Original subtitles

Working on a piece on the West Pershing warehouse fire.

I still can't believe you went to high school with that guy.

Was it coincidence doing a story on my firehouse?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping I'd run into you.

Hey, McCaffrey Burke, you're on traffic control. Go get the cones and flares.

You go get them. I'm gonna watch the traffic. Watch out!

You all are trying to prove you're the star player.

And that is the wrong instinct. I know there's a lot riding on this for you.

For me, too.

I talked to Cruz.

His neurological exam went well, but they're still waiting on test results.

Even if I get out of this chair at some point, I'm never going to be a

firefighter again.

Now I am ready to start the week. Not yet.

Nope. We are going to be late.

Come on.

Are we taking one car or two?

One. Okay.

Cruz texted me late last night, so he'll be at PT all this morning.

That's good news, right?

He's still got a long road ahead of him, but it sounds like he's not as good as

they thought.

That's great.

By the way, Chief Lone reached out.

Is that operations?

Manpower. Say you want to come by the firehouse and check out the probies. How

you feeling on that front?

I am not sure they're quite ready for prime time.

But I got them all rolling in the same direction, at least.

He lives across the hall from you. How have you not run into him in four

months? Constant vigilance. I missed a kickboxing class last night because he

was camped out at the elevator talking to our super for like 20 minutes.

Maybe I should just move.

Or maybe just have an adult conversation.

Oh.

Oh, hi.

Hot off the presses.

Oh. Wow.

You know you could have just texted me a link, right?

I know, but I'm a sucker for newsprint.

Sorry, Jacob, this is my partner, Lizzy Novak. Hi, I'm a digital native, but I

appreciate a lost cause.

Nice to meet you, Lizzy.

Thanks for dropping us off. Actually, there was one other thing.

Metro is asking for a story on the socioeconomic impact of the record heat

in Chicago this past summer.

Thought you might know if certain neighborhoods saw more heat-related

calls than others.

Oh, so you're just looking for a source for your next expose. No, I got it.

Okay. Not just. It was a two birds, one stone kind of thing. Okay, well, you're

only going to kill one bird here. The public information office can get you

all those official numbers.

Can't write a decent story with official numbers.

You're going to have to.

See you around.

He's kind of cute.

I'm so into you. Oh, he's just looking for a source.

Heads up, 81.

We are going to be running some hardcore drills and full-out gear, so just go

easy on the pork products.

She obviously doesn't know who I am.

Hey, Hollis, get at those macros.

Yeah, puking in your mask. That's one way to test a seal, right?

Well, our shower went ice cold again.

Happened to me last week, except I had conditioner in my hair.

Hey, Captain, the water heater situation's creating a hostile work

environment. Works fine if you don't take 20-minute showers.

What'll it take to get us an upgrade?

I have a lot of money, Cap.

Wait, didn't I hear that the CFD restored some of the budget cuts from

last year? Yeah, I heard that, too. Maybe there's a little money squirreled

away somewhere?

I'll look into it.

Ambulance 61, police assist, person in distress.

3-1-8, what's your alchemy?

She's inside.

Locked herself in the bathroom the second the cops showed up. Thanks. Any

idea why? No clue. She came in and asked me to call her a taxi.

She was bleeding all over. Didn't seem all there, you know? So I called 911

instead. Hey.

Come on, what are we doing in there?

Hello?

What have we got?

Possible psych. Been in there half an hour.

Open the door, ma'am.

I'm not going back there.

Mind if we give it a shot?

Last chance or we're coming in. Whoa, take it easy. If she's in crisis...

You're not worried she's bleeding out? She's still talking.

We're done talking.

Hang on, okay?

Excuse me.

Hey, ma'am, we are paramedics. We only want to... Just go away.

You don't understand.

I don't want to go back there.

They won't let me leave.

Okay, that's it. We're going in. No, can't you hear how terrified she is?

Get out of the way. That woman is in acute psychological crisis, okay? If you

bust that door and things could go sideways, fast.

I said move.

No.

Maybe let her try.

We don't need IAP on us, right?

Okay.

But we can't stay here all day. And if she goes silent... Got it.

Hey, ma'am, it's me again.

We hear that you're bleeding pretty badly. Is there any chance you'll let us

examine your wound?

I'm not falling for your tricks.

No tricks and no cops.

It's just us, I promise. Please, just let us help.

Okay.

Just you two?

Mm-hmm.

Not them.

You got it.

What's your name?

Anita.

Hi, Anita.

I'm Violet. This is my partner, Lizzie.

Would you mind taking a seat for us so we can look at that arm?

Yeah, right here.

Are you on any medication that we should know about?

Nivalprovex. 500 milligrams.

How'd this happen?

I don't know. A fence, maybe?

Okay.

I'm gonna bandage this up, and Lizzie's gonna take your vitals, okay?

Saline and gauze, please.

Thank you.

This is gonna stain a little bit, okay?

One, two, three.

I know, I know.

That's it?

160 after 102.

Okay.

That's high, but you've gone through a lot today.

And, Anita, I'm afraid this is gonna need stitches, and we can't do that

here, so we're gonna have to take you to the hospital. No.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Not Lakeshore.

Not Lakeshore. It doesn't have to be Lakeshore. We can take you to Chicago

Med. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

Is there anyone we can call?

Any... Family need you there? No.

I don't have anyone.

Hey, Anita.

Listen to me.

I promise you, we are going to take good care of you.

Okay? Will you let me see your arm?

I don't know.

All right.

Prep my dazzling.

Wait, what is that?

It's just something to help you relax.

But we will be with you.

Full time.

Okay? We are not going anywhere.

Here. Thanks.

Just a little pinch.

You want me to bandage you up?

Whoa. Hey, wait a second.

We got a call while you're in there.

From who?

Dispatch. We have to take her into custody.

We've got you, ma'am. What? No, she needs stitches. We are taking her to

med. It's a lawful order of commitment. She ran from a psych facility.

Yeah, I'm sure the facility will stitch her up, okay? Thanks for the assist.

What facility are you taking... Where are you taking her to? The call really

did just come in.

Let's move!

What the hell just happened?

Well, it sounds like I have no choice, so I guess I'll be there. But just know,

it's under duress.

Whoa. What was that all about?

That was my publisher.

Apparently, somewhere in my contract, I agreed to do a reading of my book as

part of the launch. Just found out, it's tomorrow night.

Remind me, what's the title you landed on?

Burning Desire.

Sounds spicy.

Oh, spicy, all right. Are you worried about the turnout? Because I can call

Cindy. She can get her whole book club. Oh, for the love of God, do not do that.

You don't want a crowd for Cyrus Mayberry's big debut?

Herman, the last thing I want to do is read erotica in front of strangers, let

alone my best friend's wife.

What am I going to do here?

I can't not show it's a breach of contract.

Pull my advance.

Ooh. Okay, so you have a legal problem, and I happen to have a guy for that.

And he owes me a favor.

Send me that contract.

No, I... I get it. I understand.

Yeah. Thank you for the information, Chief.

They took her to a psych hospital.

Valley Crest Mental Health Center.

Those cops had no right taking her. We had priority on that scene, and we were

in the middle of treating her. But Valley Crest, I mean, they already

signed off on the transfer of liability.

So as far as Chief Robinson is concerned, it's case closed. That

patient was in visible distress.

She was obviously scared of the cops, and she needed stitches.

You don't think that facility is capable of stitching her up?

I promised that woman that we would take her to Chicago Med.

I promised her that we would get her the care that she needed. She trusted me.

Sounds like you need to go see her yourself.

Yeah.

Captain Severide.

Chief Lloyd.

Welcome to 51.

Saw your lieutenant setting up for a drill back there. Looks like she's

really putting them through their paces. Yeah, she doesn't mess around.

You want to go take a look? Be back.

Caffrey, give me speed. Come on. Ten more. Ten more.

Come on. Show me speed. Show me speed.

Good. Good. Good.

Atta boy. Good job.

All right. Let's do some drags. Baskets.

Gentlemen, let's go. Looking good, Lieutenant.

Thank you, Chief.

They're coming along.

Want to walk me out, Caffrey?

Happy to see you and Lieutenant Kidd running such a tight ship here.

And some of the chatter I've heard around headquarters, well, I wasn't sure

what to expect.

Chatter? Well, more like questions, I suppose.

About the chain of command here at 51?

Talking about me and Lieutenant Kidd working together?

That's part of it.

But just to be clear, she's not working with you anymore. She's working for you.

And that's a whole different ball of wax.

But look, I didn't come here to rattle the cage.

This is just friendly advice.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to worry about.

You said it was part of it, me and Kid. What's the other part?

Running 51.

It's a coveted position, especially for a guy who hadn't even made battalion

chief yet.

So just tread lightly, that's all. You don't want to give anyone an opening to

take a shot at you.

But don't worry.

You got plenty of friends down at HQ.

Me included.

I'll be in touch, Captain.

Chief.

I understand your concerns. It's always difficult when law enforcement gets

involved, but don't worry, Ms. Higgins is doing just fine.

She was treated as soon as she got here for, uh, you know, 12 stitches for a

laceration on her left forearm. Right. With all due respect, I would still like

to check on her myself.

I got group therapy at 11, so... We'll be quick.

All right.

I'm gonna class this way.

We had to give her some medication to settle her down, but as you can see,

she's perfectly stable now. So I hope this puts your mind at ease.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Daryl, could you show these ladies out? Wait, wait.

When we were treating her, she said that she didn't want to come back here, that

she was being held against her will.

Well, patients say all kinds of things in a mental health crisis. I know, but

she wasn't psychotic.

She was pretty lucid, actually, and she seemed genuinely scared, so...

I mean, if you don't mind, I would like to speak to her.

I do mind. I've done everything I can to accommodate you. Look, Miss Higgins

admitted herself to this facility voluntarily.

If you'll excuse me, we have to get back to work. I'm sure that you do, too.

What now?

I don't know.

But the one thing I know for sure... is that woman is not here voluntarily.

You see that chain-link fence?

I wonder if that's how she cut herself.

It could be.

It's like eight feet tall.

Exactly. I mean, can you imagine how desperate you'd have to be to scale that

thing? I know.

I wonder why she ended up here.

I mean, people don't get locked up for no reason.

Right.

You know, something is just... It's not adding up. I mean, we have had plenty of

psychotic patients, but this one feels different.

Yeah.

I just wish we had more to go off of.

Yeah.

She had a pretty intense reaction when we said we were bringing her to the

hospital. She did not want to go to Lakeshore.

Maybe there's a reason why.

Only one way to find out.

So?

What did Chief Lohan have to say?

Not much.

Just that he was impressed with the job that you were doing.

Well, then.

Maybe this is the perfect time for an official request.

I heard through the grapevine that some of our discretionary budget from the CFD

has been restored. Is that true? Yeah, but it's not a lot.

Is it enough for a Kaisersled?

Look, I know we've been getting by with truck tires, but the Kaisersled, it's a

hell of a lot safer. It'll really help me hone in on these probes form, and

good technique saves lives.

Okay, sure. I mean, I'll think about it.

Hello?

Hey, I've been looking for you. Uncle Larry got back to me.

Please tell me he got me out of this reading.

All right, well, here's the deal. Your contract says that Cyrus Mayberry has to

appear at all scheduled events. That's the long and short of it.

So you're telling me I'm screwed?

No, not exactly. Uncle Larry pointed out that nowhere in that contract does it

say that you...

have to be Cyrus Mayberry.

You can't be serious. You said it yourself. Up to this point, you have

been nothing but words on the Internet with, uh, nom, plum, or however you say

it. I'm the gloom. Yeah, all right.

The point is, is that nobody has any idea what Cyrus Mayberry looks like.

He could be me, he could be Tony, or he could be an actor that you hire so you

don't have to do it.

It worked for Cyrano.

See? Tony agrees.

So it has to be a good idea.

Guys, I seriously doubt my publisher's gonna go for this.

He will, when he sees who I got to play you.

That... that is Cindy's cousin's kid, and that guy is a real-deal actor.

He's currently in understudy in Jersey Boys.

Which one?

Does it matter? He's a professional and he's available.

Do you think he'd be willing to audition?

I am buying you Kusama pastries. Get out of here.

Your Chi Chi got me through ACLS. We are square.

You said Higgins.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I remember her. She was here on the 23rd, so... Two weeks ago?

Yeah. She came in to get her meds re-upped.

She was a little overwhelmed, but she wasn't in crisis mode or anything.

Wait, she came to the ER just to refill her prescription?

Is that normal?

Yeah, I know. It's messed up.

There's a serious shortage of psychiatrists, so it can take a while to

get an appointment.

A lot of patients can't wait that long, so they end up here.

Were you able to take care of her? We didn't have a psychiatrist on call, so

we referred her to a psych facility.

Valley Crest?

Marker.

I gotta go. Okay, thanks for the intel, Parker. Here, good night. Good luck with

your patient. Thank you.

Anita was pretty clear about her meds. I don't think she stopped taking them. No.

And she wasn't in crisis when she got here. So why the hell is she still

locked up at Valleycrest two weeks later?

Ambulance 61, truck 81, squad 3, to West 83rd Street. Worker trapped in a

malfunctioning rig.

Keep rolling!

What happened? The wheel slipped through and triggered the tilt since. We tried

to get him down, but it's not responding.

All right, squad, let's get some cribbing underneath this rig. Copy.

Raise the aerial. I'm going up. Yep. Herman, you got it? Got it.

Ballard, Vasquez, send a stabilizer.

Hey, move down. Come on.

Hollis, Jensen, set a perimeter. Get these people back. I want at least 50

feet clearance.

McCaffrey, help Ballard. Is that stabilizer's right? Go give squad a

hand. Got it.

Let's move!

I'm coming for you!

I know!

Stack it tight, no gaps.

Stabilizers set!

Hurry!

Hey, McCaffrey! With me, let's go!

Copy!

Guys, back up! Back up!

Take one, back higher, cross leg raise.

All right.

Hey! Hey, you with me?

Hey, Herman!

Bring that skit up here!

You got it!

Okay, ready? Three, two, one.

Drop manual, C-spine.

Sir, can you hear me?

He's unresponsive.

Pulse is Brady.

Respirations are shallow.

Pupils are sluggish. I see no obvious external injuries. Sounds like a brain

injury. Get ready to bag. Let's trauma him to meth.

Go.

Bert, what the hell were you doing on the downhill side of that rig?

Oh, the wood was cracked, so I was trying to stabilize the time. You would

have got crushed if Vasquez hadn't have pulled you out.

No, I had a clear escape path. Things can go sideways in a second. Listen, do

you want to be a firefighter or a crash test dump?

My bad, Lieutenant.

Won't happen again.

Lesson for all of you.

Stay out of the collab zone.

All right?

Let's pack it up.

Think you can help with Anita?

Hey, worth a shot.

Hi, Dr. Charles.

Do you have a minute?

What's up?

It doesn't make sense, does it? Not if she was there just to re-up her meds.

Kind of hard for me to say without having examined her.

But hypothetically?

Okay, hypothetically.

All right.

Dipoprox is a bipolar medication.

If she was having a manic episode that required stabilization...

I guess you could justify a hold that long, but that scenario doesn't really

line up with the other stuff you've been telling me. Okay, so why would they keep

her there?

Psychiatric evaluations are just notoriously ambiguous, right? They're

just hardly ever black and white, you know? And the problem is all that gray,

it creates a real vulnerability in the system.

What do you mean? Well, put it this way, I have certainly heard of institutions

that will hang on to patients to increase revenue.

Like a billing scam?

Yep. So that doctor was lying when he said that Anita was there voluntarily.

You know, I mean, once a patient is admitted legally, the discharge is at

the discretion of the facility.

So what, they could just keep her there indefinitely?

What they usually do is they keep them around until the insurance runs out.

What I would do, I would take a look at the Illinois Mental Health Code, you

know, just to see if there's anything that I've left out. I could also run

this by our head illegal, you know, see what he says.

That would be great. Yeah.

Thank you so much, Dr. Charles.

My pleasure. Good luck, you guys. Thank you.

Yo, you make me look bad in front of my lieutenant?

I think the words you're looking for are, thanks for saving my ass.

I was good. I was completely aware at all times.

Well, next time you might not be so lucky.

Yo, what's your issue, bro?

You afraid that I might show you up? I'm not showing you up.

You know, if you quit flapping your jaw for just one minute, you might actually

learn something.

From you.

Doubt it.

Move.

You are a probational firefighter here, Burke. Do you know what that word means?

Yes. No, Lieutenant, it was my fault.

Burke, get back on the floor.

I do not even know what to say to you.

I know, Lieutenant. I'm sorry.

You were supposed to be an example.

I just lost my cool.

Vasquez. No, you know what?

You're done.

Your shift is over. Get your stuff and go. You're done.

Go home.

Did either of them get hurt?

No, but I sent Vasquez home.

And I know that I should have checked in with you about it first. Yeah, you

should have.

I know.

But Vasquez started a fight with a probie.

And honestly, he's getting off easy.

What? You want me to request a floater for truck now? File an incident report.

Loop in HQ.

All because of some little scuffle.

He... I'm sorry for the extra paperwork, but Vasquez was out of line.

It's not about the paperwork, Stella.

We got white shirts breathing down our necks.

I'm already a man behind on squad. Now it's going to look like things are out

of control here.

No one got hurt. Let's just move on.

Since when do you care about how things look? I can't... Just get Vasquez back

on the floor.

Seriously.

Okay. You are worried about how it's going to look if we send him home.

How is it going to look if you overrule me on this?

It wasn't your call to make.

He is my man.

And if we don't set the right example for my probe... Damn it, Stella. I can't

keep... I can't always say yes to you.

Copy that, Captain.

Get back in station gear.

You're lucky that we got white shirts sniffing around here.

I feel like I'm going cross-eyed.

I believe the medical term is crashing out.

Is there anything in the insurance guidelines?

Not really, and it all depends on her coverage, so... Okay, well, according to

the mental health code, we can file a petition on her behalf challenging the

hold, but that could take weeks or even months to get in front of a judge.

Unbelievable. It's like this one doctor is her judge and jailer. Yeah, it's all

perfectly legal.

But maybe we can use it.

Yes.

Here's the manual.

Okay. Gerard carried Louise to the bunk room.

The heat between them was more intense than any fire he'd ever faced.

He threw her onto the cop, ripping off her dress.

Gerard then reached for his helmet, but Louise stopped him with a breathy

whisper. No.

Keep the helmet on. Sorry, can we, uh, take it back?

Was I not doing the lower register?

No, that was better this time. It's just... You have to say the words like

you're trying to pull the audience in.

Take your time, make them want it. That's the whole Cyrus Mayberry milieu.

I thought I was doing that.

Let's take it from the top.

March.

Maybe six times is enough.

You're right.

Really good stuff, Ethan.

Thanks for coming in.

We'll be in touch.

Say hi to your mom for me and Cindy, all right?

Wow. Well, you certainly gave him a lot of direction.

If he's going to be the face of my alter ego, it's got to be right.

So does that mean he gets the gig?

Well, seeing as the reading's in 24 hours and we don't have a second option,

I'd say, uh...

Meet Cyrus Mayberry. Hey, alright.

I'll let him know.

Yo.

You had a fight with Vasquez?

The hell were you thinking, man?

Dude had it out for me since day one.

You got skills, Burke, right? But... But if you don't stop messing around, you're

going to end up in a floater pool.

You think this is some kind of game for me?

If I had to bust my ass to get here. I know.

We all did.

Come on, dude.

You're what?

You're a third generation CFD?

Your daddy's a damn senator?

We're not even in the same ocean.

State senator, actually.

Oh.

That's a double-edged sword.

I feel like I have to work twice as hard just to prove that I actually deserve to

be here.

And I know that you guys call me Nepo Baby behind my back.

Hey, I call you that to your face.

I'm not gonna end up in no Florida pool, so don't worry about it.

Okay.

Thank you.

Hi. We are the paramedics from that site call in Westridge.

Keegan was the senior officer, so if you need any follow-up... Actually, we're

here to talk to you.

Vasquez is back on the floor.

Thank you.

For the record, I don't expect you to always say yes to me.

I know.

I came out wrong.

But is that how you feel?

Yeah, people were talking down at HQ about whether or not I should be

commanding 51.

Commanding 51 or commanding me?

Is that what Chief Lowen said this morning?

He made it clear that I was under a microscope.

So I got to be careful about optics.

Optics.

I get it.

I should have let you know it was up.

Yeah.

You should have.

Look, I know that everybody is pushing for a water heater.

I'm not.

gonna pretend like a kaiser sled isn't a higher priority i'm not asking you to

but it's your call and i gotta get used to that

so whatever you decide i'll

support you

We're here for Anita Higgins.

Wait, wait. Dr.

Oxford, did you come out here?

What now?

We are getting Anita Higgins out of here. Like hell you are.

You have no right.

Actually, they do.

Officer, unfortunately, these ladies are wasting your time. Ms. Higgins is

legally under my care. Actually, when Anita was under our care, she told a

sworn officer that she didn't want to come back here, which constitutes a

legal objection to confinement. That's ridiculous. Not according to Section 3

-804 of the Illinois Code of Mental Health. Once there's an official dispute

of confinement, the patient is legally entitled to an examination at a neutral

facility. So, we're taking her to Chicago Med.

That's a technicality. I know.

Sucks, right?

Let him through.

Anita?

What's going on?

We're getting out of here.

You came back for me.

I made you a promise.

You got a hell of a right hook.

I know.

Listen.

I appreciate what you did for me.

I'm doing it for you.

I should have never let myself get baited by a probie.

To real firefighters, we take responsibility.

Oh, and I would never sabotage anyone on a call, okay?

Even if I didn't like you.

Just so we're clear.

I don't. Why?

Is that me competition? Because you're cocky.

You're cocky, you're inexperienced, and that combination gets people killed.

How could he just cancel?

You said this guy was a professional.

He got called up to play Frankie Valli. This is his big break.

We have to start in two minutes.

All right.

You got to get out there. Well, guess what? I can't.

I saw you in the audition.

You are more Cyrus Mayberry than that kid could have ever been. And you're

really going to let a couple of body words stop you?

What if they hate it? Listen, Mouch, this book is a bona fide

bodice ripper. All right, the staff out there is going to be peeling people off

the floor after you get done with them.

I'm serious.

Thanks, brother.

Hello, ladies.

I'm Cyrus Mayberry, and I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little

burning desire.

Gerard was always good with his hands.

Long before he started at Firehouse 50. He's a natural.

Maybe it's good that I deflated.

I never hired him.

He moved on instinct.

trusted those instincts.

It's infuriating. They're taking advantage of these people who are

already so vulnerable.

This one hit close to home, huh?

I keep thinking about how Anita said that she didn't have anyone.

And... I can't help wondering if that's how my

mom felt.

Yeah. I don't know.

But what I do know is that Anita wasn't alone today.

We were there and we got her out. That's something.

Yeah.

But how many rooms are in that place?

Yeah. How many other Anitas you mean?

Maybe being a source isn't so bad.

Hey. Hey.

Hi. Hey.

Say, you said you wanted to talk?

Your next expose.

Is that a Kaiserslautern?

It is.

I'm approving your request.

Really? It was the right call to make.

Is this gonna catch you heat with the brass?

If it does, I'll deal with it.

Just don't ever stop fighting for what you think is right.

I won't either.

Everything else... We'll figure it out.