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Ave Maria

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Ave Maria is the tenth episode of the second season and the 28th overall episode of Code Black.

Short Summary[]

When a 13-year-old girl arrives at Angels Memorial following a seizure caused by spina bifida, the doctors are shocked to learn she is Campbell's daughter. Also, a workaholic deaf patient, Kathy Byrne (Marlee Matlin), and her translator arrive at Angels after their car rolls into the L.A. River.

Full Summary[]

Rollie is shocked and says it's hard to diagnose, so how can they be sure. Abe Hiram says he's been a doctor as long as Rollie has, so he knows. He has all the cardinal findings with no other explanation for them. Rollie knows how Parkinson's works. Abe knows it's difficult, but Rollie's a patient now. Rollie says the medicine is helping with the tremors. That's good and there are other options, but Rollie needs to talk to Campbell. Rollie doesn't want to quit because he hasn't progressed to the point where his life is over. Abe says he's had patients do well for years. It doesn't mean your life is over. Rollie says being a doctor is his life.

Kathy Byrne looks around at her care team. There's no audio.

The ambulance opens and the paramedics explain that she was the restrained passenger in a car that rolled into the LA River. They ask for her name and she doesn't respond. She looks over to the patient coming out of the next ambulance. They ask if he's her husband, but she passes out.

Leanne greets the next ambulance, carrying Daniel Portman. He has abdominal trauma and was found face-down in water. They take him into the ER.

In the ER, Ethan, Mario, and Elliot are treating Kathy. She tries to talk, but nothing comes out. They think she might have head trauma, but Elliot's not so sure.

They try to get Daniel breathing again.

Kathy tries to move her hands under the backboard straps. Elliot asks her in ASL if she's deaf. She nods vigorously. They free her hands. Elliot knows sign because of an ex-girlfriend. Elliot asks her about the crash. She says Daniel slumped over at the steering wheel, which caused the crash. They still can't intubate him.

They ask Kathy if he's her husband, but she says he's her voice.

They decide to crike Daniel to get him breathing again.

The ambulance brings in a 13 year old girl who was seizing at a choir rehearsal. She has a history of spina bifida. When Rollie comes out to join them, Malaya and Mario exchange a look. They take her into the ER while the paramedic tells them the teacher said the patient's father's a doctor at Angels.

Heather comes into the OR where Campbell is finishing a surgery. She takes over closing because his daughter was just brought into the ER.

They pull Emily Campbell into Center Stage and work to relieve the pressure on her brain causing seizure. Jesse is distracted from his patient seeing Rollie working on Emily.

Campbell is on an elevator as many others get on. He pushes his way out and runs for the stairs instead.

Kathy is struggling against the doctors. Mario says if she doesn't stop moving, they'll have to sedate her. She refuses sedation, so he tells her to stay still. She sees that they're about to crike Daniel and says if they do, he'll only have a 50/50 chance of speaking again. She's a doctor, not practicing. She works for HealthSafe, an insurance company. He makes his living with his voice. She asks if there's another way. They decide to try laryngeal nerve block to open his airway. They take Kathy to sides to treat her while they work on Daniel.

Campbell enters the ER and goes to his daughter. He thinks the seizure happened because her shunt malfunctioned. Rollie wants to flush the shunt out.

They inject the lidocaine into Daniel's neck.

Malaya starts to object as Rollie starts working on Emily. Right before he starts, she stops him and says he shouldn't do it. Leanne steps in to do it instead while Rollie leaves the ER.

Daniel starts breathing again, with difficulty.

Leanne talks to the residents about what she's doing while she works. Campbell tells her to teach on someone else's kid.

Daniel's breathing evens out and he stabilizes. They take him for an abdominal scan.

Leanne stabilizes Emily.

Malaya finds Rollie outside and apologizes. She didn't know what to do. Rollie says she thinks she knows more than she does and doesn't know what she doesn't know. He shows her his medication, which controls his tremors. She says she didn't mean to hurt him. He says she humiliated him. Jesse comes out and Rollie shames both of them. He goes back inside and Malaya starts to doubt that she did the right thing, but Jesse says loyalty to friends can't come before loyalty to the patients. They did the right thing, but they should have done it sooner.

Risa comes to Ethan and says there's a guy in the waiting room asking for him. He says he doesn't take requests, but Risa says he told her it's an order.

Ethan gives General Hutchens coffee. Hutch says Campbell called a few months ago, asking that Ethan be transferred out of Angels. Ethan called with the same request. Hutch suddenly has an opening because his chief surgeon's wife just had triplets. Hutch can make it happen for him if he wants. He'd leave next week. It's a great opportunity for him, but he asks to think about it.

Mario is stitching Kathy's shoulder as she tells them she and Daniel here on their way to Oslo and she still needs to get there for a meeting. She doesn't take it easy. Then she asks if Daniel will be able to travel. Mario says she might want to consider a different person for this trip, but Daniel's been with her for 25 years. There's no one else.

Daniel wakes up and can talk, which he hears is a miracle. They tell him they ordered a CT. He knows they saw the tumor. It's stage IV, a recurrence. It's more aggressive now. He has six to eight months. Kathy knew the first time, but he hasn't told her it's back. Ethan tells him he passed out in the wheel, which caused the accident. He asks if Kathy's okay and Ethan says she is. They both got lucky. Jesse wheels Kathy next to Daniel's bed to say hi. She asks if they know why he fainted. He talks to Kathy, but Elliot says he lied and said he fainted from low blood sugar.

Malaya and Angus talk about what she did with Rollie. She's doubting herself, but Angus says she did the right thing. Malaya looks down at Emily and says she looks like a normal kid. Emily surprises them by responding that she is a normal kid. Angus leaves to get her father. He walks to Leanne to tell her Emily's awake while Emily asks Malaya if her father's mad. Malaya says he's not and asks why he'd be mad. Leanne comes in and Emily says she's tired. Campbell comes in behind her and she asks him if her shunt got blocked again. They tried to fix it, but there's still blockage and she needs surgery. She says no surgery. He asks if there were headaches, nausea, warning signs. She didn't think it was a big deal. They start to argue. Leanne tries to get him to leave so Emily can rest, but Emily yells that she's not having surgery again. Campbell says it's important. Leanne insists that Campbell leave and he tells Leanne to talk to Emily.

Kathy gets Elliot's attention to ask for help while he's working on another patient. Daniel can't help her and she needs to make a call. He tries to say he can't, but she makes the call. He interprets as she talks to the Times.

Daniel watches from the other side, upset that Kathy can't even take one day off. Daniel thinks that means she doesn't need him. Daniel tells Jesse that's their lot in life. They work for other people and mistake the relationships for personal ones. Jesse says he only works for the patients.

Leanne tells Campbell Emily is stable. He then asks how long she knew about Rollie. she says she stepped in the minute she knew. He asks if Malaya's the only one who knew. Leanne thinks he's being too emotional, but he says Malaya's suspended effective immediately. She thinks that's Emily's father speaking, not the director of the ER.

Hutch says he's been taking ibuprofen for it, but hasn't had it checked out in a while because of military red tape. Ethan walks up and he says he's telling Noa and Mario about his souvenir bullet in his arm. It went untreated for years. Ethan asks if he's in pain. He says the usual amount. Ethan writes him a prescription and insists on him getting an MRI. As he goes with Noa to get that, Ethan asks for the name of the doctor. Hutch is confused. Ethan says it's the one with the triplets. He wants to send him something. Hutch says he'll find out for him.

Leanne and Jesse argue over what happened with Emily and Rollie. She asks why he didn't tell her. He says he made a mistake, but it was his to make. She says he's her right hand, but he tells her he has his own hands. He's not a doctor's assistant. He's a nurse. Ethan comes in and asks if everything's okay. Jesse says everything's fine and leaves. Ethan tells Leanne that his CO is there and says he can get him redeployed. He'd leave in a week.

Heather asks to talk to Campbell. He doesn't want to talk. Heather says what he's about to do is against hospital policy, but he says he's chief of surgery. It's his to enforce or ignore. Heather asks when he was going to tell her he had a daughter. He wasn't planning on ever telling her. She asks if that's why he never spent the night when they were dating. He says they weren't dating.

Emily resists as Angus tries to take blood for labs. She tries to get him to stop. Campbell comes in and she says she's singing Ave Maria, her first solo. That's all she's doing. Campbell softly talks to her about what they're going to do. He tells her to hold her anger in her hand, figure out what it really is, and she says it's never going away. Campbell says now that they know what it is, they can ask if it's helping them. She says it's not. They'll let it go, like a bird to the sky. They hug.

Angus tells Mario Malaya's suspended because of Rollie. Mario asks if Campbell knows they knew, too. Angus says the only difference between her and them is that she had the guts to say something. Mario doesn't want to tell, but Angus thinks they have to.

Elliot moves Kathy into the slot next to Daniel. Kathy says she moved her trip to next week and Daniel will be okay by then. Daniel says he can't go. He asks Elliot to show Kathy something on his phone. It's an email from Andy Singer, saying she was fishing for his replacement. They argue about it until Kathy notices his CT scan next to his bed and asks about it. Kathy is upset that he didn't tell her. He says he was going to. Kathy has Elliot pull the curtain between them.

Leanne is angry at Campbell over Rollie. Campbell says he didn't fire Rollie. Rollie quit.

As Noa pushes Hutch in a wheelchair, he talks about walking with a broken femur. She says it's hospital rules. Mario asks if he ever saw an orthopedist about his arm. Hutch says he's good with his meds. He takes pills and chews them before swallowing. Mario knows that's a sign of dependence. Hutch defends himself, but Mario thinks he doesn't really want to get better. Ethan overhears and sends Hutch away with Noa. He then calls Mario out, but Mario calls out Ethan for giving Hutch the prescription. He knows addiction when he sees it. A nurse then calls for Ethan.

They pull Hutch out of the MRI, unconscious and not breathing. He's overdosed on his meds. They use narcan and he wakes up.

Campbell thanks Leo Fields for coming in. Leo goes to scrub in. Heather tells Campbell Fields is the most respected pediatric neurosurgeon in LA, so Emily is in good hands. Campbell wants someone he can trust, which is why Heather's scrubbing in too.

Kathy is getting dressed to leave the hospital. Leanne wants her to stay a little longer for observation, but she says she has to get back to work. Leanne says she'll get her discharge papers ready. Just then, Daniel's monitor goes off and they tend to him as Kathy watches. He has bony mets from the cancer, which are causing hypocalcemia. They give him calcium and he stabilizes. Leanne thanks Jesse for catching it and tells Kathy Daniel's okay.

Fields and Heather operate on Emily as Campbell watches from the gallery. Leanne comes into the gallery with Campbell. Campbell tells Leanne that Emily was born with a dimple at the base of her spine. They were told she'd never walk and that she'd die. His wife left because she couldn't take it. He and Emily are in it together, just the two of them. She's in a wheelchair. She doesn't have bladder or bowel function. She has to be catheterized every four hours. She's been doing that herself since she was four. They live their lives in three-hour increments. No light at the end of the tunnel, except Emily. She's the light. Leanne says she wants to be a normal kid, which means she'll make mistakes. Campbell says she makes mistakes and she ends up in the hospital, or worse. He starts to cry and says she's not normal. She can't make mistakes. Leanne tells him Emily's entire job is to rebel and there's nothing more normal than that. She goes to leave, and he tells her she once told him the ER would humble him and she was right.

Kathy brings something to Daniel. She says it's answers. He opens it and finds information about experimental treatments for his sarcoma. Elliot tells Jesse that she wants Daniel to keep fighting, but he's done fighting. Jesse says what actually happened was that he needed a friend and she doesn't see him like that. Elliot says she does. Daniel tells Kathy he'll give her two more weeks. She turns around to look away from him, which she doesn't when she doesn't want to listen to him anymore. He asks Elliot to pull the curtain close, but Kathy turns back around and she's crying. She says he's not a business deal to her. He's her best friend.

Jesse comes into Campbell's office. He says he's known about Rollie for several weeks. He tells her not to suspend Malaya, because it's not her fault. Campbell says what Jesse did violates the law and puts patients at risk. He says he'd rather Campbell fire him than suspend Malaya. Campbell says he has to do both.

Ethan asks Hutch how he's feeling. He says during his first deployment, he thought he wouldn't last two days, but then he saw Hutch and knew he needed to be like him. It's hard to turn off serving. That's why Hutch came to LA. There's no job offer. Hutch says there can be. He wants to make it right. Ethan says he can do that by letting Ethan help him.

Emily is awake after her surgery. Her head hurts. She asks him if she's going to die. He says yes, when she's 98 or 99. Not before she's old and ugly. They hear Ave Maria playing from outside her hospital window.

Jesse walks down the street.

Angus and Mario confess that they also knew about Rollie. She says too many people have been hurt and she doesn't want to lose anyone else. She also tells them she's proud of them, all of them.

Malaya leans up against a bench outside the hospital.

Noa helps a patient walk.

Elliot watches Kathy and Daniel talk and laugh.

Rollie takes down an old picture of himself from when he first became a doctor at Angels from his locker and leaves the hospital.

Jesse walks into a church.

Ethan finds Leanne on the roof. She loves being up there on Sunday mornings. If you listen closely, you can hear all the church choirs for 20 miles. Ethan says when the dust has settled, Campbell will reconsider. Leanne's not so sure. Jesse's gone. Ethan's gone. Ethan says he's not gone. He's staying. Leanne says she's glad.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Rollie Guthrie[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Parkinson's disease
  • Doctors:
    • Abe Hiram
  • Treatment:
    • Sinemet

Rollie was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He said the Sinemet was helping with the tremors.

Kathy Byrne[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Head and chest trauma
    • Shoulder laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Stitches

Kathy came into the ER after a car accident. She had trauma to her head and chest, plus a laceration to her shoulder. They had to stop the bleeding. In the ER, Elliot figured out that she's deaf, so they freed her hands so she could talk to them. They stitched up her shoulder and then she asked to be discharged, despite Leanne saying she'd prefer to keep her.

Daniel Portman[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Abdominal trauma
    • Laryngospasm
    • Stage IV undifferentiated stromal sarcoma
    • Hypocalcemia
  • Treatment:
    • Laryngeal nerve block
    • Calcium
    • Palliative care

Daniel came into the ER after a car accident. He had severe abdominal trauma and was found facedown in water. Kathy, his passenger, told them he passed out, which caused the crash. He wasn't breathing, but they had trouble intubating. In order to get him breathing, they decided to do a crike, but Kathy stopped them, knowing there was a 50/50 chance he'd never speak again and he made his living with his voice. They decided to do a laryngeal nerve block instead. They injected the lidocaine and Daniel started breathing again. They did a CT of his stomach and found a tumor. He knew he had it. He'd had it removed before, but it came back more aggressively. He had six to eight months left. He later crashed from hypocalcemia. They gave him calcium and he stabilized. He decided he was done fighting.

Emily Campbell[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Spina bifida
    • Papilledema
    • V.P. shunt blockage
  • Treatment:
    • Valium
    • Flushing
    • Surgery

Emily, 13, came into the ER after having a seizure. She had a history of spina bifida. They gave her valium on the way to the hospital. She had pressure build up under her skull because her shunt was malfunctioning. Rollie decided to flush her shunt to see if they could get it working. Before he could start, Leanne took over and did the procedure. It worked and Emily woke up later, but she still needed surgery on her shunt to repaired it. Emily refused, saying she didn't want more surgery. However, she ultimately relented and had the surgery. It was successful and she was stable and awake afterward.

General Hutchens[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Fractured humeral head
    • Drug addiction
    • Drug overdose
  • Treatment:
    • Pain medication
    • Narcan

Hutch came in to see Ethan. He had a bullet in his shoulder that fractured the head of his humerus. It limited his mobility and caused numbness. Ethan wrote a prescription for pain medication and said he'd order an MRI. Hutch quickly consumed 10 of the pain pills, causing an overdose. They gave him narcan and he stabilized.

Notes and Trivia[]

  • This episode scored 6.75 million viewers.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

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