Dead Med

Rachel recalls her junior year of high school, when she was failing trigonometry. Her teacher, Harvey Pritchett, an unattractive middle-aged man, left a note on her failed midterm asking to see her. Rachel, then an unpopular loner with acne and frumpy clothes, was terrified. After class, Mr. Pritchett told her he would have to fail her if she did not improve. Rachel began crying uncontrollably. As Mr. Pritchett tried to comfort her, a kiss occurred. This was Rachel’s first sexual experience. She found Mr. Pritchett physically repulsive but did what she felt necessary to avoid failing. She received an A on her next exam despite most of her answers being incorrect. Sleeping with teachers to obtain better grades became a pattern throughout high school and college. She concludes that Dr. Conlon will be her next target.

Rachel is certain she has failed her first anatomy exam. Heather is also distraught, believing she has failed as well. While Heather is in the shower, their classmate Abe Kaufman knocks on the door looking for her. Rachel notes Abe has a crush on Heather. She bluntly tells Abe that Heather has a boyfriend and that he would not have a chance with her anyway. Abe looks crushed and leaves. Rachel checks her email and finds a message from Dr. Conlon asking her to see him after class the next day.

Rachel goes to Dr. Conlon’s office wearing a short red skirt. She observes that despite his “dorky” bow tie, Dr. Conlon is good-looking and in his late thirties, unlike her usual targets. Dr. Conlon expresses concern about her poor exam performance. Rachel fakes tears and tells him she feels lonely and is struggling. As he comforts her, she takes his hand. Instead of making a move, Dr. Conlon suggests she see Dr. Patrice Winters, the class psychologist.

When Dr. Conlon accidentally knocks his pen holder onto the floor, they both bend down to pick up pens. She sees his eyes flick to her cleavage. Seizing the opportunity, Rachel initiates a kiss. Though stunned, Dr. Conlon responds eagerly. Their sexual encounter is unlike anything Rachel has experienced before. Afterward, Dr. Conlon tells her she can call him Matt in his office.

The next day, after an anatomy lecture, Rachel goes to Matt’s office and sits on his lap. He kisses her, and she brings up her bad grade. Instead of offering to change it, Matt offers to tutor her personally. When Rachel threatens to tell the dean about their relationship, Matt reveals he already knows about her past: Dr. Hirsch, a professor she blackmailed in college, called DeWitt faculty to warn them about her. Matt points out that the faculty would be unlikely to take action against its only “disabled” staff member. Furious that he knew her plan all along, Rachel tries to leave. Matt stops her, reminding her she is still failing anatomy. He tells her he is holding special tutoring sessions for struggling students and that she must attend.

Rachel attends the first remedial anatomy session, which she finds humiliating. The other attendees are Victor Pereira and Marissa Dunne, both of whom Rachel dislikes. Despite her initial feelings, Rachel finds the session helpful, admiring Matt’s patience and excellent teaching.

The tutoring sessions help Rachel’s performance in anatomy. In the lab, Matt quizzes her, and she correctly answers, surprising Mason. Rachel reflects on how Matt acts as if nothing ever happened between them, treating her like any other student. She completes an extra-credit assignment early and takes it to his office. She arrives to find Dr. Winters there, having brought Matt homemade cookies. Rachel immediately assumes they are hooking up and feels a sharp jab of jealousy. Matt welcomes Rachel, and Dr. Winters glares at her before leaving abruptly, slamming the door. Instead of discussing the assignment, Rachel confronts Matt, asking if he is sleeping with Dr. Winters. A flustered Matt vehemently denies it.

Rachel attends a Friday night tutoring session. Victor and Marissa are both absent, leaving her alone with Matt. When she asks if he has slept with other students, he denies it, stating their encounter was out of character for him. They begin the lesson, but Rachel is distracted by the intimate setting and his presence, admitting she enjoyed their sexual encounter. Matt reminds her that he will not change her grade. He kisses her, then pulls back, saying it is a bad idea. Rachel agrees, but he kisses her again.

Matt sets ground rules for his renewed relationship with Rachel: They will maintain a purely academic relationship on campus and primarily meet at his house to avoid being caught. Rachel realizes she is infatuated with Matt and wonders if he feels the same. Matt is 38 and expresses discomfort with their 16-year age gap, saying he feels like “a creep.” Rachel reassures him, saying she has never related to people her own age.

Matt gives Rachel another pep talk about her potential. Revealing that he is a medical school dropout, he parts his hair to show a long scar running through his skull. Matt reveals he was shot in the head during his first year of medical school by his roommate, Kurt Morton, who was flunking out. One night, Kurt woke him at two o’clock in the morning, holding a gun. After shooting Matt in the head, Kurt died by suicide. Matt says he woke two weeks later, unable to move half his body. Rachel correctly intuits that his inability to continue medical school was not entirely his choice. Matt claims he is happier now as a professor than he would be as a surgeon, but Rachel is unconvinced.

Rachel is nervous about the second midterm, knowing Matt will not change her grade. During a study session at his house, Matt reveals his sensory and motor deficits on his right side. He expresses insecurity, saying he does not know why Rachel wants to be with him. They study late into the night using a game where Matt feeds Rachel a grape for every three consecutive correct answers.

The next morning, Rachel feels terrified about the exam, especially because she does not want to disappoint Matt. Heather points out that Mason looks terrible, leading Rachel to speculate that he might be on drugs. Heather shares gossip that Mason and Sasha Zaleski, another student from Rachel’s lab group, are hooking up. When Heather asks where Rachel was the previous night, Rachel lies, saying she was studying at school. In the lab, Rachel’s anxiety peaks. She sees Matt, who mouths that she will be fine, which calms her. The practical exam begins.

That evening, Matt cooks Rachel a celebratory dinner. When Rachel arrives, he tells her she got honors on the exam. Overjoyed, she embraces him, and they kiss passionately. While in his bathroom, Rachel notices the medicine cabinet is ajar. She snoops and finds many prescription pill bottles, including Vicodin and oxycodone, powerful painkillers. She briefly wonders if Matt is dealing drugs to students. However, the medication labels indicate that all have been prescribed to Matt by a physician. Finding a bottle of Zoloft, an antidepressant, she feels guilty and closes the cabinet.

Back at the dinner table, Matt burns his right hand on candle wax. As Rachel tends to his injured hand, he explains he is overdue for Botox injections, which relieve his hand spasms. He quizzes her on the muscles of finger flexion, and she answers correctly. They abandon the now-cold dinner for intimacy. During this encounter, Rachel realizes she is in love with Matt.

Rachel finds it hard to stick to the rule of keeping her relationship with Matt off campus. She goes to his office and eavesdrops, hearing an agitated Victor inside, upset about failing the second exam. Victor storms out, sees Rachel, and sneers at her. Inside the office, Matt asks Rachel whether Victor seemed high, noting his dilated pupils. As Rachel leaves Matt’s office, she runs into her classmate, Danielle Stern. When Danielle stares at her chest, Rachel realizes her shirt is buttoned incorrectly. Danielle shakes her head in disgust and walks away. Rachel decides not to tell Matt.

Matt calls Rachel and invites her over to study. She arrives at Matt’s house, and they are immediately intimate. Afterward, they order a pizza, and Matt takes a shower while Rachel waits. The doorbell rings. Rachel, wearing one of Matt’s T-shirts, opens the door expecting the pizza delivery. Instead, it is Dr. Winters. Dr. Winters is shocked to see Rachel there, dressed in Matt’s shirt. Matt emerges from the hallway, still damp from his shower. Dr. Winters reveals she thought Matt was sick and brought him soup. She confronts Matt, yelling at him for his indiscretion. Matt tells Rachel she should leave. While getting dressed, Rachel overhears Dr. Winters telling Matt that Rachel is playing him.

Rachel cries all the way back toward campus, convinced Patrice is in love with Matt and will either expose them or force Matt to break up with her. She sobs in her car outside the dorm, not wanting Heather to see her. Matt calls. He tells her Dr. Winters is gone and will not tell anyone about them. However, he says Dr. Winters made good points and asks Rachel if their relationship is worth the risk. Rachel insists it is, and Matt relents.

Despite the close call with Dr. Winters, Rachel practically moves in with Matt. Rachel confesses to herself that she may not be suited to be a surgeon. She tells Matt that she did not want to be like her mother, a stay-at-home mom, and saw being a surgeon as the furthest thing from that. Rachel tells Matt she loves him, and he confirms that he loves her too.

Rachel discovers an unsigned note stuffed under her locker door. The note threatens to expose her affair with Matt unless she leaves the answers to the final exam under the door of Locker 282.

The next morning, Rachel goes to see Matt’s secretary, Anita, to try to find out who is assigned to Locker 282. Anita refuses to help, stating that locker assignments are confidential. Rachel accidentally refers to Dr. Conlon as Matt. Anita realizes her suspicions about them are correct and confronts Rachel, accusing her of exploiting a lonely man.

Rachel decides she cannot tell Matt about the blackmail note, fearing his strict ethics would lead him to refuse to cooperate and lose his job. She decides to investigate on her own to identify the blackmailer. Her primary suspect is Danielle, who saw her leave Matt’s office with her shirt buttoned incorrectly. Rachel follows Danielle to the lockers, but she opens Locker 284, not 282.

Rachel arrives at the anatomy lab to find Frank’s limbs have been desecrated. She interprets this as a warning message from the blackmailer. Sasha reports the incident to Matt, who delivers an angry lecture to the class about competitiveness. Later, Matt leaves Rachel alone in his office when he goes to the bathroom. On his computer, Rachel finds the file for the final exam. She prints the exam and snatches the papers from the slow printer just as Matt returns. Rachel hides the exam in her jacket pocket.

Rachel locks herself in her bathroom to examine the stolen exam. She considers using it to cheat, but realizes that she cannot betray Matt’s trust. She reflects that Matt’s belief in her has motivated her to become a better person. However, she resolves to give the exam to the blackmailer to protect Matt and their future together.

The next morning, Rachel puts the exam in an envelope and slides it under the door of Locker 282. She then goes to Matt’s office. Matt confronts her with the exam paper’s final page, which she accidentally left behind on the printer. Matt tells Rachel that he was a fool for not heeding everyone’s warnings about her. He says he will rewrite the final exam and let her keep her honors grade on the midterm if they forget the whole thing happened. Rachel wants to tell him about the blackmailer, but knows he will not believe her. She insists that her feelings for him are genuine and tells him that she loves him. Looking deeply hurt, Matt tells her to get out.

In the days following the breakup, Rachel is miserable and cries constantly. She stops attending class and studies in the library. On the Saturday night before the final, she sees Sasha in the library and sits with her. Rachel confides in Sasha about her recent breakup, saying she did something unforgivable. In the conversation, Rachel has an epiphany: Her motives for stealing the exam were honorable, and Matt deserves to know the truth. She asks Sasha to watch her things and runs to Matt’s office.

Matt is angry and tells Rachel he has been rewriting the exam all night. Rachel tearfully tells him about the blackmail note and Locker 282. Matt believes her, and they reconcile, exchanging declarations of love. A male student knocks on the office door. Matt asks Rachel to hide, and she crawls under his desk.

From under the desk, Rachel hears the student accuse Matt of killing someone. She prepares to emerge, but Matt’s hand appears under the desk, gesturing for her to stay hidden. She hears Matt say he is sorry, followed by a gunshot. Rachel hears the intruder leave, and a second gunshot is fired from outside the office. She crawls out from under the desk and finds Matt dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Hearing Matt’s voice in her head, urging her to escape, she flees the office.