Recap: Having Faith - Season 12 - Episode 11

After learning from Dr. Carter that little Jack has diabetes, Elizabeth storms outside into the windy night. We hear her voice over say, “There are no words. Or, there is only one word: why.”

Mike comes into the pharmacy that night as Mei flips through magazines. She locates an article about a treatment she saw, and she and Mike head to see Faith at the doctor’s office. Mei shows Faith the article about trials taking place in Toronto on the hormone called insulin to treat diabetes. Faith knows they’re still in trials, and Mei says that that means they’ll need volunteers. Faith notes that treatment risks are unknown and children might not be included in testing. They both know it’s a longshot but there are no other options.

Elizabeth and Nathan light a candle at Elizabeth’s house, and Nathan holds Elizabeth on the couch.

The next day, Mei and Faith explain insulin to Nathan and Elizabeth in her kitchen. Dr. Carter says that she spoke with the doctors doing the trials and the results have been miraculous, but they aren’t taking children yet. However, they said they would be willing to consider a special case for little Jack. Mei says she and Mike can go and make the case in person for him and they already have tickets on the train to Toronto. They need to take a letter of consent from Elizabeth that Mei will present, and if all goes well, she’ll return with the insulin. Faith and Mei tell Elizabeth that it might help if she explains a little bit of Jack’s story in the letter for the doctors.

Rosemary and Minnie arrange large amounts of food for Nathan, Elizabeth, little Jack and Allie. Allie delivers more food items from Mrs. Yost, and Rosemary hugs Allie and thanks her. Rosemary frantically goes through the list of who has what meals what days of the week, and Minnie assures her they can handle the arrangements. Minnie tries to comfort Rosemary, but she says she needs to just stay busy. Minnie reminds Rosemary that it’s important to let ourselves feel and that they have to hold on to hope.

Rosemary enters Elizabeth’s to her sitting at her table, pen in hand; little Jack sleeps on the couch. She tells Rosemary how she has one hour to write a letter telling doctors why her son deserves to live and doesn’t know how to find the words. Rosemary tells her she can do it, she just needs to tell his story and what he’s been through. At that, Elizabeth breaks down crying. Rosemary says they’re going to play a game called “I Remember” – she tells Elizabeth to say anything she remembers about little Jack from any time, and Rosemary will write them down. Elizabeth cries as she says she remembers giving birth to him, what he looked like as a baby, singing him to sleep, and the first time he smiled at her.

Nathan enters the Mountie office and Bill relays that Nathan’s been cleared for a leave of absence for as long as he needs. Bill is going to return to active duty in his absence. Henry enters and tells them that little Jack’s pony is missing, and they agree to split up to look.

At the café, Minnie, Joseph, Rosemary, Molly, and Faith see Mike and Mei off for their train to Toronto with a bag of food. Elizabeth enters with her letter, and everyone tells her that they are here for her. Mei says they’ll call as soon as they know anything, and Minnie asks Joseph to say a few words. They all take one another’s hands and Joseph says a prayer as a voice over plays of Elizabeth’s letter writing. We see her at her desk writing and hear her expound on the stories she recalled earlier with Rosemary, like Jack’s sharing his father’s medal with a scared student. She knows he’ll grow up to be like his brave father, but only if he’s able to get insulin and get the chance at living his full potential in life.

At the saloon, Henry tells Bill, Lucas and Lee that he hasn’t heard anything about the medicine or the pony. Lucas says it’s not important, but he and Henry mention that there was a recall vote for Lucas as Governor. It’s 2 to 1 against and Lucas doesn’t see the point in fighting it. As the four of them discuss, Lucas realizes he has nothing to lose and should instigate more executive orders around healthcare, insurance and education since he no longer needs to worry about re-election. Henry says he can help by drafting up more paperwork. Bill and Henry leave to look for the pony.

At the Canfield’s, Cooper tells Minnie he feels bad because he was supposed to be watching little Jack when he went missing. Minnie says it isn’t his fault, and Cooper wishes he could do something more for Jack. He mentions how Jack likes baseball, but Minnie doesn’t think Jack can play or go out much. Cooper wonders if Jack could listen to baseball.

Elizabeth tucks little Jack in on the couch and tells Nathan how she wishes she could do more. Toby and Cooper knock on the door and share the cards that the kids made for Jack. She mentions how Jack misses playing baseball with them, and they wonder if they can play a game and announce it on the radio for him to listen to, to cheer him up. She says that he will love that and asks them to promise to have fun.

The kids head out to the field to start the baseball game. Angela helps set up in the saloon for the radio broadcast with Cooper, Toby and Ned, and Allie says Oliver’s up on the balcony with binoculars and can see the whole field. Oliver will tell Allie what happens, she’ll relay to Cooper and Toby, and they’ll announce it on the radio. Cooper says it’s play-by-play radio, and he got the idea from Angela as it’s how she takes in the games. Angela plays baseball fanfare on the piano and they begin the radio show.
Lee and Ned cheer on in the saloon crowd and we see various people listening at home: little Jack with Elizabeth and Nathan, Minnie and Joseph, and Molly and Florence. As Timmy faces two strikes and is up for his third hit, he delivers a message from the field via Emily at the saloon: he wants to dedicate this hit to their teammate, little Jack. Everyone gives a collective “aw,” and Toby gives Jack a shoutout. Timmy gets a homerun on his third time up to bat and everyone cheers.

The teens come over to Elizabeth’s after the game and give Jack a signed ball from Timmy. Elizabeth takes Allie’s hand and thanks all of them for making today so special. As they walk in town, Allie wonders to Oliver why she didn’t notice anything about little Jack being sick earlier. Oliver reminds her that there’s nothing any of them could have done to stop this.

Mei and Mike call Faith from Toronto; they relay that there was a misunderstanding as the doctors thought Jack lived in Toronto. Because the insulin has to be used within three days of manufacturing and must be kept cold, they can’t transport it just for one patient. Faith insists there has to be another way, and Mike and Mei say they’re meeting with the head of the lab tomorrow so if she has any ideas, to let them know.

Bill stops over at Elizabeth’s to check on Jack, as Elizabeth takes him up to sleep. Nathan asks how things at work are, and Bill relays that they still haven’t found Pal yet. Nathan tells Bill that he feels like he can’t stop the bad guy for little Jack and he can’t stop the hurt for Elizabeth. He feels like he can’t do his job and for the first time in his life he feels powerless. Bill says his job is to be there when it counts and he’s doing a great job at that.

Faith comes to Elizabeth’s and relays the news that they were turned down by the trial. However, she explains that there are efforts to create clinics in remote places like Hope Valley, but they would need at least 10 diabetes patients to qualify.

Rosemary, Faith, Minnie, Molly and Florence meet at the café to discuss the ramifications of a clinic. Faith has a list of folks in the surrounding area who have been diagnosed with diabetes, but the difficulty would be asking them to travel there every day for treatment. Everyone agrees to help by dispersing flyers about diabetes across the valley, making calls to families, and Rosemary will put a call out on the radio.

At the saloon on the radio, Rosemary explains diabetes, its symptoms, and what insulin is. She relays that they need volunteers to participate in a trial clinic, and to contact them at the Queen of Hearts saloon if they or anyone they know has been diagnosed with diabetes. Almost immediately, they receive a call at the saloon from someone who is diabetic wanting to participate.

Elizabeth and Nathan get Jack ready for his checkup at the doctor. He doesn’t want to walk so Nathan gives him a piggyback ride.
At the doctor’s office, Jack is tired and Molly tucks him into bed. Faith says she’d like to keep Jack there so she can keep an eye on him for now.

Rosemary, Faith and Minnie make calls at the newspaper office and discuss how they have seven people so far who have called in. Minnie says people are either nervous about the treatment or they can’t make the trip every day. Molly and Joseph enter with news that they found two sisters who were recently diagnosed, but that’s still only nine including little Jack. Elizabeth says it’ll have to be enough and offers to call the clinic; Faith dials them and passes the phone to Elizabeth. She pleads with them about how these lives are on the line, and after a pause, she cries and tells them thank you.

Elizabeth returns to Jack’s bedside and shares the news with Nathan; they embrace.

Rosemary, Minnie, Bill and Joseph pace around the saloon wondering why the train is delayed over an hour. Lee arrives with news that the bad rainstorm caused a pile up on the train crossing and they’ll be delayed up to 24 hours with the medicine. Bill and Lee head out together, and Minnie and Rosemary leave to be with Elizabeth at the doctor’s office.

Outside of the doctor’s, Rosemary tells Minnie that she doesn’t know how she and Elizabeth have been so strong in the face of their children suffering. Minnie says that you find faith when it’s all you’ve got, and they should focus on the facts that the children are alive, they are strong, and there is hope.

Bill and Lee return in the car with Mike, Mei and the insulin. Elizabeth thanks Mei for taking the trip as Molly readies the insulin. Nathan puts Jack’s medal in little Jack’s palm and Dr. Carter administers the insulin.

Bill enters the saloon and tells Rosemary, Mike, Lee, Minnie and Joseph that they administered the first dose. Jack isn’t awake yet but hasn’t had a back reaction. Bill says they’ll know by morning, so Lee says he’ll put coffee on and Mike says he’ll make grilled cheeses.

At the doctor’s office, Faith confirms Jack’s vitals are stable. Jack slowly wakes up and asks Elizabeth why she’s so sad as she cries in joy.

The next day at church, the townsfolk all sing “Hallelujah!” outside together. Joseph speaks about St. Francis and then blesses all the animals, including Pal the pony.

Nathan pours tea for Elizabeth and himself at her house. Elizabeth tells him that she doesn’t know what she would do without him. Nathan says that there’s nowhere he’d rather be. He asks if she’s okay, and Elizabeth doesn’t know; she’s confused about many things, and today feels like both the worst and best day of her life. Nathan tells Elizabeth that they have their whole lifetime to figure it out, and so does little Jack.