Previously: Luka discovered that Steve, Sam's ex, was a fugitive from the law. Morris made fun of Abby, Neela, and Shane for their screw-ups. Susan told Shane not to bother returning if he wasn't going to take medicine seriously. Pratt learned that a guy named Charlie Pratt was still living in Chicago. Carter told Kem that he was moving back to Africa to be with her.
Sam has just finished her shift, and Luka walks her out into the ambulance bay. So she's speaking to him now? When did this happen? Luka says that he rented a movie and thought he and Alex might watch it. Is he dating Alex or Sam? I mean, it's nice that he wants to include Alex, but since his relationship with Sam is on the rocks, he might want to make more of an effort there. Sam says that Alex has a math test to study for, and Luka says that he wouldn't know, since Alex isn't really talking to either of them lately. Sam sighs that Alex wants to go visit his father. Luka asks if that's a good idea, and Sam says that Alex doesn't know the truth about Steve, and Steve isn't telling him. Luka urges Sam to tell her son the truth. Sam says that Steve promised that he would do it. And since Steve has been so great about keeping his promises in the past, that'll probably happen. I get that it's not cool to badmouth your kid's father in front of him and all, but I think Alex is old enough to understand that his father has made some bad judgment calls or whatever, and it doesn't mean he doesn't love Alex. Luka offers to tell Alex, which is about the worst idea I've ever heard.
Before Sam can respond, Carter staggers up carrying about five pizzas and soda, and Luka and Sam move to help him out. Sam just says, "Africa, huh?" Carter says simply, "That's where she is." Sam says that she has to leave because she doesn't have a babysitter, and apologizes for missing Carter's party. She kisses Carter on the cheek and tells him to take care of himself. Carter watches her go and then asks Luka, "'Party'?" Luka tells him to shut up, because it's supposed to be a surprise. Good one, Sam.
Luka and Carter return to the ER as Luka clunks, "I can't believe it's your last shift." For those of you just tuning in, who missed the "Previously on" segment that happened all of three seconds ago. Carter clarifies that he only has seventy-two minutes left. Carter tosses the pizzas on the counter and Jerry and Malik immediately descend upon them, and then proceed to complain about the free pizza. Maybe their bitching is all a ruse to try to keep Carter from thinking they care about him. It's working. Also, Carter's like a bajillionaire, and he couldn't spring for something a little nicer than cold pizza? Chuny wheels in a young girl who had a fall in school. She's accompanied by the school nurse. Damn. Our school nurse never accompanied anyone to the hospital. All she ever did was call your parents to come get you, or give you a glass of orange juice and some crackers if you forgot to eat breakfast. Although, since my mom worked at the school, I sometimes got to take naps on the little cot during my study halls. Ah, naps. Good times. Anyway, the little girl has injured her wrist, and she also has a lot of precocious-kid questions about the hospital, which Carter mostly ignores.
Shane starts to present a case involving a toddler with a fever, and Carter tells him to hand it off to Abby or Neela. Luckily, Neela is walking by at that moment, so Shane gives her the rundown. Neela basically accuses him of taking shortcuts with his diagnosis. Abby settles their argument with a compromise, and then points out that Pratt is approaching with the new set of interns. Shane tries to pass off another one of his cases to Neela so that he can leave, but her glare makes him take it back. Morris wanders up and basically orders Neela to take the case, and then invites Shane to watch a Cubs game with him. He looooooves Shane. Shane says he can't because he promised to go to a friend's party, and Morris assumes that means he's invited to the party as well. Shane can't really say anything as Morris takes off.
Pratt approaches Admit and tells his group that they are the before pictures and Abby, Neela, and Shane are the after pictures. Neela notices Darlene in the group, and congratulates her. Darlene says, "Yeah, I was really counting on Bellevue." Another group member recognizes Abby, but she doesn't know him. His name is Jim Babinski, and Shane asks if he's related to the person who named Babinski's reflex. Jim looks like he gets that a lot. He's not related. I'm going to assume this character will be back season, because otherwise why would they go to the trouble of introducing him? Then again, that happens a lot on this show. Remember Coop? Pratt leads the group over to demonstrate how to calm down agitated patients, since there's a guy throwing a hissy nearby.
Neela asks if she is really about to become an R2. Abby says that her contract is signed, sealed, and delivered to Susan's desk. Shane says that his isn't, because he has some things to think about first. Abby thinks Susan was just trying to motivate him, and Shane says that Susan might be right, and that it might be time for him to make a change. The three of them are distracted by the continuing hissy (yes, that's the medical term) nearby, and the patient ends up throwing one of the new interns to the floor as Pratt tries to break it up. Haleh walks by and comments dryly, "Lucky for us, interns bounce." Awesome. I wish Haleh got more lines. Remember when the nurses were actual characters with actual storylines? Ever since Abby became a doctor (or actually probably since Carol left), the nurses are in the backseat. I, for one, do not like it one bit! Same goes for the desk clerks! Remember when Jerry was stalking the kangaroo? Okay, that was kind of dumb, but you know what I mean. I prefer lots of little storylines to a few big, dramatic ones.
Shane and Morris walk up to a house where a full-blown rager is going on. Please note that the house has a multi-level deck, and as soon as pretty much all viewers saw that, they thought, "That desk is going to collapse, like the one in real-life Chicago did a few years ago." So this storyline is not so much ripped from the headlines as it is slowly removed from the headlines with the use of dull scissors and possibly some serious folding and scoring action. At least when Law & Order does this, they change some details around so it's not quite so predictable. Anyway, Shane warns Morris that he probably won't have any fun because he won't know anyone. Morris is sure that he will. They come across two guys using some sort of pot-smoking device (why is everything so dark?), and Shane asks after his friend. They point Shane up to the top level of the deck. As Shane and Morris walk up the stairs, Morris babbles on about being healers and doctors and Shane tells him not to talk "like a bonehead." Why wouldn't Shane just tell Morris that the party was invitation-only or something? Shane warns Morris that his friends might toss Morris down the stairs. Shane greets someone who calls him "brah," and no one besides Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay should say that, and even that was back in the '90s, and even then, it was dorky. Morris keeps babbling about Shane's lack of initiative, like, have they set it up quite enough that this is Shane's big hero episode where he gets to show how he's a real doctor? Good Lord.
They finally reach Shane's friend, Nick, and Shane introduces Morris as "Archie". Hee! I forgot that was his name. Nick is disappointed that Neela isn't there, so I guess he's the one who was all into her in that episode with Gallant. Shane asks where Jessica is, and takes off to go make some slimy unwanted advances, leaving Morris to make small talk with Nick. Morris announces that he's Chief Resident, and Nick says, "That means, like, nothing to me." Hee! Nick pretends to spot a girl nearby and runs off to avoid talking to Morris anymore. Morris stands alone and quickly checks his fly, then grooves along to the music. I'm sorry they don't give Scott Grimes more to do. Morris sucks, but I like Scott Grimes okay.
Carter examines some dude's knee, like has it really been less than an hour since he delivered the pizzas and Shane and Morris left work, went to Morris's place to change, and arrived at the party? Shouldn't Carter's shift be over by now? Precocious Wrist Injury Girl keeps asking questions, and Carter asks the nurse if her parents are on their way, but they're stuck out on a lake cruise. Carter's knee patient asks if he needs surgery, and Carter says he has a ganglion and that it's probably benign. Janell (Precocious Wrist Injury Girl) keeps asking questions, and Carter ignores her some more. Jerry tells Carter that the sewer pipes that were supposed to be fixed last week are acting up again. Carter says that they should avoid being overrun by trauma. (But what will they do when the deck collapses in about twelve minutes?)
Neela helps the paramedics to wheel in a guy in a cow costume. Apparently, he was in a play when he was injured by falling scenery. Carter has to make some smart remarks, like, the dude is bleeding from the HEAD and probably has NO TIME for Carter's stupid jokes. Neela takes the patient (remarking that it's a good thing she's not Hindu, heh) and Carter moves to check on the guy coming in. Abby reports that this guy (who is dressed like a fireman) has abrasions due to "community theater gone bad." The fireman explains that they're mounting a production based on the Great Chicago Fire, which explains the costumes. Sort of. The two actors exchange bitchy insults, and Carter realizes that Abby can handle it. Carter asks Haleh and Malik where they're going, because they're obviously heading to his party, and Haleh says they're going on an ambulance run as Malik says they're going to get some coffee. They don't even bother to try to cover their gaffe, and keep moving. Pratt asks Chuny if she's seen KJ, his "Volunteen." Wow, that's a bad made-up word. Chuny directs Pratt to the nurse's desk.
Carter grabs a chart and walks off, and Pratt runs after him and says it won't be the same without him. Carter says they'll survive, and asks if he'll see Pratt at the party. Pratt pretends he doesn't know what Carter's talking about, as Carter peels off to check on his patient. Pratt finds KJ reading a comic book, and KJ reports that he delivered the charts as requested. Pratt wonders why KJ is still there, since his shift is over. KJ is waiting for his dad. Pratt asks if his dad said how late he would be, and asks if KJ has anyone else to take him home. KJ says sadly that his dad will show up eventually. Pratt rolls his eyes and reluctantly offers to take KJ home after Carter's party. KJ is excited about going to a party. Dude, it's not that kind of party.
Speaking of that kind of party, Shane (I almost just called him Eli) is checking out his friend Benny's homemade tattoo, which features the opening guitar lick to "Free Bird", according to Benny. There's like three notes on there, so I don't really see how that's possible, but whatever. Shane is concerned about Benny's exposure to Hepatitis B, and Benny does a stoner laugh in amazement at hearing Shane talking like a real doctor. Jessica didn't know Shane was a doctor, and thinks it's "really cool," and suddenly Shane is a lot more interested in showing off his medical knowledge. One of Shane's buddy's girlfriends is pregnant, and she asks if Shane has anything for heartburn. Nick would rather have "some mellowing agents," and Shane laughs that those are all over the place. Shane asks Jessica if she wants to go get a drink, and they walk outside. Once they're on the deck, Jessica says that she thought Shane was a musician, and Shane says that medicine is what pays the bills. Some guys down on the ground call up for beers, and Shane tosses some down, which seems dangerous, since they're on the third floor. Jessica asks Shane how he deals with the double life, and Shane says that some days are better than others. Morris stumbles up and asks if there's any more Jägermeister. Morris would drink Jägermeister. I'm surprised he didn't also try out some Goldschlager. Shane tells him to try inside. Jessica can't believe that Morris is Shane's boss, and says that Morris has been bragging about it all over the party.
The fireman and the cow are still arguing over whose fault the accident was. Neela yells at the cow to hold still so that she can irrigate his head wound. Abby tries to distract the fireman by asking him how he got his burns. The fireman is concerned that he might have scarring, since he uses his body "a lot, as an actor." Neela asks if he means pornos. The fireman asks if she's seen his work. Neela doesn't answer. Luka says he needs to talk to Abby, and she scoots over. Luka says that they seem to have everything under control. Never say that in the ER! Man, doesn't he even watch this show? Anyway, Luka wants to take off to walk Carter over to his party. Abby asks if they're taking traumas, like if maybe a three-story deck collapses, could they take any of the patients? Luka replies that the sewer pipe is still leaking, so they aren't. Abby says that she'd like to go to the party at some point, and Luka promises that they'll rotate. Carter asks if Luka is ready to go to his surprise party, and smirks. Shut up, Carter. Just had to get a last one in.
Sam arrives home. So it took her longer to get home than it did for Morris to leave work after she did, change clothes, arrive at the party, and get drunk? I realize I need to get over the effed-up chronology. Sam asks Alex if he checked his sugar before dinner to remind us that he's diabetic. Alex did, and it's fine. Sam notices that Alex is watching some video featuring woman shaking their asses, and instead of telling him to turn that crap off, she asks if he's done with his homework. Alex says he's doing it now. Sam gets distracted when she find a letter from Steve in with her mail, and it has a big-ass stamp on the front that says "Colorado Department of Corrections." She tells Alex that he got a letter from his dad as she pulls out a smaller envelope with Alex's name out. He runs over to her, but she says that he can't read it until he's done with his homework. Well, that's just mean. And if Alex were smarter, he'd just lie about the assignment so that he'd be done in two seconds. It's not like Sam is smart enough to check. Anyway, Alex whines about it, and nearly calls Sam a bitch. Then he asks where Luka is. Sam says he's at work. Alex asks if she and Luka are still fighting. Sam lies that they're not. Alex says, "We're going to have to move again, aren't we?" and stomps back over to his Sofa of Hip-Hop Homework.
Carter and Luka walk to Ike's for the party. Luka takes a phone call during which he assures someone that they're on their way. Luka tells Carter to act surprised. Luka opens a door and they walk in. When everyone yells "surprise," Carter laughs and says that they got him.
Shane is making out with Jessica as she sits on the deck railing, and even if I didn't know that the deck was about to collapse tragically, I still wouldn't sit on the railing three stories up. Because I am a wuss. Nick walks out and tells Shane that his friend is puking inside. Oh, Morris. Shane reluctantly walks away from Jessica, but not before telling her to stay there and she promises not to move. Oh, foreshadowing. How thy art a heavy object not unlike a barbell or possibly anvil. Preggo asks Nick to join her outside, and he promises to join her shortly.
Shane finds Morris puking into a garbage can and mumbling to himself. Morris says that he admires Shane, because everything comes so easy to him. Morris adds that people don't expect much from Morris himself, and most of the time he proves them right, which is why he wanted Chief. Shane says that things aren't that easy for him either, but that he's better at faking it. Morris takes this in, and it makes him puke because it's so trite. Or because he's wasted. Shane heads off to get him some water. Just as Shane is about to step onto the deck, Morris hollers to get some aspirin too, causing Shane to pause. And then that pause saves him from being caught in the deck collapse, which is pretty awesomely filmed. All of a sudden the people near Shane just drop out of frame. The angle switches to outside as each floor takes out the one beneath it in pancaking fashion. Shane and the others on the third floor rush to the doorway to see what just happened, and Baby Daddy screams for Preggo. And hey! Jessica is still sitting out there on the railing, which didn't collapse. She calls to Shane, but before she can grab onto a beam or something, the railing gives way and she falls to the ground, landing on top of the mass of humanity and pressure-treated lumber already there.
After commercials, Shane and the others who were inside rush outside to see what's up. Shane yells to someone inside to call 911. Baby Daddy still can't find Preggo. Shane finds Jessica, who is bleeding from the mouth. Oh, and she's been impaled. But she's conscious. Shane starts yelling out orders as Morris stands around helplessly. People are freaking out, as you do. Someone yells from inside that ambulances are on the way. Shane surveys the situation as someone yells that she needs help carrying her friend to her car. Shane yells out to everyone to shut up for a minute. He announces that help is coming and that, in the meantime, they all need to work together to remove as much debris as possible, but he cautions them not to move any people until he's cleared them.
Abby and Neela discuss how the fireman and the cow are pretty much ready to go. The director walks up and asks if the actors can leave. He wants them to continue the second act. Abby doesn't think they'll be up for it. The director reminds her that they're professional actors, and that "the show must go on." Abby says, "Yeah, why is that exactly? I mean, why can't the show just stop once in a while?" Heh. We're all wondering the same thing, Abby. I'd guess that if NBC weren't in fourth place and desperate, the show would have stopped going on a long time ago.
Shane is still checking out victims on the scene. Morris helps by taking pulses, and someone else is doing CPR. Jessica starts to freak out since she has, you know, a GIANT METAL POLE through her ABDOMEN. Shane tries to reassure her, but he needs to check out other patients. He finds Preggo and Baby Daddy, and checks Preggo for a head injury or concussion. Preggo says that she feels okay, and asks if the baby is okay. Shane finds a guy who appears to be leaking gray matter or very close to it; he moves a board and uncovers the musical note tattoo on the victim's arm, and realizes that Benny's dead. Just like about half of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now they're all free birds. And those birds you cannot change.
Alex has finished reading the letter from Steve, and starts asking Sam if they're ever going to live with Steve again. Sam says they aren't. Alex says that Steve has a job as a river guide. Well, at least he's creative. Sam says simply that they're not going to live with Steve, and then tries to distract Alex with marshmallow cookies. Works for me! Then again, I'm not diabetic. Yet. Alex says he wants to just read his letter and stomps off. Sam looks sad and conflicted. And like she really just wants to eat the whole package of marshmallow cookies herself. Although I might be projecting.
The paramedics have arrived at Operation Porch Pancake. Shane explains that he still isn't sure how many people are trapped in the wreckage, but they have six dead and fifteen non-critical patients. The paramedic says that they are taking someone with chest pain and Preggo first, and they are currently working on Jessica. Morris just stands nearby, watching everything. The paramedic can't believe that Shane assessed over twenty-five patients in eight minutes. Well, six of them were dead. I don't know how much assessing that took. Shane says he goes a lot faster with no paperwork, and tells the paramedic to take Morris to St. Rafe's for a banana bag. The paramedic says that the criticals are going to St. Rafe's, and Shane asks why they aren't going to County. The paramedic tells Shane what we already know -- that County is closed to Trauma. Shane is incensed. Incensed! The paramedic hands over his radio and suggests that Shane try to get County to open, since it's closer to where they are than St. Rafe's is.
Chuny takes the call at County, where the other employees are busy doing a whole lot of nothing, and it's a skeleton crew. Chuny tells Shane that Susan and Luka are out, and offers up Abby, who rolls her eyes at being third choice and takes the radio. Shane tells Abby that she needs to take some of the traumas, and Abby says they can't, because they only have one working OR. Oh, are they? That never fails to crack me up, and I realize that Rushmore came out a long time ago. Anyway, Shane promises that the injuries are mostly blunt trauma and thus, I guess, will not require immediate surgery. Abby relents and agrees to take one critical. Shane wants her to take all five. Abby says that they're understaffed and have no Attendings available. Shane says that the patients won't make it to another hospital, and assures Abby that she's a doctor. Really? Was the white coat the giveaway? Abby isn't having it, and says she'd have to run it by Luka. Shane growls that there isn't any time. He's really good with that radio and how he yells angrily into it. Must be his musician microphone training. He's a regular Constantine Maroulis with the growling and the pouting and the dramatics. Doris the Paramedic announces that one of the criticals just flatlined, and Shane yells that they're down to four criticals. Abby still says no. Shane flat-out asks her if she will accept the patients. Abby pauses, and Chuny reminds her that she's being recorded. I don't know if that means that she should take the patients, because she's not allowed to refuse them, or if she shouldn't, because she already admitted that there's no Attending present. Abby chews her lip as everyone gathers around and stares. Finally, she says that they will take four critical patients and gives the go-ahead for treatment. Shane thanks her and says they are four minutes out. Abby puts the radio down and barks out some orders to everyone present, including telling Chuny to page Luka.
Luka is busy telling everyone at Carter's party (Dubenko, Malik, Pratt, Haleh, and random extras) to eat and drink up because Weaver's footing the bill. Yeah, where the hell's Weaver? Even if she wasn't working, she couldn't show up for Carter's party? Lame. Pratt picks up a breadstick and says that, for eleven years of duty, Carter deserved caviar. Luka adds that there's something his father used to say when a friend went on a journey, and that he said it when Luka came to the States. Luka gets a little choked up and says he thought of it today when he realized that he wouldn't be working with Carter anymore, or at least not for a long time. Carter looks touched. Luka says his father would clasp the person's hand and say, "We only part to meet again." Did he say it in English? Because I wanted Luka to speak Croatian. Everyone claps and clinks glasses as Luka's pager goes off. It's in his coat pocket, and his coat is sitting on a nearby table, so no one hears it.
Well, it's been four minutes, and the critical patients have arrived. Neela is working on Preggo, along with Chuny and Darlene and a bunch of other people we've never seen before. Preggo's blood pressure drops, and Neela orders everyone to roll Preggo onto her side, while yelling something about the uterus and pressure and something else. It works. Preggo yells that her back hurts, and Neela and Chuny exchange "Oh, shit!" looks. Neela rushes over and holds out her finger, and Chuny squirts a metric shitload of lube on it. Wow, I think I just wrote a fanfic. Neela explains that the back pains were contractions. She checks and announces that the baby is crowning. They turn the bed around so that random passers-by can't see Preggo's bottom system as Neela tells Chuny to grab some supplies and page OB.
Chuny runs door where Abby is treating Riley, another one of Shane's friends. He needs a chest tube. Abby asks Chuny if everything is okay, and Chuny says that the baby's coming, the mother's hypotensive, and they don't have fetal heart tones yet. Abby snaps, "A simple 'no' would have sufficed." The new interns just watch Abby (unlike Darlene who jumped right in) and second-guess her every move. One of them asks Abby if she's the senior resident, and Abby says that she's an intern.
Shane is working on Nick, whose shin bone is totally poking out through his skin. Grody! Shane reports no pulse in the foot and tells Nick that he cut the artery in his foot and needs surgery. Lily tells Shane that the OR won't be ready any time soon, and Shane says that he will make them be ready by the power of his Edgy Boy Band Member Charisma. Shane grabs the phone from Jerry to call the OR.
Jerry runs into Trauma Green and tells Neela that OB can't come down because they're in the middle of an emergency C-section. Neela has her hands about ten feet up Preggo's birth canal, as Chuny and Darlene pull Preggo's legs back so that her knees are about around her ears. Chuny reports that the head is out and that the baby has a lot of hair. Neela grabs the head, which then kind of jerks out of her hands and back up towards the womb. Neela yells that it's "turtle sign," and yells at Jerry to page OB 911 because they've got a shoulder. Darlene says it's "shoulder dystocia," and Baby Daddy asks if there's something wrong with the baby. Neela says that the baby is a little too big for Preggo's pelvis. She orders Chuny and Darlene to pull Preggo's legs back as hard as they can, and for Preggo to push really hard, unlike those weak-ass pushes she was giving before because, you know, practically an entire building fell on her and she might be a little exhausted. Neela tells Chuny to apply pressure to the pelvis. Neela tells Preggo to push with all she's got, and Preggo says she can't, and usually I'm kind of annoyed by women on TV shows who are all, "I caaaaan't," but I'm willing to make an exception here because see: deck, complete collapse of. Chuny notes that the contraction has ended and the fetal pulse is coming back up. Neela tells Darlene to support the head, and then runs door where she tells Abby what's up. Abby suggests "the Wood-Screw Maneuver," which Neela's never heard of. Neela offers to take over Abby's patient, and they swap out. Someone asks Abby if she's giving up, and Abby says that if you can't get a procedure by the third attempt, you won't get it, which she says is "from the book of John Carter."
Abby walks in and gets the bullet from Chuny. Basically, Preggo's blood pressure is high, and the baby's heart rate dropped during contractions. Abby introduces herself to Nick and says that she used to work in OB. Abby heads for the baby as Baby Daddy and Preggo explain that the baby is a girl and her name is Janis. Abby explains what she's doing as another contraction hits and they all encourage Preggo to push. Nothing happens, delivery-wise. The contraction ends and Abby quietly asks Chuny if OB ever called back. Chuny saysthat they are stuck in the OR and will be another seven minutes. Abby checks the readout and asks where Luka is. Chuny doesn't know, and offers to page him again. Abby grabs a student and tells him to run to Ike Ryan's and bring Luka back. Abby grabs a scalpel and says that they can't wait, because of the dropping heart rate. Darlene can't believe that Abby is doing a C-section by herself. Do people never learn not to discuss how stupid a particular procedure is in front of the patients? Lawsuit!
Luka finishes whipping Carter's ass in pool. Oh my God, this is the lamest party ever. Luka just made a joke about goat testicles. Pratt decides it's time to leave. Haleh nudges KJ, who's sitting there pouting and wearing his headphones. Pratt says goodbye to Carter and they leave. Haleh asks Carter if he's prepared a toast, and everyone agrees that he needs to make one. Carter says he needs to "lick [his] wounds first" and heads to the restroom. Dirty!
The student Abby dispatched moments ago hauls ass to Ike Ryan's. Inside, Malik says something about how they have to wait for Susan, who promised to stop by on her way into work the overnight shift. Heh. I guess they all realized how lame the party was and were discussing how soon they could decently leave. The student bursts in and asks which one of them is "Ko-vatch."
Cut to Luka striding purposefully into Trauma Green, where Neela explains that she's working on a chest trauma and was just about to do a cutdown. Shane helps her to crank open the chest, and one of the students starts to puke. Luka looks all sexy and impressed as he calmly gives instructions. Haleh walks in and asks, "Do you know Abby's doing a symphysiotomy in here?"
Luka can't believe it and runs into Trauma Yellow, where Abby explains that she's cut the ligaments connecting the pubic bone in order to create three more centimeters of pelvic space. Preggo agrees that things have opened up a little bit. The contraction begins and Preggo pushes. Abby reports that the shoulder is out. Luka calls for suction and a clamp and tells Baby Daddy to take the scissors as the baby starts cooing. He cuts the umbilical cord and Preggo starts crying as she takes her baby. Abby kind of sighs and rolls her shoulders, releasing some tension. Luka congratulates the parents, and then looks at Abby to make sure she's okay.
Pratt arrives at KJ's house and starts to walk him in. Pratt makes small talk about school, like, wouldn't they have covered this while they were in the car? KJ approaches his house and says he can take it from there. He runs up onto his stoop, where his father, Darnell, is passed out among a bunch of beer bottles. KJ lightly taps his father's face to wake him. Pratt walks up and tells KJ to go inside and put some coffee on. KJ has clearly been through this before, and insists that he's got it, but Pratt urges him to go inside. Pratt grabs Darnell and roughly walks him inside, then tosses him on the couch. Pratt makes sure KJ is out of the room, and then asks why Darnell didn't pick his son up. Darnell asks what time it is, and Pratt says that KJ was waiting for him. KJ stands in the kitchen and watches as Pratt yells, "Hey, you his father, you understand that? The only one he's got!" Pratt sighs and turns to meet KJ's eyes. KJ looks like he wants Pratt to leave, and Pratt does.
Shane and Neela work on Bone Poked Through Shin Boy to prep him for surgery. Lily reports that Jessica was stabilized, and that Anspaugh took her up to surgery already. Shane and Neela are called in to check on Nick, the guy who has a crush on Neela, apparently. Nick says that he's having trouble breathing, and Neela removes his cervical collar and sees that his neck is all bruised. She reports to Shane that there's "crepitus." Shane checks the neck x-ray and says that they can lose the collar, and prepares to intubate.
Sam is sitting in bed at home, reading, when the phone rings. Someone asks her a question about her credit card being stolen, and she says that it hasn't been. She listens for a minute, and then yells out to Alex while running downstairs. In the kitchen, she finds her wallet lying open on the table and her bag rummaged through. She calls to Alex again, more desperately this time, and there's still no answer. Was he supposed to be in bed? And if so, why did she immediately head to the living room when she was looking at him? And how did she not hear him sneaking out? I don't know.
Carter pees in a urinal and practices what he's going to say in his speech, but it's all trite. He flushes and washes his hand, then looks at himself in the mirror and says, "It's been eleven years. And I feel like I grew up here with all of you." He realizes the truth of what he just said and heads back out in the bar. And everyone's gone. There's one guy sitting there and Carter asks where everybody went. The guy says that they had to work and promised to return. Carter sits to him and asks if he's new in the ER. The guy says he works in Geriatrics, but heard there would be free food. A slide projector on the table projects pictures on a nearby wall. The first is Carter with The Beard That Ate Wing and Sars's Sanity. Geriatrics glances at Carter and says he likes The Beard. The slide is a group shot, but it flashes on screen too quickly and from too far away for me to identify the season. I know it was early on, and it was a Christmas episode. It was definitely before Clooney got the Caesar. Carter chuckles with recognition. The one is Mark and Carter talking, and then the one is Benton, Carter, Ross, and Greene talking. This was definitely circa Clooney filming Three Kings. What? Doesn't everyone else carbon-date ER episodes based on Clooney's hairstyle? It's not like you can use Anthony Edwards's hair as a barometer. Aaand, that's all the slides. Rip-off! I was just getting into it.
Abby watches from afar as No-Longer-Preggo and her Baby Daddy coo over little Janis. I feel like they're setting us up for an Abby pregnancy season. If so, I hope it happens on purpose, because the number of female medical professionals on this show with unplanned pregnancies is ridiculous. Shane sees Nick off to the OR and then walks toward Abby, snapping off his gloves. I know this is so wrong, but I thought Shane was pretty hot in this episode. He was all capable. I dig that. Shane gives some orders to Dubenko as he wheels someone up to the OR, and Neela joins Abby and Shane. Morris runs in and apologizes for having missed the whole thing, and asks what they all need. Shane says they're good. Morris says he's going to go lie down. The three doctors just look at each other, probably remembering how they got bitched out in the last episode.
Susan and Carter walk into the ER, and Susan yells at everyone for ditching Carter, adding that he was "hugging some huge orderly" when she arrived. Hee! I wish they had shown that. Luka says it's under control now. Susan says that she plans to spend her shift sleeping in the lounge, like, is that allowed? Chuny says that Janell, Carter's obnoxious patient, is ready for a cast. Luka offers to handle it, but Carter says he'll do it. Luka says he's off as soon as Susan is ready to take over. Sam runs in and, on the edge of losing it, asks Luka if he's heard from Alex.
Carter finds Janell with her wrist in traction. Janell has a million questions, but her parents have finally arrived in time to tell her to shut it. Carter jokes that Janell has a future in medicine. Janell's mom asks Carter if he remembers them, and Carter says that he doesn't. Janell's parents remind him that she was a patient there in 1994. Janell's mother went into premature labor and Carter delivered her baby. And that baby was...not Janell. Just kidding! It was totally Janell! Carter looks pleased.
Sam fills Luka in on what she knows. Alex tried to use her credit card to buy a bus ticket, and they refused to sell him one and called the cops, but Alex took off before the cops arrived. Luka thinks Alex is probably at a friend's apartment, but Sam paces and says she called them all. Luka asks what the cops said, and Sam says that they wanted her to wait at home, but that she couldn't. Luka asks what happens if Alex shows up at the apartment. Sam says that the babysitter is there. Luka asks how much cash Alex got, and Sam says that it was almost a hundred dollars. Luka tries to assure Sam that Alex is just pissed and out walking around, but Sam says that he's trying to go see his father, and will do whatever it takes. Sam starts crying and says that Alex doesn't have his glucometer, syringes, or insulin. Luka grabs her and says that he'll be fine for the twelve hours, and that they'll find him before then. Luka leaves to get his jacket, and Sam asks him to get Alex's medication from the drug lockup. I didn't think of this on my initial viewing, but I wonder if Sam only came to Luka to get the medicine, and otherwise wouldn't have involved him. And if so, was that subtle writing? Or am I just dumb and that was really obvious?
Pratt stands on the sidewalk outside some apartment building, staring up at it. After a long pause, he walks up the stairs and rings the doorbell. And guess who answers? Pete! Pratt asks for Charlie Pratt and Pete says that's him. Pratt is confused and says he must have it wrong. As he starts to walk away, Danny Glover comes to the door and asks who it is. Pratt asks if he's Charlie, and Danny says that he is, as long as Pratt's not a bill collector. Pratt explains that he's an ER doctor at County, and that he got Charlie's name from the people at Cease Fire. Charlie asks if it can wait until morning, since he'll be there for the meeting. Pratt agrees that it can wait. Pratt starts to walk off, and Charlie calls out, "You all right, son?" Pratt stops in his tracks, and then says he's okay. Charlie asks if he wants to come in, and Pratt apologizes for disturbing him and leaves. Oh, he'll be back. Danny Glover ain't got time for two-second cameos.
Abby and Neela work on charts. Shane walks in and Abby asks about his friends. Shane says that Anspaugh fixed Jessica up and that she'll be fine. Neela tells Shane that he looks tired and he should go home. Shane says he wants to be there when his friends wake up. Abby hands him a chart and he takes a seat.
Carter sees the three of them working and stops by. Abby apologizes for missing the party, and Carter says they weren't the only ones. Seriously. I mean, it's kind of shitty that none of the old cast members returned, but so many of the current cast members weren't even there. I mean, you'd think Frank would have been there, if only for the free food. Carter pulls out an envelope and says that he just found it in his locker, and that it's been there for a long time, and he hasn't thought about it since Mark died. Shane is probably like, "'Mark'? Mark who?" Carter explains that if you were an intern under Mark Greene, he made you write a letter to yourself on your first day that you couldn't open until you finished your residency. That is exactly the kind of smurfy thing that Mark would do! Abby asks what the letter says. Carter says he wrote that he was scared and knew he had a lot to learn and hoped to learn it quickly. He also wrote that he didn't want to kill anybody, which makes Shane smirk. Carter gets tears in his eyes as he says, "And it says that if I'm good at this, and I can stick it out and become an Attending, well, that'll be all I ever need." Abby gets tears in her eyes as well, and she smiles. Carter hands her the letter and says he has a plane to catch.
Carter walks out into the hallway, and hears voices. The reason they don't let me direct dramas (well, one of the eight million reasons) is because when the voices started, I would have had Carter looking around like, "What? Who? Am I losing it?" Anyway, the first voice is Mark saying that, one day, Carter will look around and ten years will have passed. The second is Benton telling Carter that he'll make a good doctor. The third is Carol telling Carter to hurry it up because he has a million things to do. The last is Mark saying, "You set the tone, Carter." What? No Ross? Damn them!
As Carter walks out in to the ambulance bay, "Freebird" starts playing. Carter finds Morris sitting on a bucket, groaning about how he might puke again. Carter says very seriously, "You set the tone, Morris." Morris is like, "Huh?" Carter chuckles and tells him to forget it. I thought that was slightly funny, but I think the real handoff of that responsibility happened when Carter gave his letter to Abby. I also speculate that Morris won't be around long, so it won't matter.
Back inside, Shane carries his signed contract over to show Abby and Neela. Abby says that they all have some writing to do, then, and hands out pads of paper. Neela and Shane give her a doubtful look, and Abby reminds them that it was good enough for Carter. The three of them stare at the blank paper and finally Neela asks, "Do you think it's weird if I put, 'Dear Neela'?" Hee! I would totally ask the same thing.
Sam and Luka drive around Chicago. Sam, barely holding it together, calls the babysitter, who hasn't heard anything. Sam suggests trying Navy Pier, and Luka reminds her gently that it's closed. Sam asks Luka if his cell phone is charged, and she grabs it and checks for messages. Luka assures her that it's all going to be okay.
Lynyrd Skynyrd swings into the section of "Freebird" where it gets really fast as we cut to Alex standing on the side of the road with his thumb out, hitchhiking. He looks about eight years old, and completely vulnerable. Just as I'm hoping they'll actually end the season that way, where I can pretend nothing bad will happen, a pickup truck pulls over and honks the horn. Alex runs up and gets in, and the guy behind the wheel seems older and creepy, and he has his arm along the back of the seat just to add that sinister vibe. And his windshield is dirty. And Lynyrd Skynyrd is still playing. I don't even like Alex and I'm freaked out that something bad is going to happen to him.