- The first law of nature is natural selection,
survival of the fittest.
It determines whether a species endures or goes extinct.
♪
- Dad?
[ Birds cawing ]
Dad?
[ Suspenseful music plays ]
♪
- One might guess the smartest or strongest
would stand the best chance,
but no.
Survival is determined by the ability to adapt.
- Dad?!
- The mind can push the body to great lengths
in the name of survival.
But at what cost?
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
[ Knock on door ]
- Morris and I are still nesting with Maya.
It's my week out of the house.
- You say nesting like I know what that is.
- Oh, you know, it's what all the separated parents
are doing these days.
We switch off weeks at home
so Maya can stay put for stability.
I haven't secured a spot yet.
Is the coffee still on?
Oh, splash of oat, two sugars.
You know how I like it.
- Uh...
How is Maya?
- Uh, well, she's a strong girl,
but, eh, you know how young teens are.
It's a whole lot going on underneath the surface.
- I'm sure she'll be fine after a few ill-advised boyfriends
and one very fun night out in Cabo.
- [ Chuckles ] We do not talk about that.
Anyway, what about you?
God, no wonder you're single.
There's no room here with all this stuff.
Wolf, when are you gonna let someone new in?
- I have.
We call him John Doe. - Okay.
- He's a man of few words, but that could be
the letter board's fault. Conversation is glacial.
And I don't think I'm his type.
- And there goes my point. - Any day he could give up
and be headed back to long-term care.
But... if we can get him enrolled
in one of these brain machine interface clinical trials,
this neurotech could translate his thoughts into written
and spoken word in real time.
- Neurotech?
I assume you're looking into the study at HTU?
- Yeah, yeah, the one under Gadson.
- I know Simon.
Happy to talk to him. See if I can help.
- Oh, really? - [ Scoffs ]
- Help me or help you? - [ Chuckles ]
- Is Cabo Carol getting her groove back?
- [ Laughs ] Oh, God. I don't know about all that.
[ Both laugh ]
God. It's been so long.
I wouldn't even know what single Carol looks like.
- Maybe now's a good time to find out.
♪
[ Beeping ]
- Guess we'll officially know if you really have mirror-touch
or are just another self-proclaimed HSP.
- Ooh, are you flexing right now?
- No, I'm focusing.
- Anyway, what's an HPS?
- HSP-- highly sensitive person. Come on.
- Anyone else feel like we're in "Flatliners"?
Cause I'd be into it. - Couldn't watch it.
When you can feel every stab and every punch,
it's kind of hard to get through scary movies.
- This is wild, man. How have you been getting through all this?
- Well, in med school, I aced all the exams,
but I struggled with the practicum.
I thought knowing what was wrong would fix it,
but what good is a diagnosis
if I can't help a suffering patient
'cause I just still feel everything that they do?
- There were a few coping mechanisms you can try--
meditation, find an emotional anchor to tether to,
positive self-talk.
You just have to find the one that works for you.
- Or, in my experience, there is one thing that helps me perform.
- We get it. You have sex.
- We'll figure it out, Van. - Dr. Wolf?
Okay.
Dr. Wolf, playtime is over.
OB's paging us. - OB wants me? What for?
- Sarah Kim is a senior at Bellwood High.
But she came all this way for an ultrasound
because there's-- - Higher likelihood
her parents find out she's pregnant
if she goes to her local hospital.
- Bingo. Small town, big talk.
- Sarah, you mind if I take another look with my colleagues?
- Go for it. The more face time I get with her, the better.
I'm counting down the days till I get to hold her.
♪
- There is no baby.
♪
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
♪
- Sarah appears to be in her second trimester.
She reported amenorrhea for six months,
noted fetal movement, even started to lactate.
- And yet no fetus.
If her medical workup comes back negative,
age aside, sounds like a false pregnancy.
Textbook pseudocyesis.
Sarah and her body believe she's pregnant.
- It's possible she's on meds
that increase her prolactin levels, but--
- That still doesn't explain why a teenage girl would
cling to a fantasy so many kids her age
would consider a nightmare.
- That's exactly why I'm handing Sarah over to you.
- "You"? As in Dr. Pierce, right?
She's professionally much more equipped
to handle a psych patient like this.
- If you recall,
my availability is a little tight
due to a certain John Doe.
You're running point on this while I'm out.
- Great. She'll need every resource
after we tell her she's not pregnant.
- Do we have to tell her yet?
It's better to let Sarah believe she's having a baby
while we look for the root cause.
- Happy, pregnant, and cooperative is better
than a teenager on the brink of an emotional collapse.
- Yeah, we'll take her to our floor and run more tests.
Thank you, Dr. Alvarez.
- You guys came! [ Girls squealing ]
I'm so happy you made it!
Okay. Are you ready?
- I was doing rounds and got accosted
by a swarm of teenage girls asking for Sarah.
- Fatigue, amenorrhea, nausea, vomiting.
They're all pregnant. - Are low-rise jeans
and pregnancy pacts making a comeback?
- Um, okay. Let's order urine, Beta-HCG, and ultrasounds.
The only thing weirder than if they're all pregnant
is if they're all not.
- Matching bellies. - I know!
- [ Squeals ] - That's so cool.
- In 1518, a woman started dancing in the streets in Strasbourg.
She danced for weeks, unable to stop.
The dancing plague spread to 400 victims,
many of whom died from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.
For centuries, there were cases of convents
being stricken by bouts of uncontrolled biting.
And in 2012, a group of cheerleaders upstate
inexplicably started developing tics.
Uh, yeah... - Sorry to interrupt, but one--
did you have this slideshow just lying around?
And two, since all the girls' tests and ultrasounds
came back negative, are you suggesting--
- Mass-psychogenic illness, formerly known as mass hysteria.
It's very rare, but it has plagued humanity in every age,
and it is a once-in-a-lifetime case.
- How do you explain Sarah? - Sarah. Sarah.
Sarah's not like the other girls.
She is an outlier case of pseudocyesis,
formerly known as hysterical pregnancy,
in the context of mass-psychogenic illness.
- Okay, so our hypothesis is a mass-hysterical pregnancy?
- Even though this diagnosis lacks
an easily measured root cause, its symptoms--
seizures, tics, and even death--
are very serious, Dr. Nash.
- So how do we treat it?
- More than likely, there is an index patient,
one subject who suffers from an underlying condition
that will simply worsen if it goes undetected.
We ID and treat that person.
Then the group's symptoms will likely resolve.
But-- But first and foremost,
we are looking for a collective trauma,
some sort of shared loss amongst them.
- The only common thread is Bellwood High.
It could be a bad teacher or a bully?
I'm thinking field trip.
-Or we run tests in the hospital.
- Look, I hated high school
as much as the next nerdy gay kid, Dana,
but Van's right. Learning the environment
will help us find the index patient
and offer context for how it spread.
The hospital environment might just exacerbate
stresses or symptoms.
- Uh, should I hang back and complete all the charting?
Take one for the team. - Come on.
You know we need you. Pack a lunch, D.
We're going back to high school!
Whoo! - Yay.
- ♪ So, baby, come to me ♪ [ School bell rings ]
♪ Come, come, come to me ♪
- ♪ Sweet to me like sugar to my heart ♪
- ♪ You're so sweet ♪ - ♪ Baby ♪
- ♪ I, I, I, I ♪
♪ I'm missing you like candy ♪
- I understand. We are doing everything in our power
to resolve this delicate issue.
Poison control and the EPA are coming in to test for mold,
water toxicity, asbestos, gas leaks,
any environmental exposure.
This is Dr. Wolf. He and his team of neurologists
have traveled from the city to shadow the girls
and get to the bottom of this issue.
- Thank you, Principal Owens.
Uh, I'm sure you all have valid concerns,
uh, but first, some good news.
None of your daughters are pregnant.
[ Sighs of relief ]
They just think they are.
- What? - Huh?
- Uh, we'll be telling them the truth very soon.
But we need to understand their distress before adding to it.
Waiting a day won't change a thing.
- Sarah's headed to MIT next year.
She isn't crazy.
And wouldn't shadowing them cause more distress?
- Lily led varsity to state last fall.
Why am I just finding out my daughter thinks she's pregnant?
- Mass-psychogenic illness does not just happen.
There's always a reason.
And while we're searching for an index patient,
we have to consider a variety of other stressors,
from workload to relational support
to intense parents.
- [ Gasps ] - What?
- Let's allow Dr. Wolf and his team to do their job,
help our girls.
In the meantime, we can protect them by not sounding any alarms.
I'm happy to field any outstanding questions.
Go now. Save yourself.
- Okay. - Whatever you need,
anytime, anywhere, call me. - Thank you.
- What's going on? - This is unacceptable.
- Oh, God. - Questions?
- What do you mean we're not gonna tell them?
- Dr. Marcus and I just want to ask you some questions
to get a sense of your day-to-day stressors.
Uh, I know when I was a senior, I was all over the place.
- Oh, yeah. Same. I mean, grades, college choices,
crushes, annoying teachers.
Any of those things weighing on you?
- All the above. I guess.
Planning for the baby's kept me busy.
- So, uh, how does the stigma make you feel?
This one girl got pregnant my junior year
and they named her Degrassi.
Regina George was a saint compared to the mean girls
I went to school with.
- That is so millennial.
Cady Heron was the real villain.
- I-I'm Gen Z?
- What year were you born?
The '90s.
That's the 1900s. - Ooh!
You literally walked right into that one.
- How's the father? Supportive?
- Nope. This child's all mine.
- Well, if he's out of the picture,
are there any cute boys in your class?
- Why? Are you interested? - Oh, no, no.
For you. I-I'm in a relationship...
with my job. I...
- Hey, Lily. Lily, I-I get it, okay?
Pregnancy can be tough. I mean, you're in high school.
Whole life ahead of you.
- Oh, as a man,
is there anything else you can tell me about my body?
[ School bell rings ]
- It says online that teen moms are at a higher risk
for something called pre-eclampsia.
Is that a thing?
- It's nothing you need to worry about.
- If that's true, then why are there doctors
following me and my friends around?
- We're curious how... all of you are managing
such a huge life change.
It can be scary.
We want to make sure you get the care you need.
- It's not all bad.
Missing the timed mile is a perk.
- Oh, agreed.
Anything that gets me out of team sports is a win.
Have you tried swimming? Could be really good--
- Why do you care so much?
You don't know me. We have nothing in common.
Why are you really here, Dr. Wolf?
- Not to get to adulty, but...
don't you worry about growing up too fast?
- Look, I know what you're thinking.
Motherhood is hard, especially at 17.
But high school-- it's brutal.
There were times I thought I wouldn't survive.
But becoming a mother has really put it all into perspective.
My life doesn't revolve around the SATs or prom anymore.
I have a purpose now, a real one.
She changed me from the inside out.
- It's rare to have such a strong sense of purpose.
I envy it.
[ Exhales ] Outside of my patients,
I've always felt a bit...
directionless.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
♪
[ Twig snaps ]
- Dad?
[ Twig snaps ]
Dad?
Dad!
[ Gasps ]
[ School bell rings ]
[ Indistinct conversations ]
- Psst. Wolf.
I wouldn't drink that if I were you.
- Like yours. - Aah!
[ Conversation continues indistinctly ]
- Locked-in syndrome due to a pontine stroke.
No other comorbidities.
Well, I must admit that your John Doe is
an ideal candidate for InterMind.
- Exactly. If his body can't express thoughts,
then maybe this can bypass it.
- You've been following what we do.
- [ Chuckles ] I appreciate exceptional work, Simon,
but I'm also aware that the idea of enrolling a patient
whose name we do not know is a little unusual.
That's why I came here to plead my case.
- Oliver Wolf? That's his attending?
Uh, look, you know I would do anything I could to help you,
but Wolf-- - I'm familiar with the name.
- The man is not a team player.
And he has a reputation for going rogue.
These are not reassuring qualities,
no matter how bright he may be.
- Look, I will be the first to admit
that Wolf is not without his flaws.
He's allergic to authority. He's stubborn.
He prefers his plants over most people.
But above it all, he clings to hope,
harder than any doctor I know.
Your study shares that dedication.
- My next lecture is across campus.
I'll think on it. - Thank you.
- Not sure how much you'll glean from watching me
do trig homework, but go for it.
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
[ Inhales ] I love the smell of books.
I could honestly spend all day here.
- [ Breathing shakily ]
♪
[ Whooshing ]
[ Ominous music plays ]
♪
- Hey. You good?
♪
- [ Hyperventilating ]
[ Shakily ] Okay.
[ Inhales deeply ]
[ Whispering ] I'm safe.
I'm okay.
Even a bad day brings good data.
I'm safe. I'm okay.
Even a bad day brings good data.
- Hey.
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
I don't know what's wrong, but...
chocolate always helps me feel better.
- Hm.
Wow. Uh... [ Clears throat ]
This is a new, humiliating low,
but, um...
Thanks.
- I can go wait somewhere else.
I just wanted you to know that I was here.
- You can stay.
If you want.
Sorry you had to see that.
Usually I keep my panic attacks under wraps,
but, uh, this here brought me back.
I had my first one when I was in high school.
- I get it. Bullies are still savage.
I wouldn't make it a day here without my friends.
[ Clattering and screaming in distance ]
- What's wrong, Sarah? - Dr. Wolf! Please help!
Aah!
- Sarah, are you okay? Oh, my God.
- Sarah, do you know where you are?
She's tachycardic to the 130s.
Given her history, the differential is broad.
We need an ambulance. - On it.
- Sarah, what's wrong?
- [ Shakily ] Everything's black.
I-I can't see.
♪
- What's going on?
- Her cranial nerve exam is completely normal.
MRI is non-specific, so nothing yet.
But Dr. Marcus will draw a few blood samples
just to be thorough.
- But what about my baby? Is she okay?
I read online that blindness can indicate
a pregnancy complication.
- Most importantly, is my baby okay?
- She's in the right place.
Now that her vision's returned,
we need to find out why it happened.
- Can you just lie back and extend your arm for me, Sarah?
Thanks.
You can relax.
Okay. [ Clears throat ]
[ Softly ] I'm a good doctor. I'm a good doctor.
- It's okay. I got it, Dr. Marcus.
- Uh, okay. Uh, go for it.
Her veins are flat. She's probably dehydrated.
- It's okay.
- Any updates, Dr. Kinney?
- Their hormone levels are normal,
Sed rates and CRP are flat,
and their fundoscopic exams are perfect.
- And none of their symptoms are tied to
an underlying medical condition, which means blindness
is just another functional neurological disorder.
- But because we're still worried about what could happen,
all the girls have been admitted overnight for observation.
I'm headed to see the last parent out now.
- Does this mean no more school trips?
I can't do 17 again, again. - You're good.
I just passed out grippy socks and nametags
for your face blindness, Dr. Wolf.
- Okay. Ericka coming in clutch. - Okay, it's highly likely
that one of the girls is our index patient.
The distress signals are clear.
We just need to find out why, and fast.
Without treatment, our index patient's odds
of a good long-term outcome dwindle by the minute.
- Hey.
Jacob told me you were on edge at the school.
You good? - Mm-hmm.
- ♪ The full moon lights our way ♪
♪ It knows we've come out to sing and play ♪
♪ Its light fills our hearts and heads ♪
♪ And into our wombs, its glow descends ♪
♪ The full moon lights our way ♪
♪ It knows we've come out to sing and play ♪
♪ Its light fills our hearts and heads ♪
♪ And into our wombs, its glow descends ♪
♪ Hand in hand we join together... ♪
- Takes me back to my a capella days.
- Oxytocin.
Group singing is behind the girls' group think
because it releases oxytocin.
- The bonding and belonging hormone.
- It forges the neural pathways
that promote behavioral harmonizing and connection.
It biochemically primes the brain for mass hysteria
to take root and spread.
- So there's not just a social barrier separating the girls
from the world, but a biological one?
- Exactly. To navigate their oxytocin-induced bond,
we need to become a part of the group.
- How? Navy SEALs will crack before these girls.
- Belong with them.
No more observing the group.
Now we enter it.
[ Singing continues ]
- So the card that you picked represents the lesson
that's weighing the most on your soul.
Perfectionism. Your turn.
A hero's complex.
- Cool.
- Feeling too much. - [ Clears throat ]
- And a fear of stillness.
- I don't see it.
- Dr. Wolf. Your turn.
[ Pop music playing in background ]
[ Dramatic music plays ]
- Well, that seems bad. Is that bad?
- No. Not necessarily.
The death card doesn't mean the end, but...
an end.
It's like a rite of passage,
a transformation.
Everyone dies all the time.
- The question is, how do we survive after that loss?
- [ Gasps ] - Lily. Oh, my God!
- Lily! - She's seizing.
I need an airway cart in here! - Come on.
We need to get a cart. - Okay.
- I got her.
- [ Crying ] Is she okay? - Let's give them some space.
- We need a cart!
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
♪
- What happened to me?
- Uh, you had what we believe to be
a psychogenic non-epileptic seizure.
While scary, it doesn't involve
any damaging electrical signals to the brain.
It was most likely a response to stress.
The rest of the leads will come off soon.
- And my baby?
- Yeah.
- [ Exhales ]
[ Belches ] Mm.
[ Both laugh ]
- Nice one.
- [ Laughs ]
- God, you remind me so much of my little sister.
- So, what? Hilarious and beautiful?
- That is exactly what I meant when I said that.
Uh, [chuckles] hilarious, beautiful,
and [clears throat] always making me worry.
- I'm not dense, you know?
I get how being a mother is stressful,
but we all really wanted this.
I really wanted this.
I mean, first Sarah's blindness.
And now me.
What if we're all being punished?
- Whatever happens, I'll be here.
But, Lily, for me to help,
I need to know everything.
- Do you know about WitchTok?
- They're in a coven.
We're not just dealing with typical teens.
We're dealing with witches. - Like with brooms?
- Months ago, they cast a spell to get pregnant together,
which explains the lack of baby-daddy drama.
The spell resulted in immaculate conception.
- Medically impossible,
but it does explain their interdependence.
- And the singing. - And tarot.
- [ Chuckles ] It's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"
meets "16 and Pregnant."
- Check it out.
- ♪ Oh, Maiden Moon, oh, Mother Earth ♪
♪ Anoint us with the gift of childbirth ♪
- [ Whistles ]
- Lily said they tried a new spell tonight,
but it backfired.
- Oh, great. Meaning what exactly?
- She doesn't know, just that she's afraid
that their bodies are now all cursed
and getting sicker and sicker by the minute.
- Blindness, seizures.
- We're in for a long night.
♪
[ Indistinct P.A. announcements ]
- Late-night plans?
- Uh, the school results came in, so I'm gonna drive up
and go over them with Principal Owens.
- I see. So...
is it a date?
- No, it's not a date.
He can't read the labs by himself,
and I won't wait until morning,
so I was wearing the same shirt for 24 hours.
I needed a refresh.
- Oh. - I'm coming right back.
- Is Principal Owens handsome?
Objectively speaking, of course.
- Uh, I'm in a bit of a rush, Carol,
but from the features I honed in on--
square jaw, kind eyes--
I'd say, yes, objectively speaking.
What? - Uh, nothing.
Well, it's just that shirt--
it don't really go with your undertones,
but it don't matter 'cause it's not a date.
- [ Scoffs ] Yeah.
- Well, see you in the morning,
barring any emergencies tonight.
- See you in the morning, Carol. It's not a date.
- Okay!
- I like this shirt.
[ Engine revving ]
There's nothing in the water.
There's no mold.
And there's no lead in the paint.
It all tested negative, so we were right.
- Then what could have caused this?
[ Sighs ] I can't help but feel like I let my kids down.
- If only there were teachers like you
when I was in boarding school.
- Well, if only there were doctors like you
when we had our mono outbreak.
- Mono? The kissing disease? - Yeah.
- It's not my field of specialty.
Oh, not kissing. No, no. I mean, I know how to do that.
I mean, I wouldn't say I'm a specialist, but then who is?
It's, you know what-- um...
in answer to your question,
there are a number of things that, um,
could have caused this, uh,
but most likely it was a deep loss--
a parent or a coach.
- Or a fellow student?
A few months ago, one student withdrew.
Sweet girl. Her parents felt homeschooling was a better fit.
[ Girl screams ] - What's going on?
- One of your false pregnancies is going into false labor.
- Hey, move, move. - Hurry!
- You have to help her. - She has to be okay.
- Wait. Who is she? - [ Screams ]
- I shouldn't gossip about my students.
It's just, she was friends with Sarah and the others.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Spared her getting caught up in all this.
- Do you happen to recall her name?
- Of course. Samantha Lee.
- [ Screams ] - Who's Samantha Lee?!
I mean, there's no record of her.
She didn't come in with the others.
We didn't examine her. She must have snuck in.
- We were scared. We didn't know what to do.
- Brianna, I'm gonna need you to call her parents.
We might need to sedate her. - [ Screams ]
- You're okay. - Aah!
- Look at me. - Whoa. Van, are you okay?
- She's having a baby.
- No. False. It is in her head.
- No. For real. Look.
She's having an actual baby, like, right now.
- [ Screams ]
[ Siren wails ]
- I paged OB. They're on the way,
but they told us to get her down to the ER if we can.
- We don't have that long. Her cervix is fully dilated.
The baby's crowning. Y-You need to keep breathing.
Keep breathing. The baby's coming right now.
- Is she gonna be okay?
- [ Screams ]
- This is unreal. - I can't do this.
I don't want to do this. Just make it stop.
- Uh, Sarah, grab her other hand, please.
She needs you. - [ Crying ]
- Van, are you sure you can do this?
[ Samantha screaming ]
- Get her back. Brace. Don't push.
But, Sam, right?
I'm gonna need you to push, okay?
- I just came to see my friends.
I'm-- I'm not ready. I can't do this.
- You can, you can. Your friends are all here,
and your folks are on the way, but right now,
I need you to take all that pain you're feeling
and put it in your hands and squeeze, okay?
That's good. Good job, Sam. You're doing great, okay?
Hey, we're all here with you, okay?
You ready to rip the Band-Aid off?
- [ Crying ] No. - Breathe. [ Exhales ]
[ Muffled heartbeat ]
- Everyone, on the count of three. Ready?
Let's all do it together. One... - You can do it.
- ...two, three!
[ All screaming ]
- We found our index patient.
Five months ago, Samantha Lee found out
she was three months pregnant.
As we all know, high school is a stressful environment
filled with anxiety.
When Sam's parents discovered her pregnancy,
they pulled her out, setting off a chain reaction
that no one could have predicted.
[ Laughter ] - You guys,
they're taking me out of school.
- What? - Our girls had to not only
navigate the removal of their friend,
but also mourn the fact that Sam was growing up without them.
A double loss of friendship and innocence.
About a month ago, our witches snuck out to cast their spell.
They'd conjure pregnancies of their own.
That way, no one was left behind and Sam would feel less alone,
protected by her coven.
- No one was more devastated than Sam's best friend, Sarah.
Her grief went so deep it manifested physically
as pseudocyesis, an actual false pregnancy.
Sam was the friend the rest of the group
was taking their cues from.
Drawing upon anything to keep their friendships alive,
mass hysteria spread through the group
with their spell as the origin.
- Every teenager experiences a rite of passage,
but these girls were able to share
a collective coming of age together.
[ Laughter ]
This illness was empathy in its deepest form.
- Okay. Okay.
So when do we tell them?
They can't go on thinking they're pregnant.
- You're exactly right, Jacob.
Our first step-- to meet them where they are
so they know that no matter what,
they're not alone.
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
- Just the doctor I was looking for.
- You wouldn't come all this way to give me bad news, would you?
- Dr. Carol Pierce...
[drums desk] ...today's your lucky day.
And your John Doe's.
- [ Laughs ] Oh, my God. Oh, my God!
Um, you're gonna have to settle for a thank you from me
until John Doe can do it himself.
- He joins the study on one condition.
- Okay.
- If Wolf deviates from the protocols at all,
if he so much as misses one data field on a report, he's out.
John Doe, too. Deal?
- You won't regret changing your mind,
for taking a chance on Wolf.
- I'm not taking a chance on Wolf.
I'm taking a chance on you.
[ Pager beeps ]
- Uh... oh.
Duty calls. Um, see you soon?
- Looking forward to it.
- Nurse Gomez, call Occupational Therapy.
Nurse Gomez...
- She's tachypneic and tachycardic.
- On it. - Her oxygen sats are normal.
- This could be postpartum preeclampsia.
- Carol, she's having a panic attack.
- Okay, everyone clear the room, please.
Give us a minute now.
- [ Hyperventilating ]
- Sam. Sam.
I need you to breathe with me.
You are having a panic attack.
- [ Gasping for air ] I can't... breathe.
- Yes, you can. Do you see that clock over there?
I want you to focus on that.
One more time.
[ Both exhale ]
You are safe.
This will pass.
You can talk to me.
- I just...
[ Breathing shakily ]
...can't believe it's real.
What if I don't want to do this?
Am I a terrible mom already?
- You know, Sam, I had those same questions, too.
And as a mom, I won't make any false promises,
because there will be a learning curve.
But whatever you decide, your friends and your family
will be right there to support you.
♪
A baby holding a baby.
♪
Those first few weeks after having Maya were brutal.
- I remember. You were more sleep-deprived after Maya
than during clinical rotations. - Ooh. [ Chuckles ]
You're never the same person again after you have a baby.
Sam's gonna have to figure out who she is
and how to be a mom all at the same time,
which isn't impossible. It's just harder.
But she has her whole life ahead of her.
It'll just be a little different from the rest of the girls.
- For better or for worse,
survival requires a constant evolution.
Is anyone familiar with pseudocyesis?
Uh, mass-psychogenic illness?
No. Um, both involve high levels of stress,
which caused your minds, and in Sarah's case, her body,
to believe that you were pregnant.
But you're not.
[ Voice fading ] I know that this is a lot of information
to take in at one time,
and Dr. Pierce and I will both be available to you...
For many, that growth is part of a natural process
that comes easily...
[ School bell rings ]
- ♪ An empty sail takes the wind ♪
- ...while for others, this adaptation will be harder,
cost more.
♪ Heal ♪
- Let's write down any loss we're feeling.
When we're ready,
let it go into the fire.
- As doctors, we wanted to affirm their experience
is valid and real.
Survival requires burning away the parts of ourselves
that no longer serve us.
Any rite of passage is a kind of death.
- ♪ Take a heart and take a hand ♪
- To birth the new requires burying the old.
- ♪ Like an ocean takes the dirty sand ♪
- There is one adaptation that irrefutably increases
your chance of survival--
relying on a pack instead of forging on alone.
The key to evolution, like healing,
is going at our own pace.
♪
- ♪ And tell me some things last ♪
- [ Knocks ] You strike me as a poppy seed guy.
- Oh. - I wanted to stop by and say thanks.
Things at Bellwood High seem to be getting back to normal,
or however normal high school can be.
- Well, we couldn't have done it without you.
You clearly care a great deal about your students.
- And you clearly care a great deal about your patients.
But besides the delivery service,
I wanted to ask you something.
I'd love if we got to know each other outside of office hours?
Maybe be on a first-name basis?
I'm Mark.
- Um, Oliver.
- I know you're set on bagels, but...
there's a great cocktail bar around the corner,
if you're interested?
- Um...
I'm sorry. I like poppy seeds.
Uh, and you.
Um... I'm just not available.
- Yeah. I didn't realize you were seeing anyone.
I'm sorry. - No, no, I-I'm not
seeing anyone. Um, just very...
unavailable.
Um, but thank you for this. Um, and rain check...
maybe? - Yeah. Of course.
You know where to find me.
Thanks again, Oliver.
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
♪
- ♪ I said I wanna believe ♪
- Has OB-GYN tried to poach you yet?
- Oh, yeah. - [ Chuckles ]
- I already got business cards made and everything.
Van Marcus, baby deliverer.
- Well, just remember the little guys like me
when you're up on Maternity.
- You know, um...
I was able to not feel Sam's pain
because I was focusing on you.
So I felt what you were feeling instead.
Steady. Confident.
Brave.
You were...
You were my anchor.
- Oh, that's wild. You got Best Laugh, too?
- You do have a nice laugh. It's infectious.
Like mass-psychogenic illness. [ Laughter ]
- I'm getting, uh, Most Likely to Succeed vibes from you.
- This guy delivers one baby and thinks he knows everything.
Uh, I got...
Most Likely to Win a Nobel Prize.
- They thought you were smart. That's so nice.
Yeah, the way you freaked out at the school,
I thought maybe you were, like, hard-core bullied or something.
- No, no, that was a panic attack.
- Oh.
Uh... Dana, I'm-- I'm sorry.
- Uh, it's okay.
You guys can know.
Uh...
I had a younger sister.
She passed away my senior year,
and I was in the library
when the principal found me to break the news.
And that is my panic-attack origin story.
[ Chuckles ] I've got it under control now,
for the most part.
- What was her name?
♪
- Olivia.
Little 'Liv.
- Hey, I'm-- I'm so sorry, Dana. I didn't...
If I would have known back at Bellwood High, I would have--
- No, it's all good.
I kept wondering
if I had had friends like Sam back then,
would I be less broken now?
And would a library send me into a death spiral a decade later?
- Well, you have us now. - Mm.
- We're your coven. - Oh.
- Yeah!
- Agh. You get one group hug. - Aw!
- That's it. - Mm-hmm.
- I always hated libraries. - [ Chuckles ]
- Oh. - [ Laughs ]
What is the occasion?
- Well, I didn't want to say anything until it was official.
Your John Doe is in the InterMind study.
- What? Are you serious? - Yes!
- What-- how did you--
- Uh, made a deal with the devil.
A very handsome devil. But still, if you do anything--
I mean anything-- to compromise Gadson's work,
it is my head. You got it?
- I could kiss you right now.
- One drunk med-school kiss was enough.
[ Chuckles ]
Hey.
Thanks for letting me crash.
I really didn't want to be alone with my thoughts.
You ever get that feeling?
- This case.
Their loss of innocence
brought a lot of those feelings up for me.
I was about their age the last time I saw my dad.
- Heat. Fuel. Oxygen.
[ Exhales ]
[ Bird cawing ]
[ Twigs snapping ]
[ Suspenseful music plays ]
♪
- Whoa.
Easy there. Oliver?
We've been looking for you.
- Did my dad find you?
Is he coming?
- Let's get you home.
[ Down-tempo music plays ]
- [ Sighs ] It's still haunts me,
how alone he must have felt. I never looked hard enough.
I didn't try hard enough 'cause I was too scared.
- You are so hard on yourself.
I can't help but think you want to be alone.
I mean, [scoffs] you're surrounded by
your books and your plants
and your rocks and your weights,
distanced from the world.
You've barricaded yourself into this life like a cocoon.
But you've trapped all the pain in there with you, too.
- Keeps him close, I guess.
- Well...
at some point, when you're ready,
you might want to break free.
- Baby steps, Carol.
♪
Hey. Come here.
Would you look at that?
You're my cocoon.
- [ Snorts and laughs ]
Don't ruin the moment.
♪
- Greg, move your head.