Up in surgery Neela is talking with the MVA patient just prior to his surgery. He tells her a sad story about losing his family because of an addiction to crystal meth. He gives her a note and asks if she will send something to his children if anything happens to him. Neela is reluctant but takes the note/money from him.

Teller is leading Gates and Ray through one nasty neighborhood. They go down some steps and around a corner of an abandoned building. Teller heads into a hole in the brick wall as Ray says ‘Ah...a big old mouse hole.” Hee....

Neela and Dubenko are in the middle of a very bloody surgery. Shirley approaches and tells Dubenko that Victoria is on the phone and wants to know if she should wear the blue dress or the red dress. Dubenko says that the blue one is nice. Neela asks if he has a hot date and he says sort of. He tells her that she did some strong work. “Well....” Neela says, ‘once you have seen a super celiac aortic tear you’ve seen them all.” Dubenko chuckles and shakes his head.

Gates and Ray are following Teller down a skanky alley way and through a plastic covered doorway. Four dirty and nasty looking kids surround Lizzie on the floor. She is grunting and the kids scatter as Gates and Ray enter with Teller. Lizzie is in labor and the baby is already crowning. Gates asks who the father is and Teller tells him there is no father. He says that Lizzie gets men to help them. The Greek gives them food and the cripple lets them sleep in the building when it’s cold. Lizzie ‘helps’ them and they help the kids. Ray delivers a baby boy and lays it on Lizzie’s chest. She is aghast and asks if it’s her’s? Gates uses his cell phone to call for an ambulance and Teller panics. Lizzie tells him to take the kids and run away. Gates stops him and promises - over Ray’s protests - that he will not call Social Services.

Neela and Dubenko are talking as they exit their surgery. He tells her that he is having dinner with his sister. Neela asks if she is older or younger. He says both....that she is older but forever stuck at 17. She was involved in an accident the night of her prom. The boyfriend was drunk. She is in an independent living facility and he sees her a lot. Says he has to go...nice dinner tonight and she likes to dress up.

Sam is talking to her homeless patient - Lenore - and says she is getting better and will have to leave soon. Lenore tells her that her parents are in Gary (Indiana) but she hasn’t seen them in a while. Doubts if they would even recognize her.. Sam moves away with Ben and he tells her they can clean her up and get her a new set of clothes for Christmas.

Morris comes from a curtain area shaking his head about a drunken Santa. Gates and ray enter with Lizzie and baby in a wheelchair. Gates says that he called Social Services. Ray freaks and Gates says that he got the kids here with the lie that he wouldn’t call. Ray is pissed.

An administrator form Mercy passes through the ER and is clearly uneasy with the ‘clientele’. Sam confronts her about dumping Lenore back on the street because her presence made their hospital look bad. She says that as far as she can see, Mercy’s ‘boys’ can drive Lenore to her parents in Gary...’That’s over an hour away!” the ad gal says.....and Sam tells her that if she ever gets wind of Mercy ever doing this again she will call the cops and the news so fast that she’s not sure if she will get fired or arrested first. She whips back the curtain to reveal a clean, dressed and smiling Lenore. She tells Lenore that Hilary is going to make sure she gets to her parents for Christmas. Niiiiiiice scene for Linda Cardinelli in ‘The Return of the Fiesty Sam!’

Ray and Gates are outside the exam room talking with a hospital Social Worker. Ray says that Gates promised the kids they wouldn’t go into foster care. The social worker says he can’t promise that. Ray says the kids need to be made to feel that they will be safe and protected. Gates says that SW will follow up, right? The Social worker responds that they do the best they can.

Neela is walking through the hall with Gates and he is telling her that CPS is going to put all of the kids in a group home together....that it was Ray’s brainstorm. Neela and Gates go into tell Teller and he is raging angry. He runs out of the waiting room and Gates grabs him. He tells him that he can’t go on like this. Teller says that no one hurts them. Gates tells him that the men were hurting Lizzie...sleeping in an abandoned building made Paulie get sick. Teller hollers that they are making Paulie better and Neela tells him that Paulie died. He was just too sick to get better. Teller stops, stunned by the news. Gates tells him that Lizzie agreed to go to the group home. It’s the only way she can keep her baby. Ray tells him that Dr. Gates will visit and make sure that everything is okay. Gates tells Teller he can call him at anytime. He tells him that Teller needs to go with the people from Social Services to let the other kids know that it’s safe to come in. Neela leads Teller away and Ray shakes his head at Gates. He tells him that he will say anything to seal the deal.....that he needs to draw the line. Gates asks what line that is and Ray tells him making promises that he has no intention of keeping. Gates looks at him and says that Ray isn’t just talking about the kids. Ray says ‘no’ and walks away.

At LAST....we are at Luka’s apartment. He is busy decorating the tree and Abby is settling Joe into the little day crib in the living room. (WAY cute red and white striped sleeper on the baby, costume people he is a little candy cane!) Abby tells Joe that she just needs a couple of hours to wrap. She smiles at him and then makes her way toward the table with gifts and wrapping paper rolls. She glances at Luka and then turns back to him. “Can we talk?” she asks. (LOVE the memories that particular phrase evokes!) Luka looks at her and says sure. She tells him that ‘this scares me.” He asks if it’s Ames and Abby says what it is doing to him. To them. She moves to the couch and sits down as she says that it has taken so LONG to get there...all of them...and the way he is acting....the way it has taken over their whole lives....she is scared that they are going to lose this. Luka stops at the tree for a moment, thinking about what she is saying. He moves to sit on the coffee table in front of her. He looks at her for a long moment and then says: “When Jasna and the kids died, I needed to make a change and I decided to move here. It made my brother really angry. He said that I was a coward. That I was running away. And it’s only recently that I have come to know that he was wrong. I wasn’t running away from anything.....I was running to you. And I’ll never let anything take this away.” Abby looks at him for a moment and then presses her hand to his cheek. Luka grabs it and holds it tightly, pressing a kiss to her palm. He looks at her and she presses a kiss to his forehead. They touch foreheads and he kisses both of her palms. She leans in closer and whispers ‘Did I mention how hot you look in antlers?’ Luka laughs softly and kisses her forehead. Very emotionally charged scene for Maura and Goran. Tight camera shot on their faces. Nice job.

Melia is in the lounge and Hope opens the door. “I think she is in here, Santa,” she says and Melia smiles as a Santa comes into the lounge asking for Melia. She smiles as he sits next to her and she pulls his beard a little. She tells him it’s a nice try but she is nine years old and knows that there is no Santa. It’s just a fake beard and a dumb suit. Morris gets as serious as he can with a Santa suit on and tells her that she is a very smart girl but she is wrong. Every time you are generous or thoughtful or help someone in need....that’s a little bit of Santa. He says that Santa represents one of the last little bits of humanity left in the world and he still believes so don’t spoil it for him. He takes her hand and leads her out of the lounge. They go out in the hall and Morris looks around. He sees a little girl being pushed in a wheel chair and stops her. He tells her that she has been very, very nice this year…..the top of the nice lists. He asks her if he can sign her cast. The little girl is very excited and watches as Morris writes but doesn’t see him checking out the name on her hospital bracelet. The little girl is dumbfounded that he knows her name. She stops in front of Melia as she is being wheeled away and asks her if he is the REAL Santa. Melia watches him and then nods with a smile. “Yeah...he is,” she says and Hope nudges her with a smile.

Neela is in recovery with her MVA guy. She slips two gifts onto the table over the bed. She tells him that she has a present for him and that the gifts are for ‘them’. She motions toward the door and two children enter with their mother behind them. Neela tells him that things were a little touch and go for a while and she called them. He is worried about explaining and Neela tells him he won’t have to. After all, it’s Christmas. The kids approach the bed and he smiles as he talks to them. Neela smiles and moves away. Dubenko comes in the recovery room door, dressed up. He asks if she is off soon and Neela tells him he looks very nice. He hands Neela a gift wrapped in a surgical towel and tied with gauze. He says he doesn’t normally do this as work gifts are usually edible and bad for you or organic soap. She opens it and is touched. “Loops,” she says. He tells her that they are the first pair he ever bought. Got them when he was in med school. He goes on to explain that she is an intern and he is an attending and protocol and hierarchies preclude him from saying this but he is going to give it a shot. She tries to stop him fearing - as we all do at the moment - that it is going to be a romantic confession....but he goes on to say that she is a really good surgeon...and that with a few more years she will be great. She is clearly relieved and touched as she thanks him. He tells her to try the glasses on and it’s a pretty funny shot of her eyes magnified as she looks at him. He chuckles and says ‘Beautiful.” He tells her that if she ever repeats this conversation he will deny it. She responds ‘What conversation?” He grins, tells her not to forget transplant rounds at 7 in the morning and leaves.

Hope watches from the admit desk as Morris shakes hands with Melia’s mom and then hugs the little girl. Pratt comes in and laughs at the Santa suit. He looks at the board and says that Morris either rocked the house or was closed to patients. Morris tells him that they just moved patients through. Pratt nods and goads Morris to tell him all about what a good manager he is....and Morris just looks up at the board and then back at Pratt. He tells him that he is going to go for humility this time....for real. Pratt is dumbfounded. “Humili...what?” he says as Morris walks away.

Hope hurries to catch up with him and tells Morris that she learned a lot watching him today. Morris admits that he is full of it..and Hope tells him that she ‘gets it’...that he doesn’t believe half of what he says but it doesn’t matter because what she saw was a guy trying to be good. She says that right there is half the battle. Morris just smiles a little and tells her to have a nice holiday. She asks him what he is doing...right then....and says that she thinks they ought to grab a bit to eat...have a drink....and see what happens. His mouth drops open. She says that chastity has always been over rated and purity of the spirit is what matters, right? Morris totally confused and clearly conflicted. He grimaces and then says ...no. He says that he hates what he is saying and that it’s like some freak...angel....has taken over his mouth but it’s Christmas...and people get lonely...and they might do something they regret or will get in the way of a possibly deeper relationship in the future. He apologizes to a dismayed Hope and then races up the staircase as a guy pushing an IV pole starts hollering something about stealing his suit.

Sam and Ben are in a bar and she is asking him about his ‘story’...what’s his damage. Ben tells her that he spent a couple of years in the service...most of that time in Okinawa - a hell of a lot better than Iraq.....been a traveler.....to which Sam says she did that. She asks how much more time he has left in Chicago and he tells her that he likes County...likes what they did for that lady today. So he called the nursing manager and signed up for another month. Sam grins and says ‘Well, Merry Christmas, Ben.”

Holiday montage to Sarah MacLachlan’s version of ‘River......

An ambulance pulls up to a small house and an elderly man and woman come to the door. The door of the ambulance opens and Lenore steps out. She makes her way up the snowy walkway and into the arms of her parents.

Dubenko is sitting at a table in an empty dining room with his sister. He feeds her a bite of food and then opens a gift as she smiles at him.

Neela is curled in a chair in her apartment next to a table full of photo frames. She picks up the phone and dials as the camera moves in on a photo of her surrounded by her family at her med school graduation.

Abby is standing in front of her Christmas tree wearing a low cut Santa robe with frothy white feathery trim at the wrists and neckline. Her hands are on her hips as she laughs and Luka moves into the camera frame wearing reindeer antlers. She pulls them off and drops them over her shoulder. She holds his face in her hands as they kiss. His arms encircle her and he holds her close.

A door opens and Katey grins as Ray holds a sprig of mistletoe over her head and kisses her. She draws him inside.

The camera pans from a sleeping Lizzie’s face to Gates examining her baby. He motions toward the door and Teller enters. He slips a small stuffed snowman into the baby’s bed and grins at Gates.

The song finishes and we hear a door slamming. Morris careens onto the hospital roof punching into the air. “Idiot MORON...” he hollers to himself. “She was right there for the fondling and you let her go....why? WHY did you have to be such a good......Christian?? There is no God. No Christmas. There is NO freaking SANTA CLAUS!” We hear bells jingling in the distance and he stops and looks all around. He looks up in the sky and starts to laugh slightly in disbelief. The snow begins to fall around him and the camera shot fades.

Reviewed by Lynda Foote on June 30, 2007

NBC Review