Mental Breakdown
It's dinner time at the Turner household, but Timothy has declined to eat at the table with the family again, and Dr. Patrick Turner is running late from a prenatal emergency with Mrs. Fisher. He arrives to find Shelagh cleaning up the dinner dishes. She has put Angela to bed. She removes the tinfoil from his dinner and hands it to him to eat. She expresses her concern about Timothy's behavior of late and urges Patrick to spend some time with him, but his schedule is busy, and he does not see a time in sight to spend time with him. He is sure that Timothy has just had some extra schoolwork. He is so serious about his grades and desires to become a doctor.
Meanwhile the phone rings at Nonnatus House, and Trixie quickly answers, "Nonnatus House, midwife speaking." "Calm down Mr. Fisher. We will will call for hospital right away and send someone over. Try to keep Mrs. Fisher still and calm." Mrs. Fisher's waters have broken, and she is only at thirty weeks. Mrs. Fisher is Nurse Crane's patient, so she leaves for the Fisher household straight away.
With Nurse Crane now gone, Sister Monica Joan already in bed, and everyone else out, Trixie is left with Nonnatus House to herself. She looks around to make sure she is alone, and slinks into her room where she pulls a bottle of whiskey out from the back of her closet. She had hidden it under several shoe boxes. She sighs and begins to reconsider. The schedule has been so busy at Nonnatus House that she has not had time to attend her AA meetings. Just then, Valerie bursts into the room. Trixie tries to hide the bottle behind her back, but Valerie had already seen it. She looks at Trixie with a disappointed but empathetic gaze. "Trixie, you were doing so well." she says. Trixie hands her the bottle, and replies, "Please dispose of it. I need it out of my sight and out of my life."
At the Fisher household, Nurse Crane arrives just as the ambulance is pulling up. She enters the apartment and rushes up the stairs to help get Mrs. Fisher to the ambulance, but arrives in the Fisher's bedroom to find the stillborn newborn baby girl lying on the bed, and the couple in hysterical tears. Nurse Crane expresses her condolences and gets to work clamping the cord and ready to deliver the placenta. Mr. Fisher asks if he should send the ambulance away, but Nurse Crane thinks it would be beneficial for Mrs. Fisher to go to the hospital for observation, but not to the maternity ward. After cleanup, she wraps up the stillborn infant and gives the parents a chance to hold her before taking her to the morgue.
The next day, Dr. Turner is running late for home again, but he receives a call at the clinic from Shelagh urging him to come home right away. Timothy has locked himself in his bedroom and will not come out. Miss Higgins motions for him to go and says, "I'll clear the schedule and clean up for the day." Patrick arrives home to find Timothy's door open, and Timothy nowhere to be found in the house. They search outside. They find him in the garage with the car running and the door shut. They quickly open the garage door and pull Timothy from the car as they both gasp and cough from the buildup of fumes. Timothy is limp. They are afraid they were too late. They get him into the fresh air and begin trying to wake up, poised to perform CPR if he does not respond. Relieved, he coughs and opens his eyes. They both breathe a sigh of relief and then firmly and tenderly hug Timothy. They then turn to him in horror asking why he tried to do such a thing. Timothy is despondent. Dr. Turner thinks it's time to take a trip to the sanitarium Linchmere Hospital for a mental evaluation. Shelagh looks at him in horror at the thought of sending dear sweet Timothy to such a place, but after consideration, she thought it best. They take him there, explain what happened, and then leave him for evaluation. They drive away in silence each wondering if they are to blame for his actions.