You Are the Heart

Season 1, Episode 8

Carla confronts Malaya.

**You Are the Heart** is the eighth episode of the first season of **Code Black**.

## Short Summary

Christa has her busiest shift yet when she is responsible for all emergencies at Angels Memorial that occur outside of the E.R. Also, Mario bonds with an older patient with HIV, Malaya starts a bone marrow drive for Carla (Shiri Appleby) and Leanne refuses a date with Cole (Cress Williams).

## Full Summary

Jesse tells the doctors the prayers of the people of Los Angeles have been answered and it's raining. Unfortunately, that also means they'll have a busy night. He sends them up to the roof and wishes them good luck. He's not coming because it's raining. While they wait for the elevator, Mario does dips between the gurneys. Malaya is texting Christa, who hasn't shown up for work and isn't responding. Mario says he still made it on time and his car is busted. Angus asks why he didn't say something because Mario is on his way to work and he could have picked Mario up. Christa comes in and Malaya updates her on the situation. Leanne comes up and says Christa's late. She takes the others with her up to the roof. Neal comes by and on their way up to the roof, he asks if she got any sleep. She says no and asks if he did. He feels responsible for her not getting sleep. She says it's not his fault. He tells her she has the code bag for the night. She's responsible for all the crashes in the hospital outside the ER. Everything she needs is in the bag. As the elevator opens, he asks if she can handle it and she says she can.

The flight medics unload Killian Wahler and Sophie, who were on a boat that capsized. Killian was pulseless on the scene. Sophie had a broken leg and was in and out of consciousness. Killian was so cold, they couldn't get a read on his temperature.

In the ER, Sophie is at 90.1°. She's frantically trying to undress herself, a sign of hypothermia. Her femur is broken, so they put it in a splint and warm her.

Killian's temp is in the 80s, so they rush to warm him with warm saline. Leanne counts the people in the area and assigns them to do six-minute CPR shifts and continue to do so until his temp is normal. He's not dead until he's warm and dead. They're his heart until he's warm.

Angus tags in Mario for his turn at compressions. Amy looks in Killian's things and finds a ring. They deduce he was going to propose. Killian's temp is up and he's back in sinus rhythm. Leanne comes in and says they're ignoring the first rule. He could have underlying damage. They relied too much on the monitors and didn't look at the patient. The ultrasound shows blood in his abdomen. She has them get a scan and page a surgeon.

Sophie is worried about Killian as Malaya tries to orient her. He wanted to do something special. He wasn't worried about the weather because he's been sailing his whole life. She thinks he's dead. Neal comes in and looks at her x-ray. Her femur fracture is displaced. Neal tries to talk to her about that, but she's more worried about Killian. He saved her life. He made sure she stayed on top of the boat out of the water. He couldn't climb up, so he floated next to her. She thought he was dead when he stopped talking. Neal tells her Killian's still alive and fighting.

Malaya has set up a bone marrow drive for Malaya. 64 people have been tested so far. Angus goes in to get himself tested as well. He asks how Carla's doing and Malaya says she's not the best patient. If she knew Malaya was doing the drive, it wouldn't be happening. Angus says pushing it on her might not be the best choice. Angus says it's a complicated situation because she's pregnant. Angus said if he were Carla, he'd be pissed if he found out what she was doing. Malaya says she'll tell Carla when the drive is over and they've maybe found a match. Malaya says it's fine if he doesn't want to do it. He says he's never won the lotto, but he's going to win this.

Paramedics bring in Rebecca Kahn. She was transferred from another hospital that couldn't handle her case. She was in a car accident and had neck stiffness. Her son, Randell, was examined and cleared. Randell says this ruined their vacation. Rebecca says someone just plowed into them. Christa looks at Rebecca's examine and immediately goes to stabilize her neck. She asks for a collar and a bed in the neuroICU. She has a cervical fracture and needs a halo. She'll need surgery. Rebecca asks about Randell. Christa asks Taylor to page social worker. He says it'll be tough to get one. Christa says Rebecca's husband is out of state, but Randell says they're getting divorced. Christa gets a page from the code bag and has to leave. She tells them to take Rebecca upstairs and hands Randell over to Taylor. Randell asks Taylor to take him to a restaurant, which is where they were headed when they were in the accident. Taylor says he's working. He asks Randell if he's ever raked leaves or had a paper route, but Randell doesn't know what a paper route is. Taylor tells Randell to follow him and not look at any of the gory stuff.

Mario is surprised that Angus needs his signature to get a scan for a patient. Angus tells him to sign. Ted Banks is waiting impatiently nearby. Angus asks Mario if he still has the ring. When Ted asks about it, Angus tells him the story of Killian and Sophie. It's like Titanic. Ted says the raft was big enough for both of them, but Angus says it wasn't. Rollie comes up and asks what they have. Ted's there for exhaustion. Rollie examines him and says he founds fine. He just keeps getting bone tired. Sometimes has shortness of breath. He's also HIV+, since the Reagan administration. He's a survivor. Rollie orders labs and says it's wonderful to meet Ted. Ted looks at Mario and Angus and asks if they're a thing. They both deny it and Angus takes Ted to get labs.

Christa enters a room where a dermatologist is standing with his coding patient. He was having a routine skin biopsy. Christa sees that it's a shockable rhythm. She pulls out the defibrillator and shocks him back into sinus rhythm. She also orders an EKG and an ICU bed. She asks if dermatologists really don't know how to use a defibrillator. He says he hasn't done CPR in 20 years and policy is to call the code bag. She's glad to be of help and leaves.

Leanne asks Cole why Killian's not getting an ER for his splenic rupture. They disagree about the severity of the rupture. She says she was just with him, and insists that Killian needs surgery. Cole says he was just with Killian, too, and still doesn't think he needs surgery. Leanne asks him what happened to him in San Francisco. He says nothing happened. He says he needs to get to surgery.

Ted says old age isn't for sissies and asks Angus is he knows who said that originally. Angus guesses Joan Rivers. Ted calls him an idiot and says it's Bette Davis. Mario thinks she was on Golden Girls. Mario goes to do a blood draw. When he pulls the needle out, he accidentally sticks himself. He looks at Ted in horror, but then proceeds as if nothing happened.

Ted is on the phone. He tells someone he forgot to feed his cat and to call him if he's in town. Mario examines Ted. Ted asks what his bloodwork said. It hasn't come back yet. Ted then asks what Mario's said. He knows Mario got stuck. He asks what he's going to do. Mario says he's definitely not entering it into the system because he'll have mountains of paperwork to fill out if he does. Mario says he's going to put in a temporary pacemaker to get Ted's heart rate back up. Ted says Mario should take a few Truvada. It's what all the boys do these days. Ted talks about growing up gay in Ohio. He quotes Oscar Wilde. He says he screwed half of San Francisco with just a rotary telephone. Imagine what he could have done with all the apps they have today. Ted says they didn't know and even if they did, Mario can't say he never went out and did something he regretted the next day. Mario asks if he wants to call anyone, but Ted says all his friends are either dead or in Palm Springs.

**1:09 AM**

**Code: Black**

Killian's BP has declined. He's lost consciousness. They give him fluids and start a new line. He has a lot of blood in his belly. Leanne wants an OR, but Taylor says it's not going to happen. Leanne says she didn't raise him from the dead to see him die. They move him to Center Stage. Randell asks Taylor what's happening. He says the shit's hitting the fan in a less profane way. Leanne tells him to page Cole and tell him she was right. He'll know what she means. Taylor tells Randell not to worry.

Mario calls in a prescription for Truvada for himself using Angus's information.

Carla confronts Malaya in the supply closet. Carla is angry and asks Malaya what she's doing. She's angry that Malaya is holding a bone marrow drive. Carla says she doesn't want their help. Doing nothing gets her a healthy baby, but treatment gives her a 6% chance of being alive after three years. She's not going to induce at 24 weeks for a 6% chance. Malaya says 24 weeks is doable, but Carla doesn't think it is. Malaya doesn't want to sit by and watch Carla die. Carla says she thought that she'd have Malaya back in her life for whatever time she had left, but clearly, she was wrong.

Cole admits he was wrong. He says they're going to remove Killian's spleen. He asks Nurse Kim to get blood. When she goes to the computer, he asks her what she's doing. She tries to explain that she has to get the order first, but he grabs the computer and throws it. She says she'll be right back with the blood. When Leanne looks at him, he asks if she ever threw a computer. She says she threw one once, through a glass window.

Cole prepares to open Killian. He asks Kim to get his phone to play music because he always listens to music when he operates. Jesse tells her to hold on for a minute and then demands that Cole apologize to her for how he treated her. Cole apologizes and then prepares to open. He tells Leanne to pick a song. He has everything. She passes, so he chooses a song himself.

Sophie is up and walking, trying to find Killian. Malaya tells her she has to lie back down and leads her back to a bed. She says she'll park it right outside, but Sophie has to lie down. She loves him, but she has to take care of herself, too.

Ted is getting worse. He's in complete heart block. He asks if this is the plague coming back to bite him, because he's been a compliant patient. Rollie says it's just his heart. It's not working optimally anymore. Ted is shocked that he's actually lived long enough to die of something other than AIDS. It's a dark victory. Rollie says he's going to increase the voltage on the pads, which will hurt a bit. Ted asks Mario to call his friend, Bruce, for him if he doesn't make it. He needs someone to feed his cat.

Cole is still operating. Leanne asks for a song by The Who. Cole's never heard of them. Leanne mentions another song by them and Cole calls it white people music. Leanne says she listens to Stevie Wonder, but doesn't call it black people music. He says she should. They don't get credit for anything. He then asks Jesse and Leanne what the Mama and Daddy thing is, but Jesse just says it's a long story. Killian's starting to improve, but Cole gets paged away. He says he'll be back. As he leaves, he tells Leanne that was hot. Jesse tells Leanne she's sweating.

As Leanne leaves, she sees Sophie. She tells Sophie Killian will be just fine and sends her back to her room.

Mario is threading a catheter into Ted's heart to try to correct his rhythm. After the procedure, Ted falls asleep. Rollie comments that his generation of gay men are the end of an era. There are a lot of people standing on their shoulders. He asks Mario why he's mad at Ted, but Mario says he's mad at himself, not Ted.

Taylor asks Randell if he wants to go to sleep. It's 3 AM. Randell says he just blew up three cars and got a hooker. Randell asks if Taylor has a wife or any kids. He says one wife and one kid. He asks Randell about his parents' divorce. Randell says he doesn't care, but Taylor says his parents got divorced and he cared. Randell asks what it was like. Taylor says they'll feel guilty, so he can get a lot of stuff if he plays his cards right. But his parents still love him just as much as they ever did.

Christa answers another code bag page. It's Rebecca, still in the halo. They can't take the halo off and Christa says she can't intubate with it on. She sends the nurse to find the wrench to take it off.

Sophie has a mid-shaft femur fracture and has blood pooling in her thigh. Malaya says she walked around. Leanne scolds Malaya for letting her watch Center Stage. She has no pulse in her lower leg, so they need to act quickly or she'll lose the leg. Malaya goes to reduce the leg dislocation. It doesn't work because the bone is stuck. Neal tries, but is also failed. They have to use guidance to reduce it.

The nurse got no response from neuro for the wrench. Christa pulls out the phone and calls Neal. He doesn't answer. The nurse says maintenance is working on it. Christa says she can't wait any longer and she has to try to intubate with the halo still on. She has the nurse push meds as she tries to intubate. She tells the nurse to prepare a crash cart. After difficulty, she's able to get the tube in and manually ventilates Rebecca.

They're working on Sophie's leg. They're able to reduce her fracture, restoring blood flow to her leg. Neal goes to get a splint. Leanne tells Malaya not to paint herself into a corner again.

Angus asks Mario what he did. No judgment, but he knows Mario ordered truvada for himself using Angus's information. Mario admits that he got stuck when he was doing Ted's labs. Angus says he could have gotten in trouble, but Mario says he could have gotten HIV. Angus says the odds are low, even lower with Truvada. Angus says this is what friends do. They talk. He asks if Mario's ever had a friend, but Mario just says screw him and leaves.

Christa greets Randell outside his mom's room. She tells him his mom's going to be okay. She tells him not to be scared, but Taylor says he doesn't get scared. Randell and Taylor walk into the room.

Neal checks in with Christa. He knows she called. He was busy, but he wasn't supposed to answer anyway. If she wasn't ready, she wouldn't be there. She thanks him. He says they shouldn't have that the drinks. It made this awkward. She says it didn't for her. She's not thinking about anything but being a best possible doctor. Neal says she's already a legend downstairs. A medical journal called. He's just joking, though.

Ted is sitting up. He tells Mario he's feeling nervous. His vitals are okay, but he's BP's a little low. Ted asks Mario to tell him a story about himself. Ted sees Mario and he feels like he's looking at himself at Mario's age. The same bravado, steely eyes, the conquests, the wall around his heart. Ted says to tell a story. Start with, "I remember when." He suggests some possibilities, but Mario interjects that he remembers when they forgot him. They couldn't find his parents for a whole weekend. He stayed with his teacher, Mrs. Clarke. When they found his mother, he didn't want to go back. He liked Mrs. Clarke's house, with clean sheets and a full fridge. Ted repeats that they're the same, exactly the same. Mario says Ted was right about the raft being big enough for both of them. Ted tells Mario he doesn't want to end up alone, like Ted. Ted flatlines. Mario tells Ted he has more stories to tell and starts CPR.

Jesse tells Malaya the lab's not taking any more swabs. Malaya says Carla shut it down. She wants to save the baby. Jesse says the problem with medicine is that there's sometimes not a good answer. Jesse says it's a miracle the two of them lasted so long. Malaya's a thinking and Carla's a feeler. She wants Carla to listen to the science, but she feels something inside her and she's listening to that. Malaya can't understand that. She doesn't know how to do that.

Killian is awake. He doesn't remember anything about his experience with death. Leanne says he was fearless. He did everything to save Sophie and he did. Sophie is wheeled into his room. She tells him she's okay. He says he wanted to ask her something on the boat, but he didn't get the chance. He pulls out the ring and she opens the box and starts to cry and says yes.

Taylor asks how Killian and Sophie are doing. Leanne tells him they're alive and in love. He says at least someone's happy. He got in trouble for taking him to the observation deck. He has to go to a hearing on Friday. He's thinking about spending more time on his boat, The Wet Dream.

Rollie tells Mario it's no one's fault. Ted's heart just finally gave out. He asks about the friend Ted asked them to call. Mario offers to make the call and Rollie tells him they have to call the morgue for the body. He shouldn't have died alone, but Mario says he didn't.

Cole catches Leanne as she's leaving. He asks her out on a date. She says she doesn't want to go out with him. He asks if it's because he's black or because he has a temper. She says he's Rollie's son, for starters. Then she says she doesn't go out. Ever. He knows what happened to her, the accident. He says he's sorry. He tells her about finding his mother after she killed herself. He's a gold medalist in the grief Olympics. She just tells him good night and leaves. He says it's okay and she's just not ready yet. He tells her to have a good morning and it stopped raining.

## Cast

* Leanne Rorish
* Neal Hudson
* Christa Lorenson
* Malaya Pineda
* Rollie Guthrie
* Angus Leighton
* Mario Savetti
* Jesse Sallander
* Cole Guthrie
* Ted Banks
* Killian Wahler
* Sophie
* Rebecca Kahn
* Randell Kahn
* Carla Niven
* Mark Taylor
* Risa Park
* Isabel Mendez
* Amy Wolowitz
* Nurse Kim
* Nurse
* Medic #1
* Medic #2
* Medic #3
* Phlebotomist (left)
* Dermatologist
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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

* Cress Williams as Dr. Cole Guthrie
* Stephen Spinella as Ted Banks
* Zach Bostrom as Killian Wahler
* Sara Paxton as Sophie
* Linara Washington as Rebecca Kahn
* Sayeed Shahidi as Randell Kahn
* Shiri Appleby as Dr. Carla Niven
* Kevin Dunn as Dr. Mark Taylor

### Co-Starring

* Angela Relucio as Risa Park
* Ellia English as as Isabel Mendez
* Gabrielle Carteris as Amy Wolowitz
* Carmella Riley as Nurse Kim
* Ursula Burton as Nurse
* Lyn Alicia Henderson as Medic #1
* Stephen Chang as Medic #2
* Deus Xavier Scott as Medic #3
* Elaine Mani Lee as Phlebotomist
* Peter James Smith as Dermatologist

## Medical Notes

### Sophie

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Stage III hypothermia
	+ Mid-shaft femur fracture

* **Doctors:**
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Malaya Pineda *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Closed reduction

Sophie came into the ER after a boating accident. Her leg was broken, but her vitals were stable. Her temperature was down to just 90°. She was trying to undress herself due to hypothermia. Her fracture was displaced. Later, she got up and tried walking. Her leg started to swell with blood. The bone sheared off the vessels along the bone. She had no pulse in her lower leg, so they tried to reduce the fracture to restore blood flow. Two attempts failed because the bone was up against a tendon. They used guidance to reduce the leg exactly as needed. She stabilized.

### Killian Wahler

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Hypothermia
	+ Splenic laceration

* **Doctors:**
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Cole Guthrie *(general surgeon)*
	+ Angus Leighton *(ER resident)*
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Active warming
	+ Surgery

Killian came into the ER after a boat he was in capsized and stranded him in the water. He was pulseless for over 20 minutes after being pulled from the water. His temp was so low it couldn't be read, so they used active warming to get it back up. Leanne set up shifts of CPR to cycle through until he was warmed up. Once his temp was up to mid-90s, they were able to get a pulse, but his blood pressure was low. He had a bruise that indicated blood and a bleed was found in his left abdomen. Leanne diagnosed a grade IV splenic laceration, but argued with Cole, who felt it was grade II at best and believed it would resolve itself. His blood pressure tanked and Leanne tried to send him to surgery, but there wasn't an OR available, so Leanne took him back to center stage. Cole then helped open him up in the ER and repair the laceration.

### Rebecca Kahn

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Cervical fracture

* **Doctors:**
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Surgery

Rebecca, 38, was transferred from another hospital because it wasn't a trauma center. She'd been in a car accident. Christa looked at her scan from the previous hospital and immediately stabilized her neck after seeing a cervical fracture. She out Rebecca in a neck brace. She had surgery and then coded. Christa was called to intubate her, but she had a halo on her head. She tried to get a wrench to remove the halo, but she couldn't, forcing her to try intubating without removing the halo. She was successful and Rebecca stabilized.

### Ted Banks

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ HIV
	+ Heart block

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

* **Treatment:**
	+ Pacemaker
	+ Pacing catheter

Ted, 64, came into the ER with exhaustion and occasional shortness of breath. He also said he was HIV+. When his heart rate dropped, they put him on a temporary pacemaker. He then progressed to complete heart block, so they increased the voltage. Then they threaded a pacing catheter into his heart. He later coded and was unable to be resuscitated.

### Code Patient

* **Diagnosis:**

* **Doctors:**
	+ Dermatologist
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**

A patient getting a skin biopsy coded. Christa defibrillated and was able to restore sinus rhythm. She recommended an ekg and an ICU bed.

### Mario Savetti

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Accidental needle stick

* **Doctors:**
	+ Angus Leighton *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Truvada

Mario ordered truvada for himself using Angus's name after an accidental needle stick.

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 6.59 million viewers.