Maternal (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

- Hiya!
- Oh, hey! Look at us, leaving early.
Don't suppose
you fancy doing something later?
Oh, I'm knackered, and the kids
Early night beckons.
Yeah, of course.
You OK?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, Lars and his wife
are taking Elis to Sweden tonight.
- Oh, wow.
- I'm fine.
I mean, I'd like to
avoid being home alone
with a bottle of gin
and my life choices, but
Hi. Catherine,
this is Neelum, A&E reg.
Hi.
And fellow Ladies' Night
attendee, usually.
I'm working on the biggest night out
since lockdown one.
Tear up the dance floor for me.
Have a good shift.
It's just a thing that my friends
organise at the mosque.
It's a British-Pakistani
community thing.
With a dance floor?
Yeah, but it's not in
the mosque, obviously.
There'll be a dance floor
and a buffet.
But I wouldn't be welcome?
Oh, no! It's not
I mean, people bring other
friends.
Oh, great!
- Oh OK.
- Well, text me the address.
Well, er Yeah,
why don't you come to mine first,
and then we could drive together?
Why don't we get an Uber,
then we can both have a drink? Sorry.
OK.
Well brilliant!
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
OK.
Did you change the sheets
in the spare room for Mum?
Yep.
Give me a call
if you need anything.
Well, you're the on-call consultant,
- so, yeah, I will.
- How long are we keeping this up for?
- I'm not keeping anything up.
- I can only apologise so many times.
You're not apologising
for the right thing.
You're right, it was out of hand.
I was out of order.
Because I'd just found out
that you'd gone behind my back
and brought your sister
back into our lives,
breaking a fundamental agreement
of our marriage.
That's not why.
Reporting for
Cavendish night duty.
- Buzzing to run the hospital?
- You and me, Tessa. Can't wait.
Have a good one, ladies.
I've had a whole can.
Great
Jaldi se.
Eat fast, your
straighteners are plugged in.
Jaldi!
You're gonna go on an aeroplane
with Daddy and evil Auntie Brigitta!
Who am I? Huh, Elis? Who am I?
Can you say "Mama"?
And don't eat anything
you don't like the look of.
No, no, no. No snot, come on.
Let's look after
Mummy's pretty dress! Yeah!
Thank you.
Oh, God, don't forget Cuddle Cat.
Oh, yes, of course. Oh, oh, hello!
You look, erm
nice. It's nice.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Did you say this thing
was in a mosque?
No, it's Maryam's friends
from mosque.
You don't think maybe it's a bit?
The lady in bed four
does not look well.
Well, she isn't.
Neelum, hi. Yeah, I
called straight back.
Well, just stay by the phone.
OK.
Yeah, OK. OK, I'm coming now.
OK, I'm going to A&E.
You're in charge, Dr Joseph.
I hope I can summon
some energy for this.
- Hold still! I'll burn your ear!
- Sorry.
You know, if you took
all the energy you spent
worrying about things
that never happened
and put it towards your career,
you'd be a consultant by now.
You wanna worry about something,
look closer to home.
I've not seen you and Raza
exchange a kind word in days.
I-I just need an early night.
What you need is to laugh
with your friends, and a dance.
Scientifically proven
to lift your spirits.
And I'm going to show off
my dazzling, accomplished daughter.
You need me to tell you
that's not pneumonia?
No, I need you to tell THEM
it's not pneumonia.
Wife is a former matron.
Yeah, screw your courage
to the sticking place, Dr Khan.
That's above my pay grade.
Sorry to keep you waiting Amanda!
Hannah, get up, we're leaving -
they've sent Helen!
How are you? Aw!
Oh, Hannah, I've heard
so much about you.
I'm Dr Helen Cavendish,
and I'm the acute registrar
on duty this evening.
I've worked with your wife
since I was a medical student.
So, er, we must have
some results back,
if you're here?
Is there any history
I need to know before
Hannah has advanced ovarian cancer
and has led an active,
joyful five years of life
whilst on chemotherapy.
The last month,
it's been a rougher ride.
She's had a cold for a
few weeks she can't shift.
We're hoping it's pneumonia.
In which case,
we'd like antibiotics to go,
so we can get out of
this den of viral load.
Is there anything else
I need to know, Hannah?
No.
I don't think it's pneumonia.
The cancer has
advanced to your lungs.
I Can I see?
Yeah.
I'd like to admit you,
so we can keep you comfortable
until you've had a chance
to discuss your options with
the oncology team in the morning.
I want to go home.
I think that you should
speak to Oncology first.
And there's one semi-reclining
chair there that we'll
I want to die at home.
You know Oncology,
they'd dig you up to give you chemo.
Speak to the specialists first.
Don't admit me.
Our end-of-life plan is
for me to take care of her at home.
Finally, 40 years of
frontline medicine comes in handy.
You're the night-duty medical reg,
Helen. You can discharge us.
I
Sorry.
Hardest job in the hospital.
I think that you should
review your options
with the oncology consultant
in the morning.
There is nothing more to be done,
though, is there?
Just needs you to say so.
Please.
While she's well enough to leave.
Listen, I think that we should
all think about it for an hour.
I'll be back.
- Admitting her?
- Maybe. I just
Tessa, hi. What is it?
OK, well, that is more
or less what we expected.
Yeah. Sounds like a good plan.
You're doing brilliantly.
Neelum?
I'm right here.
It's like, if I don't page
you, did it actually happen?
It's Catherine, someone get it!
Yeah. I got it, mate.
Hi.
- Oh, God.
- Salamu alaikum, sister.
- That's not helpful.
- Sorry, sorry.
I was trying to be respectf
Oh, shit, sorry!
Wow, you look
amazing in that dress.
Thanks.
Mrs Afridi, you look
- Dr Masoom.
- You look beautiful.
I'm sorting it, don't worry.
Let's go upstairs.
Otherwise, we'll be late.
Sorry, good idea.
- Hey.
- You missed bedtime.
65-year-old woman with
advanced ovarian cancer,
X-ray shows lung metastasis.
They've got an end-of-life
plan to die at home,
and that's where she
wants to go, immediately.
Is she well enough to leave?
Well, she is right now, yeah.
It's Amanda Hendrix's wife.
Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that.
I should admit her, shouldn't I?
Or else face a territorial
oncologist in the morning.
Well, you won't, I will.
Chances are the same decision'll
get made in a few days.
Yeah, but by then,
she'll be too unwell to go home,
and she'll die here,
which is what she doesn't
Are you drinking?
What? Oh, my mum's opened
the Chablis. I wanted to try it.
You're on call.
You don't trust me to have
half a glass of wine now?
You're being completely
hysterical about this.
Are you sure
you're coping there OK?
Oh, my God, you
I'm happy to face down
Oncology for Amanda
if that makes this an
easier decision for you.
You were proper skinny.
I can't see it at soft play.
I hate soft play.
How long will Elis be in Sweden?
A few nights. Longer
next time, if it goes well.
- Are you OK with that?
- Yeah No Dunno.
How about you?
Yeah.
- Your hair looks amazing.
- Thanks.
Let's just forget about it, go out
this evening and have a dance.
Is there somewhere we can stop
and pick up a can of G&T,
or something I can down
in the back of the car?
Helen Cavendish.
Hey, stranger.
It's Magda at St Harry's ICU.
- Oh, hi, Magda.
- A weird one for you.
We are trying to identify
a patient in her late 40s, maybe.
White, curly blonde hair,
benzodiazepine overdose.
Nothing on her except
a scrap of paper with
Ready? Your name written on it.
"Dr Helen Cavendish."
And I'm like,
"I know one of those."
- Helen?
- Sorry
Sorry, I don't know.
I thought she was maybe a patient.
- Is she, er, intubated?
- Yeah.
She was found
unresponsive and hypoxic.
We're fighting for her,
but she's really sick.
Just wanted
to get hold of the family.
If you think of anything,
let me know?
- Yeah, sure. Yeah.
- Thanks. See you later.
I think bed four has died.
Just deal with it, Tessa.
- Oh, everyone, this is Catherine.
- Hi.
Hi, ICU, can I speak to Dr Magda
Actually, it it doesn't matter.
Get them in the nursery.
Mine went to the nursery for Heald
Green Primary, and it got them in.
Wasn't their Ofsted "good"?
Yeah, but it got upgraded
to "outstanding".
At my school, you can't
jump the queue like that.
- Go to open days now.
- She's ten months.
Yeah, it's not too late.
He poos all the time.
It's not normal, and she
won't take him to the GP.
Why does he poo?
Well, it's because of
the antibiotics.
It upsets your stomach.
Oh, Maryam? Is Sami
starting Quran school?
Well, me and Raz thought
we'd wait until he's four.
No, no, no. They absorb
languages best at three.
Are you speaking Urdu
at home with him?
Er, not so much.
I heard it can delay their speech
to have too many languages at once.
It can't be that!
It must be something else.
Khala, I promise you, it is that.
But it's a lot of poo!
How will he grow?
Will there be dancing soon?
Dr Afridi! I'm next!
So, wait,
you go to see this woman
The Fanny Witch.
She's
a myofascial release therapist.
- Not a gynaecologist?
- This is not recognised
by the National Institute
of Clinical Excellence.
Yet!
She massages your scar tissue
from your tear, or your
episiotomy, or whatever.
Birth trauma.
Hurts like hell when she's
does it, but it fixes pain.
Especially during, you know
Sex?
Reversed my incontinence.
I'll ping you her number.
So, when you say
she massages the scar tissue
I mean she puts her fingers
She has a medical degree -
you can say vagina.
Just say vagina!
Cheers to vaginas.
Hiya. Just checking on you
after your coronary angiogram.
Thanks, Doctor.
Shit, what's
OK, bleep Helen.
- No, bleep Surgery.
- What's going on?
Bleep Helen and Surgery.
Am I gonna be OK?
Don't panic.
Pick up the phone, Tessa.
Stop running round
like a headless chicken.
Helen.
The matron and her wife
are getting impatient.
Right. I need to get
to Tessa in AMU first.
Thank God, we tried everything.
He's bleeding out.
What have you tried?
You know, this.
Someone called Surgery?
For fuck's sake, Tessa,
it's a haematoma. You just
Just what?
There is the place
that you put your finger,
but I can't remember
because Surgery normally does it.
Shall I show you? As I'm here,
not scrubbing up
for a kidney stone removal.
- Sorry.
- Sorry.
Give me your finger.
Oh, my God. You're amazing.
I thought you weren't useful
without a knife in your hand.
I have my moments.
I can't wait
for my surgery rotation.
OK, Tessa, shall
we let Mr Oliviera
get back to his kidney stones?
I'm always a bit in awe
of the med reg overnight.
I can't imagine you awestruck.
Just cos I'm brilliant at what I do
doesn't mean I can't be impressed
by someone being brilliant
at what they do.
Thanks for that.
Sorry for distracting you
from your actual emergencies.
- I like being distracted by you.
- Oh, for God's sake.
What?
Can't you have a conversation
with another human being
without it being
some sort of seduction routine,
or whatever it is you're doing?
- You need to be somewhere?
- Just a repeat page.
Can I ask you something, reg to reg?
Well, it's ST8, actually,
but, yeah. Yeah, go on.
If you needed to leave,
for, like
a family emergency, or something,
do you feel like you could?
I'd speak to the on-call consultant
and have them
come in and take over.
That's what they're on call for.
- Everything OK?
- Yeah.
Oh, it's the labour ward.
Fuck's sake.
You got it.
It'll just be abdominal pains.
You're doing a great job.
Is this you trying to
sleep with me again?
I'll always be trying to
sleep with you, Helen.
I can't believe you didn't all guess
from this massive balloon thing
I'm wearing!
Aw, congratulations.
It's such a joy
to share this with you
and not feel guilty, or
Oh, Sairish! I was always
happy for you, for all of you.
You don't need to pretend that.
Well, when I had my miscarriage,
I couldn't even
look at a pregnant woman.
So, you going for a third?
It's not in Allah's plan
for everyone to have a big family.
- My daughter
- Amma.
- My daughter is going to be
- Amma.
one of the top paediatric
consultants in this country.
OK, dance floor.
Up!
Hi, Charlotte. Erm, yeah, is Guy
Oh, right.
How was the Chablis?
The wine.
Guy said that you opened
No?
Oh, my mistake.
I must have misunderstood.
Yeah, it's a busy night here,
so, yeah, don't worry.
Just
help yourself to anything.
And just forget I said anything.
Actually, don't
don't worry, tell him it's fine.
OK. OK, bye.
Are you done dancing?
I swear my gravestone's
going to read,
"died answering questions
about constipation."
How's Elis doing?
I've not heard from them,
so fine, I guess.
You're managing it really well.
Managing what?
She's with her father.
You can admit that you miss her.
You haven't told your mother about
the investigation either, have you?
How long are you gonna keep
carrying this all on your own, Maz?
How long do you think
you can keep pretending
you don't have any feelings,
Catherine?
Maternal instincts, even?
Fuck off, "maternal instincts".
Both of our mothers
are stone-cold psychopaths,
punishing us for
their own shit choices.
- My mother's not a
- Then why aren't you telling her?
Huh?
Cos I feel ashamed.
I feel like my chest
has been cracked open.
That "feelings" enough for you?
- Maz?
- No, just a sec.
Catherine!
Catherine!
He's not breathing.
Jesus.
I can't feel a pulse.
His phone.
Emergency services.
What is the emergency?
Teenage boy, heavy bleeding after
trauma, stab wounds to left chest.
We're on Thornville Mews.
He's arrested.
We're medics, administering CPR.
OK, we're dispatching an
ambulance. Stay on the line.
You know him? Do you know him?
Go, get his mum now! Run!
Fuck.
- Ambulance travelling.
- How long?
Should be with you
in three to four minutes.
Oh, sorry.
This is Dr Guy Cavendish.
Please leave a message.
Fuck's sake.
This is Dr Guy Cavendish.
Please leave a message.
Oh, god.
He needs thoracostomies.
What have you got in your kit?
- Are you doing that here?
- Yep.
Stop compressions.
OK, got it. Back on chest.
Weak pulse.
Your son has been stabbed.
He's in a stable condition.
- What's his name?
- Josh.
Maryam?
I'm going with him.
Tell Raz what happened.
The police want to know
if they can arrest him.
Well, what's that got to do with us?
They need to know
if he has capacity.
What are we, the CPS? Oi!
Oi! What was the score earlier?
Three-two!
Three-two!
Ah, well, he can count.
That's cogent enough
for the drunk tank, isn't it?
Wanna take him.
That's a trauma pre-alert.
Multiple stab wounds to the chest,
arrested at the scene,
good air entry since bag masking,
thoracostomy at the scene.
- Ready, steady, slide!
- His name's Josh.
OK, primary survey, airways patent.
He's arrested! Are surgery here yet?
- Another pneumothorax?
- Lungs are good.
He needs a clamshell thoracotomy.
You want to do a clamshell?
I'm not
It's a witnessed arrest.
Could be a cardiac tamponade.
OK, so?
Now?
OK.
Don't fuck up.
Ah, fuck.
Ah, sternum's tough.
OK.
I can see the heart.
Open the pericardium vertically.
Don't damage the phrenic nerves.
Cardiac tamponade. OK.
And there's a hole
in the left ventricle.
Got it.
Let's get him up to theatre?
yeah.
OK.
Yeah?
- We've got you.
- OK. Ready?
You having fun up there?
Oh, yeah. Beat you to a clamshell.
Sorry 'bout that.
Fuck!
Do we know about next of kin?
Er, he came in with his mum.
I'll go and talk to her.
OK.
Hello, Mrs Whitlock?
This is Dr Joseph from City General.
Hello, Mrs Whitlock?
This is Dr Joseph from City General.
Hello, Mrs Whitlock?
This is Dr Joseph from City General.
I was part of the team
that was treating your mother.
I mean
I'm calling to tell you
to say that I'm very sorry,
but your mother passed away
a few moments ago.
She passed peacefully
in her sleep.
Yes.
Yes, a nurse was with her.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Now that Catherine's stolen
all the glory,
let's get on with the actual graft,
shall we?
2.0 Vicryl, thank you.
OK, we'll need at least
two litres of warm wash,
suction and two chest drains,
please.
Thank you.
Happy to start patient transfer?
And let's have some music, shall we?
He's in really good hands.
We'll know more
once he's out of surgery,
but we're hopeful that
he's going to make a full recovery.
Oh, fuck me.
Oh, what now? Hold that.
Surely it's your turn
for the next aortic dissection
No? Shall I go and do it, then?
No?
Acute Medical Unit.
Yeah. All good, yeah.
Everything's under control.
OK.
Don't you dare.
Well, you know how it'll go.
She'll be on a ward somewhere,
and someone will do her obs
at 3:00am,
and sometime between then
and the morning drug round,
she'll have died.
That never used to bother me
when I was working upstairs.
It's peaceful, after all.
No pain, no drama.
But something changed in me,
during that first wave
in April and May,
when there was
so little we could do.
We were turning people over,
for God's sakes.
So many phone calls,
so many people who thought
they had so much time left.
So much grief absorbed
down a phone line, over an iPad.
One call I made,
the woman said to me
"But we were in the
garden yesterday."
And we were in the garden
when we got the phone call
about the cancer.
We lived apart, mostly,
like you and Guy did.
She was vulnerable.
You were pregnant.
She barely left the house.
Didn't get to hold her grandchild
until it was six months old.
And what was it all for,
if she still gets to die
alone on a ward here?
She's dying in our bed
in my arms.
Have I got post-traumatic
stress disorder, do you think?
How's Guy doing?
He's
I hear stories like yours, and
other friends and colleagues
who-who were there.
But he just he doesn't
say anything.
He just never talks about it.
Well, he's still
processing, probably.
He's He's drinking.
He's drinking too much, and
he's not in control of it.
- And I don't know how to reach him.
- Keep trying.
Don't worry.
Sorry.
- Hey.
- It's been a long night.
I've literally just
put a fire out in a bin.
Oh, God.
- Yeah. Birds on the ward
- Oh, right.
- were always my favourite.
- Oh, great.
What do I do with a bird?!
- First, you hope it's a pigeon
- Oh, right.
because they're big and stupid
and then you put a box over it
to calm it down,
and then set it free.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
So, do I have to try
and sneak her out of here, or?
Consider yourself discharged.
Guy said he would deal with
Oncology.
Go home.
Thank you.
- Give him my love, will you?
- I will.
Come here.
Floor two.
Oh, sorry.
- I just
- You OK?
Yeah, I'm just
trying to run and, er,
book an Uber at-at the same time.
Can I, er
give you a lift somewhere?
Going down.
How fast could you get me
to St Harry's?
- Why didn't you tell me?
- I'm telling you now.
You think they'll rule
you were negligent?
- Or they'll charge you?
- I dunno.
Lose your licence?
I really don't actually
give a shit about my licence
at this point, Ummi.
I-I didn't tell you
because I didn't want
to see that look on your face.
We're gonna fight this.
You are an outstanding physician.
No, I'm not.
I-I'm not the doctor
that you think I am.
I'm fallible. I make mistakes.
You think this is your fault?
- In here.
- You didn't do anything wrong.
- How do you know that?
- Because I know you.
You have to hang in
there, Maryam. Stay strong!
I'm terrified.
I'm having panic attacks
in the toilets.
I'm not the mother
I thought I would be.
I'm not the doctor I was.
You're a mother. You're a doctor.
Have you ever considered one might
make you better at the other?
Do you want me to ask?
No.
OK.
Blur or Oasis?
Pulp.
Thanks.
- Oh, Magda, hi.
- Oh, hi.
That patient
that you called about earlier,
her name's, er, Debbie Wares.
Good work, detective.
You came all the way over here
for that?
We'll get in touch with
the next of kin,
let them know she died.
You just have.
The paramedics think she'd
been left for several hours.
We intubated her on arrival, but
damage to her major
organs was too severe.
We fought for her, Helen.
Is there anyone I can call for you?
No. No, thank you.
- Hi. How are you all doing?
- Ah, we're fine. Flight was great.
The girls just adore
their new baby sister.
- They've been so sweet with her.
- Aw.
Made this
Made this card for her.
Oh, wow. That's great
everyone's getting along so well.
You left Cuddle Cat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We realised on the plane.
I mean, Elis doesn't seem bothered.
Perhaps it's not
such a big deal for her.
- Maybe she's over the cat.
- Oh, that's good.
Brigitta bought
her a new soft toy.
Oh, she has? Well that's
That's great. I'm relieved
she's doing OK without it.
Well, just
keep each other company until
Did you have a good night?
I mean, your party?
Yeah, yeah. Well
I was up most of the night.
We attended a trauma.
I did a clamshell thora
Sorry.
- I really need to go.
- Oh Oh, OK.
- Yeah. No, sure. OK. OK, Lars.
- Yeah, yeah. OK.
- OK, bye. Bye.
- Yeah. OK, bye.
Hi, Callum.
It's Auntie Helen
You need to give
me a call when you get this.
OK, thanks.
- "Auntie Helen"?
- Yeah, it's my nephew.
Well, if he's under 30,
he won't listen to that.
What do you mean?
They don't listen to voicemails,
you need to send a voice note. Here.
I know how to send a
voice note. I'm not 90.
Hi, Callum. It's Auntie Helen.
Can you call me when you get this?
It's about your mum.
That's better.
And I think when he listens to it,
there's two little ticks there.
Oh, my God. Really?
They'll be sending men
to the moon next
- I might have been hours.
- I would've waited hours.
Can I drive you home?
How far is it to your place?
Yeah, that's fine, Laura,
but I need you to find me some time
after clinic.
I need to prioritise these meetings
with interview panel members.
Thank you.
Do you ever look at your life
and think,
"How the hell
did I get it so wrong?"
No, not really.
Is that cos you're
exactly where you wanted to be?
Not exactly, no.
But close enough.
Catherine's gonna fight you
tooth and nail for that job,
- you know.
- Yeah.
That's one of the things I
enjoy doing most with Catherine.
Sorry. This is
This is probably just
a normal Monday morning for you.
Well, no, this usually happens
on Thursdays Thursday.
You've totally blown my schedule
for the week.