Original Air Date: September 19, 1994
Written by: Michael Crichton
Directed by: Rod Holcomb

Guest Stars:
Julianna Margulies (Carol Hathaway)
Troy Evans (Officer Martin)

It's St. Patrick's Day and Dr. Mark Greene is asleep. Lydia wakes him up to take care of a drunk Dr. Doug Ross. Mark takes care of him and then goes back to sleep. Lydia continues to keep waking him up. Dr's Lewis and Benton come in to work around 9 am. A building has collapsed and there are a lot of injuries. By this time, Doug Ross is able to assist them. Benton takes one, his hand is only just attached, Benton assures him that it can be reattached. After a while the patients have all been taken care of. All the docs are in the lounge resting. Peter Benton fusses at Carol about the nurses drinking all of the coffee up. She tells him to fix more. Rachel and Jenn Greene come to see Mark in the cafeteria. John Carter comes to work. He is Peter's third year surgical student. He is wearing a tailored doctor's coat. Peter gives him a "quick" tour. Carter has no experience doing very much. He has only worked with Dermatology and one other non violent office. Peter introduces him to Dr Morgenstern who is the chief surgeon. Carter learns a quick lesson on how to do stitches and how to put in an IV. He puts his first IV into a gun shot victim. It only took him 3 times until he got it into the vein. Doug Ross also gets a new student named Tracy Young. She is a third year student. Doug tries unsuccessfully to get to know her better. We find out that Doug and Carol Hathaway, Charge Nurse, used to be a couple. Mark grabs Carter to help him with a baby delivery. This must be his first time and he seems to like it. His look is worth a thousand words. Mark Greene interviews at a very nice doctors office. He would make a lot of money, but does not seem to be interested ( no wonder he and Jenn don't make it too much longer). Susan treats a man who might have lung cancer. She tells him that he might only have 6 months to a year to live. He doesn't take it too well (of course). Mark takes care of a rich weird older woman with a hang nail. She is either a hypochondriac or needs a visit from Psych. Mark keeps her updated about his family and how Jenn studying for the Bar Exam. The shift is ending and Carol goes home while the next crew of people come in. Carter is stitches up a ladies foot after she wrecks her father's new Cadillac. He reacts as anyone else would, but he takes it out in the next curtain area and not on his daughter. Doug helps a little boy and his mother. The boy has swallowed the house key and Doug and the little boy find it amusing. Carter makes a good call on a girl with an ectopic pregnancy, but it takes Peter Benton to convince her that she will need surgery.

Mark and Susan Lewis go in break to the Cafeteria. They are not there long when he gets a page to go back down to the ER. Carol Hathaway is being brought in following a suicide attempt by overdosing on barbiturates. Everyone is standing by watching, whispering, and asking why. Her room mate is there and they are asking her what Carol had taken. Mark tells Dr. Morgenstern that it doesn't look to good. He replies to him that he sets the tone of the E.R. Doug tells Mark that she seemed to be doing well today. He is shocked about Hathaway. Carter gets sick after witnessing a knifing victim and he has to go outside. Mark follows after him to check on him. He tells him to keep his head down to make him feel better. He said he went to school with Benton and he use to get sick all the time and not to let him bother you about it. This made Carter smile. We hear that Carol is suppose to get married in June. She has been on dialysis for three hours, she is comatose and unresponsive. Susan replies that she knew exactly what she was doing and what drugs to take. A baby sitter brings in a little boy that has been beaten quite often. She is afraid that some one is going to get in trouble. The child's mother and her boy friend show up. She is a lawyer and does not like being accused of child abuse by Doug Ross. Peter takes care of a man with an aortic aneurysm. No one is available to operate so Peter makes a call to start surgery on him. Everyone is surprised. He finds the leak and holds it until Dr. Morgenstern arrives. He tells Peter what a bad incision he has made and comments on how a good veterinarian could have made a better cut then that. He also tells Peter that he did a good job. This makes him very happy. Doug gets snappy to Tracy Young, but later apologizes and they go for coffee. Then we see Mark sleeping as we did at the beginning of the episode and Lydia comes in to wake him up. Just another day in the Emergency Room.

Reviewed by Tony Conner on 09-06-2000

-- ER Online (webmaster@ertvonline.com), April 07, 2002