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Summary for "Chicago Hope," the Premiere 8 pageIn Short: Dr. Infante reattaches a digit severed from the hand of a flutist. A former patient brings suit against the hospital and its doctors, and recruits some out of town help. A mysterious young man helps out in the ER. Guest Starring: Diane Venora (as Dr. Geri Infante), Peter Berg (as Dr. Billy Kronk), Thomas Gibson (as Dr. Daniel Nyland), Stephen Elliott (as Harold Aldrich), Jeremy Piven (as Godfrey Nabbott), Fyvush Finkel (as Douglas Wambaugh), Richard Edson (as Anthony Tedesco), Pruitt Taylor Vince (as Walter Platt), Ken Lerner, Robert Kerbeck, Catherine Paolone and Brian K. Grant Story: David E. Kelley TOP Summary: The hospital staff springs to action when several patients are wheeled into the emergency room simultaneously. Dr. Billy Kronk, an off-duty surgeon, attends to a man who lost a great deal of blood after suffering an injury during a hockey match. Kronk was playing in the hockey game when the man, Alan Dollof, suffered a broken rib that punctured his heart. With Dr. Jeffrey Geiger unavailable, Kronk orders hospital staff to prep the man for surgery. Meanwhile, Anthony Tedesco, a concert flutist with the Chicago Philharmonic, is rushed into the E.R. with a missing finger. Police officers explain it was bitten off by a psychotic tough guy named Jerrod. The incident grows more bizarre when it is revealed that Jerrod not only severed the finger — he swallowed it whole. Kronk takes command of the situation and persuades Jerrod that he might avoid assault charges if he agrees to have his stomach pumped. Jerrod consents and Kronk ends up fishing the missing finger out of his intestine. Dr. Geri Infante, a friend of Kronk's, successfully attaches the digit. But a further search of Jerrod's intestine reveals a toothbrush, chess pieces...and another finger, this one partially digested. Dr. Phillip Watters and Kronk realize the wrong finger was sewn onto Tedesco's hand. It is decided that the finger will remain on the flutist's hand despite the fact that it was bitten off of someone else. When Tedesco regains consciousness and learns what has happened, he tells Infante that if the finger graft is unsuccessful he will lose his livelihood and never again play the flute. Infante suggests immunosuppressants, which would give the graft a slightly better chance of working. She cautions, however, that the drug will increase his chances of incurring a life-threatening infection. Nevertheless, Tedesco insists that he be given the drugs. But the Tedesco case does not fade away. Attorney Jonathan Saunders announces that one of Rayfield Health's patients, Walter Platt, is looking for his finger — the very one the doctors transplanted onto Tedesco's hand. Infante refuses to amputate the grafted digit. But when Tedesco meets Platt face to face, he agrees that the finger should be removed. Alan Birch seeks permission from Judge Aldrich before approving the procedure. Aldrich is unhappy with the request but grants it nonetheless. After listening to a tape of Tedesco in concert, however, Platt changes his mind and calls off the operation. But there's more trouble in store for the doctors of Chicago Hope when an old case resurfaces. The staff is angered when Godfrey Nabbott, a former patient who suffered a series a calamities after being admitted with a painful erection, sues for emotional distress. Douglas Wambaugh (the infamous defense attorney from "Picket Fences") represents Nabbott. He points out that his client suffered a heart attack and a blood clot after the hospital agreed to admit him. As for the Dollof case, Kronk and Watters visit him after he makes a successful recovery. Dollof swears he will exact revenge against the player that struck him. Kronk, whose quick thinking saved Dollof's life, admits it was he who broke his ribs. He defends his action as a clean check. When Dollof's condition takes a turn for the worse, Geiger suspects an embolism. But upon reexamining the X rays, Kronk realizes he knocked lose a tooth that lodged in the man's chest. Impressed with Kronk's performance, Watters offers him a job at the hospital. TOP Facts: First appearances of Peter Berg as Dr. William "Billy" Kronk Wild Thing by Tone Loc is played when Billy walks down the corridor to look after the hockey player he had injured during the play. TOP Quotes: In Birch's office, everybody is yelling at Birch: After Kronk diagnoses correctly the injured hockey player:. At the hearing Douglas Wambaugh attacks Jeffrey and Alan tries to calm down Jeffrey: TOP Transcripts: Jeffrey : Counselor. I'm told we've settled. 14. Summary for "Cutting Edges" CHICAGO HOPE, EPISODE 1.14 "Cutting Edges" Original Air date: 2/6/95 Written by David E. Kelley & Dennis Cooper & Toni Graphia Directed by Mark Tinker Dr. Jeffrey Geiger visits his wife, Laurie, in the hospital. They hug, then Geiger realizes they aren't alone. "Who are you?" he asks the man on the couch. Laurie answers shyly, "Honey, this is Gilbert Weeks. He was in the band originally." "Until you cut me," Gilbert reminds him. Geiger remembers, "Right. I didn't recognize you without your uh, trombone." He pulls Laurie to the side. "Honey, as I recall Gilbert has cut people with sharp instruments. Should you really be alone with him?" "That was one isolated incident with a can opener," Laurie argues. Geiger understands, but he still thinks security should be present. He sees Gilbert leaning closer on the bed. "Can you lean back, please?" Gilbert complies. Laurie tells Geiger how close she and Gilbert have become. They have something to tell Geiger, she says. Gilbert smiles nervously and says,"I would like her hand." Geiger smiles. "She needs her hand, Gilbert," he patiently explains. "Suppose someday she'd like to play the trombone, like you? She'd need both her hands, wouldn't she?" "I mean her hand in marriage," Gilbert clarifies. Laurie smiles. "And I want to give it to him. . . . I know this is a conversation we should be having alone, and I wanted to tell you alone, but I was afraid I wouldn't be strong enough to say . . ." Geiger still doesn't understand what they are talking about. "Strong enough to say . . . ?" "I'm in love with Gilbert and I want to marry him." Geiger looks astonished. "You . . . ? That's a joke, right?" He laughs. Laurie laughs along, then stops. "It's not a joke. I want a divorce," she says. ACT ONE Geiger asks Gilbert to leave the room. "I'd prefer not to. Laurie needs my support," Gilbert says. "I'm Laurie's husband and would like to share a spousal communication with her in your absence," Geiger says. He nudges Gilbert out the door. Gilbert digs in his heels. "I don't like your tone. I'm a lawyer by trade, you know? And I object to your condescending intonations." Geiger smiles, but continues to push Gilbert out the door. "Objection sustained, counsel. Let's try to keep in mind you're in this academy because you tried to play doctor with a jagged can opener, without getting informed consent from your patient." He succeeds in pushing Gilbert out of the room, but Gilbert remains in the doorway. "Both feet have to be fully out for the door to close," Geiger tells him patiently. "The tone troubles me," Gilbert responds. Geiger smiles. "Shut your eyes. Think Prozac." He closes the door, takes off his jacket and sits next to Laurie on the bed. "Are you out of what's left of your mind?" he asks her. Laurie tries to make Geiger understand. "I didn't plan on it happening. We've been together every day for three years." "Laurie, I am your husband." She smiles tearfully. "I'm not going to get better." "So marrying Gilbert . . . that's an answer?" Laurie braces herself as she continues her explanation. "I want a partner again. I want somebody to share with and live with." Geiger is hurt. "I've tried to be there for you." Tears swell in Laurie's eyes. "I can't imagine anybody trying harder than you have," she tells him. "I also cannot imagine loving anybody as deeply as I have you. And, God, if I could get back, if I could return to the way it was, that would be one thing, but I'm not going to get back there, sweetie. So, I have to move forward. And I love Gilbert." Dr. Dennis Hancock walks into the hospital with his young teenage patient, Tamara, and her mother. Tamara is impressed with the hospital and thinks Dr. Hancock "should get some of this flavor" for his office. They run into Dr. Billy Kronk. "So, it's true you really do work here?" Hancock marvels. "Yeah. They pay me and everything," Kronk says. Hancock points to Kronk's bruised left eye. "They hit you too?" "High stick," Kronk explains The two friends hug. Hancock introduces Tamara to Kronk. Tamara says she doesn't think Kronk looks like a doctor. Hancock tells her he doesn't act like one either. Kronk shows them into his office, and Hancock fills him in on Tamara's case. "Routine check up," Hancock tells him, "but when I went to listen to her chest, I noticed the right nipple was retracted." He tells Kronk that two maternal aunts have died of ductal C.A. Kronk tells him they will set up a mammogram. "I appreciate this, Billy," Hancock says. "Oh, and insurance? They don't have any." "I never heard that," Kronk drowns him out. "Let's get her to radiology, all right?" Hancock indicates the hand-scrawled name sign outside Kronk's office, commenting, "Classy." "I know," Kronk agrees mildly. Geiger paces around his office wearing nothing but blue boxer shorts and argyle socks under his blue shirt and tie. Aaron Shutt walks by and glances in. "Why are you not wearing pants?" he inquires hesitantly. "Because I need to concentrate," Geiger tells him. "I need to pace in order to concentrate." Shutt enters his friend's office and quietly closes the door. "I also need quiet," Geiger continues. "When I pace, my pants make a sound. Not a big sound, a little sound. A whipping sound. Strikes me. Makes me hafta stop pacing and then I don't think so well. "You see? I'm nuts!" he goes on. "I'm perfectly qualified to be her partner in life. I can . . . I can be just as crazy as that loon with the trombone." He imitates a trombone player, then turns his attention back to Shutt, who is silently placing a new battery into his pager. "You know who they bonded over? Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox. Who bonds over the Boston Red Sox? He first went over the edge in '86 after they blew the World Series to the Mets. You believe that? A baseball game sent this guy to the rubber room. She finds it endearing 'cause she grew up rootin' for the Cubs. She can identify. Unbelievable." He looks down and paces. "I'm hearing my pants," he says. "I'm not wearin' 'em, I'm hearin' phantom pant noises. Whip whip whip whip whip. I couldn't snap over baseball, maybe, but I am perfectly capable of empathizing with her insanity. We can be partners." He looks down, waving his hands in the air. "Am I the only one hearing the pants, huh?" Shutt sits on the edge of the desk and asks carefully, "You said that if she could return to her old self she would?" Geiger stops pacing. "Of course." Shutt looks away from his friend. Geiger watches him closely, then crosses his arms. "What?" he asks. Shutt reluctantly tells him there is one procedure that might work, a radical form of brain surgery called a cingulotomy. The only place that has done this procedure is Massachusetts General. He says he has some ethical reservations about it. Geiger wants to know about the success rate. Shutt informs him that 40 percent of the patients have shown improvement. Geiger wants him to explain the procedure. Shutt hesitates, but Geiger persuades him. Geiger wants to know why it isn't done regularly, and Shutt explains that it is very controversial and no hospital wants to touch it. Geiger doesn't think that's a good enough reason if it can save a life. Shutt sits down next to Geiger. "You're talking about a partial lobotomy Do you really want to do that to Laurie?" he asks. Geiger shakes his head. "I don't want to do it," he says. "I want you to do it." Tamara is given a mammogram while Hancock explains the procedure to her mother. She smiles at Tamara's beauty and youth. A nurse interrupts them so the doctors can talk to the radiologist and review the X-rays. "The mass is very accessible," the radiologist tells Hancock. "I won't even need ultrasound to guide the needle." "We'll need a biopsy to be certain," he says. Meanwhile, Tamara nervously sits alone in the corridor waiting for the results. ACT TWO Geiger visits Laurie to explain the surgery to her. "It's brain surgery, and it might not work," he cautions. "But this could make me better again?" Laurie asks. "Yes." "Then of course I want it. How could I not?" "Are you sure?" Geiger probes. "I want the operation," she reaffirms, after a long pause. "I want it." They kiss. In Chief of Staff Dr. Phillip Watters' office, Shutt and Geiger try to explain the procedure to hospital counsel Alan Birch and Watters. "This is a lobotomy," Birch denounces. "That's what this is, a lobotomy!" Geiger glares at him. "You're an attorney," he explains. "Affectionately known as the eel because you slither around the room on a bed of fungus which oozes from your mouth under the guise of legal counsel. What you are not is a doctor. So, please do not ever try to define medical procedures for my benefit. Do you feel too trampled on with that restriction?" Birch holds up his hands. "No no no no no no. I would never presume to preempt your medical judgment," he says calmly. "As an attorney, however, I am often occasioned to have opinions. My opinion is that this operation threatens catastrophic repercussions for this hospital. It is irreversible, it is unpredictable. The risks . . ." "You're talking medicine again," Geiger says. "This troubles me. You are not a doctor." Birch counters, "And are you or are you the husband?" Watters breaks up the argument before they come to blows. "All right, that's enough." Alan spins away. "Look, he started it. Sorry, Phillip, I have to be allowed to fight back. Always had gumption when cornered." "Aaron, this procedure does seem a little barbaric," Watters allows. "It doesn't involve much brain tissue," Shutt says. "We pinpoint the clusters. Look, every option has been exhausted. Drugs. Electroconvulsion therapy. Nothing's worked." Watters is unconvinced. "But this . . ." "No matter how barbaric it sounds, it's going on very quietly already," Shutt says. "Not here it isn't," Birch mutters. Watters holds one finger up to his lips and says, "Shhh." "It's psychosurgery and it goes on hundreds of times a year," Shutt continues. "Nobody likes to talk about it because of the 'L' word. Nobody likes the phrase lobotomy, but it *is* a treatment." Geiger butts in. "Patients have a right to have it if they want it. Laurie wants it." "At the very least we have to put it to risk management," Birch says. "Oh please. No committees!" Geiger bursts out with quiet desperation. "This is my wife. Couldn't we do this without assembling the debate team? Can we just do it quietly. Please, Phillip?" "Are you the legal guardian?" Watters asks. "I am." With a quick glance at Birch, Watters makes his decision. "OK," he says. Birch is not happy. He shoots a look at Watters, who shrugs silently. Kronk and Hancock play table hockey as Dr. Geri Infante watches. They stop when the secretary announces that Dr. Kronk's patient has arrived. After Kronk sits Tamara and her mother down, he introduces them to Dr. Infante. The doctors explain that Tamara has breast cancer. The tumor is well-differentiated, which means it's the best kind to have, but they have to act now, they tell her. They want to admit her into the hospital and operate the next day before it spreads. They want to remove her breast completely. Kronk promises her that it can be reconstructed, adding that Infante is one of the best plastic surgeons in the country. Infante tells her she is in the high-risk category for cancer in any breast tissue that remains. Kronk inserts that they are aiming for a complete recovery. "Recovery as *what*?" Tamara inquires hysterically. The teenager refuses to let them remove her breast and leaves the office crying. Birch and Geiger walk off the hospital elevator arguing. Birch tries to explain that it is not his fault, that "they just appeared" in his office. They enter Birch's office and there sits Gilbert and his attorney with two men in white coats off to the side. Geiger shakes Gilbert's hand. "Gilbert! What a surprise," Geiger says with forced courtesy. Gilbert turns to his doctor. "Check out the tone," he says. Dr. Goodman shakes Geiger's hand. "Hi, I'm Dr. Goodman. Resident psychiatrist at Huron." "Hi. Jeff Geiger." He leads Dr. Goodman away from Gilbert and asks, "Are you supporting this?" "No," Goodman says. "In order for him to leave the institute, he's got to be accompanied by a doctor and security. That's why I'm here. The lawsuit's his own initiative." Gilbert stands. "I'm an attorney," he reminds them. "I'm fully licensed to litigate and you are not going to perform this invasive surgery on my fianc e." Geiger gestures for him to sit on the couch, while seating himself in a nearby chair. "What's the nature of your lawsuit?" he asks. Gilbert hands him some papers. "I brought a motion to disqualify you as guardian. Laurie lacks capacity to give meaningful consent to the cingulotomy and the guardian certainly should not be you since your sole motive for the operation is to make her fall out of love with me. Her true soulmate." "My motivation is for her to get well," Geiger says easily. "Well, she's been sick for six years and it wasn't until she decided to marry me that you felt compelled to drill into her brain." "Mr. Weeks, you too are an ill man, in no position to be vested with Laurie's welfare," Geiger says. "You went insane 'cause the Red Sox lost a series of baseball games to the Mets. Gilbert, the Mets were a better team." Gilbert stares at him and starts to get agitated. He waves Geiger's comments aside, trying in vain to let this go. "The Mets were not a better team, and I'm not insane." Geiger gets up from his chair and moves to the couch, beside Gilbert. He leans in conspiratorially and whispers, "Well, here's something. Bucky Dent." Gilbert angrily stands. "Routine fly ball," he protests. "Routine. Any other park it's an out. *Easy* out." He takes a deep breath. "Easy Gilbert," Dr. Goodman says soothingly. "Looped towards shortstop. Petrocelli's back and he's got it. Red Sox win." "Red Sox win," Gilbert repeats. "What are you doing?" Geiger asks, as Gilbert soothes himself, "Red Sox win . . . " "I'm taking him back to 1967," the psychiatrist explains. "The year they won the pennant. Remember the rally, Gilbert? Lonberg started it all off with a bunt." "Mmm hmmm . . . " Gilbert murmurs. Geiger and Birch stare at each other incredulously. Geiger leans back on the couch with crossed legs, feeling quite satisfied with himself. "Then he has to go skiing," Gilbert goes on. "Should have been in the hall of fame. Instead he's a dentist." "Could you give us just a moment please?" Dr. Goodman asks. Geiger and Birch leave the office. "How can this man go to court and challenge us?" Geiger sneers. "He's certifiable." "His sanity isn't the issue," Birch cautions. "Your being the guardian is the basis of the motion If he removes you as guardian, there will be no operation on Laurie." "This is insane," Geiger says. "Look, we did catch a break," Birch tells him. "Division 16, tomorrow. Our friend Judge Aldrich is sitting." "Our friend? The one that calls you a toad?" Birch brushes this off. "He's sympathetic to this hospital and he's not threatened by controversial procedures. He is the judge we want." Dr. Goodman leads Gilbert out, who mumbles, " . . . coulda been in the Hall of Fame, now instead he fills teeth. . . ." Hancock, Kronk and Infante quickly walk through the hospital's corridor. They are met by Dr. Watters. He tells them security has been called and he points them to a room where Tamara and her mother are arguing. Tamara declares that she would rather be dead than to have her breast removed. "Then that's it," Hancock tells her. "You don't have to have the operation." "I don't believe you," Tamara says. "Believe me," he assures her. "You don't want the procedure, I give you my word, it won't happen." Tamara looks doubtful. "So I can leave?" "You can leave. There are spiritual healers out there. I can set you up. It's not my choice, but there are those that believe it works. . . . Right now I think the best thing is for you to go home," he says. Tamara's mother isn't happy, but takes her daughter out of the room. Kronk watches them leave, then turns his attention to Hancock. "Uh, with all due respect, Hancock, what the hell was that? If she doesn't have the operation, she dies." "My patient, my call," Hancock says. In Geiger's office, Shutt lies on the couch and Geiger slumps in a chair with a bottle of booze on the table between them. Geiger wants Shutt to explain the procedure to him once more. He wants to be able to do the procedure himself if he has to, he says. Shutt complies with an in-depth description of the surgery. Geiger asks if he thinks the surgery is wrong, ethically. Shutt says he doesn't know. "It's an operation that alters the personality," he says. Geiger feels they do it all the time with mind-altering drugs; is it really so different to do it with a piece of equipment? ''What am I supposed to do, Aaron?" he asks. "Let her resign herself to . . . where she has to marry some other nutcase, just to . . . What am I supposed to do?" But Shutt has no answers for him. ACT THREE Laurie sits in the institution's recreation room playing Risk with her fellow patients. She's happy when Shutt pays her a visit and hugs him. Laurie's friend Martha speaks up, telling him she played the clarinet in the band. "Yes, I heard you were . . . excellent,'' Shutt says politely. "Reed," she responds. "I beg your pardon?" "The clarinet is a *reed* instrument." Shutt nods, at something of a loss, and leads Laurie to an area where they can talk in private. He asks Laurie if she really wants this operation. "How . . . why should I not?" Laurie asks. Shutt explains that they may cure the schizophrenia but they take out brain tissue and they may remove parts of her make her Laurie. "Jeffrey wouldn't have suggested something he didn't believe in a hundred percent," she says. Gilbert comes by and kisses Laurie, explaining that he is off to court. "Wish me luck," he says. But all Laurie says is, "Bye." After Gilbert leaves, Laurie tells Shutt that Gilbert is trying to stop the operation. Shutt asks if she wants to stop it. Laurie shakes her head. "No. I want to be healthy again." Watters goes to Dr. Hancock's clinic where he is examining four brothers. The waiting room is jammed with patients. After the family leaves, Watters tells Hancock that he isn't in the habit of second-guessing his colleagues, but that he has problem with Hancock telling Tamara she didn't have to have the operation and referring her to faith healers. Hancock says he doesn't have time for Watters' problems. Watters warns him he'd better make time because he practiced his malpractice under their roof. If she refuses that operation because of advice she received at Chicago Hope, then the hospital would be liable, he points out. Hancock assures him that she will have the operation, explaining that he knows his patient. "You don't push, she'll come around. You push, she goes away." "What if she doesn't come around?" Watters presses, adding that he doesn't think Hancock's insurance carrier will be too happy with his psychology methods Hancock tells Watters he has no insurance carrier. "You know what the premiums for this kind of clinic would be?" Hancock says. He could never absorb the cost, because many of his patients have no insurance. "What if you get sued?" Watters asks. Hancock merely shrugs. "Life's a chance," he says glibly. Then he asks Watters to leave so that he can see the rest of his patients, suggesting he check the waiting room on his way out. Watters does, and spots Tamara sadly waiting to see Dr. Hancock. Birch, Geiger, Gilbert and Dr. Goodman have their day in court. Birch tells Judge Aldrich that there is nothing to substantiate the claim that Geiger isn't capable of being her guardian, but Aldrich doesn't like the sound of the surgery. Birch reminds him they have affidavits from eleven of the most esteemed neurosurgeons in the country ratifying the legitimacy of the procedure, and seven from Huron's psychiatrists, stating that all other remedies had been exhausted. Judge Aldrich isn't impressed with affidavits, saying, "They're generally self-serving, proselytizing pieces of crap printed nicely on bond paper. I'd like a declarant to have enough guts to step into my courtroom and say what they have to say to my face. "Well, I apologize for the affidavit system" Birch comments, "and it is tragic that all the judges across this country have foolishly bought into the idea." "Are you being smug with me, pipsqueak?" Aldrich growls. Birch stands, saying, "Judge, allow me to say this before declaring to the gallery that I am a toad. This man is Laurie Geiger's husband. Her loving husband. He has been her caretaker for six long years. Now, his commitment to her welfare cannot be doubted. Not by anybody. He's trying to save her from an insanity that's robbing her of who she is." Gilbert rises. "Your honor? She wants to leave him, so he goes for a lobotomy," he tells the judge. "And that is the very bottom line here." "Says you," Birch says. "Yes, says me. I was there. I witnessed it," Gilbert replies. "And my credibility in this courtroom is every bit as reliable as yours and much more so than his. This man has been emotionally devastated and he's authorizing an extremely controversial if not barbaric craniotomy while in the grips of his emotional crisis. That is insanity." Amid the murmurs, Birch turns to face the gallery. To the backdrop of a prerecorded version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," he whispers to Gilbert: "Two outs, bottom of the ninth, nobody on, two strikes. One pitch away from winning the first World Series since 19-who-knows-what . . ." "This isn't relevant," Gilbert protests nervously. "Base hit, another hit, and another hit, two runs score, the game is tied. . . " Birch continues. "Counsel, what are you doing?" the judge prompts. "Stop him," Gilbert pleads. " . . . Ground ball, thank God, easy out. Uh-oh. Bill Buckner. Bill Buckner and the Mets win," Birch gloats. Gilbert attacks him. Dr. Hancock talks to Tamara. She's a beautiful girl, he tells her. She can't imagine not being beautiful. But she'd rather not be at all if she has to lose her breast--and that's exactly the choice she's making, Hancock tells her. Cancer left untreated will kill her. He knows she knows that and it's why she came back. Nobody will ever look at her again except to look at her like she's some kind of freak, Tamara complains bitterly. "You've been my patient for seven years," Hancock says. "I've never lied to you and I won't start now. Some people will look at you differently. You might be pitied as a cancer victim. Some boys will find it a sexual turn-off. It'll be hard at first. Very hard. "But you can recover completely," he continues. "And though you might not think so now, you can return to a happy, happy life. "You can be beautiful," he says, "grow up, get married, have kids. All the dreams that have been out there for you are still out there. I know this sounds like a big doctor's speech, but it's true. "I ask you to trust that it's true, because you trust me." "I believe everything you say," Tamara admits, "but still . . . it's not like I'll be going to any proms or anything. Sounds stupid, doesn't it?" Tamara says quietly. "No, not at all," Hancock gently assures her. "So when?" she asks, as tears stream down her face. "When do we do this?" "Tomorrow. Chicago Hope will do it. We'll admit you tonight." Tamara gives her consent. Geiger wheels Laurie off the elevator, accompanied by Birch. Shutt meets them. "So the judge said yes?" he inquires. "Yes, Gilbert was winning until he wigged out and mugged me," Birch smirks. "Aldrich ruled in our favor." "You're going to do a good job, right?" Laurie asks Shutt. "I'll do my very best," he promises. She tells him she is ready, and Geiger wheels his wife to her room, both of them looking scared to death. ACT FOUR Geiger, Shutt, Hancock and Kronk all scrub in for their respective operations. In his O.R., Shutt grumbles, "It's my procedure. I should be able to choose the music." "I thought you loved the Temptations," Geiger says vulnerably. "That's not the point. You shouldn't preempt me like that, Jeffrey. It's your wife I'm operating on, you should want me to listen to the music of my choice," Shutt says. "I thought you loved the Temptations," Geiger explains again with an apologetic shrug. "Stop the music." Camille enters the room, telling Geiger that Laurie is still in her room. "Evidently she has a visitor. A man claiming to be her fiance." "Son of a bitch," Geiger mutters as he rips off his gloves. Rock music blares as Kronk operates on Tamara, removing the cancerous tissue from her breast. Gilbert talks with Laurie in her hospital room. "You know I wish you to get better," he tells her sadly. "I just wish they had an operation for me. No, actually I don't. At Huron, I've been the happiest I've ever been." "In an institution?" she asks. "It's a community," he explains. "Lot of good friends, food's good . . . even fell in love there." "Me too," Laurie says quietly, looking down. "What if after the operation you still love me? Would we still have a chance?" "I don't know," Laurie says. "They say that when I'm sane I won't love you anymore. So, I don't know." Geiger enters. "Gilbert . . . can I have a second alone?" "Please don't sing," Gilbert says. "I'll try not to." Gilbert leaves the room, and Geiger closes the door. Gilbert watches through the window until Geiger sits next to Laurie on her bed. Then he turns his back. "You really do love him, don't you?" Geiger asks. "Yeah." "Do you want this operation, Laurie?" "I love you, Jeffrey," Laurie says. "I always will. You're the most special person I've ever known. But, I do remember us together. Even before the incident. And the truth is . . . that I think I'm happier with Gilbert." "I see." "I think maybe I belong with Gilbert," she says. She looks pleadingly at Geiger. He looks away. "I have the team assembled downstairs. I'd better go let them know the procedure is canceled," Geiger mumbles. "Yeah." "I don't want to tie up the room. So I'll be back." He leaves the room. After a moment, Laurie calls after him, but he is already gone. Infante reports from pathology that the nodes were negative. "My room now. Which means, goodbye to the Grateful Dead. Put on some Mozart? Thanks." "OK, people," Geiger tells the assembled surgery team. "Procedure's canceled. Thank you for your time. You're free to go home." "What's going on?" Shutt asks him. "She opted to stay insane, which might be the sane thing to do. That sound crazy? Maybe I need the operation." He looks around. "Why are you people still standing here? Get out, get lost, huh? Go call your accountants." He paces the OR "What happened?" Shutt presses. "She loves Gilbert, she loves me not. She loves Gilbert, loves me not. Loves Gilbert, loves me not . . ." Shutt is at a loss. "OK, Jeffrey," he says, removing his mask. "Are your pants making noise again?" "Aaron, I wanna go out and celebrate. I'm liberated," he explains. "I stood by her. I was a good husband. I was there for her in every way. She's chosen to leave *me*. I'm off the hook. I'm free. I want to go out and drink Guinness. I know how the Munchkins felt when that house landed. I have never been so free." "Well, we should have a big, big party," Shutt comments. Geiger is not finished. "It's not like we had a life together," he says. "She was in a nuthouse." He begins pacing again, quiet for a moment. Then he says quietly, "She's still my foundation. I wake up everyday still loving her. How am I going to wake up tomorrow?" "You just do," Shutt says simply. "I never thought of myself as being without her," Geiger mourns. "It's all for the best. It's really for the best. It's a blessing is what it is. We're all going to be better off. It's a great day, really. It's a good, good day." "Yeah, a happy day," Shutt agrees sadly, hurting for his friend. Geiger leaves the room. "How big is the scar going to be?" Hancock asks Infante. "I'm building the perfect nipple and you're worried about scar size. Five or six centimeters." To Kronk she remarks, "I love Mozart, don't you?" "No, I don't," he answers. "Suffer," she says. Laurie and Geiger are in her room as she prepares to check out. "This doesn't have to be goodbye, right?" Geiger asks. "Of course not," Laurie assures him. "I'll still need you, Jeffrey." "Would it be OK for me to need you once in a while?" She smiles. "I'd like that." "Love you," he whispers. "Love you," she whispers back. They kiss awkwardly. "Bye-bye, Laurie. Take care." "Yep." In recovery, Hancock assures Tamara that Kronk has apparently gotten all the cancer, and that he has done a great job. "What about her?" she questions, referring to the plastic surgeon. "Did she do a great job?" "I think you should be the judge," Infante tells her. "I'm afraid," Tamara admits. "I don't think I can." She turns to her mother for guidance. "I'm just as scared as you are, sweetie," her mother smiles. Infante describes the procedure she had followed to reconstruct the breast. Tamara says that she is ready. She is handed a mirror, and Hancock opens her gown. The girl is shocked and delighted. "It looks real. It looks good. . . . I can't believe it." As he wheels her out of the hospital, Gilbert and Laurie sing "Carl Yztremski" happily. Geiger watches them for a moment, then turns, tosses a chart onto the front desk, and walks away down the hall in the opposite direction, alone. END YOLETTE'S RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS: "It looks real. It looks good. . . . I can't believe it," Tamara said. I couldn't believe it either! The young patient's breasts were exposed for all to admire on primetime network television! Sure, ''NYPD Blue'' already had made waves by showing nudity on broadcast television, but even ''NYPD'' had not yet shown a full frontal view of a topless woman, restricting itself mostly to full-body shots from the rear. Yet, for all the flak ABC suffered on its voyage into ''adult'' programming, this eyebrow-raising scene in ''Chicago Hope'' caused nary a ripple. No protests. No outrage. But the lack of reaction was not surprising. The nudity was handled with a marked clinical detachment, very tastefully done and very much in line with the story of a girl's fears of deformity due to cancer--a fear many women with breast cancer have to come to terms with. Second season executive producer John Tinker later was heard to remark, ''I was surprised that CBS let us do that.''"Cutting Edge" Date: 2015-12-11; view: 550
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