Friday - Rena and Carter are walking her dog, Norman.  Abby is coming in to work and she walks up beside them.  She is alarmed when she sees her ex-husband's car outside of the ER.  Richard's B.M.W. is illegally parked in the ambulance bay.  Abby finds him in the lounge.  He is sitting with Dr. Kovac.  Richard tells Abby that her mother, Maggie, is held up in a motel room in Oklahoma.  Abby asks him if she has been answering the door, but Richard will not reply.  Richard hands her a phone number and tells her that she should call it.  Richard then leaves.  Two young college girls are in the ER.  One has injured herself while chasing a greased pig.  Abby has called the number and found out that her mother owes $800.00.  Luka tells Abby that he will pay for it, she tells him that she will go pick her up and pay for it when she gets there.  Mark & Elizabeth are home and she is tired of carrying the baby.  She is exercising and hoping that the baby will be born soon.  Carter overhears Abby making plans to go to Oklahoma to pick her mother up.  He seems concerned and he tells Abby that he has a travel agent friend that he can call to help out.  Rena doesn't seem to please for his concern, so she goes to walk the dog again.  Carter tells her that he will catch up.  Mark is in the garage working on the baby's mobile and rocking to Styx's song "Come Sail Away", but Elizabeth interrupts him to tell him that it is time for the baby.  Abby is able to get a flight to Tulsa and she will drive the rest of the way.  She tells Luka that Carter is going with her.  Carter tells Rena, and she tells him that she has got tickets to the Bull's game.  Carter tells her that he needs to help Abby out.  Luka thinks that Maggie needs to be put away and that it is not necessary for Abby to go to Oklahoma, but Abby tells him that she doesn't have time for a lecture.  Carter and Rena continue to argue about him going with Abby and he tells Norman, the dog, to shut up barking.  This makes Rena very angry and she leaves.  Mark arrives at the ER with Elizabeth.  The ER staff is very excited that the baby is going to be born.  We then learn that it was a false alarm and Elizabeth is really not in labor and is being sent home.

Saturday - Carter and Abby have arrived in Oklahoma and are driving toward the motel.  He asks Abby why her mother doesn't like to fly.  She tells him that when they were young, they took a plane to Disneyland and Maggie tried to open the emergency exit door.  She thought they were flying over a nuclear site, but it was just Nevada.  The plane attendants ended up having to strap her down to her seat until the flight was over.  They never made it to Disneyland.  Abby and Carter arrive at the motel and they have the manager unlock the room door.  Carter tells the motel manager that he will pay the bill and Abby walks on into the room.  Maggie is on the bed and looks very depressed and disoriented.  The place is a mess and probably doesn't smell very good either.  Abby goes to the bed and places her hand on her mama's arm.  Maggie looks up and says, "Abby".  Abby gives her mother a bath.  Abby asks her where she is and Maggie replies that she is in Oklahoma.  Abby seems relieved to know that her mother is in her right mind.  Carter goes to the car to get Maggie some clean clothes.  While he is outside, his cell phone rings.  It is Luka, but he tells him that Abby is busy with her mother and that he will let her know that he called.  Abby washes her mother and tells Carter through the door that they are okay.  Malucci comes in to work late and Frank knows why.  He tells Malucci that it is because Weaver is off.  If she were not, she would not put up with his tardiness.  More young men are brought in after different injuries from Fraternity pledging.  Back in Oklahoma, Abby tries to get Maggie to eat.  Maggie is not hungry, so Abby gets their things and tells her that it is time to go back to Chicago.  Maggie does not want to go, she would rather stay there.  Carter has to carry her to the car and then they drive off, without even putting the seatbelt on her.  Peter recognizes a patient in the ER.  He is an old science teacher he had in Junior High school.  He had a stroke recently and is having trouble with his gums bleeding.  On their way back to Chicago, Abby apologizes to Carter for having him come.  She tells him that Maggie has seriously attempted suicide twice before.  In the ER, Peter sees an onslaught of more "Greek Week" fraternity pledge injuries.  One young man allowed his want-to-be fraternity brothers to lock him up in the trunk of a car.  Mark has brought Elizabeth back in.  This is the real deal and the baby is coming.  Back on the road, Abby, Maggie and Carter stop off at a cafe on the side of the road to grab a bite.  Abby hands her mother some pills to take, and then she dismisses herself to the ladies room.  Abby follows her in.  Abby smokes a cigarette as her mom takes care of business.  They are only 10 hours away from Chicago.  Back at the motel where they stay the night, Abby finds her mom standing on the balcony alone.  She is watching the family down below.  She tells Abby that she would like to have an ordinary life like everyone else.  Abby tells her that she came to Oklahoma to pick her up because she needs her.

Sunday - Abby, Carter and Maggie are still on their road trip.  Abby is feeling bad about Rena and tells Carter that she can talk with her.  Carter tells her that Rena has broken up with him and that it is not necessary.  He tells her that Rena thinks that he has a crush on Abby.  He then jokingly calls Abby a home-wrecker.  Mark is holding his new baby daughter, Ella.  Malucci would like to hold her, but Mark tells him "NO".  He then hands Mark some cigars and tells him that he owes him $300.00 for them.  Mark hands the baby to Elizabeth, but she seems very frightened to handle her, but she does.  On the road, Carter, Abby and Maggie pull off the busy highway to get some gas.  As Carter pumps, Abby sees her mom heading toward the road.  Abby goes after her.  Maggie was just hungry and was heading to get some food.  Abby goes in with her.  They gets some snacks and head to the register.  As Abby is paying, Maggie sneaks a box of sleeping pills and shoplifts them.  They are only two to three hours away from Chicago now.  As they go down the highway, Maggie thanks her daughter for coming to Oklahoma for her.  She then lies back to take a nap.  Down the road a piece, Carter and Abby are discussing Carter's hairstyle from the past.  He tells her that he has had two perms during Junior High.  She finds this very humorous.  When they arrive in Chicago, Abby thanks him for everything he has done for her.  He tells her that he will help them inside.  Maggie is sleeping in the back seat, so Abby goes to wake her.  Abby is not able to get her up and she is unresponsive.  Carter drives them to the ER.  Luka gets the ER prepared for Maggie.  When they arrive, Haleh finds the box of empty sleeping pills.  Peter's patient who was locked in the trunk earlier is brought back in.  He has passed out after doing 35 to 40 shots of tequila and he has LOSER written on his forehead.  He is unresponsive.  Maggie begins having seizures and Abby is having a hard time dealing with it.  The young man is dead from alcohol poisoning.  His fraternity brother is there and sees that he is dead.  He tells Peter that it was just a game and that the boy did it to himself.  Peter tells him that he can clean him up.  Peter's old Junior High teacher is on his way out.  Peter tells him that he will go check on him in a few days to see how he is doing.  This surprises Cleo and she jokes about him making "house calls".  William White ("A Walk in the Woods" and "The Crossing") comes to thank Peter and to tell him that he has made it into medical school.  Luka goes to check on Abby.  She tells him that Maggie is awake and her vital signs are normal, she will be okay.  She tells him that she should have listened to him and left her alone.  He tells her that she will be okay, but Abby replies that she will never be okay. 

Reviewed by Tony Conner on 05-05-2001