Jeanie meets Kerry at Doc Magoo's before going in to work that morning.  She tells her that she, Mark and Dr. Anspaugh will be meeting to discuss her working in the ER and not to worry.  At the hospital, they meet and Anspaugh wants Kerry and Mark to come up with a policy for HIV positive workers.  He wants them to work together to do this.  Charlie brings the sick baby, Ahmed Lopez, she has been looking after in for Doug to help.  Maggie is taking care of a woman who has been in several times after being beat up by her husband.  A homeless man has been set on fire by a bunch of kids and he is rushed in after his dog, Nick, found some help.  The man wants Mark to promise to take care of his dog if he doesn't make it.  The man dies and Mark tries to find someone who would like to keep the dog.   Doug takes care of the baby and he finds a mass near his kidney.  He will need surgery and his mother's consent.  Charlie is afraid to tell Gloria, the mother.   Doug has to call the Department of Children and Family Services (D.C.F.S.).  Carter invites Gant to go with him to his holiday dinner with his family.  Gant gladly accepts.  Carter later gets invited to spend time with Abby Keaton and he tells Gant that something else has come up, Gant tells him that he understands.  The staff are gathered around talking about a worker in the ER who has AIDS.  They all wonder who it is and how they got it.  Jeanie hears them and is tired of all the gossip, so you walks up and tells them that it is her.  They all get silent.  Mark decides to give Nick the dog to Rachel for Christmas.  He and Doug are washing him in the lounge and the dog runs off.  Mark goes to run after him and he slips and hurts his head.  He is bleeding and he needs stitches.  He wants Jeanie to do the stitches for him.  Abby talks to Benton and tells him that she is leaving and can not recommend him for another pediatric rotation.  The woman who was beaten by her husband is still with Maggie when her husband comes in to check on her.  Maggie stalls the husband long enough to let the woman decide if she wants to leave him or not.  Carol runs in to Jeanie and tells her that she is sorry for the way she has been treating her.  She would like to be friends.  Maggie and Malik sneak the woman out of the hospital on a stretcher, and the husband thinks they are taking a dead body to the morgue.  She gives the woman some money and a bus ticket away from the man.  Charlie gets kicked out of Gloria's place because of  the D.C.F.S. situation, so she goes to Doug's place.  He tells her that she can not stay there.  Al comes to see Jeanie at work.  He had found some of her Christmas things and wanted her to have them.  One of the items is a star that they had on there first Christmas tree together.  Peter goes to Carla's house to see her.  He greets her with a cheap poinsettia and she greets him with a kiss.  Doug ends up taking Charlie to Carol's house to stay.  They are having a traditional Christmas dinner that their family celebrates and Charlie and Doug go in to party also.  Carol reluctantly tells her that she can stay for only one night.  Mark goes a day early to see Rachel to take her the dog.  He walks up and peaks in the window to see that she already was given to puppies.  He quietly walks away, but Craig opens the door to see what he is doing.  Rachel and Jen come to the door and see the puppy.  They are surprised to see Mark because they were not expecting him to come until tomorrow.  Rachel sees the dog and Mark tells her that it is his dog.  Craig reaches to pet him and gets bitten by it.  Mark says "bad dog".  Jen tells Craig to let Mark look at the bite and they go inside.  Mark whispers to the dog, "good dog".  Back at the ER, Maggie and Jeanie are finishing up decorating the tree.  Maggie tells her that the tree is missing something, so Jeanie put the star on it that Al had brought.  Maggie says that she should put that on her family tree and Jeanie replies, "I just did".    

Reviewed by Tony Conner on 10-14-2000