Original subtitles

-Previously on "Brilliant Minds"...

-How is your father doing?

Is he still leaving half-empty coffee cups in every room?

-I haven't noticed.

-He left again.

-I'm good, Mom.

You don't have to worry about me anymore.

-Are you guys back together?

-We haven't had, like, the official conversation yet,

but, uh, yeah, we are.

-30-year-old schizoaffective male,

complaining of daily chest pains.

-Sam, what did you hear just now?

-Feels like 10 different radio stations on at the same time.

-Got you a stay in a temporary housing facility.

Here. You'll need money.

Did Sam show back up for his appointment?

-Mnh-mnh.

[ Fire roaring, alarm beeping ]

-Matthew! -Dad, please!

-Matthew, we need you. -[ Coughing ]

-Help us!

-[ Softly ] Matthew? Hey, where are you?

[ Echoing ] Where are you? Where are you?

-Dr. Wolf. Always good to see you.

-Matthew, how is Bronx Gen's favorite silver fox doing?

-Living the dream, my man.

But I've got a bone to pick. Well, a few, actually.

Two obstructed evacuation routes,

a broken sprinkler deflector,

and I'm pretty sure I saw Nurse Carter light up

a pumpkin spice candle.

Who's the fire marshal on this floor?

-I assigned Dr. Wolf because he never leaves.

Gave him the cute little vest and everything.

-Thank you, Nurse Silva.

-It's great to see you, Mr. Ramati.

-Hey, Chris at the station wants to know why you ghosted him.

-Well, you can tell Chris at the station

that I'm working double shifts, and I don't answer to "You up?"

-Noted.

-Well, you never set me up with a fireman.

-Well, take my safety course, Fire Marshal,

and you can have your pick of the litter.

-[ Chuckles ] Well, why don't we get you in

for your monthly checkup first?

How's that sound? -Great.

-I know what y'all thinking.

It's Thanksgiving week. Thorne's buying big.

Let me remind you, lunch specials only.

I don't make enough to be buying y'all

full size Shaking Beef entrees.

Oh.

Luckily for you, Sam,

I can edit my order.

What's it gonna be? Bahn Mi sando?

Or something -- something new?

Sam, you okay, bro?

Oh, I got a live one here. -[ Coughing ]

I need access, blood pressure, an airway ready...

-Yes, Doctor. -...and blood.

[ People speaking indistinctly ] MTP in trauma now.

Hey, Sam, talk to me.

[ People speaking indistinctly ]

What in the hell happened to you?

**

-Mama? [ Knock on door ]

-No. Quick, you have to hide.

-Why -- Why am I hiding from my own son?

-I don't want to confuse him. We don't know what this is.

-Oh, I think I know what this is.

-Mama, are you awake?

I couldn't reach the tail.

-[ Laughs ] Shh! -What?

Alright. -One sec!

Go.

-Can we just talk about this?

-No.

-Hi, honey. Morning.

Oh, my!

I'm so impressed. You got that on all by yourself?

-Not the tail. I couldn't reach.

-Oh, here, I'll help you. Here. Stick your arm through here.

This looks great.

Okay, Turkey. Let's get you some breakfast.

-[ Exhaling steadily ] -Come on, Matthew. Push.

Push. All the way out.

Three, two, one.

Very good. Okay. Take a minute. Catch your breath.

I like your new look.

-They call it athleisure.

How we looking, Dr. D?

-There appears to be a significant decline

since your last visit.

Your lung capacity is at 55%.

-This tells us that your respiratory muscles

are getting weaker,

and we need to talk about the next steps.

-Fine. I'll quit smoking cigars. -[ Chuckles ]

-Test me again. I'll do better.

-Hey. Sorry to interrupt. Wolf, you have a visitor.

Matthew. So this is where you hide out.

You stood me up for our last appointment.

-It must've slipped my mind. -Hmm, must have.

Well, consider this your reminder.

I will see you later.

-It's a date.

-Okay. Uh, you two can carry on without me.

I'll be back.

-Alright. Let her rip.

-[ Chuckles ] You got it.

-Trigger warning -- Your mom is on the premises

planning the holiday gala.

Apparently, she's still chairing it.

-I thought she was in Turks and Caicos.

-She was. And now she's here

telling Silva and all the nurses about a masseuse named Baptiste

who made her feel like she was 25.

-Okay. Tell her Josh fired me and I moved to a yurt

in the desert. -Mnh-mnh, not getting involved.

I got my own mama to deal with.

The entire Pierce posse is coming to stay with me,

because they don't want me and Maya

to be alone on Thanksgiving.

At this point, I'd take Morris back if it meant

they'd stay at a hotel. -Carol. For shame.

-Wolf, my mom keeps sending me links to better mattresses --

-Sounds like she needs a Baptiste in her life.

-Hi, Mom.

-Hello, Mugwump.

Mm!

-You look tired. Is he sleeping?

-Unh-unh, not getting involved.

It's nice seeing you, Muriel.

-Okay, these are filthy.

You're always so good about keeping your glasses clean.

-Mom, just, please. -Okay, okay.

Why don't you take a break

and spend Thanksgiving with your mom?

-Oh, I can't. Uh, work, patients, saving lives.

Busy, busy. -I'll make my sweet potato

casserole with the mini marshmallows.

Come on. It's no fun cooking for one, and I miss you.

-Okay, well, I'll see what I can do.

-Okay.

-Hey. You paged me?

-Yeah, so, Sam came in with sky-high LFTs and hematemesis.

-Liver failure? -Yeah.

-How? He doesn't have any history of liver disease.

-Exactly. Not a drinker, doesn't shoot up,

never overdosed.

-Is he still bleeding?

-Not since the endoscopy,

but he is in renal failure.

If this doesn't reverse itself,

he's gonna need a liver transplant.

-Can I see him?

-Yeah.

I know you care about him.

If he needs a transplant,

he's going to need all the help he can get.

**

-Well, we got the same number three times.

The test results aren't changing.

This is where we are.

Matthew, we need to talk about what that means.

-I'm not sleeping with some machine to help me breathe.

That is not me. I am not that guy.

-Well, we don't have to make a decision right now,

but the breathing test is telling us

that things are moving faster than we'd hoped,

and we need to make a plan before we get into trouble.

-Dr. Wolf, when I told you I couldn't use my hands,

you said I couldn't live alone.

Fine. The guys at the station, they got me.

Dennis is downstairs in the cafeteria right now.

He loves the egg salad here.

But that's it. I'm not having them deal with

strapping me in and out of a machine at night.

I gotta draw the line.

-Matthew, what about your family?

Have you told them yet? -What's it matter?

-It matters because ALS isn't something you survive alone.

And sometimes lying to your loved ones

can hurt them more than the truth.

-You talking about my family or yours?

Nobody survives this.

We both know that.

-So I guess you heard about the breathing test?

That was a total bust.

-You're up against some hard decisions.

I also heard

that your family still doesn't know about your diagnosis.

-My daughter has one semester left at Amherst.

I am not about to do anything that's going to distract her.

-So you're not going to see them over the holidays?

-They take one look at this,

my ex will take me back out of pity.

My daughter will fail her finals,

lose her focus.

So, yes, that means I don't see them.

-Didn't you say Thanksgiving was your holiday,

the one you all do together, even after the divorce?

-Not this year.

I know. Who's to say there's a next year?

But if there isn't, then this is the gift I give them.

One more happy moment.

Not that voice banking app you keep recommending to me.

-I understand how considering a future

where you can't talk might feel intolerable. I do.

But, Matthew, this is the umbrella, not the rain.

We're giving you more power over this disease, not less.

And I think telling your family might serve a similar purpose.

-You know what?

There is something I need to tell them.

Okay, Siri. [ Cellphone beeps ]

Text Alicia.

-Okay. What do you want to say to Alicia?

-I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year.

I got to work.

-Sam is in fulminant hepatic failure,

and we don't know what happened.

-Ericka, this is -- -Bad. Yeah, I know.

I'm going to call the liver transplant team to evaluate.

-No, hold on. Not yet. What is his neuro exam?

-He's slow, but he's awake and alert.

-Have you ever treated acute liver failure before?

These are some of the sickest patients you'll ever see.

Your job is to ensure this doesn't become

a neurological emergency.

I want you to think of Sam's mental status

as a key prognostic sign. Once that declines,

his time is even shorter. But if he's awake,

we can afford to wait a beat before calling transplant.

With this team, we have one shot.

If they say no, they will never reassess.

-So what do we do?

-I have an idea.

-He's just not a good candidate.

Look, I know Sam's young, and you all care about him

and have developed a relationship with him

during his many visits to our E.R.

But that committee will see an unhoused man

with unstable psych disease and zero family support,

someone who won't take the meds

that will keep him from rejecting his new liver.

-I know what the chart says, but that's not the whole story.

-I had just started seeing Sam.

He had good premorbid function,

was a college student when he had his first break,

and he wanted to get better. I was hopeful.

-You'll get the chance to talk to the transplant team.

But I don't think that'll be enough.

Sam still has no family here,

which means there would be no one here

to help him take his meds or get him to appointments.

Whether right or wrong, you simply cannot get a transplant

if you're entirely alone.

-So for Sam, being alone means death.

I'm supposed to accept that?

-Transplant decisions can be capricious and outright biased.

We've all seen candidates rejected

because of something that feels unjust.

But these concerns are valid.

-Patients like Sam get overlooked all the time.

But he wanted to get help. Dr. Pierce said it.

He told us that in his own way each time he came into our E.R.

I'm not giving up. -Neither am I.

-Okay. We need to talk to Sam.

Figure out if a transplant is even something he would want.

And we need to do it now before he loses his mental status.

-Wolf, Carol, you know this.

Even if this is what he wants,

he's just not a good candidate on paper.

-Then we make him one.

-I can't believe Sam is in liver failure.

It'll be a hard sell to the transplant committee,

but I'll do what I can. -Thank you.

Hey, how is Matthew? I'm worried about him.

His disease is progressing faster than I had hoped,

but he's still in denial.

-Some aspect of denial is necessary.

Adaptive, even.

-Not when it's unsustainable.

Matthew's stubborn,

and I don't want him wasting what time he has left

avoiding the people who are closest to him.

I'm going to go down to the station and check on him there,

see if I can make any progress.

-That's a good idea.

But I also know you want to see some firemen in action.

-Carol, do not objectify New York's bravest.

But the 2026 calendar did come out.

Remind me to show you Mr. October.

-[ Chuckles ]

[ Monitor beeping ]

-Sam?

Hi.

Can you hold your hands out like this?

-What's going on?

-That's called asterixis. It's a sign of liver failure.

Sam, I'm not going to sugarcoat this.

We need to get you a new liver.

But in order to do that, I need to know some things first.

What happened since the last time we saw you here?

-[ Sighs ] You're mad about your credit card.

I'm sorry. -Hey, I'm not mad.

You got yourself some stuff you needed.

That's why I gave it to you.

-No. I didn't use your card for anything.

The meds helped.

But the voices, uh...

I yelled at them.

Then these kids started beating me,

hitting me, kicking me. -Why didn't you come here?

We could have helped you.

-They took your card.

I told you I'd bring it back.

I didn't wanna --

Uh, had my meds, though.

Took 'em every day. Meds for pain, too.

-What were you taking for pain?

-Red? I took 'em all.

-Acetaminophen.

That's what caused the liver failure.

Is there any way you could get in touch with your family?

It would really help if they could be here.

-Already dead to them.

I don't want to die.

-Okay, junior firefighters.

There are four very important things

you need to know when caught in a fire.

Number one, stay low to avoid the smoke.

Number two, to raise the alarm,

pull the fire alarm or yell for help.

Number three, exit the building as quickly as possible.

And number four,

never, ever hide in a burning building.

So just remember FRED -- Floor, Raise the alarm,

Exit, Don't hide.

Which reminds me,

there is a very special member of our team

I think you'd really like to meet,

so I'm going to bring him out now.

Are you ready? -Yeah!

-Okay, Fred, where you at, boy? Come on out.

[ Kids chattering excitedly ]

-Come on and meet Fred, y'all. Come on.

[ Kids laughing, chattering ]

-Where is he?

Where is he?

Matthew, we need to talk right now.

[ Kids ooh'ing ]

Where do you get off not coming for Thanksgiving?

Our little girl's coming home, and you're blowing us off?

-Alicia, can you not do this here?

-Hi, uh, I'm so sorry to interrupt.

-And who are you? -I am Dr. Oliver Wolf.

Perhaps we should all talk.

-How could this happen?

I cooked healthy meals for the family every night.

I always had a cruciferous vegetable at the table.

And this is what we get?

-I can assure you

that this is not about what you did or did not do.

-Alicia, I'm the one who's dying, not you.

-No, Matthew, don't say that.

No one is dying.

How could you have kept this from us?

-Let's all just try to understand

the position Matthew is in.

There's no right or wrong way to process this diagnosis.

-So what do we do? How do we fix this?

-Um, unfortunately, we can't fix this.

ALS is a progressive disease.

-I did some googling on the train.

I want a list of all the medicines that he's taking,

upcoming appointments.

I read that there are only a few FDA approved treatments,

so I want him to get pushed into a trial as soon as possible.

-We are exploring every trial.

And yes, this is a devastating diagnosis.

But I want you all to know that research is accelerating.

There are thousands of people all over the world

studying this disease,

and there is real hope for

effective treatment on the horizon.

-In the meantime, our goal

is to help Matthew live the best life possible.

-Right. So Matthew is gonna live with me.

I'm taking care of him. No questions.

-Are you guys done speaking about me

like I'm not even in the room?

And there's plenty of resentment there.

I'm not moving in with you.

-I don't resent you. -Dad, nobody resents you.

And I'm gonna come back home, too.

I only have one semester left of school,

so I can go back and finish whatever.

-What does that mean, whenever? -Dad, don't be ridiculous.

I can't just stay in school.

-The hell you can't.

-You can't do this on your own.

Be for real, Daddy. You live in a walk-up.

-I live in a fire station, Gabby. I can manage.

-Remember, we fight the disease,

not the tools we have to help us.

-No. I'm not letting anybody uproot their lives

for me. I can fight this on my own.

End of story.

-Thank you.

Eastgate Medical didn't have any family contact for Sam,

and he is too confused now to be able to tell us anything,

even if he wanted to.

-Neither did St. Elizabeth's, Queensbridge,

or anywhere else Sam's been hospitalized.

-I'm striking out here, too.

It's wild how hard it is to get a transplant.

I don't think I'd even qualify.

Two people? Really? -I'd vouch for you.

-I wouldn't let you. You'd have Liam.

How about you, Ericka? You think you'd make the list?

-Um, I don't know. My parents wouldn't move.

-Would you even want one?

Immune suppression and infections

the rest of your life? Fearing rejection?

-If the alternative is death,

yeah, I would take it.

-The thing is, we would be listed.

Even if we drink or don't have social support,

we'd be listed because we're the people they make exceptions for.

And that sucks.

-Privilege.

-Hey. I think I found the number.

-Green beans, uh, sweet potatoes.

Oh, two pie crusts. -Look at this big boy.

-[ Laughs ] As if we needed that much turkey.

-Uh-huh. -[ Laughs ]

Oh, you kids, you're getting coal for Christmas.

-Hey!

-[ Chuckles ] -[ Cellphone vibrating ]

-Hello. -Hi. I'm calling

to reach Claire Mapesbury.

-Yes, this is Claire.

-This is Dr. Ericka Kinney... -Who is it?

-...from Bronx General Hospital. I'm one of the doctors

who's been taking care of your son, Sam Mapesbury.

-What's going on? -He's in our ICU

and very sick with liver failure.

I wanted to call you to update you and answer any questions...

-It's Sam.

-You know, I don't know what's more shocking,

that Matthew has ALS

or that he's seeing a psychiatrist.

-Reluctantly seeing a psychiatrist.

-Well, that tracks.

If your sessions are anything like our marriage,

you ask him how he's doing,

he mumbles fine, cracks open a beer

and plops down on the couch to watch a Jets game.

-Oh, honey, if he's a Jets fan, he's never fine.

-[ Laughs ]

-He does talk. Sometimes I can't get a word in.

-Oh.

-I see that strikes a chord.

Can you tell me why?

-My sister set us up on a blind date.

I was so pissed at her at first.

She knew I liked the strong, silent type.

And Matthew would not shut up.

We closed the restaurant down,

and when he kissed me good night, he whispered...

..."We will never run out of things to say to each other."

-Sometimes marriage is all about how you navigate the silences.

-How do you navigate an abyss?

It wasn't all his fault. We went through a lot early on.

9/11. We had friends

whose husbands didn't come home that day.

So how could I complain?

My husband did.

But he didn't really.

I would look at him and say, "Matthew, where are you?"

He never let me back in. It's why we split.

So to hear that he talks to you --

-What he practices in this office

is what he'll bring to his relationships

outside of this room, including his relationship with you.

-That's all I ever wanted,

was for him to tell me that he wasn't fine.

[ Radio chatter, siren wailing ]

[ Coffee warmer clicking, hissing ]

-Yo, guys, what are you trying to do, burn this place down?

[ Indistinct radio chatter continues ]

Guys.

-Thanks for the patch up.

-So, how did you fall?

-I was being careless.

-Matthew, I'm glad that you have support

at the fire station, but I am worried

it's not a safe, long term solution for you.

-What's long term here?

I'm not sure I can keep fighting it.

-[ Chuckles ]

I'm tempted to

tell you how resilient you are, to talk about adaptation,

to tell you it's incredible what people can learn

to accept as their new normal.

But none of that's gonna help right now, is it?

-I feel like

every time I learn to adapt to a new loss,

I lose something else.

-From where I'm sitting, all of the core elements

that make you Matthew are still intact.

-Then let me keep this one.

I don't care about me,

but my girl Gabby and even Alicia,

I need to protect them.

-Sam, there's some people here to see you.

-Sam.

-Did I ruin your Easter?

-It's Thanksgiving.

-No way, kid. This is the only place we want to be right now,

with you.

-Hey, Doc.

Sorry to just surprise you like this.

-Oh, uh, you're the chief?

Mr. October, right? -[ Chuckles ]

You can call me Dennis.

-What can I do for you, Dennis?

-Uh, look, we all knew Matty living at the station

was temporary, but we thought it was safe.

I, uh -- I shouldn't have left him alone.

-Don't blame yourself. You got him out of his apartment.

You helped him maintain something

that felt normal for a little while longer.

That's not nothing.

-Yeah.

Matty's the best we got.

You know, he trained me. My first week in,

I thought there's no way I could do this,

but Matty made me realize I could.

He'd always say, "Alone, we can do so little.

But together, we can do so much."

It's a quote from, uh, Helen Mirren, I think.

-Yeah, it's Helen Keller, but easily confused.

-I just wish we could do more for Matty.

-Actually, I might know a way you can.

-Cow's milk is back, right?

-Thanks. I've been reading about stem cell clinical trials.

Is that something that my dad could do?

-Uh, it's a possibility.

But ultimately, that's for him to decide.

You and your dad seem close.

I mean, he talks about you all the time.

-I've always been into modern art.

It's really not his thing.

But he used to keep a calendar on the fridge of openings

happening in the city.

And every weekend he'd take me to a new one.

And when I got a phone,

he started texting me these random photos

and captioned them, "Art or not?"

He's one of a kind.

I can't imagine, uh --

-What your dad needs is for you to keep going.

One good thing about modern art,

you don't need fine motor skills to enjoy it.

Keep going. Together.

-Talk to me, Sam! Open your eyes, Sam.

-Sam. Excuse me.

Sam? Sam? -What happened?

-He's unresponsive. He was talking 30 minutes ago.

-He wouldn't wake up. We called you right away.

-I need a rapid response to room 12 in the ICU!

I'm sorry. We're gonna need the room.

-W-What's happening to him? -We're taking care of him.

Okay? -Sam?

-Okay. Okay. -Sam?

-Pupils equal and reactive, but he's obtunded,

and he's desatting. He can't protect his airway.

-Severe hepatic encephalopathy, likely cerebral edema.

Ericka, prep an airway, now.

I'm ready for etomidate and sux.

-You told me that my job was to keep this

from becoming a neurological emergency.

Is there anything I could have done differently?

-You were monitoring him, and you gave him

the only antidote for acetaminophen overdose.

But as his liver failed and ammonia accumulated,

brain swelling became inevitable.

-Which can lead to brain herniation and death.

-What's the immediate treatment?

-Hyperventilating him and dosing him with mannitol

and hypertonic saline will lower the ICP

as a temporary measure.

But only a new liver will stop the swelling permanently.

And we don't have long to get it for him.

-Correct.

-So he's on the list for this new liver?

-Not yet. Unfortunately, it's been difficult

because of Sam's housing situation.

The committee is reticent to list Sam

if he doesn't have a support system,

people committed to caring for him after the transplant.

-Well, he has that. He has us.

[ Sighs ] We used to be so close,

but when he got sick, we became the last people that he wanted.

Those thoughts in his head, all that paranoia, the voices,

it turned him against us. He didn't want to stay with us.

He said it felt like prison.

I-I went to the city once to bring him home,

but he wouldn't come. He thought we were trying to hurt him.

He told me never to call him again.

I had his siblings back home.

I had to be there for them, too.

Doctor, I feel guilty and scared for Sam every single day.

Can I just bring him home?

-I'm afraid a transfer to another hospital now,

particularly one farther away is...

It's too risky.

-I know that you have a life back in Ohio,

but if there is any way that you could be here for Sam --

-We can rent a place here, whatever Sam needs.

He's our son.

We let him go once. We're not doing it again.

-You watch all your patients while they sleep

or just your favorites?

-Oh, just my favorites.

How are you sleeping?

-Terribly.

Keep having this dream.

Wakes me up most nights.

I'm, uh, in my old house with my family.

There's a fire, and I can --

I can hear them calling for me.

I --

I try to save them, but I can't.

-That sounds terrifying.

I wonder whether your weakness and trouble breathing at night

may be causing this vivid dream.

Your oxygen level drops, carbon dioxide climbs.

Your REM sleep is in disarray.

The good news is, there's a solution.

That BiPAP machine I mentioned

will help you breathe deeper while you sleep.

-[ Sighs ]

I'll take your machine.

Fight the disease, not the tools.

Yeah.

You gonna discharge me now?

-No. Tell me more about this dream first.

Walk me through it.

-Careful what you wish for.

-Matthew! -Dad! Please!

-Matthew, we need you.

-Matthew, where are they?

-Matthew! -Daddy.

-I don't know. -Please!

-I don't know. I can't move. -Help us!

-I can't save them. -Daddy, please!

-Come on out! Please, come out.

Daddy!

-What if you're not supposed to?

What if they're supposed to save you?

-Oh, Oliver.

-* I stand with moss and branches under my bare feet *

* Look back at all the chances I missed narrowly *

* But I'll move along, can't keep on looking backwards *

* There's a light, there's a light *

-[ Crying ] -* Up ahead *

-The transplant committee said no.

-What happened?

-I told them that Sam had just started a medication regimen

that I hoped would work for him,

the meds he's been taking since discharge,

and that he had a supportive family.

I also told them that the acetaminophen

was an unintentional overdose

and that Sam truly wanted to get better to live.

But he was on the margin, Ericka,

and they had to take a leap.

Sometimes they take it, sometimes they don't.

-I thought when we got his family,

they would see that he is someone, someone worth saving.

-Just because they declined him doesn't mean all programs will.

I've already called my friend at Columbia.

We'll call Cornell, as well.

We just need to find a program that isn't so risk averse.

-But even if they say yes, what are the chances

they decide in time?

-Okay, how long does Sam have? -He needs a new liver fast,

or he won't make it. For now, we manage Sam's ICP

as best we can, and we hold out hope.

-Mm-hmm.

Uh, hey, Silva.

Um, where are you going with that pie?

-Uh, bringing it to our staff potluck.

-I know this is weird, but I could actually use it

for a patient, if that's okay.

-Okay. Yeah. Anything for your patients.

-Thank you.

-Um, I finally convinced Matthew

to attend his family's Thanksgiving.

He asked me to go with him.

So I can't show up empty handed.

-Is it too late to bail? -[ Indistinct conversations ]

-Uh, yeah, it sure is.

Besides, I went to a lot of trouble to get that pie.

I want to eat it. -Or we could just

run down the street to the pub and grab a whiskey.

-[ Chuckles ] -Okay.

Dr. Wolf, please have a seat.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Glass clinking ]

I just want to say how much it means to me

to have all of you around the table. This year,

what I'm most grateful for is second chances.

Dr. Wolf, would you like to go next?

-Uh, I guess I'm coming to appreciate

unexpected reunions.

-Mm.

Matthew.

-Yeah. Um...

I'm grateful for my family

and that, uh, I haven't been a burden on them.

-Matthew, please.

-I can't live in my apartment anymore,

and I can't live at the station. It's too much.

So...

I made arrangements with a facility.

A home. A place I can move to.

I'll be safe, you know, for as long as I can tolerate it.

But...my ship is sinking,

and I'm not taking any of you with me.

-Dad, we want to help. -That's not your job, honey.

It's too much. -It's not, though.

It's not, because we wouldn't be doing it alone.

-What do you mean?

-We all agree that living at the station isn't a solution.

But the guys, they want to help out as much as they can.

-Matthew, I want you to move back into the house.

I won't be doing it alone, and neither will you.

And don't even try to argue.

Dennis has planned a month's worth of frozen meals.

He's gone full Martha Stewart. Okay?

-I'll bet he has.

-You have a lot of good people around you

who want to help out as much as they can.

[ Truck horn beeps ]

Take a look.

-Yeah, Matthew!

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Yeah, appreciate you, Matt!

-Wait. Who are all these people, Dad?

-People from work. -And lives he's saved.

-Here for you. -Hey, we appreciate you!

-Sometimes letting people help

is the greatest gift you can give them.

-Thank you, Matthew!

-Thank you for bringing all this stuff.

-Yeah, thanks, Auntie. Everything looks great.

-I'm sorry I had to work on Thanksgiving.

-It's no worries. We got you. Always.

-Thank you. -Okay.

Hey, hey, hey. Okay, word on the floor,

your sweet potato pie is to die for.

-It sure is. This an old family recipe.

-Uh... -Uh, Anthony, this is my sister,

Helen. Anthony runs our emergency room.

-Lovely to meet you. Any plans for the holidays,

or is it all gunshot wounds and severed limbs?

-[ Chuckles ] No, mostly cuts and burns, actually.

But I'm headed out. Kids are with my ex,

so it's going to be a quiet one.

But you know what I am thankful for this year?

An entire Thanksgiving in the E.D.,

and not one patient spoiled the Cowboys game.

-The Cowboys? Oh, no. And I was just starting to like you.

-What? Ladies, look, I'm not that bad.

Tell her. I'm not that bad!

-Oh, my God. Who made this?

-Mm. I told my staff, best dish gets Christmas off.

-You realize this is our first Thanksgiving as a family?

-I wish I could have made it special.

-This is special. We're together.

**

**

-Matthew?

Hey.

Got you a little something,

if you want to take a break from athleisure.

Hey. Where are you?

-I'm right here.

-* You were waiting outside for me in the sun *

-The act of rescue is often linked to things

like heroism and bravery.

But for guys like me,

I've always looked at it as an act of caring.

I don't get it.

-Dad, it's art.

-If you say so.

-* Oh, the glory of it all *

-I guess I never saw myself as the one

who needed to be cared for.

-* Until I saw how hard it'd be to reach you *

* And I would always be light years *

* Light years away from you *

* Light years, light years *

-But I know now that even on my hardest of days,

you and your mom will be there

to save me from any fires that may come our way.

-Mom? -[ Gasps ] Oh, Oliver.

It's too soon. I wanted to surprise you.

I brought Thanksgiving to you.

Ta-da!

-* Everyone was lighting up the shadows alone *

* You could have been right there next to me *

-I saw your ferns, Oliver.

-I-I've been so busy at work.

-I know, so, you know, I just --

I took some of them upstairs to the bathroom.

I ran the shower for a while.

The steam should perk them right up.

-They're dead. -They'll be better tomorrow.

You'll see.

And now we are going to get this big boy out.

Whew!

You know, it was always his job to carve the turkey.

And our friends would applaud because he made it look so easy.

Ugh, used to drive me crazy. I do everything else,

and all the -- -Mom.

-* Light years, light years away from you *

-Sometimes the most heroic thing you can do

isn't running into the burning building.

It's quieter, smaller,

but in a way, even harder, at least for me.

Letting you and your mother in, accepting help.

Agreeing to this voice banking business

Dr. Pierce has been talking about.

Allowing myself to be rescued even when I don't want to.

For me, this is the bravest thing I've ever done.

And it's scary as hell.

But it is worth it...

...if it means more time with you.

**

-Greg, move your head.

**

**

**

**