Also known as: Valley Fever
A 7-year-old boy presents with severe respiratory distress, fever, and significant lymph node swelling causing airway compromise. Initially suspected to be cancer or epiglottitis, it is ultimately diagnosed as Valley Fever, a fungal infection traced to spores in a used car from California's Central Valley. The infection is also found in the boy's father and another patient who rode in the same ride-share vehicle.
A young man is accidentally shot in the thigh by a friend. The bullet travels through the venous system and lodges in the right ventricle of the heart. Due to the hospital's systems being down, doctors use diagnostic peritoneal lavage and clinical reasoning to determine the bullet's path, ultimately requiring open-chest surgery on bypass to remove it.
Also known as: PSP
Bert Goodwin's new girlfriend presents with a head laceration and wrist fracture from a fall after skydiving. During examination, she exhibits square wave jerks in her eye movements. She reveals she was diagnosed with PSP (a neurodegenerative disease similar to Parkinson's) a year ago with a 5-10 year prognosis, but has been hiding it from Bert and others.
Also known as: Head laceration
Lyla sustains a scalp laceration from tripping after a skydiving landing, requiring evaluation and suturing. The head injury prompts investigation of her neurological symptoms.
Also known as: Broken wrist
Lyla fractures her wrist in the same fall that causes her head laceration, requiring reduction under ketamine sedation.
Also known as: Hearing voices
Robin begins hearing rats in the vents and walls, initially attributing it to her apartment building but later hearing them in the hospital where others do not. This suggests the onset of psychotic symptoms, potentially related to her underlying mental health condition.