A family is in a small apartment
and someone is banging on the door. The woman, her son and two daughters are
frightened. The woman yells for the person at the door to go away. The boy
asks his mother what is going on and the mother is scared to death. The voice
we hear on the other side of the door is a man and he wants to be let in and
he threatens to kill the children and their mother. The children look
confused about what is happening. A gun fires through the door and the family
scatter to the back of the apartment. He continues to threaten to kill them.
She tells the kids that she has to put them somewhere where the man can’t find
them. She looks around the room and her eyes stop at the window. We hear the
door bust open and the young boy sees what she is thinking and he yells, mama,
mama.
Elizabeth is in her car and Ella
is in the back seat. Elizabeth is on the phone with Carter and they are
discussing the patient who has HIV that needs the transplant. Ella is going
through some photos and comes across one of her daddy, Mark. She has more
pictures and they are of her grandparents. She asks her mother if they are
dead too. Sam is on her way in to work and Alex is with her. He wants to
play video games, but she wants him to do something educational and go to the
museum. She asks him if he likes it at Luka’s and he tells her that he
guesses so. She asks him if he likes Luka and he tells her that he does, but
wonders why she is asking. She then tells him that Luka was asking if they
would like to move in with him. Alex wonders what she thinks and then asks if
he could have a television in his room. They will have to think about it
before they make their decision.
Neela is working at a convenient
store and getting on to a man who is reading a newspaper. She tells him that
he needs to pay for it before he reads it and he sneezes into it and outs it
back. Howard, the med. Student comes to pay for a cup of coffee. Howard
takes out his change and counts out each piece. Abby offers to pay for it so
that he does not continue to hold up the line. Abby explains to Neela that
Howard has a touch of OCD. Abby is having to do her paramedic ride along, but
she isn’t happy about it. Abby asks Neela how she is liking her job and Neela
sarcastically tells her that it is great. Abby has to go because of a
paramedic call.
Kerry
is upset about the whole HIV transplant and Carter defends Elizabeth’s
actions. He tells Kerry that he is the one who talked her into doing it. She
tells Carter that he is not at fault because he didn’t actually do the
procedure and Elizabeth did. Weaver tells him that there is going to be a
meeting with Elizabeth to explain the law and Carter reminds her that the law
is about to change. He wants to be able to testify for Elizabeth, but Weaver
tells him that the meeting will consist of department heads only. Pratt is
back to work and seems to be very happy about it. Kerry is concerned that
some doctors use work as therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Carter
tells her that he seems to be okay. Kerry tells Carter that she wasn’t
talking about Pratt. They get on the elevator and she tells him that she has
received his request for extra shifts, but she doesn’t seem to think that it
is a good idea. She reminds him about his previous drug use and that he is
still an addict. She reminds him that he does not need the money. As she
exits the elevator she tells him to enjoy his extra time off. Susan tells
Kerry that she has been trying to get an appointment with her. She tells her
that she is interested in the Chief of Emergency Medicine position. Kerry
tells her that she had turned the position down in the past and Susan pleads
her case. She tells Weaver that Chuck is staying home with the baby and she
will need to supplement their income. Weaver accepts her offer and begins to
pile on the work.
There is a crowd on the street
as the ambulance arrives at a scene. A woman is crying and we can see two
girls lying on the pavement with broken bodies and blood poured out. It is
amazing that they are still alive and even alert. The woman is screaming and
telling the police about the man who was trying to break in to the apartment.
Her son listens as she talks to the police. Abby and a paramedic take a look
at the girls. She tells Abby that her name is Kali. The woman tells the
police that the man had a gun. The older girl asks Abby if she is an angel as
the light from the sun shines down on her head.
Pratt has a group of students
with him and he is asking them questions about a patient’s bumps. Pratt tells
the patient that they will have to see what has caused the bumps. He tells
the students to take a better history and to do some lab work. Pratt sees
Jing-Mei coming in and she has a cast on her leg. She is going to try to move
the cast on her own. Pratt tells her that he will do it for her.
Abby and a paramedic put one of
the little girls into the ambulance. The mother is still talking about the
attack and her son is with her still. Abby convinces the paramedic to let the
mother ride with them and the boy will ride in the other ambulance with his
sister. Pratt is assisting Chen with her cast removal and he notices that
nobody has signed it. She tells him that her father is being admitted for
pneumonia and that is the only reason she has left the house. Pratt tells her
that he could have driven her and she jokes that it will be awhile before she
gets into a car with him driving again. She asks him if he ever thinks about
Elgin, but he does not give an answer.
Carter and Howard are outside to
meet the ambulances. Abby tells them what has happened and Carter and Howard
take the older girl and Carter assures the mother that she is in good hands
now. Pratt meets them in the trauma room and the mother continues to talk
about what happened. She explains to them what her daughter’s name means.
She speaks about how her husband only use to abuse her and not the kids.
Carter wants social services called to remove the mother from the room. Chuny
takes her to the family waiting room. Pratt checks on the younger girl and
Luka is working on her. The paramedic tells Abby that they have to go, but
Abby wants to stay with the girl. He tells her that she will not get credit
if she does not finish. She decides to stay with the scared little girl.
Dr. Corday is
in a room and is being questioned by other doctors. Dr. Weaver and Dr.
Anspaugh are present and Elizabeth tells them about the law that is to be
signed by the Governor. She tells them that they used a liver that would have
been wasted if they had not used it. She saved a patient that would have died
without it. Dr. Anspaugh tells her that the actual patient died and the
patient that Elizabeth worked on just benefited from it. Kerry tells
Elizabeth that she breached hospital policy and the state and federal laws.
It would be grounds for dismissal if it goes to the state boards. Dr. Dubenko
comes in to the meeting late. Elizabeth wonders why he is there and is told
that he is on the committee. Elizabeth asks what happens now and Weaver tells
her that she will be notified as soon as a decision is made. Dr. Corday
gathers her things and leaves the meeting.
Dr.
Corday goes in to the trauma room where Luka, Ray and Sam are working on the
other girl. Ray tells her that they had paged Dr. Dubenko. Luka tells
Elizabeth about the four-year-old girl. Elizabeth suggests getting another
nurse when she sees that Sam is having trouble getting a line in. Luka tells
her that it is okay. Tamira asks Luka where her mother is and Luka asks her
if she likes the Wiggles. He then asks her which one is her favorite and she
tells him that Murray is because he plays the guitar. Elizabeth is curious
and asks Luka how he knows so much about the Wiggles. He explains that he
likes to keep up with kid’s television programs so that he will have something
to talk to them about. Elizabeth tells him that she hates the Wiggles. She
leaves to check in on Carter and his patient. Abby, Pratt and Howard are
still assisting Carter. Elizabeth tells them that they need to page
orthopedics for her. Carter aks Elizabeth how her meeting went and she tells
him that all she expects is a slap on the wrist. Dr. Pratt’s students come to
tell him that they found a huge mass on their patient with all of the bumps.
Carter tells Pratt to go and check on him. Abby gets irritated at Howard for
wanting to repeat a urine dip for the third time. Sam tells Luka that the
stats are dropping and they need to get Dr. Corday. He thinks she may have a
pulmonary contusion. Sam thinks they should get the mother in there, but
Elizabeth tells her that they don’t plan on the girl dieing.
Susan is upset to see that some
patients have been waiting for over six hours. Dr. Weaver asks Susan if she
has her reports finished and Susan tells her no. Kerry is looking for
Elizabeth. She wants Jerry to have Corday find her when she is done. Kerry
tells Susan that a neighboring hospital is closing down their ER in a few
weeks and that she needs to make plans on doubling her patient intake. Jerry
then hands Susan a time off request, a pay raise request and a letter of
resignation if neither request is taken care of. Carter and the rest are
trying to get Kali’s vitals back up and her mother comes in to see what is
happening. She is concerned about what is happening and Abby tries to calm
her down. Pratt sees that his patient with the bumps has stage four lung
cancer. He will have to tell the patient. The patient is in shock. He
thought it was more of a rash or something. Pratt relieves Howard in Kali’s
trauma. Dr. Dubenko comes in looking for Dr. Corday. The little brother
comes in to see how is sister is doing. He asks if she is going to die.
Carter tells him that they are doing all they can to save her. Carter asks
Howard to take the boy out of the room. Howard tells him that it should be a
social worker doing that. Howard tells Chuny too, but she tells him that she
is busy. The boy asks for Pratt to go with him. Carter asks where the social
worker is. Just as he gets the words out, a woman walks in and tells him that
she is covering two hospitals by herself. It is Wendall.
Luka
is curious to know how he is lucky to have two surgeons to help him.
Elizabeth and Dubenko both work on the girl. Sam asks who she should list on
the chart and they want each of their names listed. The mother of the kids
speaks with Wendall and Abby. The mother is still very distracted and tells
them that she wants to pray. She calls her husband an evil man. Pratt speaks
with the young boy. He asks him if he would like to watch television, but the
boy asks about his mother. Pratt tells the boy not to worry and that the
officers will keep him safe from his father. The little boy wets his pants
and he apologizes to Pratt. Abby tells him where he can find some scrubs for
the boy to wear. Abby hears the police say that they are unable to find the
father. The neighbors never heard any commotion in the apartment. They then
go in to question the mother. As Corday is taking Tamira to the elevator, Dr.
Dubenko tells her that she did a good job with the transplant surgery on the
HIV patient. Jerry tells Corday that Dr. Weaver is looking for her. Corday
seems aggravated at Dubenko after Chuny tells him that his T-Pod is ready.
Jerry tells Elizabeth again about Dr. Weaver and she tells him to tell her to
wait. Howard tells Abby that Kali is asking for her. The little girl tells
Abby that she hasn’t been a bad girl. The little girl is very weak and Abby
assures her that she knows that it was not her fault. She tells Abby that she
wants to go to heaven.
Howard is gathering up his things and Abby comes in to
speak with him. He tells her that he is just being thorough, but she tells
him that he has OCD. He is quitting. Susan comes in and Abby explains to her
what happened, she is just upset to be losing a doctor.
Carter is cleaning up Kali when
Abby walks in. She asks him if he is okay and he tells her that he is hanging
in there. He then asks her how she is doing and she tells him that it has
been a hard day. She tells them how hard it must be to lose a child and you
can see on Carter’s face that he understands the feeling. Pratt comes in and
tells Carter about what the brother said. They learn that the father died
over a year ago. As Susan looks for another doctor, Sam comes up and tells
her about Tamira dieing in surgery. Wendall speaks with Carter, Abby and
Pratt. She tells them that the mother has been unable to sleep and eat and
that she had been put on valium until she recently ran out of money. She was
unable to continue to get her medicine, so she has been off of it for a few
days. This has caused the delusions. Abby has to leave to speak with the
supervisor about her paramedic ride along that she skipped. They are hoping
that they can get the mother to tell them what happened. Wendall and Carter
speak with the mother. They ask her about what happened, but she tells them
that she does not know. She now remembers that her husband had died. Carter
asks her about her telling them that he was trying to break into the
apartment. The mother thinks a while and we can see what really happened. We
see in a flashback the mother is looking at the apartment door, but there is
no sound of someone beating on it. Wendall asks her what happened to her
daughters. The woman begins to cry as she thinks about what really took
place. She remembers taking them over to the window. Carter asks her how
they got up to the window and we can see the horror on the mother’s face. The
boy had told her no, but the mother placed each girl up to the window seal and
watched them both jump out. The mother admits to making them jump out of the
window. Chuny comes in and tells Carter that Dr. Corday is looking for him.
Abby goes to see Neela at the
store. Abby asks her to go out with her, but Neela tells her that she can’t.
Susan comes in and tells them about Howard quitting. She wonders if Neela
might be interested in the job. Neela is unsure at first, but one of the
customers helps her to make up her mind. Carter finds Corday outside by the
river. He asks her how it went and she tells him. She tells him that she can
see things more clearly now. “With Mark gone and most of her friends gone,
she sees no reason in staying”, she tells him. He asks her where she will go
and she tells him back to England. She wants him to say her good-byes for
her. He asks her what he should tell them and she replies, “tell them it’s
been lovely”. She walks away.
Reviewed by Tony on December 20,
2004
NBC Review
Two small children are rushed
to the ER after falling from a third story
window. The attending staff believes an abusive
father is at fault for the tragedy but not all
is as it seems initially. Pratt (Mekhi Phifer)
treats a man who believes he has an unsightly
rash which turns out to be lung cancer. Dr.
Corday (Alex Kingston) is disciplined by the
hospital for performing an HIV+ organ
transplant; instead of dismissing her, they
offer her a non-tenure track position. Sam
(Linda Cardellini) contemplates moving in with
Kovac (Goran Visnjic). Neela (Parminder Nagra)
decides to leave her job at the mini-mart after
Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), the new Chief of
Emergency Medicine, offers her a job at the
hospital.
