Dr. Sarah Reese quotes from Chicago Med

[Reese wheels him into the hospital in a wheelchair] Actually, totally my fault. Overdid it on the PT; had to do that last leg lift, and this is my reward [hearing Reese yawn] Am I boring you, Doctor?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Oh, no, sorry. I stayed up all night attacking the library, got all the way to Bowlby.

Bowlby? Great stuff.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Mm-hmm.

Made Charles Dickens the fascination of an entire generation of shrinks.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Bowlby said that Darwin had a panic disorder.

Oh, yes, ma'am. Charlie had a dark side. Wait 'till you get to Barloon and Noyes.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

You were right. There is something going on with Danny.

Oh. Tell me.

Dr. Sarah Reese

He told me he's addicted to heroin. Uh, he started going through withdrawal, he's stable now, on methadone and Ativan, and I... I know detox is a long road, but maybe we can help.

Could work. Let's see what we got.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

[after talking to their patient and his mother] I don't know what happened. He's totally different.

Well, it's gonna be a little tense with mom in there, right?

Dr. Sarah Reese

But it's like a switch was flipped. He wouldn't even look me in the eye.

Something is a little off. What... how long 'till he's discharged?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, his obstruction's cleared, and now that we know it was caused by the heroin, there's no reason to keep him once his IV's done.

Let's ask Dr. Choi to order a lactic level and an iron panel.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Why would we want those?

Buy us a little time. We got to separate 'em, and see if we can find out what's what.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

[looking at a patient's x-ray] Straight edges, opaque. It looks man-made, like there was something under Danny on the table.

No, this is definitely inside of him. I could be wrong, but I think this might be a tracking device.

Dr. Sarah Reese

A what?

A transponder. Emits a homing signal. Would explain how that woman found him.

Dr. Sarah Reese

You mean his mom?

Yeah, is she, though? I mean, think about it; the guarded behavior, heroin abuse.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Wait, you think he's a drug mule?

Resistance to examination by male doctors suggesting a history of abuse by other men. I've seen this before. I think that Danny might be a victim of sex trafficking.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Sex trafficking? So that woman...

Is his pimp.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

We can't just let her take him.

He is not a minor, so we have no right to intercede unless he explicitly asks us to.

Dr. Sarah Reese

But he wanted me to find the chip. He wanted me to know.

Well, what did he say? What exactly did he say?

Dr. Sarah Reese

He didn't... he didn't say anything, but he was...

See, Sarah, it's not enough. Crazy as it sounds, we need to know that he's psychologically ready to be extricated. We do this the wrong way, we call the police, could be very, very bad for him. It's why we need to hear it from is own lips. Trust me.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Then I need to talk to him.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

Danny said he'd get back in touch.

When he does, you should refer him to the psych clinic.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, he won't go. He's afraid to come into the hospital or any clinic. He's afraid the traffickers will find out and he only wants to see me outside.

Bad idea.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, Dr. Charles, he's suicidal.

So, let me get this straight. You are gonna give him psychotherapy in the parking lot once a week? Dr. Reese, this patient - any patient - has got to be treated in the proper clinical setting.

Dr. Sarah Reese

He feels a connection to me.

Let me ask you something. You feel like you're the only one who can help him? Only one who understands him?

Dr. Sarah Reese

No. No, it's just...

Just what?

Dr. Sarah Reese

I care about him.

Cut it off. You're too involved.

Dr. Sarah Reese

But I... I... I don't understand.

What happens if you don't get the rosy outcome you're looking for?

Dr. Sarah Reese

I think I can deal with that.

No. Crucial part of my job is protecting my staff. You are headed down a dangerous path. Step away. We clear?

[Reese slowly, but sadly, nods]

Good.

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So this hypothetical patient... female?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Male, hypothetically.

Okay. And you say he was implanted with a tracking device?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Yes.

Innovative. We... we usually see human trafficking victims who've been branded or tattooed, but not this. How old is he?

Dr. Sarah Reese

[unsure what to say] Um...

We don't have consent to get any more specific.

Sure. [turning to Reese] You want to help this boy get out of the life. It's complicated. Traffickers control their victims in a number of ways; psychologically through fear and emotional abuse, and physically. Drugs. Torture. He's up against a lot. I think it'll help him open up if he feels like he can trust you.

Pretty sure he already does.

Great. Once he tells you that he's ready to involve us, just call me, and we'll start looking at ways to extricate him, but in the meantime, you have to be really careful. His fears are legitimate. If these traffickers find out that he's trying to get out, that he could potentially become a witness against them, they'll kill him.

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Protective custody?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Mm-hmm.

We don't have a suspect, much less an open investigation. We legally can't protect Danny unless he gives us information about the people who held him captive.

Dr. Sarah Reese

So talk to him.

I did. I tried. I went to the shelter, and he wouldn't talk to me.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, now he's gonna have to sleep on the street tonight. Are you okay with that?

No, of course not.

Dr. Sarah Reese

So... can we talk to him together? 'Cause maybe he'll open up with me there.

Let's give it a shot.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

[after trying to talk to Danny] He's not ready.

He's obviously terrified. And I wish that I could help, but my hands are tied here. Let me know if he changes his mind.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Okay.

Good luck.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

[having learned Danny, the boy she was trying to rescue from sex traffickers, died] It's my fault.

No, that's not true.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Of course it is. I told him we could remove the chip. I encouraged him to run away.

You empowered him to make decisions. It's what good doctors do.

Dr. Sarah Reese

But they were the wrong decisions.

It was the wrong outcome.

Dr. Sarah Reese: And now he's dead. I mean, who knows? If... if I had told him to wait, maybe the police would have come and broken up the ring and he'd be free. I was careless with his life.

Dr. Reese, you're anything but careless. Sometimes the best advice, you know, it's just not enough. Dangerous thing about psychiatry, it can sometimes give those of us who practice it the illusion of control. But the human brain, it's... it is the most complex, mysterious object in the universe. That means that what we do, it... it just doesn't come with any guarantees.

Dr. Sarah Reese

I don't think that makes me feel any better.

I know. Never does.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

You just get good news or bad news?

Dr. Ethan Choi

My coma patient this morning, he mentioned a Qur'an verse: Surah Al shura 40. "The recompense of an evil deed can only be an evil equal to it; but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, their reward is due from God."

Dr. Sarah Reese

In the psych world, it's called complementarity. You know, kindness begets kindness. Hostility, hostility.

Dr. Ethan Choi

Yeah. An hour ago, those two hated each other, but then his father extends a hand.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Dr. Charles calls it "flipping the script".

Dr. Ethan Choi

Don't know if I could've done it.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

I spoke to my mom today. Told her I was a psych resident.

Oh, just now you're telling her?

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, yeah. I knew how she'd react. And I was right. She... laughed. She said I was the last person she could ever imagine being a psychiatrist.

Wow. Real vote of confidence there.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

[after "meeting" a patient's alternate personality] Obviously, she is profoundly disturbed, which we should have known when she first said "tulpa". Why are we treating her like she is sane when she isn't?

Wouldn't that be a little too easy, though? I mean, sure, we could, you know, slap a label on her, put her in some diagnostic box, pour some medicine on top; but sometimes it's a little more complicated than that.

Dr. Sarah Reese

She had an argument with her made-up friend while her subconscious crashed the car. It seems pretty simple to me.

Grace is definitely a fractured personality. But it's all the more reason that we have a responsibility to dig deeper and figure out why.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Right. I'm sorry, Dr. Charles, but I like boxes. None of this makes any sense. It is all so subjective. I hate it. I mean, where's the science?

Dr. Reese, every medical discipline, psychiatry included, is as much art as it is science.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Well, I don't see the science or the art. You know, everybody was so surprised when I went into this; me, the lab geek. Well, they were right. I don't belong here.

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Dr. Sarah Reese

This was a total disaster.

I'm not so sure that's true. I mean, from Grace's perspective, this could be as close to a win as we can get.

Dr. Sarah Reese

She just chose her tulpa over her husband; her tulpa that almost killed her.

I just saw her tulpa talk her off a ledge.

Dr. Sarah Reese

I have no idea what to think.

Like it or not, the line between psychological illness and a coping mechanism is a blurry one. I mean, just 'cause we don't give them names and voices doesn't mean we don't all have different sides. I mean, our personalities change based on... how much sleep we get, how hungry we are. Hell, intestinal bacteria could be the determining factor in our emotions. Look... I know you think of yourself as an analytical thinker and a scientist, and that you're wondering if you have a place in psychiatry right now. But I also see this other Sarah in there, and she's filled with intuition and compassion, humanity. And when you put 'em both together, like during Grace's panic attack today, then I see a sensational psychiatrist.

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Mr. Kellogg, I am so grateful that you're still alive, and that I get to treat you.

JKJack Kellogg

I just want my meds.

Yeah. It really doesn't work that way. You see, your behavior indicates a pretty profound personality disorder. Off the cuff, among other things, I'd say you're probably a malignant narcissist with over sadistic impulses.

JKJack Kellogg

You've got no right to talk to me...

Shut your mouth.

Dr. Sarah Reese

Dr. Charles.

JKJack Kellogg

Maybe I should just go.