Luka comes down the steps in his
apartment and steps on a plastic toy. He grimaces and hands the toy to Sam
who is going through the ads in the paper and drinking coffee. She shrugs
and moves away as she finishes her conversation. Luka waits and then tells
her that he is thinking about going to Croatia. The phone rings and Sam takes
a call and makes an appointment for 20 minutes. She is clearly uncomfortable
as Luka goes on to tell her he is thinking of going to Croatia for a couple of
weeks to give them some time apart. Sam tells him she is already looking for
a new apartment. She needs to think things out by herself. Luka is shocked
and asks if maybe they should talk about it. She hurries out as she tells him
it never worked before.
Cut to the el platform where two well
dressed businesswomen are waiting for a train and talking on a cell phone.
The rain pulls up and we see Abby running with a coffee cup in her hand. She
tells them to wait….to hold the doors…and then squeezes in as the doors shut
on her shoulders. She ruefully says thanks to the women and finds a seat near
Neela. She tells Neela that she was up all night researching a paper for
Morris on paintball injuries. Neela glances over at the women who are
checking them out and giggling. One tells Neela sarcastically that they are
wondering where she got her shoes…they look comfortable…and they match her
backpack. Abby tells Neela to ignore them because they are on a bulimia
high. Neela chuckles. As they are leaving the train, one of the women – Drew
– turns her ankle and drags herself to a bench as she cries in pain. Neela
and Abby walk by and then Neela turns back. She kneels to examine Drew’s
ankle and doesn’t stop when Drew tells her to take her hands off of her.
Neela tells her that she is a doctor and her ankle may be broken. Drew says
she wants a second opinion. Neela stands up and says ‘Dr. Lockhart?” Abby
glances at her and then says, “Your ankle may be broken and you’re a bitch.”
As they walk away we cut to opening credits.
Morris is following Pratt through the ER
as he complains about the new residents at the desk. Abby. Ray. Neela. ‘No
brains, no courage, no heart,” he says. All they need is a trip to the
wizard. Pratt asks if he is the wizard and Morris says that is why they pay
him the big bucks. He hurries to the triage desk and tells them to listen up
because there is an officer on deck …He indicates himself as the ‘chief ‘…and
Abby says ‘yeah, Chief Pain in the Ass’. Morris goes off on her taking shots
at those of Native American heritage of which one is he…1/16 Choctaw Indian.
Chuny interrupts to say that Jake sent a postcard from California and Ray asks
Abby how he is doing there as he takes the card. Abby says he is fine and
loves it…but Ray tells her apparently not from the looks of the postcard.
Luka approaches with a cache of new interns Clemens, Munson and Babinski –
and Morris takes charge as new Chief Resident. He explains the presenting
protocol and Clemons is dismayed at the number of times he is requiring them
to present to attendings. Chuny calls from a nearby phone asking if Luka has
a patient in the cath lab….and says that he might have died. Luka rolls his
eyes and moves to take the call. Morris takes the new interns to the board
and tells the Neela, Abby and Ray to listen up as well. While he is talking
they divvy up the interns via numbers 1 through 10. Neela chooses Babinski,
Ray takes Clemens and Abby is left with…Munson. (We saw these interns in ‘The
Show Must Go On. Munson is the intern who threw up when Abby was inserting a
chest tube in one of the crush patients and then was sent to Carter’s farewell
party to find Luka.) He looks a little wary to be paired with her.
Ray and Clemens take a pregnant patient
who has been in a car accident. She is full term and the membrane have
ruptured and may be having the baby today. Claire tells them she was hoping
to have another home birth. It’s her second pregnancy and it’s a boy. Sam
asks if she can call her husband but she says there is no such creature but
she can call Toni Stillman….a friend. Luka steps into the room and Ray gives
him the run down. He watches Sam and then asks if she has a minute. Sam
tells him no….and gives him the list of everything she has to do. He asks if
the nurse next to her can do some if it but Sam tells him she can’t. She
introduces Inez and says that she is helping her get the lay of the land.
Luka leaves after telling Sam he wants to talk to her when she is finished.
Ray picks up on the bad vibe between Sam and Luka and tells Claire to hang in
there. He leaves with Clemens and asks what they need to do next. He
corrects her and then tells her the secret to the ER when she doesn’t know
something is to ‘fake it’….and in her quest to find out where and how to deal
with Nitrazine paper, Abby tells her the key to the ER is to ‘ask questions’
and Neela tells her to ‘look it up herself…read it and it sticks’. Nice
exchange to see the difference between the three characters. Clemens is still
confused.
Abby passes Munsen, who is examining an
x-ray. She asks if he has any questions (no), anything to present (I’ll let
you know)….and offers a suggestion about his x-ray. She flips it over and he
doesn’t say anything. Pratt passes and asks Abby about a patient. She
follows him and then says that she doesn’t think her intern likes her. She
doesn’t think she will do so great with this teaching the interns thing.
Pratt laughs and tells her that everyone likes her and that she will do fine
because she did a good job with Jake. He is sorry that Jake didn’t match at
County. He goes to the admit desk to deal with a paramedic call and Abby
peers around the wall to watch Munsen spilling something all over the floor.
Malik tells her they got one and heads toward the ambulance doors. She calls
for Munsen. Pickman and partner wheel in an unidentified kid – probably 10 -
found in the food court at the mall. He was with some buddies but they took
off. He is still hypotensive after 500 cc's of saline. He has been waxing
and waning. Abby tries to get some response from him and then ask Munsen what
they need to do. He rattles off a list of procedures and she adds a few
telling him he will get the hang of it…..but she is clearly a little worried
about that.
Pratt is at the desk finishing up his
call with paramedics in the field. When he hangs up Chuny tells him there is
a guy in chairs that knows him. Pratt looks through the glass to the waiting
room at Charlie Pratt (another character we have seen in an earlier episode).
Chuny asks if he is a friend and Pratt says no. He turns away.
We are back in the trauma room with
Claire. Ray introduces her to Pratt as he tells them he is going to need the
trauma room in a couple of minutes. Clemens affirms that her water has broken
and Ray is concerned as he does an ultrasound exam. He says the baby is in
the breech position. Clemens calls him to the foot of the bed because she
needs some advice on something. Sam tells her she s doing fine because the
baby’s heart beat is on target. Ray calls Pratt to the foot of the bed.
Claire has delivered the feet of her baby. She is agitated and says that it’s
okay, right….she had a friend who delivered breech so that’s okay. Pratt
tells Ray to get OB down there right away. At the triage desk, Chuny
introduces Luka to Toni Stillman and she asks about Claire. Luka asks if she
is family and Toni explains that Claire is their ‘gestational surrogate’, that
she has been living with them for the last six weeks until the baby was to be
born. She explains that they did IVF (invitro fertilization) and had the
embryo implanted in Claire. Sam steps out as they approach the trauma room
and directs Toni inside. Luka asks about Claire and if they can talk. Sam
says Claire is doing pretty well and they can talk later. Inside the trauma
room Toni is telling Claire she shouldn’t be driving. Malik enters asking for
the activated charcoal. He tells Pratt that someone is looking for him in the
waiting room. Claire groans with a contraction and Toni is upset. Ray tells
her the baby is more than ready to be born. He mentions that it’s breech and
Toni wants to know if they will do a c-section. Chuny opens the door and
tells Pratt his gun shot wound is 2 minutes out. He leaves and takes Inez
with him. Neela approaches and asks if she can present but he tells her not
now. Neela turns away with Babinski and asks what is next. He tells her that
is a possible ankle fracture and she practically took his head off because of
how long she had to wait. He pushes open the door and Drew (from the el
platform) is on a bed. “Oh God,” she says. “Could the day get any worse?”
Neela swallows hard and frowns. “We’ve….uh…met,” she says when Babinski tells
her the patient’s name.
Pratt is pushing through the waiting room
to the ambulance doors and Charlie Pratt looks up. “Figured me out, huh,”
Pratt says. ‘Five minutes after you left,” Charlie responds about their
meeting at his door from several epis ago. Charlie follows him to the
ambulance talking to him about not knowing that he was in Chicago. He thought
he was still in Detroit. He thinks Pratt needs an explanation. Pratt tells
him he doesn’t. That he hasn’t needed anything from him. He is sorry he ever
went by the house. Now he just wants him to go away. As the ambulance
arrives Charlie tells him about his half sister and brother. That they are
his family too. Says Chaz has a swim meet that night and will probably get a
scholarship to Loyola if he wins. As Pratt goes inside with his gun shot
patient Charlie tells him he is sorry he walked away and asks Pratt not to do
the same thing.
Malik, Abby and Luka are working on the
semi comatose mall kid. Munsen is following up on some labs via telephone.
Luka is eyeing Sam, who is still with Claire in the next trauma room. Luka
orders a drug to calm the kid and Abby catches that it will could his
neurology exam so Luka orders soft restraints instead. As Munsen is giving
Abby a run down of the lab results, Pratt crashes in the door of the trauma
room with his patient. Luka tells Abby they are finished with the mall kid
and to send him up to PICU. She says they need to find out why he is getting
worse. Luka tells her he is stable and the ER work up is done. She looks at
him in confusion and directs Malik to put the kid in sutures while they wait
for a PICU bed. She follows Luka out into the hall and asks if she did
something wrong with the patient. Luka says no and she asks if he is okay.
He tells her that Sam is moving out. She asks why and he thinks it’s a
communication problem. Abby asks if he wants to talk about it but Luka says
if he wanted to talk Sam probably wouldn’t be moving out. Abby is thoughtful
and then says ‘Thank you, Luka.” He looks at her in confusion and then she
says ‘I always thought it was my fault that things didn’t work out between us
but now I know it was you.” He looks at her and a slow smile crosses his
face. “Hey, no problem,” he tells her and they grin at one another as they go
in separate directions.
Dr. Coburn, from OB, is doing an
ultrasound on Claire who is defending a natural breech birth. Ray tries to
tell her that her friend probably had a breech that was butt first. Claire’s
baby is in a more precarious position as it has been born feet first. Coburn
explains that the cervix doesn’t open wide enough to admit the head the
umbilical cord can be compressed causing a loss of oxygen to the child. Sam
tells her she wants to do what is best for the baby. It is clear that Sam and
Ray are on opposite sides of the debate regarding a C-section. Coburn says
that it’s possible the cervix can dilate and Claire wants to wait. Coburn
isn’t comfortable but will wait. She says she is going to see about a bed for
her in OB. Ray follows her into the hall –to find Toni - and asks Coburn why
she didn’t try harder to get a c-section clearance. Coburn tells him that
ultimately it’s Claire’s body and she makes the decisions.
Abby is at the board and studies the
postcard from Jake. Malik startles her and says she has a call from PICU.
Chuny approaches and says the mall kid’s friends are in the waiting room
asking about him. Abby follows Chuny to the waiting room and quizzes the two
boys about their friend. His name is Liam and he didn’t take any drugs. They
ran away from him because they were cutting school and didn’t want to get in
trouble. Liam has missed a lot of school because his parents are splitting up
and he has to go back and forth. Abby asks h if he has any medical
disorders. One kid says that Liam’s family are vegetarians. Abby asks if he
was acting differently today. Not really…..just bummed…he ate two jumbo
cheeseburgers. Abby says that she thought they were vegetarians and Munsen
bursts into the waiting room to say that he is getting worse.
Abby strides into the hall and tosses
Liam’s backpack to Munsen. She tells him to go through it to find anything
that might help them. Malik is wheeling him toward the elevator and Munsen
checks to say that he barely has a gag. Abby asks if he knows the VITAMIN
mnemonic for altered mental status. They check through everything and then
she stops suddenly. “It’s M….for metabolic,” she shays. She thinks Liam may
have a metabolic disorder that keeps him on a vegetarian diet. She draws
blood and tells Munsen it has to go to the lab for an ammonia level and it has
to be cold. Munsen reaches over and takes the iced Frappuccino from Morris
and Abby plunges the blood vial into the icy drink. Munsen takes off for the
lab and Abby tells Liam to hang in there.
Ray, Sam and Clemens are with Claire and
she seems hopeful about the baby’s heartbeat. Ray tries to tell her that she
needs a c-section and Sam is angry that he is being so negative. Claire says
that she wants to have her own kids one day – naturally. Claire asks if she
can sign consent but only if it’s the very last resort for the baby?? Sam
assures her that she can but that she needs to be aware of the risks. Ray is
angry that Sam is being so negative. They have an argument in the hall
because she feels Ray is downplaying the risks. Neela hurries by from the gun
shot victim Pratt is working on and Ray goes into the trauma room to help
out. Pratt is clearly fighting a losing battle and finally tells Babinski to
‘call it’. Pratt is incensed that Neela and Babinski would second guess him
and says so when he leaves the room.
Abby’s mall kid is crashing and she
prepares him for a tube. Malik looks up to see Luka striding through the
treatment area. ‘Uh oh’, he says. Luka stops and asks what is happening and
Abby gives him a run down. He is angry that she didn’t send him up to PICU
when she was told to. Munsen bursts in and tells her she was right about the
ammonia level. She tells him to go to the pharmacy to get a drug that is a
nitrogen scavenger. He races off and she looks at Luka. She tells him the
kid’s family are strict vegetarians and he was depressed because his parents
are splitting up so he ate two cheeseburgers…a sort of fast food rebellion…and
his system couldn’t handle the protein. She tells him that they will give him
the meds, lower the ammonia, get him out of his catabolic spin and he will
wake up…right? Luka stares her down and then tosses his gloves to her with a
‘good pick up’. He walks away and shakes his head. “Lockhart comes up big,”
Malik says as they fist bump one another.
Luka goes to the ambulance bay and sees
Alex. They play a short game of one on one basketball and Luka asks about the
new place. Alex tells him it’s closer to the hospital and Luka promises he
will take him camping again for his birthday.
Babinski catches Neela in the hall to say
that their waiting patient is losing patience about the time it’s taken to get
her ankle splinted. Neela tells Abby she may want to help with this one.
They enter the curtain room and Drew is still waiting on a bed. Her ankle is
now purple. She complains about waiting for six hours because she has a
national sales conference she is supposed to be at. Abby apologizes and says
that sometimes they lose track of time when they are saving lives. Drew is
incensed and goes all finger pointy about sarcasm and how she is ‘customer
here and if I am not happy with my treatment or the service here I will go to
your supervisors.” Abby and Neela exchange glances.
Toni and her husband are in the trauma
room with Claire. He is telling her that they have a contract and Claire is
agitated. Ray takes them into the hall and Toni says they spent a fortune on
IVF and gave the last of her embryos to Claire. He says they can’t force her
to have surgery. Rod says he will get a court order. Sam comes out of trauma
to say that Claire is in trouble. The baby’s heart rate is dropping and there
is indication of cord compression. They push her to the elevator and on to
OB. The Stallman's start to follow and Claire ells them she doesn’t want them
in the delivery room. The elevator doors close as she is screaming with
another contraction.
Chuny introduces Pratt to Karen Sims, the
daughter of his GSW victim. She wants to know what GSW stands for and Pratt
tells her it means ‘gun shot wound’. He tells her that her mother was shot
during a robbery attempt and they tried everything to save her. Karen doesn’t
want to see her. Says they had a falling out a long time ago and have been
waiting for the other one to admit they were wringing. ‘I guess I win,” she
says as she walks away.
Coburn is with Claire in the delivery
room. Ray is distressed at the falling heart rate of the baby. Claire still
refuses a cesarean. The baby’s head is stuck and Ray tries to convince her
that 2 minutes and 5 minutes is a big difference between a healthy baby and a
brain damaged one. Claire still refuses. The baby is delivered and is pretty
cyanotic. Claire asks how the baby is and Ray tells her that he has no pulse
and it’s not breathing. Coburn kicks Ray out of the delivery room.
Pratt is at the high school and walks
into the pool area where a meet is in progress. We see Charlie, his wife and
daughter in the stands cheering Chaz on. Pratt watches his younger brother
swim.
Ray walks out of the delivery room area
to where Toni and Rod are waiting. They ask about the baby Ray tells them
sadly that the baby was deprived of oxygen during birth and there is a high
probability that he suffered neurological damage. The Stallman’s are
devastated. Rod says they did not pay to have a brain dead baby. He walks
away. Toni is torn. She tells Ray that they were going to name him David,
after Rod’s father. Ray tells her she still can. Rod calls her and the two
of them stumble away from Ray.
Abby is at the desk when they wheel Liam
by. She tells him he is going to love PICU because they have video games.
Liam slyly tells her that his friend thinks she is a ‘MILF’. Abby is
confused. ‘That’s a mother I’d like to…” he says. Abby interrupts him and
says that she is not a mother, she is a doctor. Liam says that makes her a
‘DILF’. She chuckles and sends him on his way telling him to remember to wear
his medic alert bracelet. She ambles over to the board and takes down the
postcard from Jake. She reads it and then tears it up and puts it in the
trash. Neela approaches and scolds her playfully. Abby can’t figure out why
Jake hasn’t contacted her and then sends a postcard to the ER. Neela laughs
and tells her she practically ran him out of town with a torch. Morris takes
Neela’s charts and runs through them quickly giving her something to correct
or add to each one before he will sign off on them. He asks Abby for her
charts and she says she doesn’t have any. He tries to look around her and she
steps in his way. Clemens comes up and asks if someone can show her how to do
a filiform and follower. She says ray never came down from labor and
delivery. Morris says he is probably hitting on all of the OB nurses.
Cut to Ray sitting in front of a lighted
baby table. Coburn approaches and asks how he is doing. Hypoxic brain
injury. Very slim chance for any neurological recovery. Coburn asks if his
mother has been in to see him. Ray shakes his head. Claire doesn’t consider
him her baby. The Stillman's don’t want a ventilator baby. Coburn tells him
there is nothing more he can do for him. Ray says that the little guy has had
a rough day. He didn’t want him to spend his first night all alone. Coburn
looks at him sadly and then walks away – leaving ray alone in the nursery
watching the baby in the bed.
Cut to Pratt standing against the wall of
the pool room. The stands are empty but for Charlie Pratt and his wife and
daughter. Chaz approaches with some team members and Pratt calls to him.
Pratt tells him he swam a good race. He tells him that he is Greg. Chaz says
he remembers him from the house a few weeks ago. Pratt asks if his dad told
him anything. Chaz says no. Pratt tells him that he is his half brother.
Chaz is surprised. Says he always heard rumors but didn’t know what they
meant. Charlie comes up behind them and tells Chaz to hurry and then slows
when he sees Greg. His wife and daughter approach and Charlie introduces Greg
to them. He invites Greg to join them for dinner but Greg says he has to get
back to the hospital. As the rest of them walk away Charlie stops Greg and
tells him it’s hard – for all of them – but to give it a chance. They are his
family after all. Pratt tells him no…that they are your family. He walks
away.
Luka walks into a darkened apartment and
calls for Sam. There is nothing. He goes to the refrigerator and takes out a
bottle of beer. He moves to the couch and sits down. He tosses a dinosaur
toy into a box on the table and sits in the dark…alone….with his beer.
Whenever I do a recap for an episode
that has been directed by Laura Innes, I am always amazed at how seamless her
scene transitions tend to be. This episode was no exception. Every scene is
tightly interwoven and each screen tells an entire story. She is a director
worth watching out for!
Reviewed by
Lynda Foote on June 29, 2007
NBC Review
A BABY'S LIFE IS IN DANGER WHEN A SURROGATE MOTHER MAKES A
DRAMATIC DECISION - Ray (Shane West) attends to a surrogate mother who goes
into labor prematurely after being involved in a car accident. An emotional
decision must be made as a baby's life hangs in the balance. Pratt (Mekhi
Phifer) encounters his estranged father and is forced to deal with his
feelings from the past. Sam (Linda Cardellini) and Kovac (Goran Visnjic) loom
on the edge of a break-up. Also starring, Maura Tierney, Parminder Nagra,
Danny Glover and Scott Grimes.
TV Guide Review
September 29, 2005: Nobody's Baby:
Danny Glover reappears as Pratt's dad in a
bittersweet encounter. Also, a difficult baby
delivery preoccupies Ray; and a preteen's
neurological distress busies Abby. Claire: Erin
Cottrell. Dr. Clemons: Damali Scott. Toni:
Suzanne Cryer. Rod: Eric Lange
Dominic Janes - Alex Taggart
