Ross and Greene travel to a near-deserted stretch of California to investigate circumstances surrounding a death in Doug's family.

Greene flies to San Diego when his mother falls and is hospitalized. His concern increases when he finds her acting "completely loony and out of control." To make matters worse, he butts heads with his dad over her care.

After his mother's funeral, Dr. Greene comforts his father in San Diego. In Chicago, Romano surprises Corday by appointing her associate chief of surgery. Corday treats Elaine, Carter's lover, for breast cancer.

Weaver tries to save the life of a rape victim while Corday struggles with feelings of disdain as she is forced to save the rapist. Cleo treats a teenage alcoholic boy whose alcoholic mother refuses to recognize her problem or his.

On Thanksgiving Day Carol goes into labor. She's able to get to the ER only thanks to Luka's help. She delivers the first baby in the ER, but the second causes some trouble. Greene leaves Elizabeth to deal with his father and daughter, as he rushes to assist Carol.

In order to get her paitient to tell her the location of a missing body, Corday agrees to grant him a fatal wish. Kovac befriends two brothers. He tells Weaver that his wife and children died in the Bosnian war. Former medical student Deb Chen returns to County General as a resident, using her Chinese name, Jing-Mei Chen.

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.

Dr. Greene and Corday bond with their parents, Lucy cares for a patient with a psychotic break, and Valentine's Day celebrations in the ER end tragically for one of the students.

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

Kovac witnesses an accident and saves the young victim's life. Carter slowly recovers from his brutal attack and undergoes excruciating physical therapy. Hathaway helps two sexually active 14-year-old girls.

Even though he suffers from intense pain due to his stabbing injuries, Carter returns to work and prescribes a controversial procedure for a suicidal patient. Greene tries to convince his father to undergo cancer treatment.

Chen's patient refuses to reveal to his daughter that she might have inherited a terrible disease from him. Weaver defies Romano's authority and performs a procedure that gets her suspended. An available kidney causes friction between Corday and Kovac as they decide which one of their patients will get it.

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.

Carter seeks psychiatric help because he can't sleep. He then visits the wife of his attacker. Weaver returns to work after her suspension. Hathaway and Kovac share a kiss.

Weaver reprimands Carter for doing a dangerous procedure without consulting Kovac. She also talks to Hathaway about Hathaway's lack of focus on the job. And while treating a 6-year-old patient involved in a minor car accident, Malucci and Cleo discover the girl has been sexually molested recently by her father.