• Cynthia Nixon - Ellie Shore
• Austin Majors - Lucas Shore
• Forrest Landis - Christopher Shore
• Camryn Grimes - Erin Shore
• James McCauley - Dan Shore
• Mo - Kevin Hightower
• Ricky Adams - Boy
• Daniel Farber - Griffin
• Ben Gould - Ben
• Khamani Griffin - Clayton Davis
• Gabby Soleil - Bridget Davis
• Shawn McGill - Tucker Davis
• Ricky Harris - Mr. Davis
• E.P. McKnight - Irene
• Sasha Mitchell - Bartender
• Sumalee Montano - Duvata Mahal
• Giovannie Pico - Ludlow
• Tami Powers - Janice

Ellie is being taken by ambulance to County. While she is being treated, we can hear her thoughts, which she thinks she is saying out loud. She looks at the paramedics and tells them that she is fine and just got a little dizzy. The medics don’t seem to pay attention and keep on working. She begs them to take her back home but she goes ignored. She gets taken out of the rig and Luka is there to greet the medics. As they are giving him the bullet, Ellie rambles on that she must have had an anxiety attack or just simply drank too much coffee. Sam and Abby join Luka and report her vitals. Ellie continues to ramble saying she doesn’t have high blood pressure while Luka asks for her name. Neela gets ready for work in her bedroom and as she walks out she tries to get by Ray and his band practicing in their living room. She yells out to Ray that she will see him later and he stops the practice and asks her if she is heading into work. She half nods and he tells her he will give her a ride. She tells him that she thought they were trying to do opposite shifts. Ray apologizes and tells her he had to switch with someone because the band had a gig on Saturday. He asks her if she is okay with the rest of the band mates staying there while they are at work and before she can answer he exclaims ‘cool’. Uncomfortable, Neela looks at the guys and says hello. One of the members comes over and asks her if she plays anything and she blankly says she played the viola. Abby shines her flashlight into Ellie’s eyes and she complains silently in her head that it is too bright. Ellie wonders why no one seems to be listening to her, while Luka notes the right side facial droop on Ellie. She admits her face does feel rather numb, and thinks that she may not be talking loud enough. She yells ‘Excuse me, where am I?’ Luka looks down at her as he notices her looking at him and tells her that she is at County. Abby takes Ellie’s left hand and asks her to squeeze it and she does. Luka takes her right arm and tells her to do the same. After a few seconds he allows her arm to drop lifelessly back onto the gurney. Ellie panics in her head, asking if that was her arm and why she couldn’t feel it. She goes on, while Sam cuts her pants off.  Ellie says that wasn’t necessary, and that she wasn’t staying that long. Sam leans in and tells her to relax, because she needed to insert a catheter into her bladder. Carter and Wendall jog along on a bridge and he asks her if she does this on all of her days off. Wendall tells him she usually jogs 10k. She stops for a water break and looks at John who seems to be slightly out of breath. Wendall announces it’s been 3 months and John looks at her with a puzzled look and asks what she is talking about. He asks her what the plans were for dinner and she suggests they stay in. Wendall suggests they race to the fountain and the winner gets to cook dinner while the loser cleans up. As they prepare to race, John wishes her a Happy 3 month Anniversary, and as she looks at him shocked that he remembered John bolts down towards the fountain. Pratt walks along answering the questions that the med students are firing at him. Once he gets to admit he overhears Susan saying how flattering it was. She gets off the phone and Pratt asks her if that was good news. She tells them that the ER was being honored at a ‘Trauma Foundation’ dinner. She adds that she needs to find an outstanding senior resident to accept the honor. He asks her why she is telling him and she remarks that fishing for compliments didn’t become him. She tells him where and what time and also adds that he needs to do a 7 minute PowerPoint presentation, which ironically he agrees to. Morris asks if Pratt is sucking up to the management. But Pratt tells him that is something that he would never in his life do. Morris announces a few people are going out after their shifts to celebrate Weaver being on vacation. Ray says he is in as long as the 3rd year residents are buying. Morris leans over and tells him he is looking for votes for his bid for chief residency. Morris asks Neela if she’s in and she tells him it beats going home. Ray asks her what is wrong with home and she gazes at him baffled. Morris urges Pratt to come and he reluctantly says he will. Susan overhears the plans and says ‘what? The big kids aren’t invited?’ Ellie continues to ramble on in her head that she feels fine except that she cant feel a lot of things like her lips and some of her body parts. Luka and Abby continue to examine her while she tries to tell them that she needs to call her husband to make sure he picks up the kids. With her good hand, Ellie waves it around. Sam notices and says that Ellie wants to write something. Abby gives her a pen and holds a clipboard with some paper on it for her to write. She asks Luka if TPA could reverse the stroke. Luka replies that it can only be administered 3 hours after the stroke and no one knew how long she had been down for. Luka looks down at Ellie and asks her if she can hear him. While Ellie is trying to write her husbands name and phone number, Luka tells her that she had a stroke and it was the kind that affects speech. Abby passes him the clipboard and while he looks at her he continues to say that while she can understand them, they cant understand her. He shows her what she wrote on the clipboard, which is only squiggles of lines on the paper. She tells him that she didn’t write that and asks him where he put the paper that she wrote on. Luka tells her that she has had a stroke, which she finally absorbs and he continues to tell her that they are trying to figure out what kind of stroke it was. Astonished, Ellie tells them that only old people have strokes and that it was only temporary. Abby walks out of Ellie’s trauma room and sees Jake looking at an x-ray. He notes he is on a surgical consult and then changes the subject to ask her if he left his watch at her place. She tells him that she has it in her locker. As they walk, he tells her he brought a lunch and asks her if she wants to join him in the break room to share it. She tells him that it might be a good idea if they didn’t act so together at work. He tells her that everyone knows and she says she didn’t tell anyone. He looks at her with a grin and she says that she told one person. Jake grins at her curiously and walks away. Neela catches up with Abby asking if her couch has seen much action since she’s left. Abby tells her it hasn’t and adds that she thought Neela was living with Ray. Neela tells her that the house is messy, loud and a bit crowded. Abby reminds her that she told Neela that she could’ve taken her time moving out and Neela voices that it wasn’t as though it was any better at her place. Neela walks into the waiting room and calls out for Clayton Davis, a six year old with wrist pain. His brother Tucker and sister Bridget step up with him and Neela notices Clayton also has a bump on his head. Bridget tells Neela that he fell off the kitchen counter. Tucker lies saying that his father was also there but went to get some coffee. Neela tells him that she will take them back but that she will need the father to fill out some forms before she can treat Clayton. Tucker tells her he will go find him and while Neela take the other 2 to the back, she asks Clayton why he was on the counter. He says that he was up there to find a bowl, while Bridget adds that it was because he was hungry. A woman files 3 children through the waiting room to the admit desk saying that she is Ellie’s neighbor and she had her kids with her.  Ellie continues to talk with herself in her head. Sam emerges with a blanket telling her that it will make her more comfortable. Ellie pays notice that Sam is smiling and wonders if she knows anything. Abby arrives and asks Ellie to open her mouth. After examining Ellie’s mouth she tells Luka that Ellie has no gag reflex. Ellie ogles over Luka and he tells her that they will need to put a tube down her throat to secure her breathing. The neighbor arrives at the trauma room and asks if the kids can come in. Abby says it’s ok, but only for a minute. The kids slowly come in and Luka advises they stand on her left side so she can hear them better. One of Ellie’s sons asks why her face looks like that while the other one asks if she is dying. Ellie assure them she isn’t, while Luka tells them the same. Luka asks the kids when they last saw their mother and the daughter says that it was after school and she was fine. Ellie begins coughing and this scares the kids. Sam urges the neighbor to take the kids out and the daughter asks what is happening. Abby tells her that she needed help breathing, and they would insert a tube to aid her. The monitors chime wildly, while Luka tells Ellie that she will be going to sleep and when she wakes a tube will be helping her breath.

Ellie is getting a CT scan when she wakes up. She asks if she is dead because she can’t open her eyes. The neurosurgeon tells Abby that there is no sign of a tumor so it must be a clot. She asks him if they can do TPA but he tells her that there is a great risk in brain bleed if its been over 3 hours since the onset of the stroke. Abby asks what other options there are and he tells her that there is a procedure called MERCI that would feed a catheter tub into her groin and retrieve the clot that way. Abby asks him if that would reverse the stroke and he says it will but there are risks involved and they would need the family’s consent. As Abby and Sam take Ellie out of the CT scan, Ellie panics and screams saying that she can’t see or move her body. While they take Ellie’s vital for the transport back to the ER, Sam asks Abby if ever asked Luka about his kids. She replies that she did once. Sam begins to explain but looks down at Ellie and notices her crying. Abby pays notice to the machine beeping and Sam asks what is going on. Abby asks when they intubate Ellie and Sam replies that it was only 10 minutes ago. Abby tells Sam that she thinks the etomidate wore off before the sux, and that Ellie was conscious but paralyzed.  Ray helps out with a patient that is brought in after he was a hit with tear gas at a non-violent demonstration. He tells Morris and Ray that he was simply picking up his grandmothers medication when he walked into the middle of it. Ray announces that the patient has good vitals after 4 doses of morphine. The man says he is still experiencing pain but Morris looks at him and replies ‘Soon as we can make sure your hurtin’ dude.’ Susan and Luka overhear the last part and in astonishment Susan asks if Morris really just withhold pain meds. Luka says to Susan that they can officially remove him from the chief resident short list. Susan sighs and tells him its too late to do that since he had already applied. She runs down the list of other names that have applied and Luka voices his negatives about each person. Luka suggests Pratt saying he is the best they have and most of the students and residents go to him already. Susan looks at him seriously saying that doesn’t make him a leader. Abby and Sam wheel Ellie out and Abby calls Luka over and tells him what she thinks is happening to their patient. Ellie screams for help inside her head, while Luka instructs Abby to administer Fentanyl. Luka tells Ellie that she is suffering from a normal side effect of the drugs they gave her to intubate. While Abby gives her the shot she immediately calms down. Luka tells her that once the drug wears off she will be able to open her eyes again. Dubenko arrives and asks Abby for a minute, and tells her all about the case from the day before that she was on that went to surgery. He tells her that he found a condom full of cocaine in the man’s jejunum. He urges Abby to write it up and offers the names of a few publishers. Abby seems intrigued that he would want her to do it and he tells her he will help, and it will only take a couple of hours. Abby tells him she is working and Dubenko says he will talk to her superiors. She objects while Dubenko tells her to meet him in his office at 7. She finally lets up as Dubenko disappears into the elevator. Neela examines Clayton’s wrist while Tucker returns with the man that he claims is his ‘father’. Neela tells him that Clayton could have a mild concussion and the wrist is mostly likely sprained, but that an x-ray would confirm that. The ‘father’ tells her to do whatever she has to and Neela looks at him funny. She asks him if he has been drinking and he defensively admits to having a beer. Neela states that she will get some food trays for the kids while they wait to take Clayton in for the x-ray. Tucker thanks her and she retreats into the hallway to find Pratt. She begins to present but he rudely interrupts her and says to present to Morris instead. She explains that she would rather present to him and he tells her he is busy and she has other options. Ellie sits in an exam room and lifts her left arm and tells herself that it is still moving which is a good thing. She tries to move the right side to no avail. Sam came in and told her that her heart rate was back to normal. Ellie tells her that the tube in her throat is bothering her and that she can’t pee or walk. Sam tells her that she has beautiful children and they were waiting in the family room. Ellie scrunches her nose up and asks what the smell is and Sam looks at the lady in the next bed and says ‘Pretty stinky huh?’ The older lady is wearing a diaper and Sam goes over to change it. Ellie watches on, wondering if that is what her future will hold for her. Morris, Ray and Chuny are still treating the tear gas patient. Morris shoots off his mouth about the looting that most likely the patient was involved in. Morris asks him if he at least got a TV out of the deal. The man gets a little frustrated hearing Morris talk to him like that, telling him that he was just walking by when things got out of control. Ray and Chuny shoot Morris dirty looks. Morris fires out the orders and walks away while Ray follows in after him. Morris voices the patient is full of it and that Ray shouldn’t worry because it took him 2 years to spot the con artists. Luka examines Ellie again while she sings in her head. He reports to Sam that her heart rate is still up and recommends another round of fentanyl, which Ellie agrees with. Ellie watches Luka and notices he isn’t wearing a wedding ring. She gushes over his accent. She tells herself that she’s pathetic since all he did was touch her and her heart was racing. She realizes that it wasn’t Luka’s touch that was making her heart beat faster, while Sam reports that Ellie’s pulse is skyrocketing. Luka calls out some medication orders while Sam asks if this is stroke related. Luka explains that if her heart doesn’t beat properly that blood could pool. Abby adds that she threw the clot and it went into her brain and tells Sam that most likely the stroke she had was from her heart originally. Ellie panics as Sam pushes the fentanyl. Luka leans in and tells her that she will feel some discomfort. Ellie flat lines while her husband Dan comes in.

As they get a normal rhythm, Luka explains to Ellie’s husband that she has something called an arterial flutter, and they can give her the proper medication and it will not cause what just happened again. Dan asks if she is awake and Abby tells him she is having spontaneous eye movement. He moves over to be at his wife’s side and she looks at him and happily shouts ‘You’re here!’ Luka tells Dan all the procedures they can do for Ellie, including MERCI. Dan asks questions about it while Ellie yells at him from across the room. As he struggles to make the decision, Ellie raises her one good hand and Dan goes to her side. They lock eyes and Dan tells Luka that they can do MERCI and he consents. Tucker watches the ‘father’ eat all the food on the trays, when Neela walks in sees him binging. She tells him that Clayton doesn’t have any fractures to his wrist. She adds that she will splint the wrist and get him to check back in a week. Neela asks where the other children are and Tucker tells her that his sister needed to use the bathroom. ‘Dad’ asks if they are all done and Neela nods telling him she already signed the discharge papers. She advises the father to bring the car around and Tucker tells her they took the EL in. As the two other kids come back, Neela offers them a taxi voucher, which they accept. Neela spots Morris in the hallway and goes to talk to him about her suspicions. He tells her that she is jumping to conclusions and walks off. Abby and Sam wheel Ellie up to neurology for her procedure, while chatting about certain doctors and their reputations. Once in the room, Sam tells Ellie that they have to go back down to the ER and she voices her protests. Several doctors introduce themselves to Ellie while she just lays back. Abby arrives at Dubenko’s office and while he is busy looking through a microscope, she tells him that she is ready to start. Standing up he asks if she likes hamburgers. Quite shocked at the random question, he tells her that they can work through dinner. He gives her his coat; while Abby tries to tell him she isn’t that hungry, but Dubenko still insists. Trying to prepare dinner, which still isn’t cooked, Wendall and John opt for a quicker way to eat.  Wendall suggests pizza while John starts dialing. While he is placing the order, Wendall tells John that she thinks she loves him. John, not being able to say anything because he is busy ordering just looked at her funny. Ray brings Morris up to speed on the tear gas patient. As they go to his room, the grandmother is standing with him. Pratt also stands nearby, listening in on the conversation. The grandmother tells Morris that her grandson is a good kid and that she is quite upset that she accused him of looting TV’s. Pratt pipes up expressing his shock and Morris retreats saying that he was just joking around. The patient tells him he’s full of it and Morris sarcastically apologizes. Pratt pulls Morris into another room and asks him what is going on. Morris explains while Susan watches and listens, unbeknownst to him. Pratt tells him he can’t keeping making assumptions on every black person that comes through the ER, and tells him he will apologize and mean it. Morris leaves and Susan tells Pratt he handled that well. He tells her that Morris is an idiot. She explains that Luka and John want him as Chief Resident and he asks her what she thinks. Susan replies that she will back him if she continues to see what she just saw. She asks him if he is interested and he tells her no. Luka explains to Ellie’s family what condition she has and the daughter asks if she will remain the same as when they last saw her. Luka tells her it’s a possibility. One of Ellie’s sons asks if his mother is alone and Luka tells him that he is going to go check on her. As neurology starts Ellie’s procedure, Luka slips in and says hello and comments that he thought she might want to see a friendly face. Abby and Dubenko arrive at the bar to talk about the write up, but he seems more interested in acting like this is a date and not work related. While Ellie is in the middle of her procedure she thinks about how bored she is. The doctors find the clot and begin pulling it out.

Reviewed by Kristyna on April 02, 2005