Sleepwalking in Suburbia

Michelle?

What are you doing here?

You okay?

Yeah, come on in.

Yeah, Nancy and I had a fight.

She went to her mother's

for the evening.

I don't know if we're gonna make it.

She's so angry all the time.

I mean, I've tried...

What are you doing?

N-No, no.

No, we shouldn't.

Michelle?

Honey!

Michelle?

Michelle?

Mr. Miller.

This is ADP security.

We've received an alert

that your fire alarm has been triggered.

Yeah, right. Yeah. Look, everything's fine.

It's a false alarm. Thank you.

Code is 773920.

Come on, Michelle. Pick up.

Michelle!

You okay?

Okay...

Guess we're finished.

Hey, you forgot your necklace.

Can we talk about this?

Michelle!

Michelle!

Wake up. Wake up!

Wh... What's happening?

You're sleepwalking again.

Hi. I'm Michelle Miller.

I'm here for Dr. Thorston.

Oh, Michelle.

- Hi. I'm Dr. Carter. - Hi.

Dr. Thorston's running late,

so he asked me to show you around.

- Okay. Sure. - Dan Miller.

Nice to meet you.

Let's go this way.

So, the Sleep Center has 12 sleep rooms

where we conduct polysomnograms.

I'm sorry. Poly-what?

Polysomnogram.

It's an overnight sleep study

that records brain activity, eye movements, heart rate,

et cetera.

When we talked to the nurse,

I don't think she said that we were doing that today.

No, no. Dr. Thorston will need to evaluate you first

and decide whether it's even appropriate.

Okay.

And if so, this is where you'd be spending the night.

Oh...

It's nice.

Yeah, that's the idea.

All the rooms are designed

to look like bedrooms or hotel suites,

because we want to make you

feel as comfortable as possible.

Any questions?

No.

Okay, we're gonna borrow Dr. Thorston's desk,

and then we'll conduct the preliminary interview.

Sure.

So, Michelle, have you ever sleepwalked before?

Um, yeah, I have,

but it's been a really long time.

Years.

We thought it had stopped.

But this was different, though.

She got out of bed,

went downstairs,

made herself some hot milk on the stove,

and then left the house,

and almost burned the whole place down.

Where did you go?

I don't know.

You don't remember anything?

No. Not a thing.

Well, that's normal.

And then, when she came home,

I tried to wake her up, and she hit me.

Mm-hmm, you have to be careful waking a sleepwalker.

They often become violent.

Yeah. I think I got that.

Well, if it happens again,

the best thing is to take her gently by the arm

and guide her back to bed.

So is it likely that it is going to happen again?

Oh, not necessarily,

but let's see if we can figure out

what's causing the sleepwalking...

- So we can prevent it. - Sure.

Are you taking any medications?

No, nothing.

Taking anything to sleep?

No.

Problems at work?

No, not really.

Any stress?

Or anything that's changed lately in your life?

We are trying again.

Trying?

To get pregnant.

Right.

Michelle was pregnant last year,

but we lost the baby.

Oh, I'm sorry.

It's okay.

How long have you been trying this time?

Um... six months.

Well, trying to get pregnant can be very stressful.

That could be part of it.

Stress is often the trigger for sleep disorders like this.

So what do I do to stop it?

Drugs like Clonazepam have proven to be effective,

but I can't prescribe it

if you're still trying to get pregnant.

We are.

Then the most important thing is to try to relax.

Adopt a sleep-healthy lifestyle.

We'll runs some tests today,

and if Dr. Thorston thinks

we need to perform a sleep study,

we'll bring you back in.

Sound good?

Sure.

Okay.

Excuse me, ladies.

I heard Michelle's got a mean right hook.

Yeah, she clocked me a couple weeks ago.

I'm still feeling it.

Almost broke my jaw when I tried to wake her up.

You want me to file a restraining order against her?

Not yet. I'll let you know

if she's getting out of line, though.

Okay. Hey, you know, I read this case

about some woman who sleepwalked off a bridge.

What happened?

She drowned, Dan.

That is not helping, Tyler.

Well, the point is you've got to take this stuff seriously.

My partner's kid used to sleepwalk every night

for three years.

Three years?

Yeah, age seven to ten.

He used to turn on the TV, play music,

even cut himself with a knife one time...

never even woke up.

You know, just something to think about.

I mean, is there anything they can do?

Well, they've given me these relaxation exercises,

and they tell me I have to go to bed early,

and they've made me stop drinking.

Ugh, that sucks. Dan should just lock you up.

Let's hope it doesn't get to that.

Anyway... how are you?

I feel like I haven't seen you forever.

Oh, I'm fine.

Just Luke's been putting in a lot of hours.

I know. Dan too.

I really hope that they're done with this job soon.

Cheers to that.

Kate!

Hey, ladies.

We were starting to think you weren't gonna make it to your own party.

Yes, well, I had to run out for more wine,

because you people can drink.

Oh... Guilty.

Oh, I was talking to Tyler.

He told me about the sleepwalking.

How are you?

I'm totally fine.

Okay, well, my door's always open,

if you want to talk about it.

Thank you, but you know what? I don't think that I want to...

Spill your secrets to the neighborhood shrink?

I was gonna say, "bother you."

Oh, please, you are never bothering me.

And with no charge, of course.

Thank you.

Anyone need a top-up?

Oh, Nance.

What?

You shouldn't have

more than one glass of wine with your meds.

See? This is what I mean.

Oh, no. I wasn't saying that to try and be...

Controlling?

Ladies, I'm self-medicating tonight, okay?

What was that about?

Alcohol doesn't mix with her meds.

I'm trying to get her to quit.

Mm. She been drinking a lot lately?