TEMPORADA 3

TEMPORADA 3 (SEGUNDA PARTE):

13) Fortune's Fools

Written - Jason Cahill

Directed - Michael Katleman

Greene concludes that he and Marquez have very little in common and asks Ross for advice on how to end the relationship. However, Marquez ends it amicably first.

Carter thinks Benton's unwillingness to deal with Gant's death is affecting Benton's work performance. When Benton refuses to sign them up for any difficult surgeries, Carter gets angry. Later, Benton and Carter are slated to give an oral presentation to the surgical staff.

Unfortunately, Benton never comes, making Carter appear unprepared. Instead, Benton accidentally sees his girlfriend, Carla, who informs him that she is pregnant. Disgusted and unaware of this new development, a frustrated Carter tells Benton that he intends to take a position that emergency room attending physician Dr. Angela Hicks (recurring guest star CCH POUNDER) offered him on her surgical team.

Meanwhile, a newspaper article blames the emergency room nurses' strike for a homeless man's death. Hathaway, who gave him the wrong blood type, believes the strike was not a factor and that she is responsible. She tells this to a reporter and is suspended for doing so.

Greene and Weaver show six prospective interns around the emergency room. Each takes three interns. Weaver's tour is boring, but Greene allows his interns to get involved in treating patients. When the tour is over, none of Weaver's interns applies for a position. But all of Greene's interns rank the emergency room as their top choice. Impressed, Anspaugh tells Greene that a tenured teaching spot is available on the faculty.

Greene treats a woman, Heather Morgan (CAITLIN DULANY), who asks him to meet her at a bar later that evening. Since he wants to date Heather, he gives her case to Doyle and shows up at the bar.

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14) Who's Appy Now?

Written - Neal Baer

Directed - Felix Enrique Alcala

Greene cancels a date to make dates with two other women on the same night. But all three women, including County General's consulting psychiatrist Dr. Nina Pomerantz (recurring guest star JAMI GERTZ -"Twister"), discover the truth and get angry. Meanwhile, Fischer, the doctor from Infectious Diseases, enlists Jeanie's help in testing emergency room personnel for an infection. Later, Jeanie and Fischer kiss.

Doyle and Carter's work relationship changes from competitive to cooperative after Doyle stops Carter from using his fingers to remove a razor-sharp bullet from an AIDS patient. Later, Doyle, who grew up as a policeman's daughter, teaches Carter how to shoot a gun at a firing range. Doyle casually reveals that she is a lesbian when she sees her ex-girlfriend there.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old cystic fibrosis patient Jad Houston (CHAD LINDBERG) is in respiratory distress. At first, Ross believes that the boy has signed an order not to be resuscitated, but after he discovers that Jad is too young to make that decision, Ross saves his life. Ross convinces Jad's mother (VERONICA CARTWRIGHT - "The Witches of Eastwick") to sign the order as Jad wishes, but when Jad almost dies again, she forces a reluctant Ross to revive him.

Also, Carter performs a perfect emergency appendectomy on his former teacher, Benton. And Nurse Haleh Adams (recurring guest star YVETTE FREEMAN) unsuccessfully takes over the suspended Hathaway's duties.

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15) The Long Way Around

Written - Lydia Woodward

Directed - Christopher Chulack

Hathaway remains on suspension from the hospital. While Hathaway is shopping at a family-owned neighborhood store, two teenagers, Duncan (EWAN McGREGOR - "Trainspotting," "Emma") and James (Currie Graham), rob it. The teens had planned a simple, nonviolent heist, but the situation escalates when the elderly store owner shoots and injures James. Duncan shoots the owner, and several customers are injured as well. Someone escapes and calls the police. Trapped inside the store, the robbers take hostages, including Hathaway and her 10-year-old neighbor, Robert (MASON GAMBLE - "Dennis the Menace").

After persuading the thieves to allow her to tend to the injured, Hathaway uses her medical skills and crude implements from the store to help the victims. Unfortunately, she is unable to save the elderly shopkeeper. She also negotiates with Duncan and James. Hathaway calms Duncan, who is mortified that he killed the old man. Despite the tense situation, Hathaway sympathizes with him because she, too, killed an old man by accidentally giving him the wrong blood.

Later, Duncan attempts to escape, taking Hathaway with him. However, a police officer shoots him. The standoff ends. Duncan and James are transported to the emergency room, where Hathaway reluctantly relinquishes control of her patient, Duncan, to Ross. The hostages are fine and owe their lives to Hathaway. Later, Duncan dies. James will probably live to be prosecuted.

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16) Faith

Written - John Wells

Directed - Jonathan Kaplan

The nurses get a new contract, and Hathaway is reinstated after an investigation proves her not negligent in a patient's death. The nurses belatedly realize that she is a good manager. On her first day back at work, Hathaway leaves early to take the medical school admissions test.

Benton tells his pregnant girlfriend, Carla, that he wants to be a supportive father. She informs him that she wants nothing from him. She believes Benton only cares about himself. Later, Benton remorsefully confides to Hicks that he was too concerned with his own career to care about Gant's feelings.

Greene's 37-year-old Down's syndrome patient needs a heart transplant. However, hospital therapist and transplant committee member Dr. Nina Pomerantz recommended not to put the patient on a waiting list in the past. Greene argues with Pomerantz, but the patient's elderly mother supports the decision because she does not want her daughter to outlive her and be left alone.

Meanwhile, Jeanie wants to do something spontaneous and asks Fischer to attend an opera with her. He treats her to a picnic in very cold weather. He suggests they make love, but Jeanie wants to let the relationship develop slowly.

Cystic fibrosis patient Jad Houston signs a do-not-resuscitate order upon reaching age 18. Ross removes him from the respirator, and Jad survives. Also, Carter disagrees with Anspaugh's diagnosis and is proven correct, impressing Anspaugh.

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17) Tribes

Written - Lance Gentile

Directed - Richard Thorpe

Two 17-year-old victims are rushed into the emergency room after being shot during a drug deal that went awry at a diner. One is a white diner employee, Billy Brodie, and the other is a black patron, Kenny Law, wearing gang attire. Billy looks more seriously injured and is quickly treated by many emergency room workers. But Kenny is actually the more critical patient, eventually dying. At first, the medical staff assumes that Kenny is a gang member, but they later learn that he was an innocent bystander and high school basketball star. Billy, who survives, is a drug dealer.

Because of confidentiality rules, Greene prevents Doyle from informing Kenny's teammates that Billy is a criminal. Later, a player from a rival team is brought in with a gunshot wound.

Meanwhile, Hathaway convinces a rape victim to charge the man who drugged her with a substance that causes loss of consciousness and amnesia.

After the pregnant Carla has a car accident, she goes into premature labor. Jeanie treats her and stops the labor with drugs. Jeanie also discovers that Benton is the child's father. Later, Benton peeks at Carla's ultrasound and sees his unborn son. Also, Benton joins Dr.Hicks' general surgery team, which means that he'll be working with Carter again.

Greene doesn't detect a serious heart problem in a patient until Carter makes the correct diagnosis. Also, Greene must care for his young daughter, Rachel (recurring guest star YVONNE ZIMA), when his ex-wife, Jennifer (recurring guest star CHRISTINE HARNOS), goes to Florida to visit her own mother, who suffered a stroke.

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18) You Bet Your Life

Written - Paul Manning

Directed - Christopher Chulack

Jeanie is in a sour mood because her viral count is back up, just in time to "commemorate" her anniversary with Al. Greg Fischer tells her not to worry about her count, and proposes changing the significance of the occasion: he invites her to a weekend getaway, and she agrees to go. Meanwhile, Jeanie finds that Al has left her some flowers, which she tries to give back. "I don't want to celebrate a marriage that was a disaster from start to finish," she tells Al, who won't take the flowers back. "Give them to a patient or something," he says, before walking off. In the meantime, Jeanie treats a woman found bleeding to death in a parked car; the woman, Suzanne Alner, tried to commit suicide by ingesting an avalanche of pills, including AZT.

Found in the car with Suzanne are photos of a little girl, and it comes to light that Suzanne caught AIDS and gave it to her daughter. Suzanne's estranged husband Roger is called. When Jeanie asks Suzanne if there's anything she wants to say to Roger, she replies, "That I'm sorry." When Roger comes in, though, he won't come any closer than standing outside the door. When Jeanie tells him that Suzanne is in pain, Roger says, "Good," adding, "I've been waiting for this for a long time." A little later, Suzanne, who's gone blind from the methanol she ingested, hears Greg's voice and thinks he's Roger. "Forgive me," she repeatedly mumbles in her delirium. "Just say it," Jeanie hisses at Greg, but Greg can't bring himself to do it, and Suzanne dies without ever having heard her husband forgive her. This casts a pall on Jeanie's mood, and she backs out of her weekend date with Greg. "Because of what happened with her?" he asks. "No... I don't know." After work, Jeanie visits Al, and apologizes for being so harsh earlier. He asks if she really thought their marriage was a disaster from start-to-finish, to which she replies, "We had a good beginning." She tells him, "I don't want to be angry anymore, I don't want to be that kind of person," and they share a hug.

Carter is treating an ER patient again, Mr. Bartok, a gambler who's experienced vomiting since yesterday and thinks he might have caught the flu. Carter discovers that this problem is much graver: an artery carrying blood to his small intestine is blocked, and he needs surgery right away or else he won't live 72 hours. "Don't worry," Carter tells him. "The chief of staff is on-call, and you're gonna get the best care in Chicago." To Carter's dismay, though, Dr. Anspaugh declines to take Bartok into surgery, because he's going into shock; to perform surgery on him at this point would definitely kill him. Carter glumly delivers this news to Bartok, and prepares him for ICU, but Bartok lays into Carter. "You writing me off?... You said I was gonna get the best care in the city. You gave me your word."

At this, Carter reverses himself and takes Bartok into surgery anyway, and gets Dr. Hicks to reluctantly assist, although he doesn't tell her about Anspaugh's refusal. During the surgury, Anspaugh barges into the OR and demands an explanation. He tells Carter to show up in his office at 5:00 to grovel on behalf of his residency. At the appointed hour, Carter is faced down by Anspaugh and Hicks, both of whom are angry. Carter apologizes -- not for going ahead with the surgery, but for not being forceful enough in presenting his case, and for not telling Hicks about Anspaugh's decision. In answer to Carter's question, Hicks tells him that Mr. Bartok survived the surgery. Later, Hicks delivers the verdict: Carter is on probation, but he's still a resident. Carter thanks her, and she replies, "Thank Dr. Anspaugh. I wanted to kick you out. You won't get another chance."

Peter discovers that Carla has been tested for gestational diabetes and tries to get Dr. Coburn to tell him what's going on. Coburn shuts him out, telling him to ask the mother. Peter's finding it hard to do that, though, since Carla won't return his calls. Later that day, Peter lies to get Carla's ultrasound tape, and shows it to an expert consultant, who tells him that the baby appears to be fine. When the doctor starts asking Peter questions about his "wife's" treatment, Peter has to admit that they're not married, and in fact aren't talking. "I don't really know you very well," the doctor replies, "and I'm getting the feeling I'm doing something I shouldn't, and I'm starting to resent it." After work, Peter visits Carla personally, and tells her over the intercom that he just wants to support his kid. She won't allow him to come up, but finally walks down to see him face to face. "Come by Saturday morning. I could use some help around the house."

Anspaugh tells Mark that the search committee has received his application for the teaching position, but he's competeing with Kerry to get it. (Kerry is really aiming for a research slot, but is applying for teaching as a "fallback".) The problem is that Mark hasn't published anything, whereas Kerry has published seven articles, and Anspaugh suggests to him that he finds an interesting case and write it up. Mark thinks he has such a case when he treats Ms. Ida Blinnder, an obese woman who's complaining of intense pain but five bouts with surgery haven't found anything. His nose in a textbook, Mark pronounces that Ms. Blinnder has prophyria, a rare condition which can cause her symptoms. His diagnosis is premature, however; Haleh discovers that Ida is a psyche case, and just likes to have surgery performed on her. Mark calls Nina Pomerantz down to take her. Nina knows Ida well, and warns Mark not to leave her alone with loose objects, but they're too late; Ida has swallowed a tray of surgical instruments to "force the issue" of surgery. The instruments can be retrieved via an endoscopy, which Mark convinces Ida is even better than surgery, since she can stay awake to watch, but after he dashes off to pick up Rachel from school (see MISCELLANEOUS THREADS), he comes back to find that Kerry has already performed the procedure -- and is talking about co-authoring a paper on this unusual patient.

Carol's day primarily consists of clashing with Maggie Doyle, who serves as a constant reminder of what Carol believes are her own inadequacies. Despite Doug's reassurances, Carol is certain that she did badly on the med school entrance exam, and it doesn't help when she has to stand by and watch Maggie have trouble giving a patient a blood gas. Later, the two squabble over an elderly man with renal failure. First, Carol wants to call an attending to do the central line, then she disagrees with Maggie's pronouncement that the man needs vasotec to get his heart going. Doug professionally sides with Maggie, but later tries to comfort Carol. When she complains that Maggie made it through med school and she can't even get through the door, Doug idly remarks, "You can get through my door." "Anyone wearing a bra can get through your door," Carol retorts. Doug's protest that he's reformed happens just as Betsy and Jeffrey's ambulance pulls up (see MISCELLANEOUS THREADS), and the two observe the prom dates kiss before Carol excuses herself.

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19) Calling Dr. Hathaway

Story - Nael Baer

Directed - Paris Barclay

Carol's MCAT results are back, and she's so sure that it's bad news, she won't open the envelope, provoking Doug to snatching it in a fit of horseplay. She retrives it as the two walk into work, whereupon Kerry addresses Carol as "Dr. Einstein". It seems that Kerry, being on the admissions board of the hospital's med school, has already been given Carol's scores, which are much better than Carol expected--eighty-fifth percentile--which has Kerry already jockeying for Carol's application before she goes "Ivy League". While Kerry tries to devote energy to teaching Carol procedures, Carol spends a lot of her day dealing with Andrea Thompson, the worried mother of a toddler who recently had heart surgery, and is admitted after he couldn't be roused from sleep.

Andrea wants to stay in the ER while Doug works on young Joel, but her questions distract Doug, and Carol moves to escort Andrea into the hallway where she patiently explains the details of what's happening to her son. At Andrea's insistence, Carol promises to let her re-enter the ER if Joel wakes up or if his condition slides. The latter happens while Kerry is helping Carol "appreciate" a pseudocyst on another patient, however; Joel goes into cardiac arrest and by the time Carol brings Andrea back in, Chuny is announcing the tot's time of death. Carol feels awful for having let Andrea down, and offers to let the mother hold the body of her little boy once last time, setting Andrea up in an empty room with Joel, and telling her to take all the time she needs to "say goodbye". Kerry comes in with a drunk who needs attention, and wants to use the spare bed, but Carol won't let her disturb Andrea. "I admire your compassion," Kerry tells her, "but if you're going to be a med student, you've got to stop thinking like a nurse." A little later, a pensive Carol tells Doug, "I'm really, really good at my job. So why do I want to change that?" Despite being doctor for a day, Carol joins the other nurses after work for beer and pool at Crockett's, and when they wonder if she's given up the idea of med school, she replies, "Let's just say I really like what I do."

Already on Anspaugh's bad side for having outflanked him on a patient's treatment last week, Carter lands himself further in the doghouse by showing up late and unprepared for rounds. Physically, the doghouse is a lab where Carter uses graspers to practice his laparoscopic maneuvers, which Maggie Doyle also tries her hand at when she stops in. Maggie offers to assist when a trauma call pulls in Carter on an emergency patient of Benton's, a GSW whose life Carter saves by stopping the bleeding with a Foley-balloon trick he read about in People magazine. Even Peter offers an accolade at this feat, although it's not enough to convince Anspaugh to let Carter scrub in when the patient gets sent upstairs; instead, Dale Edson is given his slot and told to take a history. "Can't win 'em all, Carter," says Peter sympathetically with a pat on the shoulder, while Maggie remarks, "Man, you are in the doghouse." Later, however, while Edson and Anspaugh are in surgery with another case, Gunderson, the GSW, goes into respiratory arrest, an allergic reaction to an antibiotic prescribed by Edson.

Carter discovers that Edson didn't bother to take a full history of the patient, and apparently didn't ask for any known allergic reactions to drugs. After pulling Edson out of surgery, Carter warns him that he'd better have an explanation for Anspaugh. Instead, Edson covers his tracks by surreptitiously filling in the history with, "Patient states no known drug allergies". The ruse works on Anspaugh, who praises the "proper, thorough history". Instead of spilling the beans, Carter hides outside, where Maggie finds him. He brings her up to date, and she urges him to tell Anspaugh the truth, although he's reluctant because "surgeons don't rat on each other." All four doctors are operating a little later, on a man who fell off a high ladder onto a car, and Maggie tries to force the issue into the open by prompting Carter and Edson about the Gunderson case. Edson doesn't come clean, though, and Carter fails to speak up, at which Maggie says to him privately, "You sure told him." Carter confronts Edson alone afterward. Edson admits he screwed up, but definitely doesn't want to get caught, and tells Carter, "I'll do anything you want," if he keeps his mouth shut. Carter replies, "I don't want to have anything to do with you. But if you try anything like this again, I'll bury you, I promise." Later, a sympathetic Maggie offers Carter a bottle from her Heiniken stash. She suggests he talk to someone whose judgement he trusts, like Benton. "You're great," he tells her. "You're honest, you're funny, you're beautiful... I don't suppose that you...?" Maggie answers the unfinished question with, "Not a chance."

Peter Benton is taking some time out of his day to help Carla, the mother of his child, cope with her condition. Because Carla has gestational diabetes, Peter has to teach her how to test her blood four times a day. Caressing her face, he tells her he has to go to work, at which she says, "Just go." When a nurse fails to deliver her insulin, she calls Peter at work, and he pays her another house call. He had intended to return to duty, but he finds himself taking a personal day from work (due to "family emergency") and doing Carla's grocery shopping for her. While at the supermarket, he runs into his sister Jackie, who is pleasantly surprised to see Peter taking some responsibilty for his situation. When he complains about Carla's mood swings, Jackie tells him that this is just due to a pregnant woman's hormones.

"When I was pregnant with Steven," she says, "I had Walt cooking and doing the laundry." She suggests that Peter consider taking even more time off from work, which gives him pause. That night, he has the hospital send his charts, so he can do them at home after he leaves Carla, but she needs another shot, and wants him to stay. At that point, Carter, who had wanted to talk to Benton about the Edson incident (see PLOT TWO), knocks on the door with Benton's charts, but Peter takes them from him and shuts the door before Carter can say anything to him about what he really came for.

Mark was supposed to talk to Rachel's brownie troop today, but he forgot to request a shift change at work for the occasion. The lapse earns Rachel's ire, which even an offer of a weekend Six Flags trip can't relieve. After consulting with her concerning the case of the Smythes (see MISCELLANEOUS THREADS), Mark complains to Nina Pomerantz about the situation, but after Nina challenges him to find a way out of it, Mark brings the entire brownie troop in for an impromptu tour of the ER, which seems to lighten Rachel's spirits. That night, Mark and Nina wind up taking their respective daughters out bowling. Making a new friend in Nina's daughter Emma seems to brighten Rachel's spirits, and there's other benefits as well. Staring at Nina from across the table at the bowling alley, Mark proposes going out again soon, which Nina agrees with--"next time, without kids." The two trade a brief kiss across the table before being interrupted by the kids.

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20) Random Acts

Written - Carol Flint

Directed - Jonathan Kaplan

Mark runs into more than one confrontational character in the course of a single day, the most prevalent being Chris Law, the brother of Kenny Law who died in hospital care after being shot as an innocent bystander in a drug deal several weeks ago. Chris blames the hospital, and specifically Mark Greene, for his brother's death, for what he perceived as racially-motivated procedure on the part of the ER staff. He shows up at the hospital now with a $19,000 medical bill which he insists that his mother ("who pays every bill") will not pay, and he's further incensed by the fact that Kenny's body was lost for two days after treatment, necessitating a delay for the funeral. Confronted by Chris in the parking deck, Mark tries to mollify him, but Chris threatens that if his mother receives any more paperwork from the hospital, "maybe I'm gonna kick some ass. Maybe I'll start with yours."

Earlier in the day, Mark was also shouted at by a deranged patient in a wheelchair, and by a father who was angry at Mark for wanting to leave his daughter in the care of a mere intern (Maggie Doyle). None of these incidents seem to ruffle Mark; talking with Doug, he dismisses Chris Law as just trying to "blow off some steam". Later in the day, Mark is physically assaulted in a restroom by a man in a dark hood. The attack is fairly prolonged and vicious, leaving a bloodied Mark unable to speak or walk; he's only discovered when Doug happens to walk into the restroom. Doug and new resident Anna Del Amico (see MISC. THREADS) help get Mark stablized in the ER, and when he finally regains consciousness, he asks Doug, "What happened?" Doug tells him, "You got beat up, buddy," and assures him he'll be all right, which doesn't stop Mark from repeating, "What happened?"

Dr. Hicks pulls Peter Benton from a thymectomy to assist specialists Fecteau and Loesch on a kidney transplant. Honored by the opportunity, Benton obtains permission for Carter to also assist, on the donor team side. Delighted that Benton would go the extra mile for him, Carter tells him gratefully, "It means a lot to me that--", but Benton interrupts the accolade. "I'll see you up there, okay?" The transplant is being carried out on a thirty-five year old woman, Jean Twomey, who has lupus; her new kidney is coming from her younger brother Carl. Carter immediately makes a connection with the siblings, who obviously love each other very much, and promises to check in with them after the operation.

Carter actually gets a chance to assist on both sides of the transplant, as well as being the one who carries the organ basin from one OR to the other (at which Benton instinctively murmurs, "Oh my God..."). The operation isn't flawless, however; Carl Twomey starts hemorrhaging after his kidney is taken away, which requires additional surgery and additional time under anesthesia. Carter and Benton both attend, by invitation, Fecteau and Loesch's "post-game wrap-up" debriefing session, but Carter silently leaves to check on Jean Twomey once he receives word she's woken up. Jean is upset to hear that her brother underwent complications, but Carter assures her that he's all right, and will be brought in when he awakes. Peter finds him and tries to chastise him for leaving the debriefing, to which Carter responds that he promised the siblings that he'd be there for them after the operation. "Is that a problem?" Hesitance on his face, Peter replies, "I don't know."

Jeanie has been spending more time with ex-husband Al as of late, and even spent the night on his sofa, after deciding that she didn't want to be alone, but didn't feel right asking anyone else. Al placidly lets her stay, and doesn't ask any questions. Before she has to go to work, Al lets it slip that his meds routine has a chink because he's proven "resistant to something-or-other". Jeanie offers to try to get him into a new study on nucleoside analogs at County, which is headed up by the infectious disease staff, including Greg Fischer. Without telling Greg that she's been spending time with Al, she asks Greg to get Al an interview, to which he agrees.

Greg, actually, decides to interview Al himself, and when he points out that the fact that Al lives alone is the one mitigating factor against inclusion in the study, Al eagerly mentions that Jeanie is "kinda back in my life" and has been staying over recently. Greg gets Al into the study, but sourly confronts Jeanie in private. He's irritated at having been left in the dark at these developments, and also intimates that Al is manipulating Jeanie to "get the latest meds". Jeanie hotly denies that Al is manipulating her, but when Greg challenges, "But you still love him, don't you?", Jeanie tentatively answers, "I don't know."

Doug has resumed an interest in golf, and tries to get Mark into it as well, despite what Mark calls "the whole doctor-golf cliche". Doug also seems unusually cozy with Anspaugh, aparently angling to play at the prestigious Fair Oaks course, at which Anspaugh is a member. Later, Anspaugh refers a patient to Doug, young P.K. Palmer ("of the railroad Palmers"). The elder Palmer is also a member at Fair Oaks, and Anspaugh hints that Palmer might make a good reference. Nine-year-old P.K. took a spill, and as Doug is patching him up, listens as the boy's nanny tells him that P.K. has had a number of accidents. Doug tests P.K.'s eyesight, and calls in an opthamologist.

Carol, who's been witnessing the four-star treatment given young P.K., grumbles to Doug about how being a Palmer must entitle one to the best possible care. P.K. really does turn out to have retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disorder, and Doug privately cautions P.K.'s parents to be kind with him, since sometimes kids with RP tend to blame themselves for the disorder. After witnessing this, Carol apologizes for questioning Doug's integrity. "As a doctor, at least," quips Doug. "You are so glib these days," says Carol. "I don't know you anymore. I don't know what matters to you." "Me either," replies Doug.

Someone finds a notebook under the admit desk that contains a story written like a sleazy romance novel depiction of the ER staffers' lives, with each character a thinly disguised caricature -- head nurse "Carly Halloran", attending "Martin Bean", and so on. Thanks to Jerry making copies, nearly everyone gets their hands on it, and nearly everyone wonders, who wrote it? By the end of the day, several people including Kerry, Jerry and Maggie have decided that the mystery author must be Carol, despite her repeated denials.

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21) Make a Wish

Story - Joe Sachs

Directed - Richard Thorpe

Carla's contractions have started, and this time, it looks like there's no stopping the birth, even though it's still two months early. Peter is a mess in the delivery room, all but ignoring the mother of his child while haranguing the doctors about their treatment of her. Dr. Coburn takes him aside and tells him firmly what his job is: hold Carla's hand, help her get through this, and otherwise shut up. The baby finally comes out, assisted by new resident Anna Del Amico, who's covering for Doug, but the infant's discoloration is worrisome, and after a failed attempt to pinken it up, it's moved to NICU. Peter gets the lowdown from the specialist in charge, Dr. Tabash, who tells him that the baby's lungs aren't getting enough oxygen. When Tabash asks the baby's name, Peter replies numbly, "He doesn't have one." Meanwhile, Jeanie Boulet finds out from Anna that Carla just delivered. Jeanie goes upstairs to find Peter standing in the hallway.

"Carla asked me to wait outside," he explains. Jeanie remarks that he probably hasn't shared this ordeal with anyone he knows. "You do have friends, Peter... a community... and you need to stop standing in the hall." An hour later, Tabash reports that the surfactant given the baby to help open its lungs hasn't done much good. There's now an important decision to be made. Tabash suggests the use of nitrous oxide, which could help, but some studies have shown that nitrous oxide may cause bleeding in the brain (leading to retardation or CP). On the other hand, continued use of high pressure oxygen may lead to permanent lung disease. Tabash tells Peter to talk it over with Carla, and let him know of their decision. After apologizing to Dr. Coburn for his behavior during delivery ("Today was the first day I was ever afraid"), Peter goes to Carla, where he tells her they have a decision to make together, and proceeds to tell her of the risks involved.

Today is Mark Greene's first day back at work since his assault, and while he claims that he's perfectly capabale--overdue, in fact--of returning to work, the others can't help but notice him wince when he brushes past objects, and that the left side of his face is still very bruised and swollen. A security representative comes by to explain the new measures that will be put in place. They include bulletproof glass on the ambulance bay, extra armed guards and security cameras, although no cameras in bathrooms because of privacy issues. Mark tells Doug that he believes his attack was a "wake-up call"; certain his attack was personally motivated, he wants to begin a serious re-examination patients and their families are treated.

However, a police detective that visits later gives Mark confusing news. Apparently, every patient and patient's relative checked out by the police came up clean. Disturbed by the notion that he may have been the victim of a merely random act of violence, Mark's frustration grows, and he walks outside to chill out, where Kerry finds him. "I do what I do because I'm not the victim. I treat the victim." Kerry tells him that they can't allow themselves to consider themselves candidates for victimhood, because if they did, with the knowledge they carry, they wouldn't be able to walk out their front door. Later, as he's walking out to his car in the parking deck, Mark finds himself rattled by the approach of an oncoming stranger, who, of course, just walks by without doing anything.

Carter has something on his mind, and tries to talk to Benton about it. He's gradually realizing that surgery is a field that doesn't allow one much contact with the patient, since to surgeons, the whole issue is procedure, not personality. "Maybe I'm in the wrong place," he muses. Peter isn't of much help; it's clear Carter is speaking a foreign language to him. Later, Carter treats a Mr. Lensky, who's experiencing stomach pains. He gets an x-ray and consults with Anspaugh, who berates him for bringing him down just for this. "Any senior resident" could have handled it, he says; "think twice next time." The film reveals that Lensky needs surgery, but Lensky refuses to have it, because his father died while undergoing a gall bladder removal.

Lensky is bitter because the surgeons told his dad that everything would be fine, and then couldn't look his mother in the face while delivering the bad news. Carter is inclined to accede to Lensky's wishes, but know that Anspaugh will tear his head off ("again"), he tries to find documented evidence to show that Lensky may not even need surgery. Even this doesn't impress Anspaugh. "Do you think this is about what he wants?" Anspaugh asks Carter. Anspaugh says it bothers him that Lensky will risk death by leaving the care of the hospital, "but it bothers me even more that you are so willing to help him do that." That night, at Carol's birthday party (see PLOT FOUR), Carter asks Kerry what it would take to switch his residency from surgery to emergency medicine.

It's Carol's birthday, and like last year, Doug doesn't have a moral compunction against letting others know, and threatens Carol with a surprise party. A little later, though, Doug tells Carol that her friends are already planning a surprise party, "'cause I just got invited." However, he was able to put the kibosh on it by telling them that he and Carol were having dinner. Carol isn't believing this, but the two make dinner plans anyway. First, they have to treat a boy named Russell, who has a fractured wrist and will only calm down once given a drugged lollypop, whereupon he gets Doug and Carol to sing to him (Doug's song of choice is "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"). Before their dinner date, Carol insists on going home to change, even though it's just for burgers, but when she and Doug walk into her house, they find that the surprise party she dreaded has, in fact, happened.

"Worked out pretty well, don't you think?" says Doug with a snicker. While the two are standing in the kitchen alone, Carol asks him, "What is this all about? This little dance you did today... this party... you." Doug replies that she seems to always have a rotten birthday, so he wanted to make sure she had a good one for a change. "Thank you," says Carol. When it's time for her to blow out her candles, she and her friends all place rings on the cake. "It's so that you get your wish," she explains to Doug.

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22) One More For The Road

Written- John Wells

Directed- Chris Chulack

It's a dark, rainy morning, and Mark is experiencing storms of a different sort. After we see him sitting naked in a chair in his apartment, staring out the window, he goes to work where Jerry finds him in the restroom where he was attacked, sitting sullenly next to the broken mirror. Mark tells Maggie Doyle that he decided to take her advice and buy a gun, a Sig Sauer nine-miilimeter (a choice Maggie approves of). Doug asks him how things are going with Rachel, whom Mark reports is now back with Jenn, who's apparently returned from Florida. Mark also asks Doug if he can write him a script for some Percodan, for his pain, which is keeping him up nights. He's due to see a hand doctor on Monday, and Doug tentatively agrees to prescribe "a few, to tide you over", but Mark laughs, "I could use a few more than that." During the day, Mark and Maggie treat a Mr. Munder, an athlete with heredity coronary problems who's been having chest pain.

The doctors pull Munder through, despite him having a heart attack in the ER, and as Mark tries to slip out for the day, Mrs. Munder attempts to thank him for saving her husband's life, although Mark doesn't seem to recognize her at first. He also brushes off E. Ray's observation that "it must be incredible, making a difference in people's lives". Mark heads home on the subway, where he's accosted by a trio of Latino teenagers who want some money for food from him. They persistently antagonize him, but they don't actually threaten him or show any signs of having weapons When Mark rebuffs them and gets off at his stop, the kids decide to follow him off. They walk a short ways away from the train, at which point Mark whirls around and points his new gun at them. "Get back on the train!" he yells repeatedly, and "Shut up!" when they are protesting, while backtracking all the while. Mark chases the kids back onto the train without firing a shot, and walks away unscathed, but the incident apparently has a deep effect on him, and he later chucks his new weapon into the river.

While waiting on another administrator, Carter runs into Anspaugh, whom he tells that he'd like to talk to, at some point during the day. He's not ready now, really, but Anspaugh insists on having the conversation while the two have a spare minute. Carter drops the bomb: he's contemplating leaving surgery in favor of an ER residency. He compliments the surgical training he's received, but "ultimately, I don't belong in surgery, and I would suspect that you would agree with me." Anspaugh turns livid, replying that he most certainly would not agree. He points out that Carter entered into a contract with the institution. "This is not summer camp. You cannot just run home to mommy. You're going to suck it up and stick to it. That's what men do."

Despite Anspaugh's strong refusal, Carter goes to Mark to enlist his support. His mind being on other things (see PLOT ONE), Mark is surprised to hear of Carter's decision--and offers less than his full personal advocation. He cautions that Carter's chances of getting a slot are slim, since he's missed this year's match, and directs him to seek Kerry's help instead of his own, saying "Weaver has a better relationship with Anspaugh than I do," which leaves Carter with a disappointed expression. A little later, Carter helps Kerry and Jeanie treat Burt Curwane, a ninety-two-year-old man with a distended abdomen. Mr. Curwane's wife dotes on him, but apparently hasn't been giving him the treatment he really needs at home, and is frail enough to look like she might need someone to take care of her, in fact.

Aside, Carter tells Kerry that Anspaugh was "less than enthusiastic" but asks her to put in a good word for him. This she agrees to do, although she concurs with Mark's opinion that a paid slot will be hard to come by. "Oh, you don't have to pay me," Carter replies, almost as if surprised. "I'll be fine." Carter and Jeanie talk to Mrs. Curwane in a vain attempt to get her to understand her husband's situation, but she seems deaf to their words. "You just fix him up and I'll take him home," she says in reply to Carter's suggestion of a retirement home. "That's where he belongs." Concerned about both aged spouses, Carter consults with a group of specialists including a social worker, wanting the Curwanes to ideally to enter a home together. This care interferes with Carter's scheduled rounds with Anspaugh, however, and when Carter tells Anspaugh that he won't be joining him, Anspaugh's voice rises, and he threatens that Carter won't be able to attend future rounds if he doesn't comply.

"I'll be there if and when I can!" Carter barks, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. After the shift, he chases down Anspaugh as the senior attending is about to drive out of the parking deck. Carter explains, "I can be a competent surgeron, but I'll never be a great surgeon. I can be a great doctor... a doctor who spends time with his patients... who's there for them. I'm good at it." In reply, Anspaugh reminisces about his early days as a doctor, and how he sometimes still wonders if he made the right decision to be a surgeon. "But you seem so certain," says Anspaugh. "You find me in the morning," he eventually says. "We'll see if we can't work something out."

When Doug comes in to work, he chats briefly with Anna Del Amico, who reveals that she's temporarily living in a motel, but would like to move into the West Side of town. Doug recommends she talk to Carol, who grew up there. She does so, and Carol is startled to find that Anna is the oldest of eight children, whose father was a mailman. Anna treats Chuck Martinez, a kid with hip pains; she orders an extensive series of tests including arthrocentesis, but when he finds out about it, Doug cancels the tests and sends the boy home with just Advil. Anna lays into Doug for overriding her on her patient, despite that Doug determined that Anna's tests weren't necessary. "You want to gamble with your patients' lives, that's fine, but don't do it with mine." A bit later, the EMTs bring in Charlie, the fourteen-year-old hooker whom Doug befriended. Charlie is now a junkie as well, and was found face down in the mud, stained with her own vomit.

When she wakes up, she tells Doug she won't go back to foster care; while at the home she's been in during this interim, "the guy tried to do me, and his wife is a drunk." Doug tries to call Charlie's mom, but a "friend" of Charlie's named Tommy drops by and tells Doug that Charlie's mom is in prison on a drug charge. Tommy obviously expects Charlie out soon. "Tell her I'll be on the corner after ten," he fairly sneers. Doug wants to get Charlie into rehab, and retrieves a social worker, but by the time they get back, Charlie has bolted. Doug and Anna hit the streets to find her and Tommy. Anna tells Doug that Charlie reminds her of herself, at one point, and manages to find out from some teen prostitutes that Charlie and Tommy have already scored "a good squat" for the evening.

With their search a washout, Doug proposes getting something to eat, to which Anna replies, "As in 'something to eat', or maybe something to eat that leads to something else?" She elaborates by suggesting that they pick up take-out and head back to her motel room. However, when we see Doug next, he's left Anna and is waiting on Carol to return from her big date with Dr. Toby Minz. Carol is surprised to see Doug. "So Toby doesn't get to come in the house?" Doug asks, smiling. When Carol asks what he's doing there, he kisses her, a kiss which she readily reciprocates.

Peter is still keeping vigil at the side of his newborn son, who is still in very serious condition after his premature birth. The ordeal is so draining that Peter even finds himself distracted in surgery with Dr. Hicks, and when the NICU pages him, he actually leaves surgery to head down there (to the astonishment of Hicks). When he arrives, he finds good news: the nitric oxide treatment has proven generally helpful, and the baby has been moved from the oscillating vent to the respirator. He finds Carla there as well, and neither of them have had much sleep. Dr. Tabash tries to sound hopeful, but at Carla's goading, he admits that the complications in the baby's birth have a chance in resulting in some brain damage.

He concludes optimistically that "babies are resilient. We'll just have to wait and see." A little later, Peter watches from outside as Carla holds the baby. He tells the surgical nurse that he hasn't held him yet, and she observes that the baby is "small but strong". When Peter says that they haven't named yet, partially out of a fear of bad luck, she offers the opinion that "it should be safe now" to do so. Afterward, Jackie drops by the hospital and finds Peter praying in the chapel. They reminisce about how Peter used to hide at church from their father, who would "figure you were already repenting and wouldn't have the heart to take the belt to you."

Peter asks Jackie if he was really perceived as being that calculating, and Jackie demurs, saying that Dad knew "you were harder on yourself than any of us could have ever been". "I didn't know it was going to be this hard," Peter tells her. Jackie assures him that he's going to love his son more than you can ever imagine. "You'll have to [handle this]. That's your son up there. The world is hard sometimes, it can't always go the way you want." The end of the day finds Peter getting the opportunity to hold his son, while Carla stands outside the room, watching them through the window.

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