Rat Falls - Recap

Zoey wigs out at Jackie about two people just hanging around in the
waiting room, littering. Jackie leaves her to rant, and goes in to see
Eddie. She's angry because he's texting her sister-in-law. Eddie doesn't
believe that she has a leg to stand on. She promptly shifts gears and
claims Tunie spent the night hacking into her ex-boyfriend's email. He
offers her Valium to help take the edge off. She says there is no edge,
and leaves.

There's definitely an edge. She cuts Thor off without hearing what he's
so excited about, and gets in the elevator.

A patient arrives, gunshot wound to the head. O'Hara yells for Jackie,
but she's in the ceiling, going after her stash. The rats got to it
first. She doesn't have much left to work with. She counts out five a
day, and figures she has less than ten days to go.

O'Hara calls the death at 11:15 a.m. Cooper says he's glad she was
there, because neither of them lost him. In the "chief race" he thinks
they are in, he's keeping track of how many patients are lost. He's in a
really good mood because he's meeting his moms for lunch. O'Hara is sort
of taking the death hard. Jackie tells her to go get a cup of coffee,
and she'll clean him up.

The mom from last week complaining that her daughter can barely breathe,
is back and making the same claim. This time, her daughter is
rollerskating around the ER. She also refuses to fill out the proper
forms, because they already have all her information in the computer.
Sam tries to go to bat, and the daughter asks if he's even awake. Zoey
says he has his own vibe. Jackie arrives, and backs Zoey and Sam. Zoey
pushes the clipboard out to Candace, so she can fill out the paperwork
on her daughter. She shoots Jackie a look, but takes the clipboard and
has a seat as ordered.

Sam remembers seeing Candace somewhere else he worked. The paperwork
level was insane. Jackie points out that the more hospital visits they
make, the more support they get. It's pretty simple. Just move 'em along.

Gloria asks Jackie if she's ever stolen anything. Jackie doesn't even
look up. "Yes, many times." Gloria tells her to be in the chapel in
one-half hour, and bring Thor.

O'Hara treats Lou for a broken wrist. He claims the pain isn't so bad,
and she retorts that he's a terrible liar. He's very subdued. Jackie
walks in, happy to see him. He has a chipped tooth as well. Jackie asks
about the meds, and an uncomfortable silence ensues. O'Hara excuses
herself, and he confides in Jackie. He lost his insurance. COBRA ran
out, and he couldn't swing it. He can't believe this is happening to
him. He's lost everything. Twenty years, he never missed a child support
payment. He fears his kids are going to think he's a failure. Jackie
sets him straight. "First of all, nothing could be further from the
truth. Second of all, our kids love us blindly. Believe me, I am
counting on it." They exchange a smile, and O'Hara comes back in,
bearing a year's supply of blood pressure meds for Lou. He doesn't know
what to say, and she says "Say nothing; I just broke the law."

Outside, O'Hara tells Jackie she took a page out of her book. Imitation
is the sincerest form. It's not like she can copy Jackie's wardrobe.
Jackie protests that she likes her scrubs. "Nope, sorry; can't do it."
Jackie smiles.

Jackie tells Thor that Gloria wants them in the chapel. He makes it
clear that it hurt when she blew him off this morning. She apologizes.
She even tries to placate him with a music theater reference.

Once inside, Gloria fills them in in the deconsecration, and the statues
going to Staten Island. She wants to make sure they don't get their
hands on her favorite statue, Mary. She apologizes to Jackie for making
her an accessory. Jackie is happy to be so, but Thor was never there.
She just needs him to strap Mary on the dolly.

Coop's moms squabble while he takes family pictures. He's in a wonderful
mood. One of his moms (blond) tries to talk him down from believing he
got chief, because he's just a doctor, while O'Hara is a surgeon. The
redhead tries to be supportive. The blond wants to break news to him,
but the redhead mom wants to wait until after brunch. Blond wins by
pushing it, so redhead tries to break it to him gently. "Your mom and I
are getting a divorce." His happy face promptly crumples.

Eddie is chatting on the phone with Tunie when Mary gets delivered into
the back room. Gloria didn't know that he had a cot in the back room,
nor did Thor. He thought it was just storage. "It is. It's where I store
my cot." Eddie tells Jackie that Tunie called him. She's bored, at the
airport. Jackie looks him in the eye and sternly says "Sucked. In."

The moms stand by the pond and ask Mitch to come to shore so they can
talk. He's in a rowboat, out there. He calls back to shore that this is
bullshit. Blond mom says that if he's going to just sit in a boat and
curse, she's getting a cab.The redhead orders her to stay put. Fitch
yells at blond mom that this is about Dina, isn't it. Her business
partner. She denies it, based on Dina being straight. Well, so was she,
back in the day. Remember? Redhead tells him that they love each other
very much. They just can't stand to be in the same room anymore. Blond
continues in the "Dina! How ridiculous!" vein, and the redhead turns to
her and asks just how straight Dina is.

Lou came back to the hospital because he's suicidal, and doesn't know
where else to go. Jackie reassures him, and takes him to psych. She sets
him in a chair and tries to get him seen, but they're booked. Jackie
asks what the equivalent of chest pains is, when it comes to psych. The
nurse gets snotty, saying Jackie may be hot stuff in the ER, but that
won't get her anywhere upstairs. Jackie looks at Lou, and digs her heels
in. She offers a banked vacation day, but the nurse still has eleven
from last year. Does she have kids? Jackie will come over personally and
give them all their flu shots. Yes, even her mother. Deal.

The nurse calls Lou up to fill out paperwork. Jackie takes his glasses
so she can freshen up the tape. The nurse calls after her that they
still need a referring doctor. Jackie calls back O'Hara's name.

Jackie walks in on O'Hara examining Natasha (the "barely breathing
asthma" girl). She appears to be in tip-top condition. Candace
reiterates 'asthma', and O'Hara says she didn't hear any wheezing but
sure, they'll write it down. She asks Natasha do take a breath force
test, and her mom advises her not to push herself. She tests, and O'Hara
tells her the candles on her next birthday cake don't stand a chance.
Candace claims that her daughter can breathe out fine; just not in.

Jackie takes O'Hara out in the hall to fill her in, but O'Hara already
knows. She's just playing along. They both go back in, and O'Hara thanks
them for their patience, since waiting rooms are such a bore. She think
it's much more exciting on this side of things. Has Natasha ever thought
about being a doctor? Jackie weighs in. O'Hara always tries to get the
smart ones to become doctors. The smartest people Jackie knows are
nurses. They both give non-verbal cues to Natasha that they are right,
and the other is wrong. Candace looks wary.

Zoey is about to eat lunch. She opens wide for her first bite, and one
of Jackie's drug rats falls out of the ceiling and lands, dead, where
her salad wrap had been a second ago. She jumps up screaming
hysterically, totally freaked out.

Jackie grabs the tortilla portion of the wrap with her gloved hand and
uses it to pick up and remove the rat. She flushes it down the toilet,
saying "You messed with my stash."

Fitch arrives back at work and tells Jackie that if she ever wants to
ruin her kids' lives, she should get a divorce. He's wearing sunglasses.
She asks if he's alright, and he falls on her, sobbing. She lets him.

Jackie calls the girls from the diner, just making sure they got home
from school okay. Mr. Martin joins her. He asks how much money she has.
$200. "You're gonna stand, give me a hug, slip it into my picket, and
sit." Jackie does so. He spins a thirty-day token on the table. It
belongs to a client of his, or it would but she never made it to the
meeting. Jackie says maybe next time, but no. She's dead. He slides it
in a jewelry box over to her. She's disinterested until he tells her to
lift the bottom. Blue pills underneath. He tells her he's rooting for her.

Jackie picks up Lou's new glasses and brings them to the hospital. She
takes the chip and sticks it in her pocket, and the pills as well. She
throws the box away.


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