Synopsis of Mother and Child
Written by TK
It's morning, Syd has just gotten dressed and she's checking out her outfit in the mirror. Her mother rushes in with school books, a lunch box, and an apple for the teacher, giving all the items to Syd for school. She tells Syd to show a little more skin to attract a man. Syd reminds her mother that she's going back to school to be a better doctor, not to find a man. Lynda reminds her that she's going to see her old professor, Dr. Sullivan. Syd says he probably won't remember her. They go to class, and Lynda drags Syd up front. Dr. Sullivan, the teacher, sees her, and remembers who she is, and remembers that she ran off to California. Lynda says she's back now, so things can be different this time. Dr. Sullivan isn't so sure. Dr. Sullivan tells the class that they're going to play a game: Name that syndrome. He starts yelling out symptoms, and all the students can name the syndromes except Syd. Dr. Sullivan tells Syd that she's unprepared, and asks her what kind of sacrifice she's willing to make to do family medicine. She's not sure. He orders her out of his classroom. She finally wakes up from her horrible dream.
In the kitchen in the morning, Jim asks Joanie why she's up so early. She says she's taking Hannah for an interview at an exclusive preschool called the Ivy Sandbox. Syd wanders in and said she read about it recently, and supposedly there's an incredibly long waiting list. Joanie says one of her customers raises prize-winning Afghans and gave one to the headmistress which greased the wheels. Joanie comments that Syd is dressed up, and she says that she's meeting with her old professor, Dr. Sullivan, because she wants to take her family medicine boards, which means she'll have a lot of studying to do. Jim and Joanie joke about how terrified Syd was of Dr. Sullivan when she was in med school and Syd denies that it was that bad.
Syd is talking to Dr. Sullivan at the hospital. He remembers her as an eager front-row student who argued with him about everything and was often right. He's friendly, and Syd is complimented. He says she'll have about two years of work in front of her, but if she really wants to do it, she can come to teaching rounds at the hospital. He warns her to let the younger eager students be teacher's pet this time.
Robbie comes to Jim's office looking for Heather because she got a package at home. After stalling for awhile, he finally give Heather the package, which is from Charlie. Charlie has sent her a model airplane and a plane ticket to Oregon. He wants her back. Robbie offers to cover for Heather at work if she wants to catch the next plane. She says no, Charlie can't just snap his fingers and have her back like that. She goes to call Charlie to tell him that.
At the clinic, Syd is examining a girl named Katie who has severe abdomen pain. Katie's mother, Mrs. O'Malley, explains that Katie has been having these "attacks" four four years now. She's had numerous surgeries, none of which have helped. She's coming to the clinic now because her insurance company recently dropped them, for obvious reason. Syd says Katie will have to be admitted to the hospital, but promises Mrs. O'Malley that she will personally monitor Katie's case.
Joanie goes to the Ivy Sandbox and meets Marjorie Marsten, the headmistress. A teacher takes Hannah away to play, and the two women sit down to talk. Marjorie starts by mentioning their mutual friend, the Afghan-breeder. This branches out into a story about England, with all sort of historical and literature references that Joanie doesn't understand. Joanie does her best to laugh in the right places. Marjorie asks Joanie about herself, and Joanie basically tells her the truth, but spins it quite well so she comes off sounding much more impressive. Marjorie says she'll get Joanie an application, and she'll need three personal references for Hannah.
Katie is in the hospital, and Dr. Sullivan is examining her along with Syd and two young residents. Sullivan does the standard exercise of asking the residents what they think, and they start spouting medical jargon. Katie is obviously getting more and more uncomfortable, so Syd gives her a wink to remind her that they're on her side. After this is all over, Sullivan takes Syd out in the hallway away from the other doctors and tells her that actually, one of his attendings treated this girl about a year ago, and they determined that the mother was poisoning her daughter. They were about to do something about it when mother and child disappeared. He recommends that Syd call social services.
In the kitchen, Joanie talks to Syd about writing a recommendation for Hannah. Syd thinks the idea of writing a recommendation for a one-year-old is a little ridiculous. Joanie also decides to put their household income on the application instead of her own, so it will look like she can actually afford the tuition. Jim comes in and Syd talks to him about Mrs. O'Malley, who Dr. Sullivan suspects of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (when a parents fabricates a child's illness). Syd is not entirely convinced that Mrs. O'Malley is poisoning her daughter.
Syd is at the hospital and talks to Mrs. O'Malley. She asks the woman if she's possibly giving Katie any home rememdies. Mrs. O'Malley says Katie only takes vitamins. Syd looks for more family history. Everyone in the whole family is Irish, Katie's father and paternal grandparents are all dead. Mrs. O'Malley is impatient, but at the end of the conversation thanks Syd for caring.
Syd and Dr. Sullivan go out to lunch to discuss her taking her family medicine boards, but they end up talking about Mrs. O'Malley. Sullivan is sure that it's Munchausen by proxy, and tells Syd to get on it already and call social services before Katie ends up in the morgue. Syd is still not sure enough to make the call.
Jim comes down to Robbie's bar and tells him to take it slow with Heather. Jim says Heather is like a member of the family, and he doesn't want to hear again that she's leaving town because of Robbie. Robbie says he wants to cook her dinner and talks Jim into teaching him how to make his special secret Segreto sauce.
Syd walks into the clinic and Izzy tells her that Dr. Sullivan called and asked Syd to come by the hospital: it's an emergency. Syd runs off to the hospital when Izzy says she's got the clinic covered.
Syd arrives at the hospital just in time to see Dr. Sullivan introduce Mrs. O'Malley to Mrs. Winthrop from the department of children, youth and families. Mrs. Winthrop serves Mrs. O'Malley with a restraining order: she has to leave the hospital and she's not allowed within 500 feet of her daughter. Syd is upset, but Sullivan assures her that it's for Katie's own good... and Syd's.
Syd hears Joanie teaching Hannah history from flashcards. They both acknowledge how silly the exercise is, but Joanie is will to try anything so that Hannah passes her admissions test with flying colors. Syd is upset about Dr. Sullivan going over her head, and says she can't fight him on it because she needs his help to take her boards. Joanie tells Syd that she can't imagine that Dr. Sullivan wouldn't help Syd just because they have a difference of opinion.
Syd sits down with Katie in the hospital and asks her if she can think of any patterns that happen before her attacks. Katie can't. Syd asks her if her mother could be hurting her. Katie insists her mother loves her and would never do that. On her way out of Katie's room, Syd runs into an elderly woman looking for Katie. It turns out the elderly woman is Katie's paternal grandmother... not so dead after all. Katie's grandmother says that Katie called her.
Jim and Robbie are in the kitchen, and Jim makes a big show of teaching Robbie how to make his sauce, telling Robbie to take notes and putting on an apron... until finally he just pulls a bottle of sauce out of the cupboard. Jim's sauce is really from Rocco's Deli, and he just adds some onion and garlic and simmers it for effect. Hence the name, Segreto: Italian for "secret."
Syd goes to talk to Dr. Sullivan after he finishes a lecture. She tries to convince him that Mrs. O'Malley could never poison her own daughter. He is condescending to Syd and is positive that he right about his diagnosis.
Jim reads the recommendation that he wrote for Hannah aloud to Joanie. He talks about how she can distinguish different dog breeds and how she threw a stick to a retriever when there were lots of other kinds of dogs around. Joanie is impressed, and asks if the stick part is true. Jim says sort of: Hannah dropped the stick in front of a Golden Retriever after the retriever brought it to her.
It's evening, the clinic has closed, and Syd is busy reading a bunch of paperwork on Munchausen by proxy that Izzy gave her. She hears a commotion outside her office and walks out to find Mrs. O'Malley insisting to Izzy that she needs to see Syd. When Mrs. O'Malley sees Syd, she thanks the doctor for ruining her life, and says she can't believe everyone really thinks she could harm her own daughter. She storms off in tears.
Joanie takes Hannah in for her admissions test. She sees another mother and baby come through the door having just finished their test. The baby is bawling and the mother looks very upset. Joanie starts to ask how the test was, but the mother just rushes out the front door. Marjorie comes in with a large scary looking woman. She introduces the testing woman, and as soon as Joanie puts Hannah in her arms Hannah starts to cry. The testing woman walks out with Hannah, and Marjorie shows Joanie the snacks and tea while she waits.
Syd is talking to Katie's grandmother. She mentions Munchausen by proxy, and the older woman says that she researched it years ago when another doctor suggested it, but it she really doesn't think that's what's going on. Syd says something weird is going on, because Gail O'Malley lied about Katie's paternal grandmother being dead. Katie's grandmother hesistantly says that her son did once mention that he suspected he wasn't really Katie's father.
Marjorie catches Joanie just as she's put a miniature powdered donut in her mouth and brings her into her office to chat.
Syd is talking to Gail O'Malley in her office. She asks Gail if it's possible that her late husband was not Katie's real father. Gail admits, for the first time to anyone, that when she was honeymooning in Italy with her husband she was raped.
Marjorie tells Joanie that Hannah performed fabulously on the test except for the last part. She was supposed to play with raisins, but instead she didn't do anything with them and went to sleep. Marjorie says this is sleep denial, which many kids do when faced with a test they don't understand. Joanie asks what her one-year-old daughter was supposed to do with the raisins, and Marjorie tells her about one skilled baby who made an outline of a Picasso painting. Joanie loses it, and can't believe that her daughter is going to be denied access to a preschool because she didn't make a Picasso out of raisins. She yells that her daughter is too good for this stupid school and dramatically exits Marjorie's office... only to slink back in to ask for her daughter back.
Syd pulls Dr. Sullivan aside in the hallway and says that she figured out what was wrong with Katie. Dr. Sullivan is doubtful, but listens. Syd proudly proclaims that it's Familial Mediterranean Fever. Dr. Sullivan says he seriously doubts that an O'Malley would have that. Syd tells him that Katie's biological father was Italian. Dr. Sullivan starts to get defensive, saying that he made his best medical diagnosis with the facts at hand, and that nine times of out ten he would have been right. Syd is disgusted. She insists that he call off Social Services.
Robbie is finishing up cooking dinner and listening to Italian music when Heather gets home and smells the incredible sauce. He pours her a glass of wine and sits her down to dinner. She thinks the sauce is incredible, and he's humble about the six or seven hours he spent in the kitchen. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. It's Charlie, and he begs Heather to take him back, saying that he'll never leave her side again. Robbie watches them disappear into Heather's bedroom. Heather pops her head out to apologize about ditching on dinner, and Robbie says he understands.
Syd brings cookies and milk to Joanie's room, saying that she heard her little sister had a hard day. Syd says the cookies are Hannah's favorite: oatmeal raisin. Although she doesn't really like the cookies, she just likes to pick the raisins out of them. Joanie can't believe what she's hearing, but just laughs it off. Joanie says she learned to trust her motherly instincts, and Syd said she learned to trust her doctorly instincts. They toast their sucesses, and their mother walks in to take all the credit for raising two daughters with such good female instincts. Her daughters turn the light out on her.
Back to episode info