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	EPISODES ~ Season 2
	Mother and Child #212 ~ January 21, 2000 by PapaC
	Syd Syd dreams that she's dressing, and her mother comes in the room. Syd explains that she's taking medical classes again, to prepare for her Family Medicine boards. Her mother tells her she should dress more fetchingly for the professor. Then she's in class, and she's the only one who doesn't know the answers. After she wakes, she comes downstairs and tells her Dad and Joannie that she is indeed off to see her former professor, Dr. Sullivan, from first year of medical school about preparing for the Family Medicine boards. They tease her that this is the professor who terrified her. She goes to the hospital. She is pleased that he recalls her as an eager and thorough student who once corrected him about a disease called Turner Syndrome, and she was right. He invites her to participate in rounds with the other med students at the hospital. Back at the clinic, an 11 year-old girl presents with a four year history of intermittent acute abdominal pain. Doctors have performed appendectomy, cholecystectomy and exploratory lap, and have come up with no answers. The mother's insurance has kicked her off, but Syd tells her she needs to take her daughter to the hospital, but not to worry: the hospital accepts uninsured patients. Syd presents the girl's case at rounds that evening, and after the students make their guesses about Anna's illness, Dr. Sullivan tells Syd in confidence that he is familiar with the case. A couple of years back, a student presented the case to him, and they felt it was a case of Munchhausen by Proxy (a psychological disorder in which the parent invents, or even causes, the child's symptoms to get attention). Nothing had been found on examination over four years and several surgeries, and the girl always got better after being in the hospital a couple of days. They felt certain the mother was poisoning Anna; however, Anna and her mother left the hospital before they could act on their suspicion the last time. He advises her to call Social Services right away. Syd hesitates. She believes the mother is innocent, yet realizes she must find the answers quickly. Syd runs more tests, and inquires about the family history. The mother tells her that her husband died two years ago, and both of his parents are dead. Syd reads everything she can find on Munchhausen, but before she can come to her own conclusion, Dr. Sullivan intervenes and calls Social Services himself, who take Anna into their custody and tell the mother they have a restraining order which mandates that she stay away from her daughter. Anna's mother, Gail, comes to Syd at the clinic, furious that she has been betrayed. Syd doesn't defend herself. Later, at the hospital, Anna's grandmother arrives to visit. Syd meets her and is surprised to learn that she is Anna's paternal grandmother. She talks with the grandmother about the situation. The grandmother believes Gail could never do such a thing, but Syd wonders why she lied about the grandmother being alive. The woman confides that her son had told her once that he didn't think he was Anna's father, so her medical history wouldn't mean anything in the case. Syd talks to Gail about this. Gail, in tears, admits that she was raped when she and her husband were on a trip to Italy. Syd finds Dr. Sullivan, and tells him that she has found indications from lab tests of Anna's sed rate over the past four years that she has a rare Mediterranean genetic ailment. When he laughs and says that's impossible, she explains that the biological father was Italian. He doesn't apologize for his mistake, saying that it was a logical assumption based on the facts, but he agrees to call Social Services and tell them to dismiss the charges against Gail. Robbie - Robbie is attempting to woo Heather. He worries when Charlie sends her a model airplane and a ticket for her to come to see him, but Heather says she won't go back to Charlie just because he snapped his fingers. His relief is evident. His father reminds him that he vowed not to pursue her, but he says he is truly crazy about her. Robbie wants to impress her with dinner, and talks his father into passing on his secret recipe for pasta sauce. Jim hesitates, as the whole family has always wanted this recipe and his sisters will be angry with him if he gives it to Robbie, but Robbie swears to keep it their secret. They meet in the kitchen the next day, and Jim explains that it begins with an onion, three cloves of garlic... and a jar of Rocco's Deli Pasta Sauce. Rocco is the owner of one of his patients. Robbie cooks the dinner, and Heather is impressed. But, just then, Charlie knocks and the door, and tells Heather he had to fly, hitchhike and walk 28 miles to get to her, but he'll never leave her again: he loves her. They embrace and go to her room. Joannie and Hannah - Joannie desperately wants Hannah to get into the Ivy Sandbox preschool, which has a long waiting list. She goes to interview, and meets with the self-important director of the school. The director wants Joannie to get three letters of recommendation for Hannah and come back for Hannah to be tested. Joannie follows the instructions and brings Hannah in. The director sadly informs her that most of Hannah's skills were excellent, but she was unable to pick up raisins, a small motor skill that is indicative of trouble learning later on - many prospective pupils actually make artwork with the raisins! Joannie can't believe they're turning down her daughter because of raisins, and tells the lady off. Later that evening, Syd and Joannie relax in Joannie's room with some cookies Syd has brought, which she says are Hannah's favorite. Joannie didn't realize this, and Syd says that she always enjoys getting them, but doesn't actually seem to like them that much: she always picks out the raisins, one by one. Joannie laughs, realizing that Hannah can pick up raisins, but simply dislikes them, and tells Syd she learned a lesson about what's really important that day. Syd tells her about finally proving that Anna wasn't a victim of Munchhausen by Proxy, and they decide they both had a good day. Their mother joins them, and takes credit for their successes because of her excellent mothering skills. The girls tell her goodnight and turn off the light.
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