Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) has become one of the most important characters on Chicago Med. She went from recurring presence to anchoring doctor, but we're not here to talk about that. Instead, we're here to discuss the unique yet profound impact that her presence has had on two episodes of Chicago Fire.
The character is set to return to the firefighting drama for the episode "Cut Me Open." She will be on hand to help a woman give birth to a child that will be adopted by Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). The woman experiences complications, leading to Asher calling for a C-section to be performed, and hand wringing on the parts of Kidd and Severide.
Asher's last Fire appearance coincided with a birth
More Asher is always a good thing, and it makes sense that a doctor would be on hand during an episode in which a complicated birth is essential to the plot. Furthermore, Kidd and Severide's lives will never be the same after "Cut Me Open," and Asher will have been present for this major shift. The thing that makes Asher's return to Chicago Fire so interesting, however, is that the same exact thing happened last time she was on the show.
Asher has had one other appearance on Chicago Fire, in the season 11 episode "Never, Ever Make a Mistake." Her screen time was brief, but it coincided with a teen giving birth to a baby under stressful circumstances. The baby remained in the amniotic sack after its birth, which led to understandable panic on the part of the teen.
Brett and Kidd are adopting two seasons apart
Fortunately, Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) was on hand to calm the teen down and assure her everything was going to be alright. Brett was a Firehouse 51 member who had been adopted as a child, so there was an immediate kinship with the baby, whom the mother planned to give up for adoption. By the end of the episode, the mother had taken off, and the baby faced an uncertain future.
Eventually, Brett stepped in assumed parentage of the baby (named Julia). She determined, like Kidd after her, that she should pay forward the kindness that she was shown by her adopted parents, and moved to Oregon with her husband Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) and her new baby in tow.
If we had a nickel for every time Dr. Asher appeared on an episode of Chicago Fire in which a main character witnessed a complicated birth and then decided to adopt the child that resulted, we would have two nickels. Which is not a lot, but it's fascinating that it's going to happen twice!