Chicago Med's Bed Bugs Storyline Is Freaking People Out

Contains spoilers for "Chicago Med" Season 8, Episode 15

"Chicago Med" fans have seen a lot of interesting medical cases make their way to the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, and while some have stretched the limits of credulity or caused fans to question the accuracy of the show, they also make for nail-biting excitement. When Season 8, Episode 15 ("Those Times You Have to Cross the Line") began with the janitors on strike outside the hospital, we weren't sure how the info was going to play into the episode, but it turned out to impact the storyline in a big way.

While Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) is trying to help a schizophrenic patient realize he's not dead, fellow doctor Dean Archer (Steven Weber) is working to figure out how to get through to a woman that comes in with a ball of hair in her stomach. Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), on the other hand, seems to have a pretty easy case — until his patient, Walter (Brian Huskey) begins breaking out in an unexplainable rash. 

After consulting with Dr. Grace Song (T.V. Carpio), the two doctors become convinced that Walter may have the bubonic plague. But after a nurse complaining about a neck itch is shown to also have a rash, Halstead makes an accurate, and gross, diagnosis: Bed bugs. Needless to say, the storyline had viewers' skin crawling at the thought.

"Well we are getting it all tonight! Eating hair, bed bugs, and now shock therapy .. wow what a ride," tweeted @KittyMama64. Indeed, the episode had several different storylines keeping us glued to the screen, but the bed bugs scenes may have been the only storyline that also made us want to get far, far away. Halstead identifying the bed bug eggs definitely made us squirm in our seats, but it also made the hospital executives finally move more rapidly towards ending the janitor's strike. 

"Thank bed bugs for the new contract!" tweeted @RPopBox. After all, patients suing the hospital because of bed bugs is a much more costly scenario than working out a plan to pay the janitorial staff a fair and higher wage.

While Halstead was relieved that Walter didn't have the bubonic plague, the same can't be said for Walter. Halstead tries to minimize the situation while a nurse dabs hydrocortisone on Walter's back, but then Walter tells him, "You know, I used to be so impressed with this hospital," in a tone that clearly indicates that is no longer the case. "Bed bugs in a hospital is not a good look at all," tweeted @BethHoller.