Barrett Cain

**Dr. Barrett Cain** was a neurosurgeon and Chief of Surgery at *Chastain Park Memorial Hospital*. He is portrayed by Morris Chestnut.

## Biography

* Intro
* Season Three
* Season Four

**Dr. Barrett Cain** is a neurosurgeon hired by Red Rock Medical to turn around Chastain’s finances and the third villain of the show to appear.

Cain believes himself to be a superhuman physician, capable of curing crippling diseases. He’s charming when he wants to be, but his true personality is that of an utterly ruthless snake on a quest for money and power. He has the ability to exact swift revenge on any who oppose him, even if he is the one in the wrong. Cain does not truly care for his patients or any of his co-workers, only that he can get large payout sums of money from the insurances of the former and that the latter obey him like a flock of sheep, only supporting his ways and not having a thought of their own.

Despite his arrogance and ruthlessness, Cain is shown to not be a total monster. Cain privately admits to Ezra in "Support System" that as an intern, his inaction caused by doubting his instincts cost four patients their lives, but Red Rock and Ezra's mother, who was a mentor to Cain at the time, stepped in to save his job. In the present, after his patient Dawn Long is diagnosed with *candida auris*, Cain is insistent on coming forward due to the health risk, but Logan Kim threatens to expose Cain's mistakes as an intern if he does. Cain enlists Ezra's help to treat Sophia, an EMT who transported Dawn and got infected, behind Conrad's back. Conrad eventually figures it out on his own and Ezra reluctantly helps Cain cover it up, but Sophia dies. After Ezra reveals the truth, Conrad confronts a visibly-devastated and guilt-ridden Cain about his refusal to come forward and bowing to Red Rock, which cost someone their life as Conrad and Cain may have been able to save Sophia if he'd just told the truth. As Conrad leaves, Cain silently begins crying.

In "Burn It All Down," it's revealed that Cain is a former football player who was heading for the NFL before an ACL injury ended his career. The injury caused Cain to become bitter and angry and change, resulting in his girlfriend, Justine, breaking up with him. In the present, Justine arrives at the hospital in need of brain surgery and is reunited with Cain, who she admits regretting letting go of him. At the same time, Cain admits to Nic that there are few people in his life who meant more to him than Justine did. However, Kit Voss' son-in-law, Derek, needs a neurosurgeon to help treat his *candida auris* infection, forcing Conrad and Bell to approach Cain for help. Cain decides to treat both Derek and Justine himself, but Derek develops complications while Justine suffers a seizure, forcing her into immediate surgery. After Cain fixes the problem with Bell's help, Bell orders him to go to Justine while Bell finishes the job on Derek. However, Justine dies, despite Cain's best desperate efforts, leaving him devastated. After the surgery, Cain sits in the OR with Justine's body. The next day, the superbug infestation comes out from an unknown source and Cain stands up to Kim, angry at the cover-up and blackmail he was forced to undergo. Kim subsequently approaches Conrad to be the new face of the hospital and implies that Cain's time at Chastain may be coming to an end.

In "The Accidental Patient", Cain is hit by an ambulance while saving a woman's life and is severely injured. Cain is left in a coma following surgery with it being left unclear if he will ever wake up again.
In "Home Before Dark", Cain regains consciousness as Chastain is shutting down and starts fighting his ventilator, despite his inability to breathe on his own. Cain shows genuine concern for Nic's state, writing a message to Kit that he wants to help. After an elderly patient, Henry, gives Cain a figurine as a gift, Cain offers A.J. a radical solution to Henry's seemingly-hopeless condition, causing AJ to comment that "Cain may be down, but he's definitely not out." Cain's plan works and Henry's life is saved. However, Cain's condition results in him being transferred to the same crowded long-term care facility that Cain had sent his own patients to.
In "Hero Moments", Cain suddenly removes his vent after fighting it and is discovered to now be able to breathe on his own. Visiting Cain, Kit informs him that although his injuries from the accident have been treated, she doubts that he will ever regain more than 50% use of his right hand again and that it will takes weeks, possibly even months, of physical therapy, before Cain can even think about operating again. Cain dismisses Kit and asks to speak to the CEO of Chastain, only to learn that it's Kit herself.
Cain later talks with his lawyer about his still-pending lawsuit over the patient he lied to and caused to get COVID and complications as a result. Cain orders his lawyer to find out who the whistleblower at Chastain is for him.
In "First Days, Last Days", Cain, now using a cane to walk, is released from the care facility and returns to Chastain for his physical therapy, but he doesn't do well. Cain clashes with Devon's sickle-cell anemia patient Rose Williams, admitting that without his surgical career, he doesn't know who he is. However, his continuing bad attitude leads Rose to snap back at him that he is being unrealistic about his career. Cain later has a meeting with Kit, who believes that with Cain's lack of success and bad attitude, he likely doesn't have a future at Chastain. Kit agrees to give Cain a little more time before making a final decision and Cain breaks down in the bathroom.
Returning home, Cain is confronted by AJ, who knows that Cain initiated an investigation into Mina after learning that she's the whistleblower, threatening both her career and visa. AJ threatens Cain to call it off, but when he tries to, Cain learns that it's too late and he can't stop what's been put into motion.
In "After the Storm," Cain has returned to work and refuses Kit's orders to take Billie Sutton on as his new resident given that his last residents almost killed him. However, Kit forces Cain and Billie to work together. As a tornado strikes the hospital, Rose returns, having suffered a fall and a minor head injury. Cain actively avoids Rose which is noted by Billie along with their obvious chemistry. Devon manages to call Cain after being trapped with a patient who has a piece of metal impaled in his head and Cain starts to walk Devon and surgical intern Leela through performing emergency brain surgery using just the man's power tools. However, the two lose the call and are forced to perform the surgery without Cain's guidance. Once the two and their patient are rescued, Cain takes over and congratulates Leela on her incredible work.
As everyone celebrates at a bar at night, Cain sits by himself drinking. Billie finally admits that she does in fact want Cain's job, but instead of putting Cain off, her ambition earns Billie Cain's respect as they are similar to each other and he finally welcomes her to the team. Billie pushes Cain about Rose and Cain finally admits that he's worried about getting close to Rose only to lose her. Cain explains that his ex-girlfriend from college had come into the hospital the year before which had reminded Cain of the past and what could've been only to have her die on his operating table. Billie is sympathetic, but points out to Cain that not taking a chance out of fear of losing someone again will only result in him being alone.
In "Hope in the Unseen," Cain assigns Billie to another doctor as Cain refuses to do surgeries until he's sure that he's fully recovered. Billie pushes Cain to keep trying to start out with a "softball" surgery that he could do in his sleep. Cain takes Billie's advice, but freezes up when a complication occurs. After he fixes it, Cain leaves Billie to finish the surgery. Cain is later approached by Devon who informs him that Rose has given up after she developed an infection and requires dialysis during her gene therapy. Having avoided Rose for weeks, Cain approaches Rose who believes that she has no one and convinces her not to give up, promising not to let her suffer if it comes down to it. Cain convinces Rose to take dialysis which Devon believes will only be temporary.
In "Finding Family," weeks later, Cain and a recovered Rose have entered into a romantic relationship and are seen by Devon and Leela at a coffee shop together. However, Rose is suddenly hit by severe pain and Cain brings her into the ER where Rose fears that her gene therapy has failed and that she's in another sickle cell crisis. Cain remains by her side for most of the time that they are awaiting her results with Conrad handling the case at Devon's request. During this time, in a rare moment, Cain calls Conrad by his first name rather than referring to him as Hawkins as Cain usually does. Cain is out of the room when Devon finally brings Rose the good news: the pain turns out to be from Rose overexerting herself as she enjoys her new lease on life while the tests confirm that the gene therapy had worked and Rose is cured. As Cain returns, Devon leaves Rose to give him the good news. An excited Cain pulls Rose into a hug as they celebrate together.
In "Past, Present, Future," Cain has returned to surgery full-time and he makes an incredibly effective team with Billie. However, Cain reveals to Billie that he has received a job offer from John's Hopkins that he is considering, as John's Hopkins is offering him a lot more money than the now-public hospital Chastain. When asked if he has learned anything from his accident, Cain admits that he now never intends to do something that is good for himself, but bad for his patients. Billie tries to convince Cain to help AJ's mother, Carol, who needs a top neurosurgeon to make up for his actions towards Mina, but Cain refuses, pointing out that she is being transferred to Atlanta General and he hasn't been asked for help by AJ.
Cain departs from the hospital to have lunch with a headhunter from John's Hopkins, who pitches the potential job to Cain, who gets several calls from AJ, but Cain ignores them, frustrating and angering AJ, whose mother's life is on the line without an available neurosurgeon to help her. Billie is forced to perform the operation herself and struggles with a complication when Cain unexpectedly arrives to help despite having ignored all of AJ's phone calls. Cain quickly resolves the complication and he and Billie succeed in saving Carol's life. Afterwards, Cain comforts Billie whose previous attempt at performing a surgery herself had resulted in Billie ruining the patient's life. Cain reassures Billie that she did the right thing and he expresses his pride in Billie's actions and the fact that she's his resident.
Later, as AJ sits at his mother's bedside, Cain visits and states his belief that Carol will likely walk again, but they can't be sure until she regains consciousness. AJ questions how Cain knew since he didn't answer the phone and Cain explains that he knew that AJ would only have ever called him for one reason. AJ thanks Cain, who simply states that helping people is what they do and that he will be back in the morning for rounds. AJ tells Cain that he had thought that he couldn't work under the same roof with Cain, but he has changed his mind. Cain informs AJ of his job offer, but he isn't sure whether he will leave Chastain or not, and he has a big decision to make. Cain then departs with a waiting Rose.