‘The Good Doctor’ Fans in Tears After Mom Makes Heartbreaking Choice

During Monday’s episode of The Good Doctor, the team had to save the lives of twins Katie and Jenny. The two were separated in a 40-hour surgery in last week’s episode, “Islands Part One.” The second part was a wild roller-coaster that fans were simply not prepared for.

The twins, Katie (Elizabeth Hinkler) and Jenny (Emily Hinkler), are in trouble. Katie is in a coma, and Jenny has a bad heart. Their mother now has a choice: keep Jenny alive by using Katie’s heart or hope that Katie comes out of the coma. But Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) is certain that there is no chance Katie will wake up.

Their mother agrees to sign off on the procedure. She does not want Jenny to know about this. “It would destroy her” if she knew, her mother says. She will tell Jenny that Katie died.

“Goobye baby,” their mother tells Katie as they power off the ventilator.

Surprisingly, after the ventilator is removed, she starts breathing. That suggests she could be in a long-term vegetative state, and they need to come up with a new way to save Jenny.

Shaun comes up with a crazy idea. They could re-attach the twins at the hip, and connect their blood vessels so Katie’s heart can continue pumping for Jenny. When Katie dies, they can transplant her heart into Jenny.

Their mother tells Jenny about this, which shocks her. The doctors were wrong about Katie instantly dying, and Jenny doesn’t want to let Katie become her personal life support system.

Claire suggests to Dr. Andrews that they put the sisters in the same room overnight. Claire thinks Jenny needs to understand that she’s a single person now, one who deserves to live a full life. But Andrews fears that it could just cement her connection to Katie and desire to keep her alive. Claire thinks it’s a risk they have to take. Overnight, Jenny moves closer to Katie, touching her head to her sister’s.

Jenny had trouble sleeping. But Jenny realized that she would have Katie’s heart with her at all times. She agreed to go with the procedure. Amazingly, it all worked.

In Shaun’s personal story, he told Glassman he was giving two weeks notice. He wants to go to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where Lea will be moving to. Glassman initially did not want to sign a letter of recommendation for Shaun, but he did it.

“I believe in you, Shaun,” Glassman told him.

After that quick scene, the team noticed something up with the twins’ heart monitors. Suddenly, Katie started waking up! The doctors tell their mother that they have no idea why happened.

“I know. They need each other. They always have,” their mother said.

But this still leaves the trouble of Jenny’s heart. They now need a heart donor.

Meanwhile, Jared is trying his best to get his job back. He even rejects a massive settlement.

Back in the case of the twins, there’s a last-second emergency, as Jenny is killing Katie because her heart is working for two people.

In the end, Claire had to tell their mom that Jenny will not make it. But Katie is refusing to let the doctors separate them. They need their mother to tell Katie they have to let Jenny go.

“I can’t lose both of my daughters,” she tells Katie.

Off screen, Jared got his job back and helped separate the twins. Katie’s life is saved.

At the end of the episode, Jessica decided to break up with Melendez. She loves him too much to let him stay with a woman who doesn’t want to have kids.

Shaun ultimately decided not to leave San Jose. Lea made Shaun promise to visit her in Hershey. The two hugged.

“Are you a good doctor? Because when I think of you, I think you are,” she tells him. They kiss before she gets on the elevator.

He takes the signed baseball Lea gave him and put it next to a picture with his brother.

The Good Doctor airs on Monday at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.

Photo credit: ABC / Eike Schroter