Chicago Med Boss Hints 'There's A Reason' Why Hannah Hasn't Said She Loves Archer

"Chicago Med" gave us a welcome update on baby Mabel this week, and she's healthy, thriving, and growing beautifully. As for the state of her parents' relationship? It's a little more complicated than that.

As fans of the NBC drama will recall, after Hannah (Jessy Schram) gave birth in last season's finale, Archer (Steven Weber) — whom Hannah is not dating — told Hannah that he loved her. Although Hannah gave Archer a kiss after his confession, she notably did not return the sentiment of love, instead landing on an earnest, "Thank you for telling me now."

When the series picked up three months later in Wednesday's premiere, Hannah and Archer had been living together and co-parenting Mabel, but they were still not in a relationship — and Hannah had not yet said she loved Archer.

"The feelings have definitely shifted because they've now spent three months co-parenting and living in the same house. The focus is completely on the baby, rather than each other," series showrunner Allen MacDonald tells TVLine. "But that's a shift in their dynamic. There are obviously real feelings there, but when Archer said 'I love you,' Hannah didn't say it back. And I'll just say, moving into Season 12, there's a reason for that."

MacDonald is quick to clarify that he's "not saying she's never going to say it back." But as the doctors get deeper into their parenthood journey, "there's a lot to figure out still, in terms of their dynamic and how they see their future together," he adds.

Meanwhile, Hannah will also contend with mixed emotions as she returns to work full-time in subsequent episodes. During the premiere, she scrubbed in for an unexpected shift in order to perform surgery on a pregnant bride who had been shot at her own wedding; Hannah ultimately enjoyed her return to work so much that she decided to come back to Gaffney for real, although she still had three weeks of maternity leave left.

"Everything is complicated for Hannah," Allen MacDonald says of the character's pursuit of work-life balance. "Her job is a big part of her identity, but now motherhood is part of her identity. She doesn't want to lose track of one identity because of the other."

New episodes of "Chicago Med" air Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.