BONUS: Before and After: Stories that evolve over time

As a marine biology student, Liz Neeley loves the order of science, but when a research expedition takes an unexpected turn, she must deal with the messy reality, and when Erin Barker is diagnosed with two chronic illnesses, she has to say goodbye to four of her favorite things.

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Labor Day: Stories about trying to make a baby

After finally getting together in their forties, Chris Wade and his wife are determined to have a baby -- even if it means following some unconventional advice, and struggling to conceive, Sara Sweet makes her third attempt at intrauterine insemination just before her family's Christmas gathering.

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Surgery: Stories about operations

A routine procedure with one of the primates in her lab becomes much more complicated when neuroscientist Paula Croxson cuts herself with the scalpel, and when surgeon Bhuvanesh Singh sees his patient back in the hospital months after what he thought was a successful surgery, he grapples with feelings of failure.

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