Chicago Med Recap: No Escaping Who We Are

When you work in the ER, it’s hard to escape the death all around. It seems that the doctors at Chicago Med have been trying to escape themselves, and this is the week each of them made a choice about how to proceed.

Halstead really doesn’t understand the strict rules he is being forced to follow. He still doesn’t believe he did anything wrong and rolls his eyes at every potential consequence he faces. In order for him to keep working while facing his lawsuit, Halstead must be the perfect doctor. To that end, Dr. Manning closely hovers around him while Halstead works. They disagree on the care of a patient, but their patient dies regardless. Halstead accuses Manning of giving his patient the treatment that killed him. He is wrong, and his guilt gives him the courage to apologize to Natalie and make his big move. I honestly didn’t know if he would really do it, but boy did he go for it! He didn’t give Natalie the time to respond, and honestly she does need time to figure out what just happened.

Choi treats a hockey player with the sport in his blood. His mother is hysterical and more than willing to consent to her son getting every test imaginable. The father insists that his son is fine, but it’s clear that he himself has taken a few blows to the head. While Choi runs tests on the son, he asks Dr. Charles to evaluate the father for short-term memory loss. The father is fully aware of his condition, but Choi picks a fight with him over not telling his son. This fight stems more from Choi’s issues than those of his patient’s father. With Reese’s help, Dr. Choi diagnoses his patient with a blood disorder. Under normal circumstances the condition is manageable, but one wrong hit on the ice and he could die on the spot. He’s a hockey player at his core though, and so decides to risk it. As it turns out, the same policy applies to Choi. Choi is a Navy man, born and bred, and despite the therapy he’s undergoing, he wouldn’t change the decision he made to join.

April and Maggie are unbelievably excited that Reese is considering staying at Chicago Med in the Emergency Department once she gets her residency matches. Not only does Reese like the emergency department, but it suits her. She is the one to diagnose and counsel the hockey player. His decision not to listen to her advice ultimately deters her from the E.D. and she decides to go back to Pathology.

Poor Rhodes is exhausted working under Dr. Downey’s tutelage.  The work is worth it though, considering this week Rhodes is assisting on the lung transplant of a 9/11 survivor. Unfortunately before they can even start the surgery they find out their patient needs a new valve in his heart or it won’t matter if he has a successful lung transplant. His new position puts him at odds with girlfriend Zanetti, and so they mutually decide to end things.

Did everyone make the right choice?