Chicago Med season 5, episode 6 recap: It’s All in the Family
By Kari Highman
Dr. Daniel Charles and Sharon Goodwin; Noah and April Sexton
Nurse April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) and her boyfriend, Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee), were enjoying some alone time together while they unpacked more boxes for their apartment. They were about to get busy when April’s brother, Noah (Roland Buck III) showed up, ready for their morning run.
As they finished their jog, Noah and April witnessed a beating in an alleyway. Hacienta, who claimed to be an illegal immigrant, was beat up and left for dead. Despite their persistence that she should be seen at Med, she refused. She pressed April’s jacket up against her forehead, which was where the majority of the blood came from.
When she passed out a second time, April and Noah got her to Med, where they treated her head injury. She suffered a collapsed lung and a small pneumothorax, but they gave her morphine for the pain. April and Noah asked Hacienta what happened, and she simply said she was going to visit a friend.
Turned out, that “friend” was a fabrication. Another lie? Her illegal status. Hacienta was born in Indiana, and had visited Med back in 2007 for a different medical issue. What was really going on was a gang initiation. See, her cousin Angel was a part of the gang, and she lived with him, which pulled her into that life.
When April and Noah tried to convince her to trust them and get out, she replied with: “You can’t just quit, they’ll kill you before they let you out.” When her cousin and another gang member show up at Med, Hacienta retaliated against April and Noah, telling them that she would get it worse because of their meddling.
After she heard this, April called the police even though Noah asked her not to. When they returned to her room, they couldn’t find Hacienta. She was gone. This led to the siblings argument, in which Noah accused April of micromanaging him, and April thought she needed to help him out.
Perhaps April was feeling more emotional since she took a pregnancy test earlier in the episode. It turned out to be negative, but considering she and Ethan had talked about their future, and children, together, safe to say that was weighing on her mind too.
Noah eventually located Hacienta, whom he let crash in his guest room. He told her that he was going to take care of her, and she appreciated the generosity.
Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) and Sharon Goodwin were having their own issues: with their cases, each other, and even their significant other, in Sharon’s case.
First up, Sharon met up with Dr. Charles in the elevator, and things were awkward thanks to Cece’s idea to set up Sharon and her ex-husband, Bert. Sharon scolded Daniel, saying that Bert had asked her out now; and that some people just weren’t meant to be. Though she changed her tune by the end of the episode, after Daniel’s speech of a heart to heart can cure anything. This made her think, and she ultimately decided to give Bert another chance, meeting up with him for a drink.
Dr. Charles was then requested at the bedside of Titus Witherdale – who now goes by Claire – a male to female transgender. Claire used to play ball with Daniel’s younger brother. When Claire complained of chest pain, Daniel asked Ethan for assistance, because even though on a good day he can still work a stethoscope, he is still only a psychiatrist now.
After Dr. Choi ran tests, Claire was shown to have had a small heart attack. After hearing that news, the hits kept coming as Claire’s ex-wife Melinda, who only knew her as Titus, showed up at the hospital.
Melinda knew Titus was keeping something from her, and Dr. Charles told her that often we hide our true selves because we fear rejection. And that maybe she has that opportunity to understand Titus – as Claire, that is – now.
Claire had another dose of harsh news when Dr. Choi discovered that she could no longer take her hormones if she wanted her heart meds to work for her condition to improve. Claire was a bit distraught over this prospect, but when her ex-wife came back to comfort her, they had a heart to heart moment.