Props to Sars, who, this week, sent me the most delicious candy I have ever eaten in my long life of candy eating.
Previously on ER: A bishop (played by a stuntcast James Cromwell) came into the ER having fallen down, and Luka told him he'd give the bishop steroids if the bishop agreed to use a walker; the bishop dickered Luka down to his promising to use a cane; Abby told her ex-husband Richard that she was taking him to court for violating their divorce agreement by not paying her med-school tuition; then Abby was cagey with Luka about her relationship with Carter; Weaver asked Elizabeth if she'd noticed any change in Mark's personality, or his mixing his pronouns; then Mark mixed his pronouns, and a punk-ass kid patient thought Mark was retarded.
In a non-ER part of the hospital, Mark Greene "Around the Gills" greets a lab tech named Greg and asks to "skip the gown," since he has a shift. Greg agrees, and they go into a room with some huge piece of non-CT scan equipment. Mark gets on the bed. Greg and Mark make small talk about the weather as Greg fits a plastic mesh crash-test-dummy-looking mask over Mark's face. He asks whether Mark feels any side effects; Mark cops only to "the usual fatigue." Greg exposits, "Well, in eight days, this will all be a memory." We get a shot of Mark's head centred in the frame, with green laser lines on his mask -- one horizontal, across his forehead, and the other vertical, along his nose. The bed elevates Mark closer to the imaging apparatus, and Greg tells him to hold on, because they're off by "about a millimeter or so." Greg fixes the mask, and snaps it in place on the bed. "Here we go," he says and takes off. Something beeps. The camera cuts away before the laser cuts Mark in half.
In the ER, paramedics, accompanied by Abby "Lisa" Lockhart, bring in a clown who collapsed at a birthday party. "Dr." Dave Malucci, hurrying by, stops dead and obviouses, "Whoa. That's a clown." Geez, what tipped you off -- the giant red fro, or the huge shoes? Are you sure those aren't the vestments of a bishop, because I hear there's going to be one of those in the ER tonight, too. Doris tells Kerry "Jean King" Weaver that he "aspirated a balloon in front of a dozen six-year-olds." Yikes. Weaver tells Dr. Dave to take it, and Dr. Dave stammers a refusal and calls John "Rich Bitch" Carter over to assist Lisa instead. Carter asks why Dr. Dave can't, and Dr. Dave stutters, "I...just can't." "What's the matter, Dave? You afraid of clowns?" Lisa taunts. Dr. Dave watches warily as the clown is led away. Carter orders a bunch of tests, and Haleh calls him to "talk to this woman."
Carter wheels around and returns to the desk, where a tall, disheveled redhead belligerently explains, "I've got this dirty needle; I want a clean one." "We don't do that here," Carter tells her. "Like I said," snorts Haleh, flouncing off. Redhead explains, "A doctor here gave this to me; he said if I come back today, I can have a clean one." Carter impatiently (but, for once, without smirking) says, "There's a number you can call -- there's a van, or something...." He starts to walk off, but she insists, "I don't want to call the van! I just want a clean needle!" Carter curtly says, "I'm sorry, I cannot help you." Randi appears up the hall and coughs, "Dr. Carter." and Carter hurries off in the opposite direction, Redhead calling after him, "He said I wouldn't have to wait!"
Up the hall, Randi tells Carter that "some girl" called him to say she couldn't "make it tonight -- flu." "'Some girl'?" Carter repeats. "You didn't get a name?" "You got more than one date tonight?" Randi snorts. "Oh, great," Carter huffs. Chuny, overhearing, asks, "Big date?" "Had potential," Carter allows. "So ask someone else!" Chuny suggests. Carter tells her it's a charity event, and that it's going to be boring and no one will want to go. Chuny essentially tells him that's crap, and tells him to ask someone in the ER. Her new short, curly haircut is very cute, by the way. She starts walking off, and Carter asks her if she wants to go. "Not me! I've got plans," she laughs. Carter turns just long enough to glance in Randi's direction, but she shuts him down: "Don't even look at me."
Carter sticks his hands in his pockets and is heading back in the direction of the ailing clown when a wicked skinny kid in a gown comes out of an exam room and follows, calling Carter's name. Carter apologizes for leaving him. Skinny reminds Carter that he was going to give Skinny something for his canker sores, and Carter asks a passing anonymous nurse to give Skinny (who he calls Jeff) some viscous lidocaine. Jeff calls after Carter to say that no one's come to take his blood yet, and Carter breezily says, without looking back, "No? Someone'll be in there." Jeff stops Carter just short of the clown's trauma room to ask whether Carter thinks it's something serious; Carter says it probably isn't, but that after two weeks of fever, they should "probably check out a few things."
Carter enters the clown's trauma room and ask his status; Lisa says there's been some spontaneous movement, but that he's still out. Carter takes a quick look at the clown, and then shoots Lisa an appraising look and asks what she's doing tonight. Lisa cracks that she's got an appointment with her couch. Lily announces the clown's pulse ox. Carter appears to ignore Lily, and smooves, "Well, I hate to come between you and your couch, but how does dinner and dancing at the history museum sound?" "Dancing at the museum?" Lisa repeats. Lily gives another update on the patient's condition; Carter distractedly tells her to run in some saline and tells Lisa, "It's a benefit, for an after-school program." Lisa jokes, "Ah. Charity date." Carter asks Lily how the EKG is coming, and she's like, "It's almost done. And do you think you could mack on your own time, Shaggy?" Carter tells Lisa that his grandparents are hosting the event, and that he has to go, but that he'd consider it a favour if she'd come. "Do I owe you a favour?" Lisa asks flirtatiously. "At the very least, it's a free meal," Carter tells her. The machines all start beeping like mad, and Carter sends Lisa out to the hall to call, "Dr. Weaver? This clown is crashing!" Oh, all right. Heh.
After the break, Carter asks Lisa, again, about the date, and she says she figures it's the least she can do: "No one should be alone after killing a clown." Dr. Dave, gold-bricking at the desk, starts at this and anxiously asks, "You killed the clown?" "No," Carter snaps. "Didn't save him," Lisa observes.
Scanning the board as Randi updates it, Mark snorts, "Enough flu on the board?" "'Tis the season," Dr. Dave notes. By way of breaking up the tedium of the day, Randi points to a patient who injured himself falling off a ladder. "Oh yeah? How far?" Dr. Dave asks, I guess trying to determine in advance whether it's worth his attention. Randi says the man was taking down his Christmas lights and fell off the top rung of his ladder. "That's what you get for procrastinating," Mark judges. Across the room, Redhead is still hanging around the ER like a bad smell, and is trailed by Haleh. Redhead spots Mark and chirps, "This is my doctor." Mark greets her as "Janice." "They wouldn't take my needle," Janice whines. Mark immediately instructs Haleh to take Janice's needle and give her a new one. "You serious?" Haleh says, in a classic "girl, please" tone. Janice gives Haleh a smug "told you so" look. Mark explains, "We I&D'ed the abscess on her forearm yesterday." "I got that," Haleh says. "This'll keep it from happening again," he concludes. Janice coos a thank you. Mark tells her to come back the day for a wound check, and Janice says she'll try. Haleh grudgingly instructs Janice to follow her. Dr. Dave asks Mark, "You're, uh, not going to fill out a chart?" "Nope," Mark snaps. "No prescription?" Dr. Dave asks. "Waste of time," says Mark, ambling off. "I can get behind that," Dr. Dave smarms.
Behind Randi, Bishop Cromwell appears at the desk and asks for Luka. Randi walks over and delightedly says, "I know you! You're the bishop, right?" He confirms that he is. She asks him where his special bishop hat is, and he says he left it at home. Luka "Pluto" Kovac comes around a corner; Randi points him out and books. "Hello again!" Bishop Cromwell greets Luka warmly. Luka asks if he's all right, and they shake hands. Bishop Cromwell says he was just finishing up his visitations, and asks whether Luka has a moment. Luka sterns, "I don't see a cane." "No, you don't," Bishop Cromwell affably agrees. Luka steps over to a nearby rack and fetches a spare one, asking whether Bishop Cromwell's experienced any more pain. "Not from the fall," Bishop Cromwell says. Luka deduces that it's the bishop's arthritis that's bothering him. Bishop Cromwell quietly asks if he might get another prescription for prednisone, the steroid Luka prescribed the first time we saw the bishop. Luka asks whether Bishop Cromwell followed up his ER visit with his regular doctor, and Bishop Cromwell says he keeps having to change his appointment. Luka tells him that seeing his regular doctor should be Bishop Cromwell's priority; Bishop Cromwell agrees, but says that his doctor doesn't work on Saturdays. Luka asks Bishop Cromwell's doctor's name; Bishop Cromwell says it's Don Frost, at St. Mary's. Luka says he should call Dr. Frost, but Bishop Cromwell says he'll only get Dr. Frost's service, adding, "Just between us, I'd rather not get him going. I so much as sneeze, and he wants to poke and prod every inch of me." Luka says he'd have to do some tests before prescribing anything else. Bishop Cromwell suspiciously asks what kind of tests. Luka says, "Blood. Urine. Check your sugar level." Bishop Cromwell says, "My sugar's a little high; I have a touch of diabetes, but I control it with diet." Luka briskly says, "Okay, let's take a look."
Mark examines a guy's throat with a tongue depressor. As soon as Mark removes it, the patient asks, "It's strep throat, right?" Mark drones, "No fever, no swollen glands...." Throat says, "I had the exact thing last year. It was strep." Mark, not meeting the patient's eye, curtly says, "You have a cold, Mr. Ramirez." "Antibiotics, ten days, right?" asks Mr. Ramirez (formerly Throat). Mark exposits, "No white spots on your tonsils. Antibiotics won't help." Mr. Ramirez insists, "Well, last year I took 'em, and it cleared it right up!" Mark mutters, "It would have cleared up anyway." Mr. Ramirez begs, "Come on, doc! I've been waiting three hours, here!" Mark contemptuously tells Mr. Ramirez to get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. "Can you just give me the prescription?" Mr. Ramirez stubborns. Before Mark can yell at him, Lisa appears in the doorway in a yellow gown to tell Mark that he's needed. On his way out, Mark repeats, "You don't have strep throat!" "I'll take them just in case!" Mr. Ramirez yells after him.
In the hall, paramedics are doing compressions on a woman Lisa says is eighty-five and collapsed in her nursing home. Mark asks whether they've got a pulse; Pam, squatting on the patient's bed, says, "No -- found her in fine v-fib; intubated; shocked her five times; two rounds of drugs." Mark asks how long they've been at it, and Pam says it's been twenty minutes; Lisa adds that the patient is "pretty blue." The team -- including Nurse Mullet, back in full effect -- move Pretty Blue off the gurney and onto the bed. Mark asks whether the paramedics got any medical history on Pretty Blue. Pam says she had emphysema, and that she's on home oxygen. Lisa says that Pretty Blue's asystole. Mark asks when the last epi was, and Lisa says it was five minutes ago. Mark, listening with his stethoscope, tells Lisa to push another amp, and then shakes his head and moves away. Lisa, still doing compressions, asks, "What?" Mark sniffs, "She didn't respond to twenty minutes of ACLS in the field; she doesn't have a chance." Pam says she knows, but that the family wanted them to bring her in. Mark snots, "Why? So we can flog her for another hour?" Pam sets her lips in a line. Lisa asks Mark, "You want dopamine?" "Nope," he clips. Pam apologizes (for...doing her job? Don't give in to his crap, Pam!), and Mark mutters, "She should have died in her own bed." Mark tells Lisa to hold compressions. Pretty Blue's in asystole. Mark calls the time of death. Lisa tells him that Pretty Blue's family's in chairs, and he takes off without a word or a backward glance. Pam stands by, looking annoyed. Lisa tells her, "Don't worry about it."
In the hall, Lisa runs into Luka, who asks if everything's okay. Lisa shrugs, "We just lost a patient." Luka says, "That singer you like is playing at the hotel tonight." Lisa chirps, "Really?" "Ten o'clock," Luka confirms. Lisa says she told Carter she'd go somewhere with him tonight. Luka sits down at a desk in the hall and distractedly says, "Oh. Okay." Lisa adds (unnecessarily, it seems), "It's a fundraiser thing. His date stood him up." Luka glances up and says, "It's not a problem. I have a pile of journals to read." Lisa says, "Well, I'm sorry -- I wouldn't have said yes if --" At this point Haleh interrupts to give Luka Bishop Cromwell's labs, saying that the bishop's blood sugar is high. Lisa regards Luka, a bit sadly, and he insists, "Go! Have fun!" Lisa wanders off, arms crossed over her chest. Luka tells Haleh, "Draw five units." Haleh tells Luka to look at the bishop's ANA. Apparently that data is troubling, because Luka asks, "Do you have his BUN and creatinine?" "Renal insufficiency," says Haleh. Ruh roh!
Carter walks into Jeff's exam room with Jeff's test results. Jeff stares out the window. Carter asks whether he's okay, and Jeff says he's "just nervous." Carter jovially tells Jeff to sit down, and says that the bad news is that Jeff has mononucleosis, but that if he rests up, he'll bounce back in a couple of weeks. "Mono," Jeff repeats dully. Carter tells him he'll be all right. Jeff asks about his blood count, and Carter says that his white cells are a little elevated, but that that's consistent with mono. Jeff asks about his CD4 count, and Carter asks, "Are you HIV-positive? 'Cause we only do that if you are." Jeff says that he was negative five months ago, but that he's been exposed to the virus since then. "You've had unprotected sex?" Carter asks. "With an infected partner," Jeff adds, for good measure. "Do you know how unsafe that is?" Carter brays, smirking. God, Carter! Shut! UP! Do you know how obnoxious you are? Jeff says he guesses he just gets "caught up," and Carter smirks, "You've got to put a stop to that, Jeff." Jeff nods, chastened. Carter? For someone whose ass should be in Betty Ford right now, you are really working my nerves with the holier-than-thou routine. County already has a Judgy Judgerson, or have you not met Mark?
Luka approaches a glass door, and gazes through it at Bishop Cromwell, who's looking all cute and vulnerable sitting on the bed, waiting for the bad news. Luka enters, looking dour. "My sugar that bad?" Bishop Cromwell asks. "Three hundred forty-eight," Luka says. "Maybe I should go back on the glipizide," Bishop Cromwell muses. "Right now you need insulin," Luka tells him, adding, "There was also protein in your urine, so I ordered an ANA. That's a test for a disease called lupus." "I know," says Bishop Cromwell, "I take plaquenil. Two hundred milligrams a day." "You lied to me?" Luka demands. Bishop Cromwell chuckles, "I wanted to avoid a debate." Luka raises his voice: "I may have harmed you by giving you those steroids!" Bishop Cromwell insists, "The steroids help me. I can move around, make visits, do my work. Without them, I'm stuck in bed." Luka, losing patience: "The steroids raise your blood sugar so high that the diabetes destroys your body!" Bishop Cromwell insists, "I need to continue my ministry. You understand?" Luka stares at him, sadly. Bishop Cromwell gets up and goes for his coat, sighing, "Anyway. Thank you for your time." Luka says that he needs to perform a complete physical exam. Bishop Cromwell gently laughs, "No, I'm sorry -- I've got a lot on my plate today." Luka urgently tells him, "I need to make sure I didn't harm you with my treatment!" Bishop Cromwell hesitates, and Luka adds, "You owe me that much." Bishop Cromwell twinkles, "And what is it you think I owe you?" Luka exhales, and says, "Bishop, lupus is very serious. It can attack your kidneys, lungs -- your heart." "I know what it does, Dr. Kovac," says Bishop Cromwell. "I even know I'm going to die from it." Aw, the nice bishop's going to die! Ha ha ho man, this episode is just a laff riot, isn't it. Thank god for the commercials.
Bishop Cromwell has a little Bible -- or perhaps a prayer book -- open in his hands, but he's dozing over it when Luka comes in. Luka asks whether he woke Bishop Cromwell, but the bishop claims he was just resting his eyes. Luka examines a slip of paper in his hands and says that Bishop Cromwell's EKG looks good. Bishop Cromwell seems glad to hear it. Luka asks whether Bishop Cromwell wants Luka to call someone to be with him, but Bishop Cromwell declines, saying that he already called the archdiocese, "just in case." Bishop Cromwell abruptly asks Luka, "What church do you belong to?" Uh, didn't we already go through all this last time, Padre? He's an atheist -- or at least an agnostic, or at the very least is definitely not under any circumstances an observant Catholic. "I don't," Luka curtly replies. "Haven't found one you liked?" Bishop Cromwell presses. "Haven't looked," Luka tells him, hiking up his gown and checking out his belly. "How long have you been in Chicago?" Bishop Cromwell asks. "I don't go to church anymore," Luka says, with some finality. Bishop Cromwell asks why not, and Luka lies, "I don't remember." Bishop Cromwell asks, "You married?" Luka says he isn't. Bishop Cromwell repeats, "Haven't found one you liked?" Cute, but -- "one you liked"? We're talking about a life partner, not a melon. Geez. Before this line of inquiry can go much further, Chuny comes to the door and calls Luka to attend to "a kid with bad congestive heart failure." Luka nods, and turns back to Bishop Cromwell, saying, "The nurse will be in." Bishop Cromwell nods slowly.
In a trauma room, a paramedic I don't recognize tells Luka that the patient is sixteen years old, and collapsed at a basketball game. "Watching or playing?" Luka asks. Bad Heart gasps that he was watching. Luka asks his name, and Chuny says it's Nick. Chuny opens Nick's shirt and sees a long, narrow scar down the center, to his belly. "Whoa," she says, succinctly. Luka asks Nick whether he's had heart surgery before, and Nick replies that he had a transplant six years ago. Luka calls out for someone to call his parents, and someone (not Chuny) says they're on their way. Chuny calls out Nick's blood pressure, and Luka says his lungs are full of fluid: "He's in pulmonary edema." He calls out orders; Chuny sprays something in Nick's mouth. Machines start beeping more urgently, and Luka says, "Notify the transplant team, and order a PICU bed." Nick asks, "They want to give me a new heart?" "Yes," Luka says, quizzically. "I don't want another transplant," Nick tells him. Luka stares at Nick REAL HARD (tm xix).
Mark runs into Dr. Dave in the hall; Dr. Dave tells him he's just finished examining a woman with bronchitis, and that he's just sent her home with amoxycillin. "Bronchitis?" Mark repeats. Dr. Dave says she had symptoms including "productive cough, myalgias, arthralgias...." Mark says it sounds like the flu. Dr. Dave says that she's pretty high-maintenance and was insistent that she be given antibiotics; Mark tells Dr. Dave that he needs to educate her about antibiotic resistance. Dr. Dave dicks, "Do I have to?" Maybe not -- maybe she'll be watching tonight's episode and she'll get the message about antibiotic resistance that way. Because I DID. I GOT IT. And I GET IT. And actually, I don't recall ever going to the doctor with a cold -- and lately when I get colds they only last a couple of days at the most. Maybe it's because I now live and work in a hermetically sealed, Howard Hughes-esque environment and I never go outside. The only other person I'm ever exposed to on a regular basis is Glark, and we're already swimming in each other's cooties anyway. My worst cold-related story happened when I was living in Los Angeles and although my health insurance was supposed to be covered under Glark's, at his work, it wasn't, and about three weeks before we were due to move back to Canada, with its sweet, sweet socialized medicine, I caught a cold which burned itself out into a terrible sore throat. Like, I would take a drink and it would be like pointy gravel going down my gullet. I'd wake up in the night crying because it hurt so much. And I couldn't go to the doctor because I had no idea what it would cost us -- and we were poor as it was, getting ready to move cross-country and over three time zones. And even then, I didn't go bellyaching to a doctor when I came back to Canada. I just toughed it out. And that's why I talk through an electronic voice box now. (Just kidding. The sore throat went away on its own, after about a month of total agony, and I can still sing like Charlotte Church.) Anyway. Mark pompously tells Dr. Dave that he's got to break the cycle. Dr. Dave says that it's easier just to write a prescription, and Mark intones, "If you feed the bears, they'll come back for more." Oh. I see. It's feeding the bears when you prescribe something that amounts to a placebo, but when a junkie comes in with a dirty needle to exchange, you're her guy? Whatever, Mark. Is it the end of the season yet? ["Actually, I've been prescribed various antibiotics when I didn't need them several times, and when I got pneumonia last year, they had to try three different drugs to kill it; I had a super-strain that wouldn't respond to the usual meds because I'd had the usual meds when I didn't need them. So it is a legitimate problem, and people should know about it. Not that Mark's not being a dick about it, because he is; I'm just saying." -- Sars] ["Okay, I was exaggerating with the 'placebo' bit, and I know Mark's right; he still needs to shut up, though." -- Wing Chun]
At the desk, Carter is handing Weaver a bunch of charts and giving her final instructions on them. He stops at the last one -- Jeff's -- saying that the patient is still waiting for the results of an HIV test. Weaver says that Dr. Dave (standing just behind them) can take it. Carter cautions her that this case is quite delicate. Weaver says, "Malucci can be delicate," and takes off, Dr. Dave calling after her, "Thank you, Chief!" Carter tries to protest some more, but she's already gone, and Dr. Dave's in Carter's face. Carter announces, "Dave, this is going to require some tact." And you would know that, because that's what you were exercising when you were lecturing and smirking all over Jeff's ass? Because if that's tact, I think the word means something different in Canada. Dr. Dave says, "You got it." Carter raises his eyebrows and then explains, "He's a patient with mono, he's gay, refuses to use condoms. Think you can talk to him? Without being insensitive?" Dr. Dave grins, "Sure. I'll wrap it all up in a nice, big bow." Goddamn that Dr. Dave for being the one to tell Carter to get the hell over himself!
Carter walks out from the desk, only to be stopped by Luka, who asks him to take a construction worker who's had a pane of glass dropped on him. Carter tells Luka that he's off, and has to hurry. "Oh, yeah -- the fundraiser," Luka recalls. Carter, I guess, feels the need to explain it with a disclaimer: "It's more like a family obligation; it's nothing really exciting." Luka asks what the charity is, and Carter says it's for after-school enrichment programs. "'Enrichment'?" Luka asks, and Carter defines it as "extra education -- arts, music, that kind of thing." Luka fixes Carter with an appraising look, taking a silent swig of water. Carter stammers, "Actually, Abby's saving me from getting heat from my grandparents. They kind of insist that I bring somebody." Luka nods, and neutrally says that he hopes the benefit's successful.
Sidebar -- but you knew I'd call for a sidebar, didn't you? Okay, I really don't want to make myself out as a hard-core Lisa/Luka 'shipper, because really, I don't care whether they stay together or make it as a couple or not -- though they still strike me as having more chemistry than Mark/Elizabeth and Cleo/Benton, combined. But I still don't think that the producers have shown us enough of Lisa's and Luka's interactions to make a determination as to whether or not their relationship is "healthy" -- or even if it's a relationship at all. They've been on one date that we've seen. In this episode, it's suggested that there have been more, in the reference to the singer Lisa's seen at the hotel, probably more than once. But Lisa didn't hesitate to accept Carter's invitation to the ball, which suggests that they're not exclusive. I know that Lisa was trying to goad Luka into some expression of possessiveness when she told him about the date, but I think we're meant to see that he was distracted (more so after he heard about the bishop's condition), and I think this last scene between Luka and Carter was meant to show us Luka's sizing Carter up and trying to take his measure as a possible rival. Yes, I know that, a few pages from now, Lisa will complain that Luka never seems to get jealous about anything, but she wasn't here to witness this scene, and maybe Luka didn't want to do it in front of her because (a) it's kind of prickish, and he doesn't want her to see him that way, and (b) the last time he was protective of her, a guy died. In conclusion, I still maintain that the jury is out on Lisa and Luka. You know, in case you were wondering where I stood on the issue.
Dr. Dave struts into Jeff's room. Jeff is now accompanied by a guy who looks like a shorter, blanker, more belligerent Carson Daly. Dr. Dave introduces himself, and tells Jeff that Carter's off-duty. L'il Carson asks whether Dr. Dave has Jeff's test results, and Dr. Dave says he'd like to speak to Jeff about the results, alone. L'il Carson aggressively says that he'd like to stay, and introduces himself as Jeff's partner, Sean. Dr. Dave asks Jeff whether that's all right, and Jeff numbly says, "Yeah." Dr. Dave happily tells Jeff that he's HIV-negative. "Really," says Jeff, looking disappointed; Sean angrily sets his jaw. Dr. Dave continues, "Yeah, you got lucky, but now you need to avoid risky behaviour and keep yourself healthy." "Yeah," huffs Sean, bitterly. Dr. Dave hesitantly asks whether he's missing something. Jeff stares at his lap, looking resigned. Sean announces, "I'm HIV-positive." He starts ruffling Jeff's hair, and adds, "Jeff and I are together. Through everything." "Right," confirms Jeff, after a moment. Dr. Dave -- and here, Erik Palladino actually does a really good job of visibly swallowing his impulse to knock some sense into Jeff -- asks, "So, what? Are you trying to contract HIV?" Jeff stares back, silently. "You a bug chaser, Jeff?" Dr. Dave asks. Dude, this is actually a phenomenon that happens often enough for there to be a name for it? Like "chubby chaser"? I am so sheltered. "We don't call it that," Sean snaps. "Really? Then what do you call it, suicide?" Dr. Dave demands. Sean declares that HIV is treatable with medication, and Dr. Dave replies, "That doesn't mean you should try and catch it." Jeff stares back at Dr. Dave, looking hypnotized. Sean -- and I don't know the actor's name who's playing him, but I have to say I developed an instant dislike to him, Carson Daly resemblance aside; he's got these hard little close-set eyes and a big jaw and mouth and he just looks like a fucking domineering peckerwood...which is perfect casting, but is too bad for the guy who has to go through life looking like that -- brays, "Look. We both know that his HIV antibody could be negative for six weeks after exposure, so you can't really tell us that he's definitely negative, can you?" Jeff shoots Dr. Dave a "please go along with him" look. Dr. Dave admits, "No. We'd have to take a direct measure of his viral load." Sean tells Dr. Dave to do it. Dr. Dave says it'll take some time, and Sean says, "We'll wait." "Yeah, we'll wait," Jeff parrots. Jeff? Run.
Luka checks on Bishop Cromwell, assisted by Lily. Luka translates the jargon to tell Bishop Cromwell that he has non-specific EKG changes, and that there's a friction rub around his heart. Bishop Cromwell chuckles, "I'm creaky all over!" He sits up, and Luka asks him whether Bishop Cromwell's had chest pain. Bishop Cromwell says he has; Luka asks whether he has today. Bishop Cromwell admits that he did this morning. Luka asks for how long, and Bishop Cromwell says it lasted half an hour. Luka says that Bishop Cromwell may have fluid around his heart, and therefore be at risk for a heart attack. Bishop Cromwell insists that he feels fine. Luka tells him they need to get a cardiac echo and admit him. "No," Bishop Cromwell replies flatly. Luka says that he needs to monitor Bishop Cromwell's heart for at least six hours, and Bishop Cromwell snaps, "I'll stay around six hours, then, but I don't want to be checked in." Luka says he'd rather observe Bishop Cromwell in the cardiac unit, and Bishop Cromwell growls, "Look. I don't want my life to end in a hospital." Luka promises, "You're not going to die today." "I will not be admitted!" Bishop Cromwell yells. Luka regards him, just in time for a Hey! It's That Guy! who's basically the low-rent Adam Arkin (trust me, you'd know him if you saw him) to slam into the room, trailed by his honey-blonde wife. Low-Rent Adam asks Luka whether he's Nick's doctor, and Luka says he is. Low-Rent Adam whines that Nick's only got a nurse attending him, and Luka tells Low-Rent Adam that Nick is stable at the moment. Honey Blonde -- apparently having no problem discussing her son's intimate medical history in front of the total stranger that is Bishop Cromwell -- gasps, "He was in heart failure?" Luka says that Nick was, and is responding to aggressive therapy. They wander out of Bishop Cromwell's room as Luka says that Nick was experiencing pulmonary edema. Low-Rent Adam says that the same thing happened after Nick's second transplant. "He's had two?" Luka asks incredulously. Honey Blonde says, "One when he was four, then again when he was ten, and now he's on the list for a third." Okay, I don't want to be a hard-ass or anything, but I think when it comes to people taking hearts off the dead, the limit should really be one per customer. More than that, and you're just greedy. Low-Rent Adam adds, "They did angioplasty last year, but he's still so weak!" Luka asks both parents whether Nick's ever told them that he doesn't want more surgery. Honey Blonde dismissively tells Luka that Nick says that when he's depressed: "He takes fifteen medications a day! He's still so sick." Um. Dude. That would depress anyone. Luka noncommittally says that's a lot for a sixteen-year-old to take. Low-Rent Adam asks Luka to call UNOS and tell them to move up Nick's transplant status. Luka says he was waiting to speak to them, to make sure that was what they wanted to do. "Of course we do!" snaps Honey Blonde, horrified. Luka assents.
Cleo "Pris" Finch rolls up to Mark on her little castors and tells him that her flu patient wants to see someone higher up. Mark asks what the problem is, because he hasn't paid close enough attention to this episode and hasn't picked up on the "stupid patients who don't know better want antibiotics that won't help them" theme. Finch says that her stupid patient who doesn't know any better wants antibiotics that won't help her, and refuses to leave until she gets a prescription. Mark huffs, "Where is she?" and Finch directs her to a woman on a nearby bed. Mark introduces himself to a congested woman named Sara Dell, who whines, "I've been sick for three days: fever, runny nose, feel like my head's in a vise." Mark curtly tells her that antibiotics don't help the flu. "They always helped mine!" Sara croons. Mark says, "I can assure you they don't." Sara gets shirty: "You're not giving them to me because I'm poor." Mark PSAs, "If we give antibiotics to millions of people who don't need them, a resistance builds which eventually makes them useless to the people who do." Mark? I fucking get it. Sara snarls, "And 'cause I don't have insurance -- that's persecution!" "You think so?" Mark taunts. "I know so!" Sara barks. Mark tells her to follow him. They go to chairs, where Mark calls out to the assembled snotty-nosed masses, "I'd like to see a show of hands of people who have a sore throat. [about half the people there raise a hand] Cough? [about a third raise their hands] Muscle aches? Fever? [basically, everyone raises their hands at some point] You all have the flu. People who have the flu will not be receiving antibiotics today, so consider that while you decide whether you want to wait or not." There is a general hubbub, and several people get up and leave. Finch mutters, "What are you doing?" Mark haughtily replies, "Clearing the board." "Isn't that an EMTALA violation?" she asks. "I didn't discharge anyone," Mark tells her, returning Sara's chart.
By the elevator, Romano stops Mark and demands, "Hey, Greene -- tell me you are not giving free needles to junkies." Mark sniffs, "On a case-by-case basis." Romano snaps, "No, no, no, no -- on no basis. It's illegal." It is? Mark says, "Not if there's a public-health emergency -- which there is." Romano barks, "How much of your brain did they cut out?" "This does not put extra needles on the street," Mark insists. Romano yips, "I don't care! We are not going to have a bunch of low-life junkies parading in and out of here!" First of all, I guess it's been a long while since Romano's been in the ER, because, guess what? They already are. Second, you have a low-life junkie on staff, so whatever. Third, is it really illegal to give free needles to drug addicts? Because that is news to me. What about the drug van Carter told Janice to call? Anyway, Mark asks Romano, "So you're not interested in cutting back on HIV and --" He stutters, and Romano impatiently prompts him, "...and? What? Sounds like?"
Luka examines Nick, who asks him to whom his parents are talking. Luka says they're talking to Dr. Corday, and that she's a surgeon. Nick reminds him that he told Luka he didn't want surgery, and Luka points out that Nick was in a lot of pain when he said that. "I still meant it," Nick breathlessly insists. Luka tells him that he won't survive without the transplant. Nick laboriously says, "I was hoping to make it to my prom, but if I can't, I can't." Luka tells him that, with a new heart, he will. Nick asks, "Do you know what it's like to have your chest split open?" Luka offers, "I know what it's like to have your skull split open. Well, not first-hand." Just kidding. Really, he says he doesn't. We get a close-up of Nick's face, and see for the first time that he has all this patchy facial hair around his jaw and a little under his lip; a kid at my high school was sick and had that, too. Nick practically sobs, "I can barely walk to class, I get so tired. I take pills every two hours. And I look like a freak from the side effects! It's not worth it!" Luka presses his lips together.
In the hall, Honey Blonde is asking Elizabeth "Umbilical" Corday, "He's at the top of the list?" "Yes -- status 1-A," Elizabeth confirms, adding that it's now just a matter of finding the right donor heart. Low-Rent Adam complains that they waited a month the last time Nick was status 1-A, and Elizabeth says that there are more possibilities now that Nick is a little older. Luka emerges from Nick's trauma room and repeats that Nick doesn't want a new heart. And I have to say we have seen this before -- back in the Doug era, with a kid who had cystic fibrosis and who was dating Clea DuVall and whose mom was Veronica Cartwright, and who wanted not to be resuscitated even though he was only a hair under eighteen, and Doug went along with him but then his mom overruled him and they put the kid on a respirator and moved him to the ICU and then the kid flipped Doug off? Remember? Yeah, me too. Honey Blonde actually holds up a semi-"whatever" hand as she sniffs at Luka, "We explained that to you," and returns her attention to Dr. Yes Corday. Luka persists, "He's thought it out. He has good reasons. I think you should listen to them." Low-Rent Adam snorts, "He's sixteen!" Luka counters, "And he is tired of living like this." Honey Blonde defensively snaps, "Well, I'm not giving up on him because he's tired." Luka gently notes, "I'm only telling you what Nick told me." Honey Blonde bares her teeth at Luka to say, "I understand," and then asks Elizabeth, "When do we move him to the unit?" "Shouldn't be too long," she promises. Way to back up a colleague, Elizabitch.
Romano steps off the elevator and runs into Weaver, loudly announcing to all and sundry, "We have a little personnel problem. Well, you do: Mark Greene." "Mark," Weaver repeats noncommittally. Romano lists the atrocities: "He's walking around with attitude, he's handing out needles, he's blacking out on words...." Weaver tells him that all of that is due to swelling from the chemotherapy wafers. (The wafers are responsible for all those effects? But they're only wafer-thin!) She adds that Mark has a "mild expressive aphasia. It's temporary." Romano says he doesn't like it, and Weaver replies that she doesn't imagine Mark likes it very much either. Romano asks her whether she's noticed any personality changes. She asks for an example, and he tells her that Mark got very confrontational with Romano. Weaver cheerfully jokes that Romano is used to confrontation. Romano growls that they're not talking about him. "Isn't that your favourite subject?" Weaver asks. Romano tells her to straighten Mark out. Weaver crutches off under a little black storm cloud.
Back at Lisa's, Carter is looking at a framed photo and asking who's in it. He glances up and sees Lisa's reflection in her full-length mirror as she takes off her white blouse and reveals her torso, nude but for a black bra. Lisa says the guy in the picture is her brother, Eric. Cool, the new Morcheeba album is playing in the background! It's good. It's the only thing that could calm Glark down when we got lost in Orange, New Jersey, on our way to visit Sars in New York last Thanksgiving. Carter quickly looks away, and makes small talk about a vase of dried flowers in the living room. He takes out a bundle of stick-like dried flowers and puts his bouquet in the vase instead. Lisa points out that flowers are dead as soon as you cut them, and Carter replies, "Yeah, but they look nice." Lisa says that dried flowers look nice, too, and Carter hurries to remove his own flowers and replace hers. He asks why she doesn't just buy fresh flowers, and she says it's because there's something "sad and dark" about the dried ones. He puts his bouquet on the shelf. She emerges from her bedroom in a simple, mauve/pink strapless satiny dress. He points to his bouquet and tells her to give them a couple of days (to become "sad and dark," you see), and then takes in her outfit and marvels, "Wow. You found something! That looks nice." She throws a pashmina over her shoulders and tells him it's a bridesmaid's dress. He tells her it looks great, and that no one would know. She declares, "You're lying." Carter insists, "No, honestly. I don't think anybody would know that. It looks like it was made for you." Lisa picks up her coat and mutters that now she knows he's lying, and bustles toward the door.
Outside, there's a black limousine parked at the curb. Lisa indicates the sweet ride and asks, "Carter, what is this?" He asks if she thought they were going to take the El. Getting in, she asks whether he's going to take her to the airport and tell her, by the way, that the party's in Paris; Carter promises that they'll be staying in Chicago.
At the hospital, Mark -- still minus his cap -- orders a bunch of tests for some guy. He spots Elizabeth through the window in the room, and meets her in the hall. She comments that he lost the cap, and he tells her he decided to wear his scar with pride. She agrees that it adds character. Mark says it actually scared a little kid, who called him "Humpty Dumpty." Um. Yeah. He called you that because of the scar, and for no other reason. Elizabeth asks him how he feels about an evening service. Mark asks to what service she's referring, and she tells him she's talking about the wedding; double-booked, five o'clock, blah blah blah. Mark's going to die before this wedding ever happens, so who cares? The upshot is that they won't be able to use the patio because the reception will be in the evening and it'll be too cold. Mark suggests, "Ask him to move out the...uh...um...you know...uh...space heaters!" Elizabeth looks concerned at his struggling, but plays it off: "So it's all right with you." "Yeah, sure," says Mark, and then braces himself against a nearby table, in shame. Elizabeth makes to leave, and then turns back to say, "Mark, you're getting better. The aphasia's fading." Mark says he's glad she thinks so. He doesn't add that he's glad she just practically yelled the word "aphasia" in a hallway where any of their many co-workers could hear her admit to the condition they're trying to keep secret -- and by the way, now we know that when Weaver asked her last week whether she'd noticed Mark's transposing her pronouns, Elizabeth was totally lying when she said she hadn't! Anyway, Elizabeth says that it really is fading, and that it'll be totally gone in a couple of weeks. Mark says he doesn't think he can trust her to be unbiased. She plummily agrees that she is biased, but that she's also right. Before there can be any further discussion, Lily pokes her head out to tell Elizabeth that Nick's just arrested. Elizabeth takes off, grateful -- as any of us would be -- for the distraction.
In the trauma room, Honey Blonde and Low-Rent Adam look on in horror as Chuny shocks Nick. Elizabeth gets involved, and Nick's parents choose to help him out by shouting slogans like Nick is trying to get a damn touchdown. Luka hurries in, and yells out orders. They shock him again; there's no change. They shock him a third time, and get a rhythm, but Luka can't get Nick to wake up, and notes that Nick is unresponsive to painful stimuli. Luka glances up and sees Bishop Cromwell watching the proceedings from the room. Elizabeth says that Nick wasn't down long, and that he should wake up. "Maybe," Luka reluctantly agrees.
Lisa is uncomfortable around Carter's awesome wealth. We already saw this a few seasons back with Anna. Carter says that he mentioned the date to Luka, and they both agree that he didn't mind about their date. Lisa adds that Luka "doesn't get jealous...ever." Um. When else would he? Red herring. Total Three Creamer. There's an awkward pause, which Lisa fills by saying that she's never been to the Natural History Museum before. Carter extols the museum's virtues, which apparently include dinosaurs and cavemen. "Dinosaurs? And dancing?" Lisa asks. Carter says that his grandparents "like spectacle," but that the event won't be a big deal: "A few people."
Ironic cut to the guests arriving at the museum; outside are paparazzi and cops directing traffic. Lisa takes in the scene and tells Carter that he is "so dead." She asks whether he grew up around "these kind of things," and Carter says he did, and that if she hates it, they can leave in half an hour. She confidently tells him that she won't hate it. They agree to avoid a photographer taking pictures of happy, dressed-up couples standing outside in the cold, and hurry inside.
Back at County, Jeff is getting ready to leave when Dr. Dave comes in and asks where HatefulSean is. Jeff poutily says that he's moving the car. Dr. Dave says he doesn't want to wait to give Jeff his test results: "Your viral test is back: no virus detected." Jeff, even more poutily, confirms, "So I'm really HIV-negative." "Definitely negative," Dr. Dave repeats. As Jeff dons his coat, Dr. Dave asks, "You and Sean are close, huh?" Jeff says they've been together almost a year (which -- if Buddy Cole is to be believed -- is, in gay terms, three reincarnations of the same relationship). Dr. Dave says that's nice, but that nothing's worth dying for. "I'm not dying," Jeff says dully. Dr. Dave agrees that he's safe right now, but that Jeff has to protect himself. Jeff says that he's going to get HIV eventually, and Dr. Dave says that he won't if he practises safe sex. Jeff mumbles, "I don't want to treat Sean like he's contaminated. If we use a condom, that's how he feels." Dr. Dave says, "HIV can kill you, Jeff." Jeff, angrily moving toward the door, says that he knows a lot of people living with it. Dr. Dave counters that he's seen a lot of people who'd rather be living without it. Jeff hesitates. Dr. Dave asks how old he is; Jeff says he's twenty-three. Dr. Dave points out that Jeff has fifty or sixty years ahead of him. Jeff turns away and says, "I love him." Dr. Dave says that, if Sean loves Jeff, he should want Jeff to stay healthy. Jeff blurts, "He thinks that this is the only way we can really be intimate." Okay, that is a viral load of bullshit, kids. Always use a condom, no matter what -- and if your partner doesn't want to, that's all the more reason you should insist. Which Dr. Dave, to his credit, pretty much says: "That's easy for him to say. He's got the virus." Jeff turns back around and desperately says, "I don't have anybody else!" "You have yourself," says Dr. Dave, which is the right thing to say (though perhaps not the most effective thing to say to someone whose self-esteem is as low as Jeff's), and much better than, as some on the forums feared he might say, "You have me."
Benefit. Big skeleton of what I would guess is a triceratops. Lisa looks very cute in pink; it really flatters her skin. Carter introduces Lisa to his grandfather, played by George Plimpton. Grandpa Carter is all smooth WASPy charm, but Plimpton looks like he's reading his cue cards off Maura Tierney's chest. Grandpa makes some mention of Gamma, who's off with the keynote speaker, Jackie's husband Walt. Carter and Lisa move on, Lisa chaffing Carter about the date he was supposed to have brought (who Grandpa had mentioned). Carter changes the subject to dancing, and whether Lisa ever took classes. Lisa says she hasn't, and Carter says he has, and that he's got a few moves. Lisa says she's sure he does. They dance. They're cute. Lisa tells a story about her spring formal, involving her juggling two guys. Do you get it? I do. Email me if you want me to explain it to you.
Hospital. Luka comes in to check on Bishop Cromwell, telling him he didn't forget him and giving him a test result. Bishop Cromwell is still watching Nick through the window, and says, "I watched you work on that boy." Luka's like, "Whatever." Bishop Cromwell says, "It was remarkable. You brought him back to life." Luka says, "Yes. It won't do much good if he doesn't have the surgery." Bishop Cromwell asks, "You can't find him a heart?" Luka tells Bishop Cromwell Nick's business -- namely, that Nick doesn't want a heart. Dude, what is with people spilling secrets all over this episode? Bishop Cromwell comments, "But he's so young! There are bound to be medical advancements! You've gotta fight!" Luka notes, "One could say the same to you, Bishop." Bishop Cromwell says that he is fighting. Luka gently asks, "Are you? You say he should prolong his life, but you want to hasten your death?" Bishop Cromwell says, "I'm not looking forward to dying, Dr. Kovac. But I also don't want to be enfeebled, or bedridden." Luka murmurs, "I think you've been more than brave." "Have I?" Bishop Cromwell asks rhetorically, adding, "I wanted to set a good example -- serve my parish, do God's work as long as I was able, and then go to glory with a modicum of grace. But there are times when I'm alone -- at prayer, or trying to get to sleep -- when it just overwhelms me. I should never feel the way I do sometimes." "How's that?" Luka asks. "Frightened," says Bishop Cromwell. I thought for sure he was going to say, "In despair," which is a big sin for Catholics.
In the hall, Dr. Dave asks Jeff if he has a phone number. Jeff says he does. Dr. Dave suggests that Jeff call the day and make an appointment, and Jeff says he'll see. With HatefulSean a little ways down the hall, Jeff turns and thanks Dr. Dave, shaking his hand. Jeff turns to go, but Dr. Dave asks him, quietly enough that HatefulSean might not hear, "Are you going to protect yourself from now on?" "Maybe. Probably not," says Jeff. D'oh!
Dr. Dave rubs his eyes and heads for the desk, where Mark intercepts him and makes small talk about the weekend; Dr. Dave deflects. Mark stands beside Haleh and eavesdrops as she talks to paramedic unit 104 on the radio; Weaver, just behind Mark, also eavesdrops. The paramedic says he's at the home of a sixty-five-year-old man: "Collapsed in the bathroom; found him in v-fib." Mark asks Haleh to move aside; Weaver pricks up her ears. The paramedic continues, "Defibrillated times four, gave epi and lidocaine; now in asystole." Mark grunts, "He's gone," and says into the radio, "This is Dr. Greene. What's the down time?" The paramedic says that they've been there fifteen minutes, and that the patient was probably down another ten before that. Mark asks whether they got any medical history, and the paramedic says "Two MIs; status post-bypass surgery." Mark asks when the patient's last doctor's appointment was, and the paramedic asks him to hold on. In the pause, Mark tells Haleh, "If he's seen a PMD in the last month, they can sign the death certificate -- save us the trouble." Haleh looks disturbed. The paramedic comes back on to say that the patient saw his cardiologist nine days ago. Mark asks, "Still in asystole?" "For the last five minutes," the paramedic confirms. Weaver moves closer to the radio as Mark says, "That's it, stop CPR." "What?" sputters the paramedic. "I'm pronouncing him: time of death, 21:18," says Mark. "Can you do that?" Haleh asks. Weaver confirms that you can. Mark tells the paramedic, "Tell the family that everything was done under physician guidance, but he did not respond." The paramedic confusedly asks whether Mark wants them to bring the patient to the hospital, but Mark tells him to tell the patient's family to call a funeral home, and signs off. Haleh quietly says, "I don't know why that was necessary." Mark rhetorically asks, "What's the point of going through the motions."
On the other side of Weaver's terminal, an irritated-sounding man introduces himself as Dr. Frost, Bishop Cromwell's personal physician.
Benefit. Lisa and Carter leave the dance floor and enjoy twin glasses of either ginger ale or club soda; I can't tell. Suddenly before them is Slimy Richard, Lisa's ex-husband. (And yet he's so cute as Will Gluck on Once & Again!) He says hi; she curtly asks what he's doing there. In response, Richard asks what she's doing there. She says she's there with a friend, and introduces Carter to Richard. The men do not shake hands. Lisa asks what Richard's doing at a charity event; Richard says he's there with Alexis, who went to get them drinks. Alexis duly appears, in a 1940s-looking strappy red gown. "Is she old enough to drink?" Lisa asks. Alexis asks Richard who Lisa is; Richard introduces her. Carter makes to steer Lisa out of the awkward conversation, but before they can make their escape, Richard asks, "Where have I seen that dress before?" Lisa tells him he hasn't, but Richard swears he has, and smugly recalls, "My sister's wedding. You were a bridesmaid." Lisa pauses for a beat, and then tightly smirks, "Oh, always the gentleman, Richard. Thank you." Everyone locks eyes for a moment, and then Alexis suggests to Richard that they sit down. As they leave, Lisa asks Carter, "Am I awake, or was that just a nightmare?"
County; Dr. Frost is dressing down Luka -- and not in the way we'd like to see him dressed down. Luka recaps the Bishop's story line, and Dr. Frost sputters, "Last week?" Luka tells Dr. Frost that this is Bishop Cromwell's second time at County. Dr. Frost backstories, "He has diabetes! Steroids put him in the ICU last year with DKA!" Luka growls that he didn't know that, and Dr. Frost snits, "Which is why you should have contacted his primary physician." Luka starts to say why he didn't, but Dr. Frost interrupts to demand what Bishop Cromwell's sugar is. Luka snaps that it's 348, and Dr. Frost sarcastically yells, "Oh, great work, doctor. You're destroying his vision, his kidneys, his circulation...." Luka says that he's changed his approach now that he knows about Bishop Cromwell's diabetes. Dr. Frost pisses, "I've been treating Bishop Stewart for fifteen years. He doesn't need another physician." Luka pisses back, "Well, maybe you should tell him that, because he came to me." Whose turf is it, now? Anyway, Dr. Frost melodramatizes, "Underneath that robe, he's just a man, like anyone else!" Luka counters, "A man facing death." "And right now he's drug-seeking," Dr. Frost surmises. "He just wants to feel right again," Luka exhales. Dr. Frost says that isn't possible, and asks to see him.
At the desk, Finch tells 104 she'll see them at the back door. Mark comes along just in time to stick his big nose in and snit, "What's going on?" Finch says that 104 is bringing in a full arrest. Mark says he just talked to 104. "They called en route -- cardiac arrest," Finch repeats. "I already pronounced him!" Mark yelps. "Does not compute," Finch crashes.
Outside, paramedics unload the bed from the rig. Mark trots out yelling, "No, no, no, no," like he's a bouncer at a trendy club. He reminds the crew that they went over this on the radio. Morales says that the family "freaked" and insisted that they bring him to the hospital. "Do not unload the patient!" Mark yells. Morales reminds Mark, "We have to! We're here!" Mark says that the man's been dead for an hour, and Morales says that the family wanted the patient to see a doctor, and that they're right behind the paramedics. Weaver crutches out, and Mark tells her, "He's not supposed to be here." Weaver tells another paramedic, whose face we can't really see, to stop CPR. Weaver overrules Mark and tells the paramedic to resume compressions. Mark's all tiny-penis, "I said STOP. This is the guy that died at home." Weaver tells Finch to continue, and to set up Trauma Two for a full arrest. The bed is whisked away, and Mark tells Weaver, "He's dead." Weaver says, "When the paramedics bring us a patient, we have to care for him."
Inside, Mark and Weaver trail the man's bed to Trauma Two. Mark passive-aggressively tells Chuny to put a shroud out on the bed. "Shroud?" she repeats. Mark says he's dead, and that setting out a shroud might save some time. "Mark," Weaver says, in a warning tone. Mark insists, "You're not going to get him back, Kerry." "We still try!" she yells. "Are you running this, or am I?" Mark passive-aggresses, "Fine. What's his rhythm?" Morales says he's still asystole. Mark taunts Weaver, "Hm. What do you think, Kerry? Another amp of epi might get him back?"
Moments later, Mark confirms that the patient's pupils are fixed and dilated, as Finch robotically continues doing compressions. With everything beeping (including Finch), Mark asks, "Dr. Finch, would you concur that the rhythm is asystole?" "Yesss," she hisses. Mark says that code is over, and tells her to take out the tubes and cleans the body. Weaver sternly indicates the door to the trauma room and tells Mark, "That's the family." "I hope this helped them," Mark snots.
Lisa sticks her head out the limousine window and rants about Richard's "crying poor," yet showing up at the benefit, and the debatable attractiveness of Alexis. Carter looks uncomfortable. Lisa says, "I don't see it." Carter says he thinks "this" is silly. Lisa reminds him that it's a blue BMW; Carter suggests that they could have taken Alexis's car. Lisa asks what Carter thinks she might drive, and he offers, "A Lexus? Get it?" and laughs at his own feeble joke. Carter asks what she's going to do if they find it: "Key it?" Lisa says she's going to slash the tires. Carter says that would be overkill. Lisa exclaims that she sees it. The driver stops the limousine, and Lisa tumbles out, Carter reluctantly following. She crouches beside the right rear wheel and asks Carter if he has a pen. He hands it over, asking why, and she says she's being restrained by letting the air out of the tires. He asks how many tires. She thinks two is fair, but Carter bargains her down to one. Lisa giggles as the air hisses out, and then slips on her heels and bangs her head against the tire, setting off the alarm. Carter asks what they do now, and Lisa laughs, "I think we have to run!" They hurry back into the limo, which peels out. I'm not sure if we're supposed to think that Lisa's acting this way because she's drunk; I really hope not.
County. Nick's doing well. Luka asks where he's going, and Romano says he's going to the ICU to be extubated. Luka asks about a heart, and Romano says that he's going to recommend surgery to the transplant committee. They arrive at Nick's bed; Honey Blonde and Low-Rent Adam glare across it at Luka. He holds their gaze a moment, then looks down at Nick, who can't talk due to the huge-ass tube in his mouth, but whose eyes implore Luka to keep fighting for his right not to have surgery. Luka looks dark, and asks for a word with Dr. Romano, which he uses to tell Romano that Nick doesn't want the surgery. Romano perfunctorily says that the decision is his parents', and that Nick will thank them for the surgery, in a few years. At least Nick doesn't flip Luka off.
Mark and his stupid earflap hat strut through the ambulance bay. Weaver hurries out after him, calling, "We have to talk about this!" Mark stops, folds his hands, and prisses, "And what might 'this' be?" Instead of jamming her cane into his duodenum as payback for his insubordination, Weaver cites, "The way you've been acting -- abrupt, cavalier..." "...realistic?" Mark finishes for her. Weaver gently asks, "Are you ready to be back?" Mark purses his lips and insists, "Yes, I am." Weaver tells him he's still reaching for words. Mark tightly murmurs that he's fine. Weaver asks, "What happens in a code if you need a cardiac drug and you can't think of the name?" Mark says, "That won't happen." "I am asking you to take some time off," Weaver and I both ask, in perfect two-part harmony. "I'm telling you, no," Mark stubborns, and continues on his non-merry way. Fuck off, Mark. Forever. I mean, everyone is willing to cut you all kinds of slack because of your health problems, so don't repay their kindness by shitting on their gestures and fucking up your work environment, particularly when PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE AT STAKE. GOD.
Bishop Cromwell puts on his coat and prepares to leave. Luka comes in to tell Bishop Cromwell that Dr. Frost has arranged for him to have more tests week. Bishop Cromwell asks whether Dr. Frost gave Luka hell, and Luka admits that he was pretty angry. Bishop Cromwell twinkles that Dr. Frost is possessive about Bishop Cromwell's care, and Luka replies by saying that a couple of Bishop Cromwell's tests are normal. Bishop Cromwell shakes Luka's hand, and thanks him for his care, and for listening. He makes to go, then stops at the door to say he noticed the doctors taking Nick away, and asks what happened. Luka tells him -- not that Bishop Cromwell really needs to know, or anything -- that Nick will have the surgery. "I'm sorry," says Bishop Cromwell. Luka says he is, too. "You think he should have been able to choose how he wanted to live?" Bishop Cromwell leads the witness. Luka says he does. "Well, I want to work," says Bishop Cromwell. "Do you still want the steroids?" Luka smirks. "I need to work," says Bishop Cromwell. Luka unlocks a cabinet and prepares a syringe. This isn't going to be good for anybody.
From some high elevation, Lisa and Carter watch as Richard's car is towed from an otherwise empty parking lot, presumably many hours after the end of the benefit. Carter congratulates Lisa on ruining Richard's and Alexis's evening, and they hop back into the limo. Lisa says that she feels sort of bad, now. Carter asks why, and she says it's because she ruined their night, too. Carter: "Ruined? How?" Lisa offers, "Besides the vandalism? The fact that we're freezing to death? The fact that you didn't even see your grandmother?" Carter says that Gamma knows he was there, and that's enough. "Okay, then, I guess, nothing," Lisa giggles. Carter says he had "an okay time," and Lisa says she did, too.
Lounge at County. Weaver trepidatiously regards a slip of paper in her hands, and then picks up the phone, dials, and says, "Yeah, this is Kerry Weaver at County. I need information about evaluating a physician who's possibly cognitively impaired. Could we speak first thing Monday morning? Thanks." She hands up, and rubs her eyebrows. Kerry? You did the right thing. Assuming you called a paid assassin, and that "evaluating" is some kind of code to get around a possible wiretap.