Episode Report Card Kim: A- | 231 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Alone In A Crowd
By Kim | Season 11 | Episode 15 | Aired on 2005.02.17
Malarkey walks up and asks whether Pratt is cozying up to management, and Pratt says that won't happen in this lifetime. Malarkey says that a bunch of them are going out tonight to celebrate Weaver's being on vacation. That's a tip for the viewers who were like, "How come last week's episode was all about Kerry, and she's nowhere to be seen this week?" Shane says he's in as long as the third-years are buying, and Malarkey stage-whispers to Pratt that he's trying to shore up support for his Chief Resident bid. Malarkey? Really? And he thinks he has a chance in hell? Malarkey asks Neela if she's in, and she says that it beats going home. Shane asks what's wrong with home, and looks genuinely baffled. Malarkey tries to get Pratt to join them, and he agrees to come, reluctantly. Susan overhears and asks, "What, the big kids aren't invited?" Everyone ignores her.
Ellie is still trapped with her own thoughts. She notes that she thinks her lips are moving, but that nothing's coming out. We can see that her lips aren't actually moving. She says that she feels fine otherwise, not sick, but that she can't feel anything. Then she revises that to say that she feels some things. Luka and Abby continue examining her. Ellie thinks that whatever happened must be bad, and then protests that she's healthy with three kids, and she's only thirty-five years old. She then realizes that someone will need to pick up her kids, and starts trying to get the doctors' attention. Luka tells her that he's going to close her eyes. Ellie tries to tell him that he has to call her husband and tell him to pick up the kids.
Ellie gestures with her left hand. Sam notices and says that Ellie wants to write something. Abby hands over a pen and holds up her chart as Ellie writes a message. Abby asks if TPA could reverse the stroke, and Luka says it would need to be administered within three hours, and that no one knows how long she was down. Luka asks Ellie if she can hear him. Ellie tries to write down her husband's name and phone number as Luka tells her that they think she had a stroke, the kind that makes it impossible to express language. Abby shows Luka the chart, and Luka says that while Ellie can understand them, they can't understand her. He holds up the chart, which is filled with meaningless squiggles. Ellie protests, "That's not what I wrote. What did you do with what I wrote? That's not what I wrote!" Luka says that they're trying to figure out what kind of stroke she had so that they know how to treat it. Ellie hears for the first time that she had a stroke, and adds that only old people have those, and that this has to be temporary. Sam gazes down at her kindly.