New Amsterdam (2018) s02e17 Episode Script

Only three more meetings
and you are on your own.
If I knew being Chair
meant this many meetings,
I might've reconsidered.
Hey, Reynolds said the same thing.
Excuse me, Dr. Goodwin,
I don't mean to interrupt.
Can I get your autograph?
Iggy, I'm kind of
in the middle of something.
Have you seen the GoFundMe
video Max is in?
- It blew up!
- Yeah, okay.
For the record, I didn't even
know I was in that video.
And for the record, it was
also featured on "Ellen,"
funded in less than three hours, my man.
Yeah, well, I think that had
less to do with me
and more to do with
I don't know, Ellen?
Regardless, I now have
This is a rough estimate
About 6,000 of my own patients
all begging me to get you to
star in their GoFundMe videos.
No, no, no. That's very flattering.
But that is not a precedent
I wanna set at this hospital.
Maximus, you have a gift here.
You have a gift.
You should not squander it.
Anyway, try to enjoy the ride.
You have big shoes to fill, but
Max, I need you down in the ED, stat.
- Why?
- I'll give you a hint.
- Come camera ready.
- No!
Half my ward wants you to
cameo on their GoFundMe pages.
I'm not sure how you're gonna
find time to do your actual job,
but if anyone can do it, you can.
Mm.
Welcome to the room where it happens,
and by "it" I mean even more
boring administrative stuff.
Reynolds leaving is making
more and more sense.
- Morning.
- Oh.
Uh, I did not know you were still here.
Where else would I be?
I don't know. San Francisco
or maybe in a bed?
Evie caught a flight last night,
and the sub-letters are already in,
but Floyd Reynolds doesn't
leave business half-done.
- Business?
- Orientation.
Gotta show the new Chair the ropes.
Oh, that's very kind,
but we just we just did that.
Oh, okay, but I gotta
introduce you to the board.
Can't just get thrown into the deep end.
Uh, Max took me to breakfast with them.
- Oh, smart.
- Mm-hmm.
Okay, uh, gosh.
It's just that my flight
doesn't leave until tomorrow.
Oh, we got the new couch coming in
if you wanna help carry the old one out.
It's official.
As of today, you are reinstated
as Chair of Oncology
and Deputy Medical Director.
- I wish I'd prepared a speech.
- I'm glad you didn't.
Now that you're back,
we need you to salvage
the Fighting Cancer fundraiser tonight.
What what's to salvage?
It's being headlined by Yo-Yo Ma.
Yo-Yo's got strep. He's out.
We need to find someone else
rich people like.
Also, the teenage cancer
survivors who are speaking?
Amazing kids, incredibly inspiring,
but they're also rowdy little teenagers
who need to work on their speeches,
so get on them.
Oh, and per the fire marshal,
the Rose Room was too small,
so everything has to move
to the Atrium theater.
Karen, this is an awful lot
of ground to cover by tonight.
Afternoon would be better.
So glad you're back.
Hello, Mateo. How are you feeling?
Just tell me. Did it work?
May I?
Today, you move again.
You're him, right?
You're the GoFundMe doctor.
- Max Goodwin.
- Jason Huang.
- I'm sorry to bother you.
- That's okay.
Listen, I can't do
your crowdfunding video
if that's what you were gonna
- Yeah. Okay.
- I'm sorry.
But if there's anything
I can do for you as a doctor,
then let me know and I'll be there.
My dad gave up a good life in China
so I could grow up here.
He's spent 20 years making minimum wage,
thousands of miles away from
everyone he knew for me.
And I'm going to med school next year,
full ride, thanks to him.
But he needs surgery,
mitral valve stenosis,
just like the girl in your video,
and the deductible, it's so much money.
I don't know what to do.
How can I help?
Hey, Dad, you awake?
Uh, I can just come back later.
No. Please stay.
Hey, it's me.
This is Dr. Goodwin.
He's gonna help us, okay?
Can you sit over here by him?
All right, Dad.
Can you tell Dr. Goodwin your story?
Maybe we should try this another time.
No, his surgery is tomorrow.
We need this video to work,
or we can't
okay, uh, Dad, can you just
look at the camera and say,
"I need your help.
Anything you can give."
Or just smile.
Yeah, that little girl smiled.
Maybe if you just smiled, I can
Smile, Dad.
Smile.
It's fine if you can't talk.
They see how sick he is.
It works better, right?
The sadder it is, the better
Jason, you don't have to do this.
Actually, I do.
What other choice do I have
but crowdfunding?
Karen, I need to talk to you.
She's adorable.
Well, yeah, so is
the dancing sloth that follows,
but that's not why I wanna talk to you.
It is why I want to talk to you.
I want us to facilitate crowdfunding
for everyone who needs it.
It'll cost us next to nothing,
just a camera and a room,
and we'll help so many people.
No.
No crowdfunding. Not for anyone.
Wait, are you kidding me?
Now you're against this?
- Yes, I am.
- Well, that's absurd.
Crowdfunding empowers patients
to fight bad insurance
through the power of their stories.
It's a Max Goodwin trifecta!
No, it forces people to sing
for their supper
at the worst possible moments
in their lives.
We're making people pay
their bills with their dignity.
We're not. Insurance companies are.
Well, I'd like them to stop.
And I'd like to ride a unicorn.
Crowdfunding works, Max.
What if I can find a better way?
I'm sorry, but are you eating
smoked whitefish?
In fact, I am.
I love smoked whitefish.
My dad used to take me
to Nussbaum's every Saturday
after synagogue.
Oh, Nussbaum's is my favorite.
Oh, mine too until it closed.
Honestly, that is
the best smoked whitefish
I've smelled since.
It's the dill.
Lauren Bloom, Emergency Department.
Harold Rothman, Psychiatry.
Oh, until next time
when I'll reveal the best lox
in New York,
and it's not in Brooklyn.
Yeah?
Vito's for lunch today. You in?
Uh, no, no. Thank you.
Nothing for me. I'm okay.
Well, I'm just very impressed.
You've been sticking with
your healthy choices
- Oh.
- And you look great.
Thank you. That's very sweet.
I have a ways to go, but
Thank you.
Hey Iggy, where can I find Dr. Rothman?
I forgot to ask him where
he got his whitefish.
Um, don't know who Dr. Rothman is.
Uh, yes, you do.
Harold Rothman.
He works in your department.
No. Sorry.
- Why would he lie?
- Why would I?
Okay, let's sort this out right now.
Harold Rothman.
What do we got?
There you go. Left New Amsterdam in 1996.
No, no. He's very distinctive.
He's pale with, like, bright white hair,
and this, like, an old-timey vibe.
Wait a second,
did he have a mysterious smile
and soulful eyes?
- Yeah.
- Okay, this all makes sense.
- What makes sense?
- I don't know how to say this.
The man you spoke to
is a ghost.
Thank you.
Have you not heard tell, Lauren,
of the Phantom of New Amsterdam?
'Twas many a moon 'ere first
his steps were heard.
Looks like someone's already
gotten the party started.
Dr. Sharpe!
Look how gorgeous you all look.
And since you're relaxing, I can assume
you've all memorized
your speeches for tonight?
Mm-hmm.
Come on, rehearse now, catch up later.
Jessye?
Can I just ask how long
you've had that limp?
Oh. Maybe like a week?
Do you mind if I take a look?
I'd like to run a few tests on this leg.
It'll be quick, I promise.
That's where my cancer was.
There's no need to jump to conclusions.
Your brain's impulses are
transmitted as electricity.
Even since your paralysis,
your brain has been sending
signals to your arm.
Your arm has just been unable
to hear them.
The silicone chips
we embedded in your brain
send the signals through
these wires to your pedestals,
and from there to the robotic arm.
In a sense, it's just a spinal cord
outside of your body.
If you can master this,
you'll move on to our
most advanced robotics.
You'll test simulations
of cars, planes
A plane? I can fly again?
Let's just focus on a finger today.
And we're live.
Mateo, please try and move
your index finger.
Okay.
It's okay. This may take some time.
We are awakening neural pathways
which you have not used
since the accident.
Gotta clear out the cobwebs, right?
Try to remember what it was
like to move your own arm,
how it felt.
Dr. Kapoor?
He's just starting. Give him time.
It's not a time thing.
Every subject that's worked has
had at least some activity
in the motor cortex upon initiation,
but Mateo has none.
Move.
Come on. Move.
Let's start with
the elephant in the room.
Who saw me on "Ellen"?
Okay, just everybody.
Well, I'm not here to talk
about Allie Baker.
I'd like to talk about Zhen Huang.
Not exactly an Allie, is he?
It's okay, it's true
He's not young, he doesn't have
a winning smile,
and can barely even talk.
So what do you think? His story
gonna be a hit on the talk shows?
You don't have to go on Fallon
to have crowdfunding work.
No, you don't. You just have to
flaunt your misery for money.
And it gets better,
the public starts voting
with their wallets.
It's a Tragedy Olympics where
the contestants are dying
and the judges vote not on medicine,
but on whose story is the cutest.
So, what are you suggesting?
Let's get new judges.
There's only one group
who knows which patients
are the most deserving Doctors.
So when patients can't afford
even the deductible,
the doctors in this room
will decide who gets the money.
I have got a $100,000 set aside
for patients like Allie.
And I'm willing to bet that all of us
have patients
who could use a little help.
Mine is Zhen Huang.
So we're gonna decide who gets the money
not with emotion but with reason.
I'd like to present
New Amsterdam's response to GoFundMe
WeFundYou.
- Dr. Reynolds.
- Yeah, what?
Need a consult?
No, I was just surprised to see you.
I thought you already left.
Whoa, whoa, hey! Watch it!
Easy there, big guy.
Hello?
Someone help me!
Hello?
I'm down here!
Help!
- Hang on!
- Help me!
Okay. Don't worry.
Hang in there. I got you.
I'm coming.
Hey, I'm Dr. Reynolds. What's your name?
- Tevi.
- Tevi.
Okay, yeah. Let me see.
Let me see.
Yeah, okay.
You've got a little bit
of trouble here, Tevi, okay?
When you fell,
you broke a rib, all right?
So I'm gonna take care of you, okay?
First, I just gotta get you out of here.
Whoa.
Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma
is more deserving than
a Stage 4 Neuroblastoma?
No, what I said was
my patient is more deserving,
because she's so young; she's only nine.
Yeah, g-guys?
Let's try to think about this rationally.
Do you think I'm an idiot?
I didn't say you were
an idiot, I said it was
This $100,000 they're all
fighting so hard for,
where exactly is it coming from?
Funny enough, the next item
on my agenda was going to be
finding the money,
rationally and thoughtfully.
Don't play stupid. You're only
thinking about your patients.
That is the whole point, Steve!
- What's her name?
- Lisa!
Let me know how that goes.
What you're saying is that
she's gonna go home sick,
and that I'm supposed to let her die.
There we go.
Okay.
All right, just relax.
I'm gonna get us help, okay?
Okay, Tevi, just relax.
Just breathe through your nose like this.
Okay, try it.
Okay. Okay, kiddo.
All right. All right.
Tevi, listen to me. Listen to me.
Now when we breathe,
we make a vacuum
with our chest, all right?
With that rib you broke,
it poked a hole from your lungs
to the outside world.
So now you can't make a vacuum.
So all we gotta do is we gotta
make you a vacuum.
Ah, here we go.
Now we're talking.
Okay, do me a favor.
Can you hold this for me like this?
Hold it right there, okay?
We're gonna make that vacuum, buddy.
Here we go.
Okay.
Now take a deep breath. Come on.
It's holding.
Good. Now take another one.
There you go.
That's it. That's it.
Good. You're doing great.
All right, you wanna tell me
how you wound up down here
in the first place?
Huh? Come on now.
I promise you I've heard crazier.
Oh
- What?
- You're bleeding out,
and we've got to get you to the OR.
How long before your family
or your friends realize you're gone?
A few hours,
but someone's gonna notice
you're gone, right?
- Don't say it.
- I'm sorry.
I do not know if it is
the chips, the pedestals, or
Or me.
We're not registering
any relevant brain activity.
- And your pain
- I'm fine.
The EEG shows the brainwaves
that signal pain.
- You're not fine.
- No!
I can do it. I just
Mateo.
Move.
I ran airlifts in combat zones.
I could land a C-2 Greyhound
smack in the middle
of an aircraft carrier
getting hit by 30-foot waves,
and now I can't move a finger.
It's in me somewhere. I know it.
Detach his arm.
Hook him up to a flight simulator.
The simulator is an advanced
cerebral interface.
Mateo is a pilot.
Flying is in his blood,
his bones, his neurons.
If his brain comes
to associate reawakening
the motor cortex with pain,
anything alive in there might
never wake up.
If he fails at the simulator,
it won't just be an emotional setback.
It could be a neurological one.
There is no flight without a leap.
Mateo, would you like to fly?
Let's get her a pulmo consult with Loeb.
- Okay.
- Hey, what's up?
Hi. So, funny story.
I was over at the vending machines,
not eating candy or anything,
- I was just looking at it
- Iggy, I do have a job.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I do too.
So, I saw Dr. Rothman.
Pretty sure I did.
He's old, white hair, pale skin.
The whole thing.
And I think he's just, um
it's the darndest thing. He just
Vanished is the word, I guess.
What?
Okay, I don't really know how to
I googled him after we talked, and
And?
Harold Rothman died four years ago.
Your limp is being caused by
a soft tissue sarcoma
in your popliteal fossa.
It is aggressive.
I'm gonna need
to schedule you for surgery,
and I'm gonna have to call your parents.
I already called.
I knew what you were gonna say.
Jessye, if you would like
to go to a little of the party,
there is time.
Why would I go to the party?
That party is for kids who beat cancer.
I lost.
Cancer doesn't have winners and losers,
and anyone who makes you feel that way
does not know what
they are talking about.
You made me feel that way.
The stupid speech.
"I was 12 when I learned I had cancer.
"I was told I was in
for the fight of my life.
"I battled each cell of my sarcoma.
New Amsterdam taught me how
to fight and how to win."
Your party is called Fighting Cancer.
So, yeah, cancer won and I lost.
No pulse.
Going again. Clear.
Doctor, crash cart bedside.
- What happened?
- Sinus brady and hypoxia.
- Did you push Atropine?
- Times two.
Okay, hang epi drip,
4 micrograms per minute,
and let's put on Zoll pads
for external pacing
in case the epi isn't enough.
Bag it.
Breathing pattern ineffective.
One, two
Hey, why don't you tell me how you
You got here in the hospital?
Alpha 1 Antitrypsin deficiency.
Come here a few times a month
for a gene transfusion.
Only at New Amsterdam?
- Sometimes at Baptist.
- Oh, then I want to know.
Do we have the best elevator shafts,
or does Baptist got us beat?
That's more like it.
All right. Here we go.
One, two
Yes. Yeah.
You like that?
Pry this open, get you to the OR,
and get you fixed up.
Hey! Hey!
- We're down here!
- We're down here!
- Help!
- Hey!
Hey, there's somebody down here!
Hey! Hey!
Hey, we're down here! Oh!
Clear? I've got a pulse.
So do you think it'll work?
I don't know.
The insurance company says Dad's setback
is classified as a new disorder.
We owe two deductibles now.
We'll have to sell everything
unless I post it and it works.
Well, I couldn't find you a better way,
so why haven't you?
I showed my dad the video.
He said if he has to beg
to live, he'd rather die.
That's how he was brought up.
If I post it,
he'll never speak to me again.
How can the only way to save
him be losing him forever?
Hey! Oh, damn.
- Dr. Bloom.
- Hey, I found him.
- What?
- He's on the fourth floor.
- Dr. Rothman?
- Yes, the fourth floor. Meet me there.
You know, growing up,
my Aunt Norma always claimed
to have the sight.
- Mm-hmm.
- This makes sense.
She always said that you can only see
what you are pure enough to receive.
Oh, she would just be absolutely thrilled
if my new diet had somehow purified me.
She always said, "You're never
gonna get the sight
if you don't stop eating
chocolate, Iggy."
Iggy. Iggy.
Look.
Oh.
Dr. Rothman?
How are you doing today?
Wait, this is the
Alzheimer's Ward.
We think we're in time,
but with a relapse this aggressive,
we're gonna need to monitor
Jessye's tissues regularly.
Thinking about something
that Jessye said,
how you were asked to talk
about fighting cancer, right?
How you beat it?
Can you rip those speeches up, please?
Go on. I'm serious.
Take them out and rip them up.
If they're on your phones, delete them.
Now tell me, from the heart
How does it feel surviving cancer?
Scared.
You know, um,
even though I'm in remission,
it feels like I'm just waiting
for it to come back.
Um, ungrateful.
I, like, beat this huge thing,
but I feel like I should never complain
or feel down about anything else.
This is what people should hear.
This is what I want you
to talk about tonight.
So we nix the uplifting
stories of beating cancer,
and replace them with raw,
improvised stories
from terrified children?
It's the truth.
People wanna hear the truth.
If there's one place people
do not want to hear the truth,
it's a pediatric oncology ward.
Donors want to hear
that we're beating cancer,
that we're going to beat more cancer.
Those kids were lying.
We asked them to lie.
So now they're gonna tell their
stories, their real stories.
And for some of them, it's not a fight
or it's not a fight that they're winning.
Fair point.
So sorry.
Wow.
We're gonna be okay.
Because as soon as this
elevator tries to move
It was a selfie challenge.
- What?
- That's why I was down here.
See who can get the most extreme shot.
So I forced open the elevator doors,
leaned back in the chair, and
I'm so stupid, I know.
The younger patients,
you know, the ones who come here a lot,
they tend to feel left out.
Their friends are off doing things and,
you know, they're just stuck here.
Wanting people to remember you
That's not stupid.
We all want that.
Hey! Help!
- Hey!
- We're down here!
- We're in the shaft!
- Help us, please!
Anybody! Hey!
Please! Help!
Do you hear someone in there?
What was that?
- Is someone down there?
- Hello? Hello?
We're gonna get out of here.
I'm gonna set the plane in motion,
but you have to make it fly.
Like with the arm.
Imagine pressing a button,
and if your neural pathways
are connecting,
the sim will press the button.
If you don't connect, you'll crash.
Reset.
Reset.
How many hours have you spent
in a cockpit?
More than I can count.
This should be second nature to me.
I suspect it still is.
Close your eyes.
Close your eyes now.
Visualize the cockpit.
Tell me, what is
the farthest left indicator
on the instrument panel?
The ASI. The airspeed.
Keep going.
The altitude indicator.
Compass.
Up is the fuel gauge.
You know this plane.
This is your plane,
not a simulator.
This is my plane.
Say it again.
This is my plane.
Mateo, we are moving now.
You have a half-billion dollar plane
that is your responsibility.
We are near the end of the runway.
You have to get us up
in the air right now.
He's flying.
Wow.
That's a
that's a dress.
Yes, and those are scrubs.
That they are.
I guess this concludes our game
of name that clothing item.
Um, I need to talk to you
about crowdfunding.
After you get dressed.
You're gonna be late.
- For what?
- The fundraiser.
- Which is tonight?
- It's in ten minutes.
Just throw something on
and get down there,
- I've got to prep the kids.
- Uh, kids?
The ones who are sharing their stories.
To raise money for this hospital?
Oh, yes. It's a fundraiser, Max.
Yeah, with the kids that we're exploiting
to emotionally manipulate
people for cash.
- No one is exploiting anyone.
- You're damn right we're not.
We're cancelling that fundraiser.
Uh
It's called therapeutic fibbing.
Instead of correcting
the patient's delusions,
you accept them.
So everyone here treats Dr. Rothman
- like he's still a doctor?
- Within reason.
Whenever he leaves the floor
he has minders with him.
It's startling, I know,
but stability slows dementia.
And nothing's more destabilizing
than forcing people to acknowledge
they're in the grip of delusions.
- Excuse me.
- Have a good day.
Okay, so I never
actually googled Rothman.
- Yeah, no kidding.
- I'm sorry.
Hey, it was just a joke
that got out of hand.
But I thought that he was like
a visiting doctor or something.
I never thought that he was a patient.
And I never really thought that you
would think that he was a ghost.
I'm sorry.
No, Lauren, I'm not mad at you, okay?
I'm mad at myself for even half-believing
any of this nonsense.
- Okay, but that's my fault.
- No, it's not.
It's all me. I'm the problem.
Iggy
Sing a little song, do a little dance.
Just be yourselves.
- If you need anything, I'll
- Helen.
Yeah, I'll be with you in just a sec.
Yeah, well, I meant that
in the "what the hell" kind of sense.
This does not look like a cancelled gala.
That's because it's not.
My first act as the newly restored
Deputy Medical Director
was to ignore you.
I can't believe that you are okay
with exploiting these children.
Kids?
Quick question.
Do you want me to cancel the gala?
Don't you, like,
need the money to cure cancer?
Yes, but if not if it means
making you speak publicly
about something that you would
rather keep private.
I mean, are y'all
being forced to do this?
We want to do this.
This is how we help
the next kid with cancer.
This is how we help Jessye.
Max, this isn't exploitation.
This is gratitude.
Gratitude?
You may know it from such situations
as the time I saved you
from recklessly cancelling
an important fundraiser.
Right.
Now I'm grateful that
you're willing to be Deputy
to a proven doofus.
And I'm also grateful because
you just showed me
how to do crowdfunding right.
Mateo, we have to stop.
No, no. Not yet.
You have an infection
at your surgical site.
We have to remove the implant.
No.
No, I just wanna stay up here.
But with the infection
this close to your brain,
we must stop now.
- Mm.
- Hey.
Hey.
You know that I would never
intentionally mock
Alzheimer's patients, right?
- Of course.
- Good.
Parkinson's, though
Just a little bit funny?
That's maybe the worst joke
you've ever made.
You seem really upset.
Yeah, you know, I'm I'm
I've just been going through some stuff.
That's why I'm here.
Wanna talk about it?
So I've been on this diet,
and it's making me feel cold
and drowsy and weak.
And I've been having vivid
food fantasies.
And today, I temporarily
believed in ghosts,
which is
that's not funny, really.
It's, um, it's more like what happens
when my food stuff goes a little too far.
But I don't even look good yet,
and people are giving me
compliments already,
so you do the math.
How terrible must I have looked before?
So even if this diet is intense,
it's necessary, right?
Mateo.
It's not fair.
I encouraged you to go through so much.
To get so little in return.
I'm sorry.
I'm not.
I'll never walk again
But I got to fly.
How long were you and this
kid in the elevator?
About four hours.
Spleen isolated and removed.
Music to my ears.
There's a small tear in the
diaphragm near the sternum.
Can I suture?
Ask the Chair.
Show me what you got.
Are we, uh, really not gonna see you
- until the wedding?
- Yeah, but it'll be fine.
I'm not fine. I'm sad.
Well, you know how these things go.
You know, like I just did the surgery
and we saved the kid,
and everything was great,
but the whole time I was thinking
this isn't my OR anymore, you know?
Things end. People forget.
Tevi will remember.
So will every single one
of your patients
and so will I.
Thank you.
And so will every single one
of your friends
who are waiting around
this corner to surprise you.
- Hey!
- Yo!
Surprise!
Don't be mad. It's just a small event.
I got the surgery I needed
to survive last year.
I got mine ten years ago.
We got money to keep
our little girl healthy,
but what about the next little girl?
Our family has so much gratitude
and we want to help whoever comes next.
Last year, I almost died.
Now I'm going to college.
Can you help the next person like me?
We get to tell our stories
because we're survivors.
I'm a survivor.
And we want our friends
to be survivors too.
Last year, I was diagnosed
with squamous cell carcinoma,
and, uh
I didn't want to admit
that it was happening.
I didn't want to talk about it,
not even with my closest friends.
But in New Amsterdam and all
the amazing people in it,
they they helped me through it.
So I'm a survivor.
And so many others aren't, not yet.
So that's why I'm asking you to donate
because it's not for me, it's for them.