remove the crike, but Leanne says they could lose the airway that way and they instead put the new tube over the pen. His condition starts to improve.

Mario is working and says his gloves are sticky. He pulls one off and sees that he's bleeding. Rollie asks Angus to stitch it up. Mario says he's fine, but Rollie says he needs to step out. He sends Heather to go talk to him.

Neal has Risa page surgery. They're not done, but he'll need a proper tracheotomy. Elliot starts choking. He's bleeding around the tube. They need to get him into surgery immediately. Leanne tells Risa to page Cole, but she tells Leanne Cole didn't come in. Neal says he'll do it himself if there's an OR available.

Heather is stitching Mario. She says her niece cried less when Heather bandaged her knee. Mario talks about how they could have stopped Gary while Heather continues to talk about her niece. Mario thinks they could have done better. Heather disagrees. They just followed protocol. He asks her about Doc McStuffins. He says he's going to call her that now. She leans in and kisses him. They're interrupted by a door opening.

Neal tells Leanne he can fix Elliot's problem easily and asks about Jocelyn. She's getting scans. She hasn't woken up yet. Neal knows they're getting investigated, but Leanne says she's certain they did the right thing. Neal says she always taught them that the other thing worse than no confidence is overconfidence. Neal's glad they saved Connie, but he's not sure that makes them right.

Malaya finds Rollie and asks him about Carla. She's upset he didn't tell her. He says Carla asked him not to. Malaya thinks Carla doesn't want to see her, but Rollie says she doesn't mean it. He tells her where to find Carla. It's the right thing to do.

Angus finds Heather. He says if she needs to talk about anything, but she says she's fine. He says she can't say what she went through was easy. She blames herself because she told Mario to black tag her. Angus says it wasn't her fault. She hugs him and says she didn't think they'd make it out of there alive. She apologizes for being a mess, but he says she's not. He tells her he's there if she needs him.

Jocelyn is still putting out a lot of blood, more than she should be. Leanne says it can't be coming from her chest. She orders blood. An ultrasound image shows that the tube punctured her liver. Just then, her sister walks in. They clamp off the tube and Leanne says to call CT surgery. Her sister is shocked and Leanne finally notices her. Diana says Jocelyn called her from the accident and she was fine. She asks what they meant about Jocelyn's liver. Leanne says they're doing everything they can for her. Diana is led away. Leanne tells Malaya no one's blaming her. Malaya says they should and they should blame Leanne, too.

Christa says her last crike before Elliot's was in medical school on a cadaver. Neal works on him. Neal says on his medical school graduation day, he got into a fight with his parents because he refused to pose for a picture with them. He was being told he was a doctor, but he hadn't felt any different. What Christa felt in the field is normal, but what she did was brave. She asks if the fear ever goes away. He doesn't think so, but says you get better at not showing it. He tells her she's a great doctor and she should admit that.

Leanne enters Cole's office. Rollie says Cole packed up last night and Rollie just found out himself. This is the same thing that happened in San Francisco. It's what Cole does. He leaves. He comes on strong, like nothing can rattle him. But the rattle's inside him. Rollie apologizes for vouching for Cole. Leanne says Cole's lucky to have a father who would do that.

Angus asks Mario about his hand. He also tells Mario that Heather was really upset about what happened. He says Mario doesn't have to pretend he didn't go through something terrifying. Angus then says he's thinking about asking Heather out on a date. He thinks they're connecting. Mario says that's awesome, but excuses himself.

Jesse says he heard about Cole and asks Leanne if she's okay. She says they lost a good doctor. When she sees the look on his face, she tells him he doesn't know anything. She's looking through Jocelyn's chart. Malaya is upset about what happened, but Jesse says she's had a rough day. Leanne needs Jocelyn to wake up and Jesse offers to check on her.

Jesse says it was a war zone and you can't judge people on moment like that. They all did the best they could. Malaya's still worried about Jocelyn. Jesse says at least they were brave enough to fight. He was upstairs in his pajamas. Malaya asks about Carla. Jesse doesn't understand them. They love each other and that's all they need to know now. He says there's nothing she can do with Jocelyn but wait. And there's everything she can do by Carla's bedside. He says he'll watch her.

Mario tests Gary's cognitive function. He's been awake for half an hour. Heather thinks he's lucky when he answers the questions easily, but then Mario asks him again if he knows what year it is. He doesn't, nor does he know his name. He has only immediate recall. Gary can't remember anything that happened. Mario tells him he tried to kill himself. He doesn't remember that or his wife.

Malaya enters Carla's room. She tells Carla she looks good, but Carla tells her not to lie. Carla says she missed Malaya. Malaya says she's not going anywhere. Malaya says she's the most unlucky patient in America, to get a brain tumor on top of everything else. Malaya says they want to start pitocin to induce labor. Carla maintains that she's not dying that day. Every day longer she makes it is better for her son. Malaya says it can't wait anymore. Time's up for Carla, but not for her son, which is what Carla wanted. She named her son Phillip, after her father. She asks Malaya to promise her she can hold her son before she dies. She starts to cry and Malaya holds her.

Neal tells Lily her brother's surgery went well. He'll be okay, but he can't talk until he's healed. Katherine thanks them for what they've done. Neal tests her reflexes. He's suspicious when she says she can feel it and tests her. She's lying about being able to feel her feet.

Jocelyn is still bleeding internally. They need to take her into surgery. Diana says it's their fault what happened and they need to save her.

Neal says there are no ORs open, but Jocelyn needs surgery. She says Neal needs to repair the liver himself. They move Jocelyn to Center Stage. Neal says he'd need a team of surgeons. Leanne has another idea. She uses a balloon catheter to divert blood flow away from the liver to buy them time. Gina tries to stop them, but they are out of options. Gina offers to look the other way while they do what they need to do.

Jocelyn's in shock. What they're about to do is very dangerous, but it's their last chance. They use x-rays to check their progress as they put in the balloon. After some difficulty, they inflate the balloon. It's in the perfect spot and Jocelyn stabilizes. It worked. They take her upstairs for surgery.

Mario asks Heather if she'd want to remember if she were Gary. She wouldn't want to forget her whole life, but he says he'd rather not know. Mario says they can't do that again. Heather asks if he means get held at gun point, but he means the kissing. It doesn't feel right, but he won't tell her why.

Carla screams as she prepares to give birth. He's close. She pushes one more time and he's born. They have to intubate him immediately. Carla crashes. She has no pulse. Malaya tries to arouse her, saying she promised Carla would meet her son.

Carla's still crashing. Her tumor has caused cerebral edema. Malaya says they're both stubborn and powerful. She needs to be those things one more time and hang on. She says she knows Carla stole her dress and stained it. Carla stabilizes and squeezes Malaya's hand. The OB/GYN offers to call for an ICU bed, but Malaya says she's not looking for more care. The only thing she needs is for them to get her son down there as soon as possible.

Christa tells Katherine Elliot will need rehab, but all he'll have left in a few months is a scar. Katherine says her kids were brave in the woods. Christa tells Katherine she knows she's being brave. And that she can't feel anything in her legs. Christa can't promise she'll regain full movement, but she's hopeful. She says she doesn't need to lie to her kids. Lily wheels Elliot into the room. Christa excuses herself. Katherine tells her kids to come over so she can talk to them.

Christa tells Neal she's on her way to bed and asks him to come. He's shocked. She goes to leave, but he says there are people who are there to talk to her. Press. He's serious this time. There's a picture of her being hoisted from the ravine that's gone viral. Neal points the press out to her. She asks if he's okay. He says to tell them what happened and she deserves the credit. She asks how she looks and he says she's beautiful. She thanks him for what he did and Christa goes to talk to the press. Leanne tells Neal to come see.

Jocelyn is awake and she spoke. Neal says that's the best news he's heard all day. Leanne asks if he thinks they made a bad call. He says all's well that ends well, but that's not what she asked.

Malaya is still sitting with Carla. Leanne peeks in the window. Malaya goes outside to talk to her. She tells Leanne about Carla's baby, whom Leanne says is strong. Leanne tells Malaya Jocelyn's alive and she's going to make it. Malaya apologizes for what she said, but Leanne says she was right to say it. Leanne put Malaya in a terrible situation and she's sorry. Malaya didn't fail Jocelyn at all. Leanne keeps asking herself if she would have gone after Connie if she hadn't met her son. The answer is no, so the decision she made was emotion. If Jocelyn had died ..., but she didn't. Leanne tells Malaya to get back in Carla's room where she belongs. The time is precious.

They wheel Phillip to Carla's bedside. She wants him closer, but Malaya says she'll do better. She pulls Carla's gown down and puts Phillip on her chest.

Angus says it might be above his pay grade, but he's sorry about Rollie's son. Rollie says kindness isn't above anyone's pay grade. Angus says Cole would realize how lucky he was if he had Angus's father. Rollie says no one gets an instructional manual. He'd be better at it now than he was then. Angus asks if he wants to test that. Angus asks him for fatherly advice about Heather. Rollie says there's no such thing as out of his league. Rollie tells him to feel the fear and do it anyway. He already knew that, but he had to hear it anyway.

Heather finds Mario in the locker room. He tries to send her away, but they end up kissing again. He pushes her up against the locker and opens her shirt.

Malaya is outside the hospital. Jesse comes out. He heard about Carla and he's sorry. Jesse says Phillip will know how special Carla was because Malaya will tell him. Malaya says she got to see him, which is good. Malaya hugs Jesse.

## Cast

* Leanne Rorish
* Neal Hudson
* Christa Lorenson
* Malaya Pineda
* Rollie Guthrie
* Angus Leighton
* Mario Savetti
* Jesse Sallander
* Gina Perello
* Heather Pinkney
* Katherine Lembeck
* Gary Martin
* Lindsey Calhoun
* Lily Lembeck
* Jocelyn Barry
* Diana Barry
* Carla Niven
* Risa Park
* Amy Wolowitz
* Elliot Lembeck
* Medic
* Cop
* OB Nurse
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### Main Cast

* Marcia Gay Harden as Dr. Leanne Rorish
* Raza Jaffrey as Dr. Neal Hudson
* Bonnie Somerville as Dr. Christa Lorenson
* Melanie Chandra as Dr. Malaya Pineda
* William Allen Young as Dr. Rollie Guthrie
* Harry Ford as Dr. Angus Leighton
* Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dr. Mario Savetti
* Luis Guzmán as Jesse Sallander

### Guest Starring

* Christina Vidal as Dr. Gina Perello
* Jillian Murray as Dr. Heather Pinkney
* Amy Stewart as Katherine Lembeck
* Neil Hopkins as Gary Martin
* Lisa Kaminir as Lindsey Calhoun
* Maggie Elizabeth Jones as Lily Lembeck
* Shinelle Azoroh as Jocelyn Barry
* Ogy Durham as Diana Barry
* Shiri Appleby as Dr. Carla Niven

### Co-Starring

* Angela Relucio as Risa Park
* Gabrielle Carteris as Amy Wolowitz
* Chase Ellison as Elliot Lembeck
* Jessica Leigh Gonzales as Medic
* Matthew Jones as Cop
* Ericka Kreutz as OB Nurse

## Medical Notes

### Katherine Lembeck

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Broken neck

* **Doctors:**
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**

Katherine was found and taken to the hospital. At the hospital, they tested her reflexes and she was unable to feel anything in her feet, though she lied and said she could. Christa said she was hopeful Katherine would regain some feeling.

### Elliot Lembeck

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Fractured trachea

* **Doctors:**
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Surgery

Elliot, 16, was found and taken to the hospital. They put in an endotracheal tube, but he started choking. They rushed him to the OR, where Neal operated on him. After surgery, he was told he'd be okay. His mom was told he'd need rehab, but he'd be okay.

### Lisa Martin

* **Diagnosis:**

* **Doctors:**
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*
	+ Heather Pinkney *(surgical resident)*

* **Treatment:**

Mario and Heather continued to try to resuscitate Lisa, though she was barely hanging on. When she eventually died, Gary refused to accept it.

### Jocelyn Barry

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Pneumothorax
	+ Hypoxic injury
	+ Punctured liver

* **Doctors:**
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Rollie Guthrie *(ER physician)*
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Malaya Pineda *(ER resident)*
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Chest tube
	+ REBOA
	+ Surgery

Jocelyn had decreased, but equal breath sounds in the ER. Her chest tube was intact and draining. Her lungs were no longer collapsed and her pupils were round and reactive, but she was still totally unarousable, leading Leanne to suspect hypoxic injury due to the prolonged time it took to place the chest tube. When her chest tube put out more blood, they realized the blood wasn't coming from her chest. Leanne did an ultrasound that revealed the chest tube punctured her liver, which is what caused all the blood output. They clamped it off and called cardiothoracic surgery. When she continued to decline and there was no OR available, Leanne decided to insert a balloon to reroute the blood. They got it in the right spot and she stabilized for surgery. After surgery, she was awake and stable and able to speak.

### Carla Niven

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Pregnancy
	+ Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
	+ Brain tumor

* **Doctors:**
	+ Rollie Guthrie *(ER physician)*
	+ Lindsey Calhoun *(OB/GYN)*
	+ Malaya Pineda *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Vaginal delivery

Carla continued to refused to allow them to deliver the baby. Malaya had to tell her time was up and they needed to deliver the baby. Carla requested that she get to hold him before she died. They gave her pitocin and delivered the abby. After he was born, she coded from cerebral edema. They were able to resuscitate her and she got to hold her son before she died.

### Gary Martin

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Gun shot wound
	+ Memory loss

* **Doctors:**
	+ Rollie Guthrie *(ER physician)*
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*
	+ Heather Pinkney *(surgical resident)*
	+ Angus Leighton *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Bandaging

Gary shot himself in the head after his wife died. He was taken to the ER, where they tried to stop the bleeding. When he woke up afterward, he was unable to remember the events that led up to him shooting himself.

### Mario Savetti

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Hand laceration

* **Doctors:**
	+ Heather Pinkney *(surgical resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Stitches

Mario pulled off his glove and discovered that he was bleeding. Heather stitched him up.

### Phillip Niven

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Prematurity

* **Doctors:**
	+ Lindsey Calhoun *(OB/GYN)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Intubation

Phillip was born at 30 weeks and had to be immediately intubated. His mother was able to hold him for a while before she died.

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 6.66 million viewers.