Search

The Good Doctor – S07E07 – Faith | Transcript

Shaun and Jordan's patient is in dire need of a kidney transplant, but when they find the perfect donor, they also discover that he believes he is Jesus which could compromise his ability to give consent to the surgery.
The Good Doctor - S07E07 - Faith

The Good Doctor
Season 7 – Episode 7
Episode title:
Faith
Original air date:
April 30, 2024

Plot: Shaun and Jordan’s patient is in dire need of a kidney transplant, but when they find the perfect donor, they also discover that he believes he is Jesus which could compromise his ability to give consent to the surgery.

* * *

[engine stops]

It might sound extreme, but I’m pretty sure I’m in love.

I thought you had three more nannies to interview.

I do, but Joelle walked through the door, and Steve immediately stopped fussing.

She held him the whole time.

Plus, she speaks Spanish.

Bilingual bonus.

Right? And it will be so much easier to go back to work if I know Steve is happy without me.

But Shaun has reservations.

There’s a whole process involving spreadsheets, ranked voting.

Screw that. Good nannies are hard to find.

You gotta pounce now.

I can’t just make that decision without Shaun.

Your body is no longer tolerating the dialysis, and it is putting you at high risk for stroke or cardiac damage.

We need to start you on continuous renal replacement therapy.

“Continuous” meaning…?

[Jordan] Your mom has to stay here until she receives a kidney transplant.

I want you home, not living in a hospital for years.

It won’t be years.

CRRT is usually only effective for about one week.

And then?

Complications will set in, and without a transplant, she will…

W-We’re going to find a kidney.

The last two donors weren’t compatible.

Suki. Let’s try to stay positive.

How? The video I posted last night asking for donors only has a few hundred views.

I don’t have enough followers.

Come here, baby.

You have such a good heart.

We will place a catheter in your right jugular vein and start CRRT.

Looking forward to my internal medicine rotation with you, Dr. Reznick. I really…

Each of the urine samples needs a dip test.

Each of the stool samples in the poop fridge needs a fecal occult blood test.

Okay. I don’t know how to…

Dip the pee. Dab the poo. Send to the lab.

It’s not rocket science, MacGyver.

But first, that little blond girl, Zelda, needs her TDAP vaccine.

And be careful. She’s a biter.

Excuse me.

Hey.

I saw a video post about a patient here.

Where do I go to donate my kidney?

[theme music playing]

[light-hearted music plays]

[crashing]

I was supposed to raise my legs and slide on my butt.

Did you hear any cracking sounds?

No. I didn’t realize my leg was hurt until we were driving home and the adrenaline wore off.

Did that say 1.6 million views?

Turns out that when your tech-savvy daughter helps you with your bucket list, you end up an influencer.

You’ve got a Grade 4 malignant spinal cord tumor.

How long did they give you?

About a year. 10 months ago.

Which is why I took a break from college.

Spend as much time with him as possible.

Make videos.

And memories.

[Dr. Park] Let’s get x-rays and a CT of the femur.

Get you back on your feet as quick as possible.

Okay, if you’ll lie down, we’ll get you down to radiology.

Jerome, do you mind just unlocking that side?

Sorry. I need to leave.

Yes, hi. It’s Aaron Glassman checking in on those images.

Well, when… [sighs]

They were supposed to be ready today.

Fine. Can you have them call me as soon as they come in, please?

Thank you.

Hi.

I’m Dr. Glassman.

I can just tell you what’s in there.

World-stopping headaches.

Over and over for the past three years.

The only thing that helps is…

Oxycodone 20s.

Yeah.

And then, like a total klutz, this morning, I knocked my pill bottle off the sink, and they all fell into the toilet.

Uh-huh.

Your prescribing doctor is unreachable, and it says here you’re drug-seeking.

After three years of oxy and a revolving door of doctors, that doesn’t surprise me. Forget it.

I’ll find another doctor.

Like I said, total klutz.

Hang on, hang on.

Sit.

I don’t have to listen to you.

I know. You don’t. Please. Sit.

Follow my finger. Look to your left.

All the way to the right.

You have a twitch in your eye. Did you know that?

Is that a thing?

It might be a thing. Tap your finger and your thumb together.

There you go.

All the way to your pinky and back.

How about a partial refill?

Tide me over? Just until my doc gets back.

No pills, but I am going to order you a brain and spinal MRI.

Any family history of kidney disease?

Not that I know of. Mom’s a saint, and I’m adopted on my father’s side.

Under name, you only put “Emmanuel.”

Yeah, that’s what people call me.

Like Beyonce.

[chuckles]-Hmm. Okay.

If the blood and tissue type match with our patient, we’ll do a cross match test and we’ll see…

Yeah, we’ll match.

Whenever I donate, they tell me I have golden blood.

Rhnull?

That’s the rarest blood type on Earth.

Only 100 cases.

That makes you a universal blood donor.

Birthplace just says Nazareth.

Is that in Pennsylvania?

No, the other one.

If the blood type tests out, that’s great news.

Almost done here.

Uh, you left occupation blank.

I’m a carpenter by trade, but I really consider myself a teacher.

Dear Lord.

Yeah, I go by many names.

Uh-huh. This man thinks he’s Jesus.

I’ve been sent here to help.

EGFR and uACR are normal.

Both kidneys are fully functional.

He is an ideal donor.

Except he’s obviously crazy. He thinks he’s Jesus.

Technically, we can’t prove he isn’t.

I mean, the Bible says Jesus will return to Earth someday.

There’s several examples of ordinary people

becoming holy figures later on in life.

Muhammed didn’t receive his first revelation from God

till he was 40.

[clears throat] I minored in theology.

He’s certainly your patient’s savior.

Without him, she’s dead in a week.

It is possible we could find another donor, but unlikely.

But that doesn’t mean we should allow a delusional man

to make life-altering decisions.

And the surgery poses a bigger risk for him.

We can only give him blood from another Rhnull donor,

which is nearly impossible to find.

Regardless, we should reach out to his family.

Parents are dead.

His emergency contact is his landlord.

If he wants to save someone’s life, I say we let him.

UNOS policy says organ donation is contraindicated

if there is inability to give informed consent

due to impaired cognitive or intellectual capacity.

That’s not our call. We need a psych consult.

Your patient is suffering

from delusional disorder of grandiosity.

However, he can reliably articulate

that he understands the procedure.

His driver’s license indicates

that he has been an organ donor for at least a decade.

That suggests this decision is consistent with his values.

He is completely competent to donate.

Hallelujah.

[laughs] I don’t know how you live over half a century

without trying an oyster.

Well, I always wanted to. I just… I don’t know,

I chickened out because they always look so goopy.

[laughs] Well, no more fear.

Slurp away.

Mmm. Wow. Mmm.

[cellphone beeps]

Your femur’s not fractured.

Oh. Good.

But the pain you’re feeling is called

referred neuropathic pain, from a fracture in your spine.

It’s compressing your spinal cord.

Not good.

The tumor has infiltrated and weakened your spinal column.

It likely fractured when you hit the ground after skydiving.

So how do we fix it?

Open spinal stabilization and fusion surgery.

We replace your fractured vertebrae with a cage

and add bone grafts, screws, and rods for support.

You should be back on your feet in about six weeks.

That could be more than half the time we have left.

There is another option with simpler surgery.

No cage and no bone grafts, much shorter recovery time,

but even a small bump could break it again.

So I’ll avoid small bumps. Let’s do it.

Dad, are you sure?

We have a mountain to climb.

We’ll go get prepped.

Come on, get your camera rolling.

I got 11 more to go.

Dad, you’re so old.

Cameras don’t roll anymore.

[cell phone beeps]

We still need to run an MRI on the potential donor

to evaluate the kidney’s structure.

But the labs show he could be an excellent match.

Your video worked.

Turns out you don’t need a million followers.

Just one… who thinks he’s Jesus.

[laughs softly]

Hashtag blessed.

[chuckles]

[sighs]

I would like to hire Joelle as Steve’s nanny.

I worked it out.

If we cut it down to two streaming services

and I stop buying Steve so many cute outfits

and we don’t go on that trip this summer,

we can afford her.

Whew. This is a very thorough spreadsheet.

Mmm-hmm.

You clearly have strong feelings about this.

We can hire Joelle.

Shaun! Yeah! [Laughs]

Okay.

Okay, we should call her.

Yes.

[line ringing]

[Joelle] Hello?

Joelle, it’s Lea and Shaun, and we are so, so excited

because we would love to hire you.

Oh.

You stole my nanny?

She wasn’t your nanny.

Yet. And you knew I wanted to hire her.

I encouraged you to hire her on the spot.

But you hemmed you hawed and you dilly-dallied

and you spreadsheeted, so I took action.

And outbid me. It’s so gross.

I told you that good nannies are hard to find.

My current one is late half the time,

and she costs more than Joelle.

I wanted to close the deal, so I made an aggressive offer.

I feel like I don’t even know you.

I’m finished with the perianal abscess.

Great. Dressing change

for a diabetic foot ulcer in 5 awaits.

Nobody said wound care was glamorous.

Joelle has experience with special-needs kids.

And she’s bilingual.

I always wanted Eden to be bilingual, so

seriously, thanks.

You’re trying to replace my dream nanny with regifted wine?

I’m not evil.

Debatable.

[sighs]

You barely even looked at it.

Enough to see there’s no tonsillar herniation,

which is the main criteria for Chiari.

That’s why I said Chiari Zero.

That’s not a real diagnosis.

It is real. It is controversial, but it’s real.

Moderate cervical syrinx,

plus occipital headaches, plus dizziness,

plus clumsiness with the finger tapping.

All symptoms of Chiari malformation.

And also symptoms of withdrawal.

Not the fluid in her spinal cord.

Too many doctors have just fed her pain medication

or shooed her away altogether.

Because she’s an addict.

And one who’s around your daughter’s age when she died.

Wow. Okay.

Hannah’s pain is real. She’s in actual pain.

Or she’s doctor-shopping for a sucker.

Okay. So both can be true.

She’s not gonna be able to get over her addiction

unless somebody addresses her pain.

All right, fine.

I don’t know how this is not worthwhile.

Leave the images.

Jerome bailed less than an hour into his shift.

I’m worried about him.

He’s going through it.

I was thinking you might go talk to him after work?

I can’t right now.

Yeah, no, of course.

Anything I can do for you?

Thanks. I’ve got an MRI.

People are free to choose.

God is simply aware of what those choices will be

because He lives outside of time and space.

Isaiah 57.

Sorry to interrupt your sermon.

Lie back.

I know we just met, but I sense a…

Like, a weight on you.

A sadness. I’m fine.

I’m guessing you were close to the young man who died.

How do you know about him?

[Dom] Dr. Allen, he’s tachycardic

and his blood pressure’s elevated, 178 over 112.

Go get 20 milligrams labetalol.

People like to tell me things.

I like to listen.

So you’re nosy.

Mmm. I’m friendly.

Um, his vitals are normal again.

Probably spiked due to anxiety, maybe from the machine.

I’m not anxious. I’m enjoying our conversation.

[machine whirring]

Oh.

Apparently, I’m the only one.

Try to keep still and no talking during the MRI.

[knocking on door]

Hi.

Just checking in.

I was thinking I could talk to Villanueva if you want,

about getting you some more time off.

Thanks, but I don’t think a few more days or

weeks will make much of a difference.

I’m not sure I can ever come back.

I’m sorry.

[Dr. Park] Rod is placed. Lock it in with set screws.

Thank you.

[Dr. Park] Jerome’s still not back today?

No. He’s not sure he can come back at all.

[Dr. Park] Too many memories.

He’s still in shock. Now tighten the instrumentation.

At least Paul gets to know the end is coming and prepare,

say his goodbyes.

[Dr. Park] I don’t think you can ever really be prepared.

And I wouldn’t want my loved ones to watch me suffer.

Spine is stabilized.

Continue with the endoscopic decompression.

So you’d rather not know it’s coming?

I’ll go to sleep one night, never wake up, cut to black.

Hold up.

There’s a clean margin in the spinal column

surrounding the entire length of the tumor.

That wasn’t visible in his previous imaging.

The impact of his landing must have

cut off blood flow to the tumor at its perimeter,

caused it to shrink. [Chuckles]

I think this gives us room to do a cordectomy.

We could remove his entire tumor.

And take out the majority

of his thoracic spinal cord with it.

Would paralyze him from the T3 down,

and his cancer will probably come back.

But it’d give him a lot more time.

Let’s close him up, see what he wants to do.

How much of his blood have we banked so far?

Only two units, and if we draw more,

he’ll be too anemic for surgery.

We found another in Australia,

but it wouldn’t get here until the end of the week.

[Shaun] We can’t wait that long.

Naomi may be too unstable to survive the transplant.

We’ll have to make it work with the patient’s own blood.

We’ll need to ligate every vessel twice before cutting.

Be precise and meticulous.

I really don’t want Jesus’ blood on my hands.

Luckily, we will be double-gloved.

Give 7,000 units of Epogen

and 150 milligrams of iron to increase RBCs.

Hi.

Are you entering your baking era?

Nope. They’re for Joelle.

But I have three reject batches I could bring you.

I’m good.

Okay.

Why are you making muffins for Park and Morgan’s nanny?

Because soon she’ll be ours.

I’ve come up with some additional cost-saving measures

so we can pay her a little bit more.

Mmm. There were other candidates,

many of them very well qualified and less expensive.

Morgan stole our son’s nanny. That cannot stand.

Out of principle.

What principle?

If we get all of the tumor, which I think we can,

we could extend your life by five to 10 years.

Maybe more.

But I’ll be a quadriplegic.

It’s likely you’ll maintain some use of your hands,

unless the edema spreads upwards.

No, no, no, we’re sticking with our original plan.

Just get me back on my feet again, okay?

Dad, they said years.

You’d still have all your mental faculties.

And you’d have me to help.

Can you get me some ice chips? My mouth is really dry.

Just think about it, please.

Eve drew this in kindergarten.

I’m the tall one. She’s the one with the hair.

[chuckles]

She told me that her dream was touching the sky with me.

And I promised her that we would do that one day.

And then her mom and me, we got a divorce,

and I lost a lot of years with my daughter.

Well, this surgery would give you a lot of years back.

After all these years of being absent,

I can’t ask her to spend her 20s taking care of me.

She should finish college, start her own life.

Hi. This is Dr. Aaron Glassman again.

No, okay. I don’t understand the delay.

Fine. Um, can you please have them call me back either way?

Thank you.

[exhales] How you feeling?

Mm. You gave me the good stuff, so…

Yeah, well, guess what?

After the surgery, you’re not gonna need the good stuff,

nor are you going to need to be telling stories

about spilling pills into toilets.

It wasn’t…

Don’t bother.

You left the emergency contact blank on your pre-op form.

You planning to off me on the table?

Well, I’m not planning on it.

But if something were to go wrong,

I’m gonna need to contact your mom or your dad.

Good luck. They kicked me out years ago, so

if you want someone who cares if I die, guess again.

I’m gonna take the wild guess that they still care.

You’d be wrong.

Father, thank you for loving us so much,

and we ask that you heal Ruth’s back pain

so she can get back to the pickleball court.

Amen.

[Ruth] Amen.

The pain is gone! Thank you.

I think that’s your pain meds kicking in, Mrs. Wyatt.

Let’s go.

I don’t have time to be looking all over for you.

I’m sorry. Helping people in pain is kind of my thing.

No, it’s my thing. I’m the doctor,

and my patients don’t need your snake oil.

I’m giving them comfort.

You’re giving them false hope.

It’s okay if you’re angry. He gets that a lot.

I’m not angry. I just need you to stay put.

[sighs]

I didn’t mean right now.

I just feel a little…

[grunts]

I need help!

We cannot do the kidney transplant

until we know why he collapsed.

He’s hypertensive and tachycardic one moment

and then stable the next.

Could be carcinoid syndrome or renovascular hypertension.

There are no suspicious masses.

His renal arteries look normal.

His labs rule out hyperthyroidism.

Everything about this guy is crazy.

Crazy is not a DSM-recognized diagnosis, but you are correct.

His underlying condition must have psychiatric

as well as physical symptoms.

He has a pheochromocytoma.

We need to surgically remove it.

It could not be seen on the MRI,

but it has been flooding his system with hormones.

Once the pheo’s out, we may find

Jesus has left the building, taking both kidneys with him.

If that happens, Naomi almost certainly dies.

We could remove the pheo and the kidney at the same time.

Given his blood type, every surgery is dangerous

because of our limited supply of Rhnull blood.

[scoffs] Ethically, there’s no debate here,

regardless of medical issues.

We remove the pheo, then ask Jesus

if he still wants to move forward with the donation.

Prep him for surgery.

[Dr. Park] You’re trying to steal our nanny?

Oh, Lea is trying to steal your nanny

because Morgan stole her first.

She didn’t mention that part.

Although, Joelle was not technically our nanny yet,

but Lea is very passionate about this,

and I’m choosing to support her.

Yeah. Me, too.

Oh, you’re supporting Lea?

No. Morgan.

We need to do something before this escalates

and we’re ordered not to talk to each other anymore.

We gotta sit down, the four of us, and work this out.

Atrium Cafe. Tuesday, noon.

[knocking on door]

Me again.

You don’t have to keep checking in.

I, um…

I need a favor.

It’s kind of a big one.

Due respect, Doctor, the source of my divinity

isn’t just a pheo-whatever-you-call-it.

Your BP and heart rate are stable.

Our connection to God is not that easily severed.

I think you know that.

Why do you keep thinking you know me?

You don’t. You didn’t know my dead friend.

You don’t even know who you are.

I need to place an arterial line.

I know you’re grieving.

I don’t want to talk about it.

And you can’t understand

how your friend’s death could be part of God’s plan.

There is no plan.

It’s a lie, and it’s cruel.

And I used to believe in it so much.

Every time I lost a patient, I would tell myself

it’s all a part of a bigger picture.

I took comfort in believing you were watching out for us.

Even in the midst of suffering,

you were working things out for our good,

but it is all a lie.

My friend was murdered defending one of your children.

You let him bleed out on the sidewalk all alone,

and there was no one there to tell him how much he was loved.

He knew.

I promise.

He knew.

Hey. God will love you,

no matter what you say to Him

or about Him.

You just need to keep talking.

Okay, everyone, time to vote. We need your help.

Which peak should we climb, Mission Peak or Mount Umunhum?

Uh, Mission Peak is an easier hike,

but Mount Umunhum has a better view of the sunset.

[Jerome] I vote neither.

[cell phone beeps]

I hope that wasn’t a live stream.

You’re the disappearing nurse.

Jerome Martel.

I’m sorry about that. I, uh…

I lost the love of my life recently, very suddenly.

And seeing the two of you, you know…

It must have struck a little close to home.

I wish I had known my last day with him was my last day.

Or my last month.

So we could have made the most of that time.

Are you here to talk me into the cordectomy?

Asher and I made a plan

to watch every Best Picture winner since 1928.

We made it to The Godfather Part II.

Asher fell asleep halfway through, as usual.

He was snoring so loudly, I could hardly hear what Pacino was saying,

I don’t know what the right choice is for you and your family.

But I know there is nothing I wouldn’t give

to sit by Asher’s side

and listen to him snore through The English Patient.

Dad. We could watch every one

of those 30 for 30 documentaries you like.

Even the ones about hockey.

Or we could start our own two-person true-crime book club.

It wouldn’t just be fun and games, Eve.

You’d also be stuck.

Not stuck.

Honored.

Sure, I’d need help,

but I can’t lose you after just getting you back.

I want you to be there when I graduate from college.

Maybe walk me down the aisle someday.

Okay if I wheel you down?

I’d love that.

We removed the pheochromocytoma.

Do you still believe you are Jesus?

[exhales softly]

My name is, um… Is Carl.

I remember everything, but…

I know I’m not Jesus.

Are you still willing to move forward

with donating your kidney?

I…

I have no idea what to do.

We now only have one remaining bag of Rhnull blood.

That makes another surgery quite high-risk.

Donating your kidney to Naomi

would be a very kind thing to do.

But as your surgeon, it is not medically advisable.

I can’t do it.

We’ve discussed and would be willing…

Reluctantly willing.

To hire Joelle as a part-time nanny so we can all share her.

Returning half of what you stole?

What a cop-out.

Told you. She’s totally unreasonable.

Excuse me?

If you want to see unreasonable, let me hold up a mirror.

Unless you already swiped that from my bag.

I’ve seen you knock-off bag. There’s nothing worth taking.

[Shaun] Okay. Would you be willing to employ her

on Tuesdays and Thursdays?

And give you a 60/40 advantage?

We’re the ones who found her.

We’re the ones who hired her.

Youtake Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I’ll throw in my wine. Deal?

No deal, but I will give you the stack of resumes

from the people we didn’t hire.

So we’re supposed to just pick through your leftovers?

You already did, except we were still eating her.

I did not mean that the way it sounded.

How about a 50/50 split, alternating weeks?

I have a better idea.

You’re a genius.

Savant.

[Dr. Lim] So, St. Bon’s is now in the daycare business?

[Dr. Glassman] You agreed.

No, I just didn’t contradict you

when you almost immediately said yes.

I’ll take more 4-0 for tackups.

You’re opposed to being family-friendly?

I just didn’t realize your mini strokes had turned you into

such a softy.

Between the daycare… and her.

[Dr. Glassman] What about her? She’s a patient,

who I happen to be right about.

Let’s find out.

Opening the arachnoid.

[monitor beeping]

Significant adhesions,

fourth ventricular veil restricting CSF flow.

You were right. Chiari Zero.

This will only solve one of Hannah’s issues,

and arguably the easier one.

Her addiction will still be a problem.

Doesn’t have to be yours.

Watch your dissection.

I’ve got your discharge papers and your ride.

My, uh, emergency contact is my landlord.

You want me to call him?

I think my, um,

brain tricked me into thinking I was

the most significant person around because…

I don’t really matter to anyone.

Your friend, what kind of man was he?

Clever.

Honest.

Would make you laugh as much as he would

call you out on your nonsense.

And really brave.

Maybe it wasn’t a trick.

Maybe your brain just showed you the type of person you could be.

Maybe you came here for a reason.

Yeah.

I’d like to think so.

[sniffles]

Um, I’d like to donate my kidney.

Sectioning the artery with a vascular stapler.

[Shaun] Vitals holding steady. Kidney looks great.

[Jordan] Ligating the renal vein.

Removing the left kidney.

Let’s get this over to Naomi.

[alarms beeping]

The vein tore. He’s hemorrhaging.

Applying manual pressure.

We need suction and Cooley clamp.

His renal vein must have avulsed off the vena cava.

We need to get vascular control.

200 cc. That’s the last of his banked blood.

[Dr. Lim] Very aware.

[Jordan] Please, please, do not let this man die.

[alarms continue beeping]

[Dr. Lim] Sutures aren’t holding.

[Jordan] Less than 100 cc of blood left.

Can we ligate the vena cava?

[Shaun] Tissue is too friable.

That could cause complete renal failure.

We should put in a graft.

[Dr. Lim] The walls are tearing.

We need something to get vascular control now.

[Jordan] A double-balloon occlusion.

We can block it from above and below at the same time.

[Shaun] And we could use the existing

jugular central line to get access.

Fluoroscopy.

[alarms beeping]

[Dr. Lim] I’ll take the graft.

Lap sponges.

[Shaun] Advancing the catheter to the SVC.

[Dr. Lim] Call out when he reaches the IVC.

A little further.

[Jordan] You’re there.

[Shaun] Inflating the balloons.

[alarms stop]

BP and heart rate are stabilizing.

[monitor beeping normally]

[Jordan softly] Thank you.

[knocking on door]

I’m not here to ask you to come back.

Promise.

I wrote a list.

Yeah, come in.

Anything anyone at St. Bon’s could remember Asher

ever saying he wanted to do.

Save a cat in a tree.

Learn Dothraki.

Eat pasta in Italy.

If you want, I thought maybe we could

do some of it together.

Thanks.

But, uh

well, these weren’t at the top of Asher’s list.

He was really serious about making me get a matching tattoo.

A big spoon for me, little spoon for him.

Tried to talk me into it at least once a week.

I said it was too silly for something so real.

Thanks for this.

Hey!

[gasps]

Dr. Reznick around?

No! And don’t sneak up on people like that.

I’m sorry.

That lady is putting me through my paces.

I almost miss surgery.

When I lost my mom,

my whole world stopped making sense.

I looked to religion for answers.

I’m still searching for what feels right,

but I do know my mom’s not just gone.

And I try to find little ways

to make her a part of my life as much as I can.

There you are. The poop fridge shorted out.

You’ve got 22 fecal samples to relocate ASAP.

How big is your fridge at home?

[groans softly]

Hey.

Okay.

Follow this light.

No more twitch in the eye.

Let me see your hands.

That’s good, right?

Yeah, just finger tapping.

Both.

Good.

Grab my hands and make a nice, tight grip.

Really tight, as hard as you can. Ow!

[laughs] Okay.

Next you’ll be pitching for the A’s.

God, no.

Cubs or bust.

[chuckles]

Thank you for believing me.

But, um…

I’m… I’m still a little…

Uncomfortable? That’s normal, considering the surgery you’ve just been through.

Could you give me something?

Your morphine’s maxed out.

But you know what I can do?

I can hang out for a little while, keep your mind off things.

I can get a deck of cards. Gin Rummy or Blackjack?

I don’t wanna take your money.

Ha. [Chuckles]

We could turn on the TV.

Okay.

But I’m choosing what we watch.

[cell phone rings]-Oh, I’m sorry.

Excuse me. I’ll be right back.

[exhales] Yes, it’s Dr. Glassman.

Yeah.

And… And they’re conclusive?

Okay. Um, can you do me a favor and send them over?

I’d like to take a look.

[Jose Gonzalez’s “Stay Alive” plays]

Yeah. Um, thank you.

♪ The gears won’t turn And the leaves won’t grow ♪

♪ There’s no place to run And no gasoline ♪

Okay.

♪ Engine won’t turn and the train won’t leave ♪

♪ Engines won’t turn And the train won’t leave ♪

♪ Well, the way I feel Is the way I write ♪

Hey, guys, we are seconds away from crossing off

our biggest bucket-list item yet.

Thanks to the help of our fantastic doctors and a little bit of teamwork, we have arrived at the peak of Mount Umunhum!

Okay. Everybody ready?

Okay, three, two, one! [Laughs]

We’re touching the sky!

[all cheering]

♪ The way I feel Is the way I write ♪

Whoo! Whoo!

♪ Nothing like the thoughts Of a man who lies ♪

[buzzing]

♪ There is a truth And it’s on our side ♪

♪ Dawn is coming Open your eyes ♪

♪ Look into the sun As the new days rise ♪

♪ And I will wait For you tonight ♪

♪ You’re here forever And you’re by my side ♪

So, this patient I just had…

[clears throat]

He thought he was Jesus,

real, actual Jesus.

[laughs] You would have loved it, or mocked it.

Probably both.

You know, when he said he was a carpenter from Nazareth, that’s the thing…

♪ Look into the sun As the new days rise ♪

Hi, Joelle.

Hi!

Oh, my gosh.

I’ve missed you so much!

[Steve coos]

You have done a very nice job making this not feel like a conference room.

Thank you.

Steve was such a happy, easy baby.

Oh, was he really? Oh, I’m so glad.

[Joelle] No, he did great.

He was the only one who didn’t even cry at drop-off.

Really?

Mmm-hmm.

Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Okay, bye.

Bye.

[Steve cooing]

Oh, you did so good, peanut.

What’s wrong?

She said Steve did not react when his parent left the room.

Which means loves it here.

Or it could be an early indication of autism.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read More

Weekly Magazine

Get the best articles once a week directly to your inbox!