This week’s Chicago Med potentially closes the door on a few of the doctor’s personal decisions. Natalie must decide what is best for her son, Halstead must accept his patient’s fate, and Reese questions whether what she thought was best for her future really was.
Reese freaks out over finding out where she is doing her residency. She is hoping to be placed in Pathology at Chicago Med. Her will is put to the test when she has to drill a hole into a man’s skull to relieve pressure on his brain. She succeeds, but the problem is that she is not licensed to perform such an invasive procedure. Since Dr. Choi gave Reese the order to do it, he takes full responsibility. He also proudly takes responsibility for her success because he honestly has the utmost faith in her abilities. Reese is left more confused than ever. She ends up being matched with Pathology at Chicago Med like she wanted, but realizes that it might not have been what she really wanted.
Dr. Halstead’s patient this week is a woman with a near-fatal head injury. She is quickly deemed brain-dead. Halstead is surprised when his patient’s husband requests that her eggs be harvested, even more so when he discovers that his patient had an IUD. The husband still requests that his wife’s eggs be harvested, refusing to see his wife’s true wishes in all of this. Will struggles with this on top of being devastated that the patient who is suing him, Jennifer Baker, is being given the placebo for her clinical trial. This week Jennifer goes downhill fast and eventually dies. Halstead seems to be the doctor who struggles the most when he isn’t able to help.
Dr. Charles always has the most unique cases. This week he handles a patient who tried to cut off his own arm. Charles believes his patient is suffering from a very rare condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder. It’s a disorder difficult for Dr. Choi to understand given how many men he treated in the war who begged for their limbs to be saved. Charles has to figure out a way to help his patient in the hospital or be forced to release him, where he will no doubt try to cut off his arm again. They come up with a tentative treatment plan, but the way the patient acts is a little too cooperative. Sure enough, he has tricked Dr. Charles long enough to cut off the blood flow to his arm, forcing them to amputate. Charles questions if this wasn’t the best outcome all along, since the patient is now content and rational.
Natalie and April treat a former football player’s son who swallows a few magnets. April develops a connection to the football player while Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Manning clash on the surgical procedure needed to remove the magnets. Eventually surgery becomes the only option. April comforts the father while Natalie gets to assist in the OR and take her mind off of her personal issues. Personally, Natalie is hesitant when her mother-in-law asks if they can have her son Owen baptized. Will helps her find a priest willing to baptize Owen at the last minute, but Natalie has reservations given that she herself is not religious. Maggie thinks that Will needs to give Natalie a little space. It is actually Rhodes who helps Natalie make a decision by sharing his regret at having been left out of having a religious upbringing. In his mind, those kids were apart of something they could depend on, which was something he couldn’t say for any part of his upbringing except his money. Natalie decides she will baptize Owen her way, which ends up being a small ceremony in the hospital chapel with her hospital family. At least for the time being, Will decides that he needs to move on from Natalie.
Will Reese join Pathology or find a way to stay in the ER?
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