Elizabeth is in a very bad mood.  She has gotten, what seems to be another of many parking tickets while staying at Mark’s tiny, hot apartment.  Mark doesn’t seem to be distracted by her though.  Carter attends his first AA meeting since his return to Chicago.  He looks around the room and sees Abby Lockhart there.  Carter comes to the hospital to meet with Mark and Kerry.  He sees Peter and Reece as he is waiting.  Peter tells him that he is looking good.  Mr. Fletcher is back after having missed his dialysis and Cleo gets to take care of him.  He seems to get grumpier every time she sees him.  

A woman named Regina comes in to the ER screaming for help.  She is 22 weeks pregnant and having contractions.  She is from out of town and the contractions started while shopping at the mall.  They are 3 minutes apart.  Jing-Mei is taking care of her.  Abby is working up in OB, since she was suspended from the ER after not paying her tuition.  Abby comes down to the ER to check on Regina.  Luka takes care of a woman named Glenda who had a stroke and is having another one.  Her life partner, Judy, is with her.  Carter speaks with Kerry and Mark in his meeting to discuss him coming back to work.  They will have to meet once a week and he will have to take random drug testing to make sure he is still clean.  He also has to take some sort of medication every day.  He agrees and will come back to work in a week.  Regina’s lungs are filling with fluid and she goes in to labor.  The baby boy is out in seconds and is the size of a man’s hand.  Jing-Mei has to leave the room, because she is so upset.  Kerry later finds her doing charts and she tells her that she needs to be in there with her patient.  She is being considered for Chief Resident next year and this could effect her.  She tells her that she can’t, and that she is pregnant.  The baby that was born is the same as the one she is carrying, only 22 weeks.  Kerry is understanding and tells her to go on home and they will work something out with her schedule to accommodate her pregnancy.  Cleo goes to Benton wanting him to look at Mr. Fletcher.  It looks as if he will need another surgery.  Abby lets Regina hold her new baby boy.  He is really very tiny.  Regina tells Abby that she is expecting a miracle, but Abby knows that it would have to be a miracle for the baby to survive.  Glenda is getting worse and Luka wants to know if she has a DNR.  Judy tells him no, so he goes to Kerry to see what can be done.  Romano tells Benton that Mr. Fletcher can not be admitted.  He is not insured with Medicare because of a bankruptcy or some sort of problem.  He gives Benton $20.00 to give Mr. Fletcher a bus ticket to Milwaukee to go to another hospital that can handle paying for the surgery.  Abby finds a group of doctor’s with the premature baby.  He is showing him off like a freak show and she tells him to leave.  The father is watching and he thinks they are trying to save the baby.  The doctor tells him that the baby will not live long.  Abby lets the father hold his baby.  Judy tells Kerry and Luka that her and Glenda have been together for 27 years.  She knows that she would not want to be put on a respirator.  The law doesn’t see it that way.  They will have to get consent from the next closet relative.  Luka tells Kerry to take over then.  Abby takes pictures of the baby for the family.  She is also working on getting a priest to come baptize him.  Dr. Colburn comes down and wants to know why Abby hasn’t been back upstairs to take care of her patients.  Mark tells her that he had asked her to stay downstairs with the family.    Benton takes Mr. Fletcher up to surgery, but Shirley tells him that he can’t.  Romano will fire her if she lets him take him in.  Abby gets ready to call the time of death on the baby and the mother sees him move.  Luka checks for a heartbeat and there is one.  Kerry gets in touch with Glenda’s brother Mr. Walton and he tells her to put her on the respirator.  He does not want to talk to Judy.  An anonymous phone call was made to a Medicare investigator and Romano has to take Mr. Fletcher in to surgery.  Mark takes Elizabeth to look at a house he is going to buy.  It is beautiful and she loves it.  He tells her that the freezer has an icemaker and wants her to look at it.  When she opens it up, he has an engagement ring inside.  He asks her to marry him and she accepts.  Abby goes outside with the parents and their baby and a priest baptizes him.  Kerry tells Judy that she is sorry after she intubates her partner.  Abby goes to Doc Magoo’s after work and she sees Carter there.  She tells him that he looks much better.  He thanks her for saving his life.  If she wouldn’t have caught him 3 months earlier shooting up in the trauma room, he could have been dead by now.  She tells him that she had a rough day and about the baby.  She tells him that he died.  Abby wants to know why he hasn’t asked her about seeing her at the AA meeting.  She tells him that she is a drunk and has been sober for five years.  Carter wants her to be his sponsor and she reluctantly agrees.  Only until he can find a permanent one.  They split a hot fudge sundae.

Reviewed by Tony Conner on 10-20-2000