Mark is riddled with self doubt as the hospital prepares to settle the O'Brien suit. Kerry appoints herself as Susan's personal mentor. Carol mind a bucketful of expensive worms. Doug balks at counseling a teenage boy who thinks he might be gay. Benton uncovers some disturbing information concerning Vucelich's study. Carter steals a diagnosis from Harper.

Carter engages in competition with new surgical resident-in-training Dale Edson upon learning that residents will be evaluated and graded; only the top ones advancing to second year. It doesn't help that Dale once had a relationship with Harper. Mark flirts with infomercial director Iris. Peter faces the fallout from his altercation with Doug when surgeons begin dropping him from procedures. Shep begins exhibiting uncontrolled hostility, first to a patient being abusive with Carol, then a pedestrian. Susan and Chloe try to reach an agreement regarding Little Susie.

Doug's one-night-stand has a seizure and he brings her to the ER.

Benton can't keep his mind on the job, Mark and Chuny break up and Carol does what she needs to do regarding the fatal error she has made.

Doug treats a dying 17-year old cystic fibrosis patient who doesn't want to be resuscitated. Carter gets to operate Benton.

Carol will hear whether her suspension is permanent or not. Mark and Doyle do what they can to get a patient with Down syndrome on a heart transplant list.

Jeanie asks Greg to help Al get into a special AIDS-program at the hospital. Olbes brings in her grandfather, who had a stroke.

Anspaugh is furious when Carter tells him he wants to quit surgery. Charlie is brought in with an overdose. Mark keeps struggling with his beating.

Cynthia Hooper starts as the new desk clerk. Benton and Carla disagree over whether or not their son should be circumcised. Al gets in an accident at work.

Benton has a very extraordinary and interesting case when he comes across a boy with reversed internal organs.

Mark treats an old lady who has been brutally raped. Carter's grandmother visits Carol's clinic. After he's touched by Benton, a blind man can see again!

Mark finds out Cynthia has moved. Carter's cousin Chase is brought in because of a heroin overdose. Doug and Kerry clash after she found a flaw in his study.

Ross treats a 6-month-old recovering from methadone withdrawal. A televangelist and his wife, who's suffering from an infection, plan a broadcast from the ER. Del Amico's old boyfriend arrives, and Jeanie fears her health is rapidly declining.

Dr. Corday begins her first day as an intern, first by being assigned to Dale Edson, then being treated as Romano's lapdog. Kerry is interviewed for ER chief. Doug and Carol ponder parenthood when Carol realizes she may be pregnant. Carol and Lynette try to keep a wounded gang-banger from leaving and seeking retaliation. Lucy faces the wrath of Carter when he discovers that she doesn't know how to start an IV. Jeanie asks Doug if she can be a full-time PA for the pediatric ER.

Dr. Corday commits a deadly error after being on-call for nearly 36 hours straight. Peter visits Dr. Kotlowitz and receives encouragement regarding a cochlear implant for Reese. Dr. Amanda Lee, a prospective new ER chief, visits. In the wake of a failed pregnancy attempt, Carol lashes out at a mother using abortion as a means of selective birth control. Carter and Lucy feud when Carter accidentally uses her palm computer and finds out what she thinks of him. Mark panics during a paramedic initation.

Carter plays tour guide for Ruth Johnson, who was born in the hospital 100 years ago to the day, and her large family. Carol treats a boy who was hit by a car and tells a story of being chased, his friend being shot in the process. Peter observes Kotlowitz install a cochlear implant and decides to wait before scheduling an operation for Reese. Mark dines with Dr. Lee, new ER chief. Dr. Corday proposes radical changes in scheduling at an M&M conference, and later decides to break off her relationship with Benton.

Benton's attempts to get away to Carla and Reese on Christmas Eve are continually thwarted by Romano, culminating in Benton forcing the drunken Romano away from a patient. Carter believes he's found a Christmas miracle when a teenage girl with a rare blood type needs an organ donation at the same time a brain-dead patient with the same blood type is in the hospital. After witnessing Dr. Lee rifling through Greene's locker, Jerry becomes convinced that she's stalking Mark.

During a paramedic ride-along, Carter is forced to drive the ambulance while fleeing a riot scene and inadvertently runs over a teenage boy. Later, a paramedic is shot by an angry mob looking for the driver of the ambulance. Carol is despondent following Doug's departure. She later discloses that she's pregnant. Kerry is intrigued by an injured pro wrestler and his relationship with his father. Lucy tangles with an Asian family that requests their matriarch not be told of a cancerous tumor. Jeanie turns down dates with both Dr. Baker and Reggie, telling each she's seeing someone else.

Carol's pregnancy becomes public knowledge as she learns that she's having twins. Lucy has problems trying to go off Ritalin. Peter learns Carla plans to move to Germany. Kerry finds an abandoned youngster and brings him to the ER. Mark and Elizabeth discuss their relationship. Jeanie and Reggie draw closer again.

A prank in a high school science class goes terribly awry, injuring a teacher and several students. Hathaway discovers Meg's drug addiction. Weaver and Greene notice Lawrence gets easily confused.

Kovac and Haleh take care of Hathaway's twins so the new mother can finally get some rest. The job transfer for Carla's husband does not get approved allowing Reese to stay in Chicago. Lucy endeavors to get a heart transplant for a young woman and goes to Romano's house begging him to perform the surgery.

Lucy's patient finally gets a heart transplant but does not survive. The transplanted heart will now go to another recipient. Greene interferes in a gay domestic situation. Corday tricked her patient who murdered several women and now he's being transferred to a county jail.

Carter and Lucy are discovered and the staff struggles to save them and go on with normal patient care.

After Corday refuses to perform exploratory surgery on Cleo's patient, Cleo enlists Benton's help, infuriating Corday. Abby cares for a pregnant woman with five children who wants an abortion. Greene lovingly tends to his dying father at home.

Greene prepares to bury his father. Chen worries about Carter's mood swings. After witnessing the interaction between a dying woman and her family, Hathaway realizes she wants her family together and flies to Seattle to join Ross.

As the result of a school shooting, Kovac and Benton care for the gunman and his victims. Abby discovers that Carter has been illegally injecting pain relievers. Greene and Weaver confront Carter about his problem, and Weaver orders him to enter a drug rehabilitation center or leave the hospital permanently.