Sam is in the shower when Luka arrives home from work. They chitchat about how the day went and Sam asks Luka to pick Alex up from school. Alex comes into the bathroom, still half asleep and asks for some money for a field trip his class is going on. Sam agrees. Alex starts using the bathroom and Luka glances at him oddly. Alex turns to look at Luka and smartly asks ‘what? You’ve never seen a kid go pee?’ Neela is standing at the admit desk writing a cheque she says will bounce. Ray looks over her shoulder and tells her there is a lot of zero’s and Neela claims it’s for tuition. Ray tells her she can defer her student loans, but she replies that the cheque is for her father. She tells him that her parents put her through school and now it was her turn to put her brother through school. Ray asks why her parents can’t wait until after she is finished school to hit her up. Neela looks at Ray annoyed and questions if he needs anything. Ray gets suave and asks her to work his Christmas shift, so that his family can be together.

Abby arrives and John states that only 39% of the staff has had their flu shots. Neela says she will get hers that day and Ray worries that if he gets one that day his arm will be sore and he wouldn’t be able to play at his show that evening. He promises to get one the next day. Abby tells Ray that he has been making excuse for some time. Chuny makes an announcement that a police was shot and was arriving in 2 minutes. Ray moves beside Abby and asks him to surprise him with his flu shot that day. He admits that he has a phobia of needles. A police cruiser drives up and officer #1 jumps out giving them the information. He tells the staff that the patient is named Eddie Escobar, and that he was shot in the neck. Susan opens the back door to find  officer #2 sitting with Eddie applying pressure to his wound. The staff lifts Eddie out of the cruiser and onto a board. Eddie asks one of his friends to get his keys and go feed his dog. He also asks them to get some papers from his filing cabinet. Officer #1 tells him everything will be ok.

Abby tends to a little girl named Carolyn, who is complaining of a stomach-ache. Abby assures her that they get a lot of sick kids. Carolyn’s mother arrives and Abby tells her the school sent Carolyn in because she was feverish and vomiting. The mom says she would like to take Carolyn to their family physician, but Abby tells her it wouldn’t take long to run a few tests. The mother reluctantly agrees. Sam walks into the trauma room where Eddie was with 2 litres of blood. Neela informs that the bullet missed his spinal cord and trachea, to which officer 2 replies ‘That’s good’. Sam tells Susan that Eddie’s vitals aren’t that great and Susan tells them he needs to be intubated. Ray volunteers to intubate as Neela orders some medications. Eddie asks his officer friends what happened to the perpetrator and they tell him he took 2 shots to the chest. Susan asks what happened and they tell her it was a convenience store hold up. Ray tells Susan he can’t intubate because there is too much blood and he can’t see. Susan offers to take over but Ray is sure he can do it. Neela sees a cut on the hand of officer 2, he tells her it’s nothing but she encourages him to get someone to look at it. Ray fails at getting Eddie intubated so Neela offers. Ray voices he would like to do a tracheotomy, but Susan slips in and asks for a trach light. Everyone looks on in curiosity. Susan slips the light into Eddie’s throat and asks for the lights to be turned off. Everyone can see the light in Eddie’s throat and Susan completes the intubation. Sam looks impressed and Susan asks for the lights to be turned back on. Ray suggests another procedure which Susan okay’s. Another officer escorts a lady into the room saying she is Eddie’s fiancée, Mallory. She starts to cry over Eddie’s appearance and Susan tells her Eddie is doing all right.  

Pratt tends to a man with a sore shoulder and ribs. He tells Pratt he was wrestling with his nephew. After a brief exam, Pratt boils it down to a bruise to the ribs and a strained shoulder. Pratt tells him that a nurse will be along shortly with his discharge papers. He sees Deb walking in. Deb tells him that her alarm didn’t go off and he tells her she looks tired. She says she is fine, so Pratt asks her to discharge a patient of his. Deb asks for a couple of minutes. Abby tells Carolyn’s mom that the tests came back fine, so mom asks if she can take her daughter home. They both hear Carolyn crying and rush in to find out what the matter is. Carolyn complains her stomach really hurts and points to the side her appendix is on. Abby tells Carolyn that she will give her some pain medication and tells the mother she wants to run more tests. Mom is upset because Abby told her at the beginning it wasn’t serious. Abby says that sometimes appendicitis presents itself as the stomach flu and she would like to get a surgical consult. Mom says that Carolyn couldn’t have the surgery there at County and made Abby promise that they wouldn’t until she talked to her husband. Abby said they would do more tests so she could talk to her husband. Abby runs into Ray in the hallway. He is upset that Susan took his intubating job away and then stops to ask what she had in her hand; for fear that she was hiding his flu shot. Abby tells him she didn’t even promise to give him the shot in the first place. Pratt runs into Abby and Ray asking if they had seen Deb, which neither of them had. Ray asks Abby if she has anything special planned for New Years. She pleasantly tells him he’s not her type. He smiles and tells her he has a gig and was hoping she would cover for him. Abby tells him she would only if he took her med student lecture in January and he agrees.  

Police officer #1 asks John if the perpetrator that shot Eddie had come through yet. John says he hadn’t heard anything. The officer told him he was going to sit with Eddie’s family and asked John to notify him if the ‘perp’ arrived. Abby talks to John about Carolyn and he rules it as a definite case of appendicitis. A blind lady comes through admit with a seeing-eye mini horse. Pratt looks in the lounge for Deb and finds her sleeping on the couch. He wakes her up. She apologizes saying she was waiting for the coffee to brew. Pratt is concerned that Deb should even be working and tells her that. She says she is ok, so Pratt breaks in with patient that was wrestling with his nephew. Deb signs off on the chart without really looking at it. Pratt asks her if she wants to see the patient and she tells him she holds complete trust in him. Pratt asks about Deb’s father and she fills him in. Malik interrupts saying the perpetrator from the cop shooting was coming in. Paramedics wheel the perpetrator in; an EMT is straddled over him doing chest compressions. Neela asks how long he had been down, and the EMT tells her they needed to secure the building first and that took 45 minutes. They wheel him into trauma and prepare to move him to the table. Malik notices that he’s cuffed to the gurney so they can’t move him. Neela asks for the key and no one has it. Deb puts Neela in charge of the thoracotomy, but she can’t do the procedure until he is uncuffed. Deb emerges with a key. Neela continues. Abby and Frank argue over the miniature horse and whether it can stay. John walks up and Abby introduces Mrs. Gelden and her sight horse Ruby. He pets the horse and talks to Mrs. Gelden and tells Frank the horse can stay. As John walks away an officer tells him that Eddies 15 year old son, Arlo has arrived. John tells him he will find out if Eddie can have visitors. The officer walks back over to Arlo who is with his mother, Eddie’s ex wife.  

Dr. Dubenko works on Eddie, but tells the team he can’t operate because the wound is so close to Eddie’s skull. John comes in to announce Arlo has arrived and Eddie’s fiancée Mallory is relieved. She clarifies that she is not Arlo’s mother. Arlo walks in with his mother and Mallory tells him it’s not as bad as it looks. Mom gets upset that Mallory is in there and Susan asks Mallory to set out and they can each have turns with Eddie. Susan tells Arlo he can come and say hi, but Eddie can’t talk because of the tube down his throat. Arlo tells his father that Eddie is tough. Susan tells Ray to take Arlo and his mother to the family room and answer any questions they might have. Neela, Deb and Dr. Dubenko work on the suspect. He is losing vitals and after trying their hardest, Deb calls time of death. Officer #1 says that they just saved taxpayers lots of money in legal and court fees. John asks about the hand wound on officer 2. He tells him it’s fine and John encourages Neela to take him to sutures and examine him. Abby treats a wound on Mrs. Gelden’s arm. She apologizes to the old lady for the misunderstanding concerning Ruby. Carolyn asks Mrs. Gelden why Ruby has shoes on and she replies they are to keep the horse from slipping. Carolyn’s mom barges in saying her husband wants Carolyn moved to Mercy. Abby pushes Ruby away after witnessing the horse licking Mrs. Gelden’s arm. Abby tells Carolyn’s mom that she has no problem transferring Carolyn, but mom would have to call Mercy and find a surgeon willing to take Carolyn. Mom asks Abby to talk to her husband, who is on the phone waiting and Abby orders the nurse to irrigate Mrs. Gelden’s wound again and tie up Ruby. Abby talks with an irate father and she assures him that once Mercy accepts her they will transfer her. Neela preps officer 2 for sutures. They talk about the suspect. Neela notices a piece of debris in the wound. She asks if he could’ve been shot and he doesn’t recall. He does remember scraping his hand as he fell at the crime scene. John does an ultrasound on Carolyn. He looks but cannot find the appendix. Mom asks what that means and he tells her that usually it is easier to see the enlarged appendix. Mom asks if Carolyn really has appendicitis and Abby says it may be possible. Mom gets upset because she can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone. John tells her with Carolyn’s symptoms, it points to appendicitis. Wendall appears to tell John that Mercy is on the line and wants to speak with an admitting. John leaves to take the call and Mom follows him out. Carolyn asks Abby if she needs surgery and Abby tells her yes. She also asks Abby why she can’t have it at County, and Abby replies that parents know best. 

Ray tells Arlo about the procedure. Arlo’s mom asks if Eddie will recover, and Ray tells them that their first priority is to stop the bleeding. Susan asks them to leave so they can do x-rays. Ray tells Arlo he will come and get him once they are done. Frank appears to tell Sam that Luka called because Alex was suspended from school again. Sam tells Susan that she may have to leave to answer the call, but Susan tells her to hold on. Neela walks in with officer 1 and 2 and she explains that she found a plastic BB gun pellet in the wound on officer 2. She asks if that could be what Eddie was shot with and Susan replies that they pulled a metal slug from Eddie’s neck and shows it to them. Officer 1 says that it matches the bullets that are standard issue on the force. Sam calls Luka and he tells her that the school wants him to pick up Alex. They didn’t tell him why Alex was suspended and asks him to call her after he gets back home. Sam tells Neela that they are being interviewed. Neela says that it was a cop’s gun that shot Eddie and Sam quipped that the police found a bb gun beside the suspect. Neela finds Arlo looking in on the deceased ‘suspect’. He wants to see him but Neela advises he shouldn’t. Arlo goes in anyways and notices he is just a kid like himself. Arlo asks why the kid would want to shot his dad. Neela tells him that his father may have been accidentally shot by another officer. Officer 1 and 2 join them and Arlo asks which one of them did it. Arlo stomps out with Neela going after him. Dr. Dubenko successfully performs the procedure on Eddie and they get the bleeding under control. Ray asks if they can repair the artery to which Dubenko notes that it may do more harm then good and he wouldn’t do it unless he had consent. Dubenko asks if Arlo could be classified as a ‘mature minor’ since they could only get consent from a blood relative. Ray says he will talk to Arlo and Susan tells him to involve Wendall. Abby emerges and asks Dubenko if he could see him for a minute. She tells him Carolyn is in septic shock. Wendall catches up to them and tells them that she is to be transferred to Mercy. Upon examining Carolyn, he tells them the transfer wasn’t happening and Carolyn needed surgery immediately. Mom is upset because Abby told them they could wait, but Abby responds that Carolyn’s case was unusual and the infection spread very rapidly. Wendall asks for the consent, but mom is stuck on waiting for the dad. Dubenko spits that it is life threatening and they double doctor the consent. Abby signs, as does Dubenko and Carolyn gets rushed up to surgery.  

Ray explains to Arlo, his mom and officer 1 and 2 what is wrong with Eddie. Wendall enters and sits in on the discussion. Ray tells them there are 2 different treatment options available to Eddie. He explains the first option and that it will only give Eddie a 15% chance of recovery. Arlo tells him that’s not very good. Ray continues to the next option and that it would offer 30% chance of recovery but the surgery would be more risky. Wendall asks Arlo if he understands the options and he explains them back to her. Ray tells him it’s his decision and his mother is shocked. Wendall tells mom that the only one that can decide is a blood relative and that was Arlo. Mom doesn’t think her son is capable of making such a decision and Arlo says he is. Luka meets with Alex’s principal at school and they sit down to discuss the suspension. The principal tells Luka that he didn’t think it was a big deal but the school board holds zero tolerance on what is considered pornographic material. He holds up a Maxim magazine and tells Luka that Alex brought it to school and shared it with his classmates. The principal points out Luka’s name as the addressee and asks if Luka is Alex’s stepfather. Luka tells him not exactly but he does drive him places, to and from school and does sports activities with Alex, although admits it’s only been for a short time. Ray buys Arlo a hot chocolate and sits with him. Arlo apologizes for his mother’s behaviour and tells him that his father once told him to take risks. Arlo confides that his father would want to risk the surgery, but he admitted his fear of his mother getting mad. Ray tells him that he would back him up. Chuny wheels in the uncle that Pratt treated that morning. Deb calls for Pratt. The uncle explains he got dizzy a few hours before and decided not to come back since Pratt told him his injuries were nothing serious. They wheel him into an exam and prepare an ultrasound. Deb tells Pratt he discharged an unstable patient. Deb does the ultrasound and finds the uncle has a lacerated spleen. She calls over Pratt and realizes she was the one that signed off on the patient’s chart. Pratt explains that the patient didn’t seem that serious and he never mentioned the belly pain. Deb asks if he used the criteria and tells him that blood in the diaphragm acts as an irritant and causes shoulder pain. Deb accuses him for missing it and he replies that she missed it because she was too tired to examine the patient she signed off on.  

Luka tells Sam that he is back but doesn’t want to get into details until she comes home. Ray tells everyone that Arlo consented to the surgery and will make the necessary arrangements. Abby comes through announcing that Carolyn made it to surgery. John notices that Wendall was busy and asks if she has plans after her shift. She tells him yes but not with anyone. Without telling him what she’s doing, she invites him along but admits that it can be very physical. He accepts and signs a chart for Ray. Ray tells Abby he’s leaving and Abby complains about the patients he is signing over to her. Just before he’s ready to leave Abby tells him he forgot something. Before he turns, Abby sticks him with his flu shot. Pratt, Deb and Chuny work on the uncle, who feels better. Franks asks if it’s ok if the nephew comes in and Deb agrees it’s all right. Deb says that it must have been really rough play to break a rib and cut his spleen. The uncle laughs and says his nephew is a tough kid. The nephew enters and he is a very large sumo wrestler type looking kid. Abby asks Neela if she’s seen Susan. Neela replies that she’s already signed out. Abby tells Neela that she wasn’t sure what to do about Arlo because didn’t know all the details. Neela asks her why Ray signed it over to her and she tells her that she was the closest to him. Frank brings Carolyn’s father over to Abby. Dad demands to see his daughter immediately. Neela offers to take the chart because she was working with the boy and Abby thanks her. Neela finds Arlo. He asks where Ray is and she tells him his shift was over. Arlo tells her he doesn’t understand because Ray was supposed to help him with his mother. Neela volunteers to do it. Dubenko is operating on Carolyn when Abby arrives with the father. She puts the intercom on and introduces father to Dubenko. Dubenko tells them they caught the appendix before it ruptured. A series of beeping goes off and dad gets anxious. Dubenko tells them that it was a probe that fell off. A nurse attaches it and the beeping stops. Dad talks out loud that he brought his father to County for back surgery but his father died on the table due to negligence. Abby reassures the father that everything is going great, but he states his hatred for County anyways. Neela and Arlo walk into the trauma room where Eddie is and Arlo tells his mother that they are proceeding with the surgery. His mother tells him he is not fit to make that decision and what if Eddie dies. She thinks it’s too much for a 15 year old to handle on his own. Officer 1 tells Arlo about the guilt Arlo will have if Eddie dies. Mallory stands behind the door watching.  

Deb calls her father’s nurse to get an update and while on the phone, goes into a drawer and slips some vials of potassium into her pocket. Pratt secretly watches her. Deb asks the nurse on the phone if she wouldn’t mind staying later and then hangs up. Pratt walks to her and apologizes for the misdiagnosis on the uncle and Deb counters his apology and says it’s her fault for not examining him herself. Pratt asks why she has so much potassium and she confesses it’s for her father’s bowels and Pratt watches her walk away. He knows what is going on. John comes out of a bathroom with a harness on. Wendall greets him and they walk towards a mock mountain. Wendall starts climbing and a trainer introduces himself. Neela walks out of Eddie’s trauma room. Mallory asks what is going on and Neela tells her that the family has decided for Eddie that he will not be having the surgery. Mallory says that after 3 years she still isn’t considered family. Neela makes the call to the OR to cancel the surgery. Wendall scales the wall easily while John struggles. The trainer asks John if he and Wendall are dating and John confirms they are just friends. The trainer confesses that Wendall and him dated for a few years and planned to get married. He says they broke off the engagement because Wendall wanted to see other people. Sam arrives at home and gives Luka a kiss. Sam asks where Alex is and Luka tells her he’s in his room. He offers her a beer and she accepts. Luka shows her the magazine and tells her Alex took it to school. Sam shrugs it off and asks where he got it, but then looks at the mailing address. Luka tells her that Alex showed it to other kids. He also tells her that one kid was caught in the bathroom, in a stall. Sam still doesn’t understand so Luka makes a motion with his hand and Sam looks stunned. She wonders if Alex does it.  John and Wendall leave the gym. She invites him out to eat but John tells her he’s not hungry. After some enticing John agrees to join her. He asks what she wants and she is undecided so they stop in front of a pay phone and randomly pick out Uncle Vito’s Mongolian Barbeque. Neela finds Officer 2 and tells him that they are taking Eddie up to ICU. Neela sees Arlo leaving looking upset. His mom tells him he will be fine. Neela wants to go talk to him, but mom tells her that he gets overly emotional, and there is no use talking to him while he is like that. Neela suggests they talk about it some more and mom says she’s decided and tells her Arlo is confused. Neela explains that she heard Arlo voice very loudly about what he wants for his father, but mom interrupts saying he is just hoping for something that might not happen. The mother thanks her for letting them decide together but Neela feels she didn’t do anything.  

Luka walks into Alex’s bedroom. He asks him about what happened at school and if he has any questions about what his friend was doing in the stall. Alex has another word for it. Luka tells him it’s a normal thing to do but that the school is not a good place to be doing it. Alex asks Luka if he thinks he’s stupid. Luka tells him that if he ever has any questions, he can talk to Luka. Neela gets out of a taxi somewhere on a dark street with a club like entrance. She finds Ray and asks why he could just leave like he did, abandoning Arlo. He tells her his shift was over, and he signed over his cases. Neela tells him it got complicated, and the mother decided for Arlo that the surgery wasn’t the best thing for Eddie. Ray explains that Arlo just needed some hand holding, which Neela could’ve handled, forgetting that he actually handed the case over to Abby. Neela begins to yell, saying that Arlo was counting on him. Ray defends himself again that his shift was over and he had other plans. Neela tells him to screw his plans, that medicine isn’t a day job. She points out that her and Abby were both done their shifts but stayed to look after their patients. Ray tells her that they would never leave if they tucked in every patient. Neela hisses back that they were talking about one kid. Holding the most important decision in his life, over his head. She adds that Arlo trusted Ray, and he left. Neela turns back to her cab, while Ray stews in what just happened.

Reviewed by Kristyna on December 26, 2004

NBC Review