Pratt comes out of his bedroom, dressed and ready to go to work. He sees Chaz doing his homework, and remarks that he likes to see his brother taking his education so seriously. A woman calls out from Chaz’s bedroom, asking if he has a spare toothbrush, and comes out to see Pratt. She introduces herself as Nicole. Chaz explains that Nicole is his study partner, and lives on campus at the school they attend. She apologizes if they were too loud, and Greg smiles, replying he didn’t hear anything. Gates presents his caseload to Morris, while Katey asks Ray how to do transfer. He begins by saying that she needs to fill out a transfer packet, and document the reason for the transfer. After he is finished he makes sure no one is within earshot, and asks Katey if things between them are ‘okay’. Thinking he was talking about the transfer packet explanation, Katey remarks it was pretty self-explanatory. He sets her right, asking if she is okay with their relationship staying hush hush. Before Katey can agree, Hope passes by them declaring the two make a cute couple. Rebuking the idea, Ray and Katey go their separate ways. Hope begins to ask Kerry something, but is told to talk to Morris. Dawn asks Kerry if she’s excited about that evening. Gates asks about what. Dawn announces that Kerry’s interview will be shown that night. Sam emerges with a new nurse transfer, and introduces him as Ben and that he was from Savannah, Georgia. Everyone says hello, while Morris and Gates start making sarcastic comments. Sam is quick to ask the two not to scare off her staff, and adds that she needs him to come back the next day. Timmy, Dawn and Kerry all lay bets down as to how long he sticks around. Pratt walks in, and gets the lowdown on the schedule from Kerry, who is getting ready to head out. Pratt follows her; thanking her for the advice she gave him about Chaz. He tells her that she was wrong, and comments that everyone experiments and it was just a phase. Clearly confused, Kerry urges him to go on. Pratt grins and secures the notion his brother is straight. Kerry comments sarcastically that Pratt must be so proud. Pratt goes on to try to explain that wasn’t what he meant and tries to cover himself by explaining to her what he did mean. Kerry makes a come back by agreeing and comments that Greg isn’t her only ‘black’ friend. Luka is feeding little Joe, while Abby asks Luka if the budget committee is pressuring him. He tells her that they are all over him about it. She asks him what they want him to cut, and he answers that they want him to cut an attending. In disbelief, she goes on to talk while Luka glances out the window. He spots Curtis standing out on the street looking towards him. Luka races out of the apartment, while Abby calls out to him.  He runs out to the street, barefooted, in search of Curtis, but doesn’t see him. Almost getting hit several times, he keeps scanning the street for Curtis. 

Abby asks him what he was doing, as they walk into work. He replies he saw a tow truck and states he was parked on the wrong side of the street. They both walk towards an ambulance and peer in as Gates brings in a pregnant woman with a head injury and vaginal bleeding. Abby suggests it could also be an ectopic pregnancy, and heads in to clear a room. Ray and Katey tend to a patient with a knee injury. He calls his orders and heads into admit to get Morris to sign off. Morris asks how Katey and him are working out, but Ray is quick to deny even knowing her. Morris asks if he is supervising her and Ray says it isn’t him. Morris comments that it seems the med students are getting younger, and Ray watches her claiming he hadn’t noticed how hot she was. Morris catches Ray, and asks him about it. Ray takes his leave before having to explain. Sam continues to show Ben around. Ray asks Sam to get an ortho consult, and takes Ben with her. Pratt catches Hope, and asks her why she ordered ‘long walks holding hands’ and ‘romantic dinners’ for a couple of newlyweds with flu symptoms. She explains that she sensed tension between the patients and that she believed the tension lowered their immune symptoms. Pratt makes a face, and Hope further denotes that if the couple would just set aside some time for one another that they would recover faster. A seemingly altered patient interrupts saying that Greg stole something and he wanted it back. Greg tells the patient that he needed to calm down. Ray comes in to ask what it is that he was missing. He proceeds to tell them that he had a 5-carat ring in his pocket, and blames Hope. The patient grabs her ponytail from behind and starts pulling her back. Ben jumps him from behind and tells him to shut up. While Ben drags the patient down the hall, Greg asks Hope if she is all right and breaks up the scene by telling everyone to get back to work. Greg makes a comment to Ray about getting shown up by a male nurse. Morris walks in and adds that he was pretty macho. While Gates and Luka examine the pregnant girl, it comes to light that she was assaulted. While Luka tries to clear CT, the vice principal of the girls school comes in to find out how she is. Luka tells her that she isn’t good and that her parents needed to be contacted. The woman explains that her mother works at County and we find out that Angela Gilliam is the girl’s mother. Neela is working Gates’ patient, but acting rather bitter towards him. He suspects she is still upset about the other night when Sara and Meg walked in. Neela tells him to stop, while he continues to tell her that it was over between him and Meg. Neela replies that it may be over for him, but that the look on Meg’s face clearly indicated it wasn’t over for her. Angela comes down from a staff meeting, and Luka tells her about her daughter, Daniel. Angela runs into the trauma room in disbelief and fear to embrace her unconscious daughter.  

Abby’s patient tells the whole story of why she swallowed her boyfriend’s cell phone. Sam calls her over to introduce Ben to her. Before Sam leaves, she tells Abby there is an asthmatic at triage asking for her. She spots Eddie as he waves her way. Before Abby can leave, the cell phone inside the patient starts ringing. Abby treats Eddie for shortness of breath and chest crackles. While they engage in small talk about cigarettes, Luka asks to speak with Abby. He asks Abby to do a rape examine on Danielle and tells her she is Angela’s daughter. Pratt struggles to tell a woman that she does not have the Avian Flu. The patient however believes she does and demands to be retested. Dawn checks on Katey’s suture job, and asks how long her and Ray have been dating. Ray is quick to deny the dating rumor, and Dawn as well as the patient seem shocked. Abby proceeds to do the rape exam on Danielle. Ray approaches Sam about ‘blabbing’ to everyone about him and Katey. She denies that she ever said anything. The patient who grabbed Hope at admit hawkes a leggie across the hall and it lands on Ray’s shirt. As he continues to spit, Sam tells Ben that his patient is acting up. Ben comes back with a C-collar and wraps it around the patients face. After seeing the patient is no longer a threat, Hope asks Morris to check on one of her patients, who is suffering from migraines. While asking why she was calling on him for a migraine, she pulls back the curtain to show the patient looking at him with something sticking out the side of his head. Luka walks back to the hospital with an officer, saying he doesn’t want a restraining order against Curtis, he wanted him arrested. The officer tells Luka that Curtis hasn’t done anything illegal. Luka asks if Curtis has to hurt his family before someone will listen, but the officer tells Luka that Curtis isn’t really a threat. Abby catches up with them to let the officer know that the rape kit is sealed and waiting for him. She asks if he is okay and he dismisses everything and walks back into the hospital. Police pull aside Angela to question whether Danielle was dating anyone. Angela responds that her daughter is only 13. Angela introduces Luka to her husband, Paul. He asks Luka if his daughter was raped and Luka tells them that it the results were negative for sperm. He told them that she was assaulted with something sharp repeatedly. He suggests it could have been a razor blade. Police begin questioning the parents, more so Paul than Angela. Danielle calls her mom, asking what was going on. Angela tends to her daughter, while Luka shuffles the police out. Luka suggests Paul go and answer any questions the police have and Paul goes. Luka goes back to Danielle and Angela, who is trying to get her daughter to open up about the assault. Angela asks Danielle if she knows who hurt her. She says yes. Angela asks her to tell her, but Danielle says she can’t and her mother would be mad. Morris, Hope, Gates and Pratt examine the x-rays of the patient with the ice pick shoved in the side of his head. Ray and Katey join in asking why this happened. Morris told them the patient was hearing voices in his head and the ice pick was his way of shutting them up. Greg

gracefully bowed out and ran into Chaz in the hallway. Chaz asks to talk to him and they slip somewhere more private. Chaz tells Greg that he thinks he gave the wrong impression that something happened between him and Nicole. Greg begins chatting away about how it was okay, but Chaz interrupts his brother and tells him he is gay. Greg tries to sway his brother into thinking he’s still young and confused. Chaz carries on, dead set on making his brother understand. Dawn calls Greg on a patient, and he leaves to tend to his workload. Luka almost bulldozes Abby over in the hall. He dances around why he was talking to Holis, the police officer. Luka notices Eddie still on the board, and offers to finish up with him while Abby tends to eight 5^th graders suffering from gastroenteritis. Eddie makes a comment on whether Luka would be raising his son, Joe, in Chicago. Luka gives him an odd look and turns bitter. He tells Eddie that he wouldn’t talk about his personal life with patients and leaves. Eddie tries to apologize by acting out of line, but Luka leaves before he can. Cyril, the man with the ice pick in his head tries to take it out, but Morris stops him before he can. Ray gets off the phone and announces that no other department in the hospital will take him. Hope asks what they should do, and Morris says they should pull it out. Once Morris tells the team that the case is publishable, they all decide to move ahead with removing it. Morris asks which one of them wanted to remove it and Hope steps up. As Hope begins to pull, the handle slides out into her hand, but the metal spear stays in. Neela is examining Danielle, when Haleh calls Angela out to the hall to speak with the police officer. She at first doesn’t want to leave her daughter, but after Danielle tells her she should go, her mother finally leaves the room. Neela tells Danielle she wants to see how deep the cuts are, but Danielle says they aren’t too severe. Neela asks her how she knows, and Danielle asks them not to tell her mom. Luka pays Curtis a visit at his work. He overhears Curtis telling a worker something and the worker telling Curtis to ‘go screw himself.’ Luka asks to have a word; while a foreman tells Curtis he isn’t paid to chitchat. Curtis asks to take his break, and they take a walk. Luka tells Curtis he is lying about not being in front of his apartment that morning. Curtis tells him to check his time card, and that he doesn’t even know where Luka lives. Luka calls Curtis on the message he sent with Joe’s toy he left at the park. Curtis fires back saying all he’s doing is trying to live his life; to get through another day. Curtis tells him that he’s not trying to hurt Luka’s family, and that he knows what it’s like. Curtis lets Luka know about his family in Croatia, and Luka pulls him down aggressively, threatening that if he comes near his family again, he will kill Curtis.

Hope melts down and blames herself for the handle of the ice pick coming off but not the metal spear part. Morris consoles her. Crenshaw emerges, and Hope asks how he is. Crenshaw tells her that he will be fine. Crenshaw slams their competence levels, but Morris fires back. Crenshaw walks away in a huff, and Hope tells Morris she could kiss him. Abby walks Eddie out, reminding him to fill his prescriptions. Luka walks in and Haleh beckons him. He tells Abby they will talk later. Ben thanks Sam for showing him around, and asks her out as means of a real thank you. Greg tells Ray that him and Katey need to sever ties. Ray tells him that it’s happening around the ER all the time, as Neela listens in. The admit people watch Kerry’s interview. Kerry and Courtney watch from home, which then leads to the two sharing a passionate kiss. Neela flags Ray down in the drug cage. She tells him that Pratt is right and that it isn’t cool to date a med student. She tells him that she is concerned, but he tells her that things are fine between Katey and him. He asks her why she seems to care all of a sudden. Neela replies that friends talk and then asks Neela how Tony is. He tells her that she made a choice and can’t have things both ways. Luka meets Angela in one of the doctor’s lounge. He asks her when her husband will be back and she says soon. Luka tells her that he needs to tell her something, and proceeds to fill her in on why Danielle was the one that harmed herself. Luka tells her that Danielle told him something she saw happen to her mother while in Detroit. Angela begins to tell Luka that when they were living there, a man came to their apartment, saying he was doing repairs. She told Luka that she let him inside, but instead of doing the repairs, he raped her. She adds that she thought Danielle was outside playing. Angela begins blaming herself for what her daughter did to herself. Tony catches up with Neela at the EL and tells her that he’s moving out of Meg’s house. He tells her that Meg and Sara have learned to count on him. Neela asks him to stop lying and walks away. Tony admits he hadn’t been honest for long time, but stresses that she is the one that made him realize what he wanted his life to really be. Neela gets on the train, but before the doors close, she pulls Tony in with her. Pratt sees Chaz in front of his place with his things. Pratt tells him he doesn’t have to leave, but Chaz tells him that he does. Greg explains that he works on gay patients and works with gay people, but that with family, he just needs some time to adjust. Chaz tells Greg that he’s a lot like their father, and that he will never accept him. Chaz adds that he hopes one day Greg will prove him wrong. As Luka and Abby leave for the night, he tells her where he went that afternoon and why. Abby gets angry for him not telling her what was going on. Closing the episode, Luka tells her not to make the whole situation about them, but Abby retorts that it is about them.

Reviewed by Kristyna on April 20, 2007

NBC Review

A STARTLING SECRET PLAGUES THE ER-- FOREST WHITAKER GUEST-STARS- Dr. Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) has a tough time coming to terms with his brother's newly discovered sexual orientation. Kovac (Goran Visnjic) spots Curtis Ames (guest star Forest Whitaker) outside his apartment, but chooses not to tell Abby (Maura Tierney). Gates (John Stamos) begs Neela (Parminder Nagra) to give him a chance. Meanwhile, Kovac and Gates treat a young girl who appears to have been assaulted. Laura Innes, Linda Cardellini, Shane West and Scott Grimes also star.