The hostage situation is
firmly in the past for Morris, or so he tells the hospital psychologist. But
are things really fine with him or is he burying his trauma? Meanwhile, Neela
is prepping for Cheryl Hawkins as she is readied for her fourth surgery, and
Abby goes to a job interview at the Peyton Medical Center. Back at reception,
Dr. Brenner, fresh from a passionate night with Laverne, deftly ignores her
while introducing a new student, Dr. Montoya, to the staff. While filling a
prescription for an elderly woman, Abby has an unexpected allergic reaction.
She discovers the source of her allergies when the woman pulls a kitten from
her purse. Abby calls a social worker to deal with the woman before confiding
in Marquez that she's had a job offer. The arrival of an ambulance cuts their
conversation short as Lois, a young woman who passed out in the middle of the
road, arrives for treatment. While Morris contemplates the bullet hole in the
trauma room glass, Manny, a truck driver who narrowly missed hitting Lois when
she passed out in the road, is wheeled in suffering from a dislocated hip. In
the other trauma room, Abby assesses Lois while Dr. Brenner continues to
ignore Laverne, instead favoring Dr. Montoya with his attention.
Elsewhere, during a difficult
surgery, Lucien leaves Neela to finish on her own so he can answer a call from
another department in the hospital. As Morris manipulates Manny's leg and pops
his dislocated hip back in place, he is reminded once again that they could
have been killed during the recent hostage crisis. Calling into the other
trauma room, Morris finds Dr. Brenner has sent his student doctors out to run
his errands. When Dr. Brenner questions Abby's diagnosis of Lois's condition,
she puts him in his place with her impressive medical knowledge. When she's
informed that her parents have been called, Lois becomes agitated and upset.
During Cheryl's surgery, Neela discovers the woman's bowel is ruptured. When
Lucien fails to respond to her page, Neela makes the call and fixes the tear
on her own. Meanwhile in Lois's room, Dr. Brenner continues to act
dismissively towards Laverne, while being a tentative to Dr. Montoya. When a
woman, Edith, bursts in frantically searching for her son Lonny, Abby tries to
help her. Confused by her request, things get even weirder when Lois calls to
the woman, "I'm right here, Mommy." A stunned silence falls. Lucien and Neela
check on Cheryl: She's not healing well. Neela questions her own work, but
Lucien says she's a good doctor. Lois admits to Abby that she didn't want the
hospital to call anyone because she feared being discovered. In a moment of
peace, Abby confides in Lois that sometimes the people closest to us are the
ones who have the hardest time. In the corridor, Edith is struggling with the
truth about her son and when her husband calls, she lies to him about why
she's at the hospital. Edith tells Abby that Lonny disappeared six years ago,
so this discovery is a bittersweet one.
Frank, Morris, Dr. Pratt and a
security guard watch surveillance footage showing an unknown couple having sex
around the hospital. Sam and Gates grow nervous when they see the footage.
Abby takes a minute to ask Dr. Pratt if the board will offer her an attending
position soon, because she has another job offer. Meanwhile, Abby tells Edith
and Lois that Lois has liver failure. Lois admits that she injects estrogen
hormones from Mexico, so Abby has a sample analyzed. Dr. Gates is
unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the surveillance DVD. Elsewhere, Abby's
elderly cat lady still refuses to go home. While attending to the old lady,
Abby is called back to Lois when she begins to vomit blood. Dr. Brenner
decides to use an endoscope but Abby overrides him, saying they will use a new
drug that is less invasive. Brenner gives up and lets Abby have it her way.
Lucien announces Cheryl's results are back: the operation didn't work. Lucien
reminds Neela not to become attached to patients before requesting she inform
Cheryl and her family that they have to prepare for the worst. Edith's husband
has arrived, wondering why she's in the hospital with a strange woman. Abby
tells the couple to have their argument in the family room. She walks outside
as Dr. Jenson from the Peyton Medical Center calls with the job offer. Abby
accepts the offer before returning to Lois's room with the estrogen toxicology
results. She tells them the estrogen has killed Lois' liver and that the
transplant waiting list will take too long. Edith volunteers to be a donor but
her husband still refuses to look at Lois. Elsewhere, Neela tells Cheryl and
her family that she has to be put on a breathing machine or risk a coma. While
Sam distracts Frank, Gates swipes the DVD of them having sex in the hospital.
Dr. Pratt tells Morris he is on the shortlist for chief and tells him he's
looking after Tina following her surgery. On his way out Pratt, finds out that
Abby took the other job. In a trauma presentation, Sam and Gates are mortified
to discover they stole the wrong DVD when footage of them having sex is played
instead. Meanwhile, at Tina's place, Pratt says he'll stay a few days and
sleep on the sofa so he can look after her.
Edith's lab results confirm
she's a match for Lois, but her sclerosis prevents her form donating part of
her liver. Edith's husband is still refusing to accept that Lois is his child
and leaves the hospital just as Lois goes into cardiac arrest. Abby injects
calcium to counter the high potassium level in Lois's blood and save her
kidneys. Lois's dad returns to support his wife while outside, Morris takes
time out to think about the hostage situation that's preying on his mind. In
reception, everyone is talking about the Sam and Gates sex DVD, which forces
them to come out about their relationship and kiss in front of everyone. When
Laverne and Dr. Montoya tell Dr. Brenner about their new patient, he is again
rude to Laverne. Deciding she's had enough, Laverne takes Brenner aside. She
doesn't mind that fact that he used her for sex but warns him that she could
get him fired for his insults and discrimination. Brenner hits back,
suggesting no one would employ a doctor that slept her way to being qualified.
After Abby escorts Lois and her parents to the elevator for ICU, she takes
Lois's father to one side. She tells him that the people we love sometimes do
things we don't understand, but we have to ignore that when they need our
help. The man is non-responsive, so Abby starts suggesting potential treatment
options. He cuts her short, agreeing to have a test to see if he is a donor
match for his son/daughter. Neela observes Cheryl's family standing vigil by
her as she breathes on a ventilator. Watching a video on Cheryl's blog about
her life battling the illness, Neela empathizes with the family. Lucien
comments on Cheryl's last surgery, claiming he left the surgery to save the
life of another patient. Neela asks if it was okay to sacrifice Cheryl and
scolds him - they both know he should never have left. On her way home, Abby
helps Laverne avoid Dr. Pratt. Elsewhere, Morris makes an appointment to see
the hospital therapist. After a quiet conversation outside the hospital, Dr.
Pratt walks Abby back into reception and introduces her as their newest
attending physician.
Reviewed by Jocelyn on October 01, 2008