Chapter Six: The Girl Who Cried Pregnant

- The first law of nature is natural selection,

survival of the fittest.

It determines whether a species endures or goes extinct.

Dad?

Dad?

- One might guess the smartest or strongest

would stand the best chance,

but no.

Survival is determined by the ability to adapt.

Dad?!

- The mind can push the body to great lengths

in the name of survival.

But at what cost?

- Morris and I are still nesting with Maya.

It's my week out of the house.

- You say nesting like I know what that is.

- Oh, you know, it's what all the separated parents

are doing these days.

We switch off weeks at home

so Maya can stay put for stability.

I haven't secured a spot yet.

Is the coffee still on?

Oh, splash of oat, two sugars.

You know how I like it.

Uh...

How is Maya?

Uh, well, she's a strong girl,

but, eh, you know how young teens are.

It's a whole lot going on underneath the surface.

- I'm sure she'll be fine after a few ill-advised boyfriends

and one very fun night out in Cabo.

- We do not talk about that.

Anyway, what about you?

God, no wonder you're single.

There's no room here with all this stuff.

Wolf, when are you gonna let someone new in?

I have.

We call him John Doe. - Okay.

- He's a man of few words, but that could be

the letter board's fault. Conversation is glacial.

And I don't think I'm his type.

- And there goes my point. - Any day he could give up

and be headed back to long-term care.

But... if we can get him enrolled

in one of these brain machine interface clinical trials,

this neurotech could translate his thoughts into written

and spoken word in real time.

Neurotech?

I assume you're looking into the study at HTU?

- Yeah, yeah, the one under Gadson.

I know Simon.

Happy to talk to him. See if I can help.

- Oh, really? -

- Help me or help you? -

- Is Cabo Carol getting her groove back?

- Oh, God. I don't know about all that.

God. It's been so long.

I wouldn't even know what single Carol looks like.

- Maybe now's a good time to find out.

- Guess we'll officially know if you really have mirror-touch

or are just another self-proclaimed HSP.

Ooh, are you flexing right now?

No, I'm focusing.

Anyway, what's an HPS?

- HSP-- highly sensitive person. Come on.

- Anyone else feel like we're in "Flatliners"?

Cause I'd be into it. - Couldn't watch it.

When you can feel every stab and every punch,

it's kind of hard to get through scary movies.

- This is wild, man. How have you been getting through all this?

- Well, in med school, I aced all the exams,

but I struggled with the practicum.

I thought knowing what was wrong would fix it,

but what good is a diagnosis

if I can't help a suffering patient

'cause I just still feel everything that they do?

- There were a few coping mechanisms you can try--

meditation, find an emotional anchor to tether to,

positive self-talk.

You just have to find the one that works for you.

- Or, in my experience, there is one thing that helps me perform.

We get it. You have sex.

- We'll figure it out, Van. - Dr. Wolf?

Okay.

Dr. Wolf, playtime is over.

OB's paging us. - OB wants me? What for?

- Sarah Kim is a senior at Bellwood High.

But she came all this way for an ultrasound

because there's-- - Higher likelihood

her parents find out she's pregnant

if she goes to her local hospital.

Bingo. Small town, big talk.

- Sarah, you mind if I take another look with my colleagues?

- Go for it. The more face time I get with her, the better.

I'm counting down the days till I get to hold her.

There is no baby.

- Sarah appears to be in her second trimester.

She reported amenorrhea for six months,

noted fetal movement, even started to lactate.

And yet no fetus.

If her medical workup comes back negative,

age aside, sounds like a false pregnancy.

Textbook pseudocyesis.

Sarah and her body believe she's pregnant.

It's possible she's on meds

that increase her prolactin levels, but--

- That still doesn't explain why a teenage girl would

cling to a fantasy so many kids her age

would consider a nightmare.

- That's exactly why I'm handing Sarah over to you.

"You"? As in Dr. Pierce, right?

She's professionally much more equipped

to handle a psych patient like this.

If you recall,

my availability is a little tight

due to a certain John Doe.

You're running point on this while I'm out.

- Great. She'll need every resource

after we tell her she's not pregnant.

Do we have to tell her yet?

It's better to let Sarah believe she's having a baby

while we look for the root cause.

- Happy, pregnant, and cooperative is better

than a teenager on the brink of an emotional collapse.

- Yeah, we'll take her to our floor and run more tests.

Thank you, Dr. Alvarez.

You guys came!

I'm so happy you made it!

Okay. Are you ready?

- I was doing rounds and got accosted

by a swarm of teenage girls asking for Sarah.

Fatigue, amenorrhea, nausea, vomiting.

They're all pregnant. - Are low-rise jeans

and pregnancy pacts making a comeback?

- Um, okay. Let's order urine, Beta-HCG, and ultrasounds.

The only thing weirder than if they're all pregnant

is if they're all not.

- Matching bellies. - I know!

- - That's so cool.

- In 1518, a woman started dancing in the streets in Strasbourg.

She danced for weeks, unable to stop.

The dancing plague spread to 400 victims,

many of whom died from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.

For centuries, there were cases of convents

being stricken by bouts of uncontrolled biting.

And in 2012, a group of cheerleaders upstate

inexplicably started developing tics.

Uh, yeah... - Sorry to interrupt, but one--

did you have this slideshow just lying around?

And two, since all the girls' tests and ultrasounds

came back negative, are you suggesting--

- Mass-psychogenic illness, formerly known as mass hysteria.

It's very rare, but it has plagued humanity in every age,

and it is a once-in-a-lifetime case.

- How do you explain Sarah? - Sarah. Sarah.

Sarah's not like the other girls.

She is an outlier case of pseudocyesis,

formerly known as hysterical pregnancy,

in the context of mass-psychogenic illness.

- Okay, so our hypothesis is a mass-hysterical pregnancy?

- Even though this diagnosis lacks

an easily measured root cause, its symptoms--

seizures, tics, and even death--

are very serious, Dr. Nash.

So how do we treat it?

- More than likely, there is an index patient,

one subject who suffers from an underlying condition

that will simply worsen if it goes undetected.

We ID and treat that person.

Then the group's symptoms will likely resolve.

But-- But first and foremost,

we are looking for a collective trauma,

some sort of shared loss amongst them.

- The only common thread is Bellwood High.

It could be a bad teacher or a bully?

I'm thinking field trip.

-Or we run tests in the hospital.

Look, I hated high school

as much as the next nerdy gay kid, Dana,

but Van's right. Learning the environment

will help us find the index patient

and offer context for how it spread.

The hospital environment might just exacerbate

stresses or symptoms.

- Uh, should I hang back and complete all the charting?

Take one for the team. - Come on.

You know we need you. Pack a lunch, D.

We're going back to high school!

Whoo! - Yay.

- I understand. We are doing everything in our power

to resolve this delicate issue.

Poison control and the EPA are coming in to test for mold,

water toxicity, asbestos, gas leaks,

any environmental exposure.

This is Dr. Wolf. He and his team of neurologists

have traveled from the city to shadow the girls