This week’s Good Sam is the first part of a two-part episode. A snowstorm overwhelms the hospital, creating a shortage in multiple areas, and a few relationships are tested. While it seems like all will be alright, the episode ends on a cliffhanger that will bring the episode to part two.
Keep reading to find out what happened in “A Light in the Storm.”
An Honest Truth
Sam and Caleb seem to be enjoying themselves, maybe a little too much at the hospital. But it all comes to a halt when Caleb tells Sam she needs to talk to Griff since it’s been two weeks of hiding out, dragging her feet to work, and avoiding any mention of him. To help, Caleb has Sam pretend that he is her dad, and after some convincing, she agrees. She gets all of her anger out, and it’s not just on her dad but also her mom. She doesn’t like that Vivian covered for him after the accident and kept this secret from Sam for 20 years.
Uneasy Relationships
Sam has yet to talk to Vivian, especially since she’s still at a conference, and Sam is ignoring her calls. In the ER, Sam tells Lex that she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to get over the DUIs, and Griff hiding it from her for so long.
Griff tries to talk Sam into talking to Vivian, but she’d rather not. However, amid a storm, Sam can’t get a hold of her. She’s worried and pissed off at the same time.
Meanwhile, Griff tries to help out in trauma, but Sam wants him to get supplies since he’s still in treatment for PTSD. She can’t advance his proctorship until he completes his solo surgery. Sam won’t budge.
“There is a line between right and wrong, and somebody’s got to hold it.”
Griff apologizes to Sam but she still won’t listen to him.
The Wheels On the Bus … Skid Off the Road
The chaos begins in the ER as a kid, Kevin, is brought in after getting hit by a bus that skid off the road. Unfortunately, Kevin isn’t the only one to come into the ER thanks to said bus. It crashed after it hit him, and there are more passengers than there are rooms. Thanks to the storms, there are not enough people to help, and the crash was during a shift change.
From the crash, a woman, Carla, is brought in, and she is not happy. Her fistula for her dialysis was damaged, and it doesn’t help that she missed the last three sessions due to her grandson being born. Meanwhile, Dorothy, the bus driver, is also brought in with some glass in her knuckles and a contusion from the steering wheel. After finding a femur fracture, Sam and Lex reduce it manually, but Dorothy did not react to the pain.
When Lex walks past Carla, Carla tells Lex that she should be in jail for attempted homicide. Though not Lex, Dorothy. Carla mentions that roads have nothing to do with Dorothy’s driving. She was asleep at the wheel. Sam and Lex have no idea what’s wrong with Dorothy, but they find an Air Force tattoo and suggest she has head trauma. In truth, Dorothy has bipolar disorder.
Joey and Lex are at a crossroads when Joey’s patient needs water for dialysis, and Lex’s has massive pelvic bleeding. Lex suggests Joey use the water tanks in the wellness center, and he will figure out how to sterilize it since it’s just like heart surgery.
While Joey is able to get Carla water for her dialysis, Lex discovers that all of Dorothy’s tests are negative, except for a pregnancy test. Just as Lex is about to do an ultrasound to find out what’s really going on with her, she goes into hemorrhagic shock. And they are running short on blood.
Meanwhile, Carla’s heart is starving for oxygen because she waited too long.
A Most Unusual Case
CT is backed up so Kevin is unable to get to imaging. Kevin’s parents are on the phone, who are stranded at a deli. Kevin says that his chest hurts and when Sam listens to his heartbeat, there’s nothing. Sam checks his pulse and it’s there. When Griff listens, they both figure it’s Dextrocardia. His heart is on the wrong side of his chest.
With the thoracostamy, Kevin’s heart is shifting back to his left side. But because of it, his arteries became tangled and he’s going to need surgery. Kevin doesn’t want to have heart surgery, he wants to go home. Just as Griff gets ready to walk his parents through the procedure, the Wi-Fi goes out because of the storm.
Griff keeps Kevin company and talks to him about the surgery and dying and at first, Griff says that he won’t do the surgery. But it makes Kevin give in and tell him he won’t die. Griff gives in himself.
Sam and Griff disagree on a solution for Kevin, and they settle on repairing the dissection with a dacron graft since it’ll be a shorter procedure and a lower risk, with most of the valve will be repaired. But Sam will be prepared for anything.
A Major Shortage
A state of emergency is declared, and all roads are closed. So not only are they short on staff, they will soon run short on blood. Sam figures they have to start allocating their resources according to need. Every elective surgery in the OR is canceled, and Sam gets an inventory at the blood bank. They will not quit until the storm does.
“This is what we signed up for. This is why we do what we do.”
Sam goes upstairs to the overflow and it’s crowded. Donna’s not alone however, since Malcolm is helping out. Malcolm asks if she needs any help and Sam mentions the blood shortage.
Blood and staff are not the only things the hospital falls short of. Soon, the pipes are discovered to have frozen over.
Thanks to the bridge collapse, blood has to be rationed since no one can deliver more. Malcolm comes up with the brilliant plan that there are blood donors in the hospital — a blood drive. Caleb volunteers to help, and they all get to work.
Darkness Descends
As if things couldn’t possibly get worse, the power goes out, and at the start of Kevin’s six-hour surgery. While the generator kicks on in other parts of the hospital, it stays dark in the OR. Meaning it’s time for emergency procedures, courtesy of some still-lit lamps, and Sam gets to work.
There’s a bump in the road, however. As the blood from the blood bank needed for the surgery has two other requests, Sam is stuck on a decision, which ultimately goes to Kevin since the other two can buy time for at least another hour. Unfortunately, Carla and Dorothy are getting worse, and while Dorothy makes it, Carla does not.
Rocky Relationship
Tim talks to Joey about picking out wedding bands, but that is the last thing on Joey’s mind. With the storm much worse, contact with Tim’s rig was lost. Joey is a big bag of worry, knowing that Tim is supposed to check-in. Dispatch sent another bulletin; an overpass collapsed on I-75. Joey finds out that it’s by Tim’s last known location.
While Joey prepares Carla’s dialysis, Carla can sense something is wrong, and Joey confesses that his fiancé is stuck in the storm. The one that brought him in.
“And the last thing I did was mock him for loving me.”
A Light In the Storm
Kevin wakes up from his surgery, still in the OR since the power is still out. Sam finds Griff in the OR with Kevin, who stayed there all night, and the power finally comes back on. Griff doesn’t know exactly why he pushed her away, but maybe it was because he was punishing himself. Griff says that Kevin had a tough night, but Sam was never that alone. He begs his daughter to talk to Vivian.
Dorothy is now fine and had a teratoma that caused her brain issues. She blames herself for the accident, but Lex tells her it was not her fault.
And the blood drive was a big success, despite Malcolm and Caleb working together. Another big success is that Tim finally returned to the hospital, and he is fine. He and Joey have a heartfelt reunion where they both apologize to each other about the rings. Sam and Lex join in on the happy reunion. However, not some of it is happy, as Joey is holding a grudge against Sam for giving her patient blood and not a drop for his. However, Caleb reminds them of what they all did:
“44 patients survived. We lost power, we lost water, we ran out of blood, and we still saved 44 lives.”
The Worst Of It Has Yet to Come
When the Wi-Fi finally comes back on, everyone can see just how bad the collapse on the I-75 overpass was, and it’s not good. They get a taste of it when Griff tells Sam that Kevin’s parents are there, but they did not come through the front door. Meanwhile, down in the ER, more patients are being brought in, and as Griff and Sam watch the news, Sam sees an overturned car that she recognizes as Vivian’s.
Good Sam airs on CBS on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Stay tuned for our continued coverage on the series, including episodic recaps and more!
