On his return to Chicago, Carter gets a downright chilly reaction from Abby who asks him to return her apartment key. At work, they tip toe around one another, neither really willing to discuss their feelings. A new med student, Neela Rasgotra arrives for her ER rotation. Dr. Pratt is paying too much attention to her for Dr. Chen's taste. A woman passes out at the wheel of her car severely injuring herself and the three children in the car with her. Neela makes a good call in the case. Carter treats a man whose HIV has become full-blown AIDS. The ER itself is a bit ...
John Carter returns to the Congo to retrieve Luka Kovac's body. He finds however that the area where was killed is still too dangerous to enter. He and Gillian finally manage to hitch a ride with a Red Cross worker, Debbie, who is going to the area. In flashbacks, we learn how Kovac and his fellow aid workers were taken prisoner by rebel troops. They are shot, one at a time, until only Luka is left. Amid the destruction of the eastern Congo, we learn his fate. Carter also makes a fateful decision.
Luka Kovac arrives safely at County General and is hospitalized for treatment. His friend Gillian delivers John Carter's letter to Abby. Pretty well everyone gets to read it when Frank retrieves it and from the garbage and passes it around. Greg Pratt has dinner with Chen and her parents. The dinner goes well but they have a serious argument afterward. Dr. Romano is unhappy with his prosthetic arm which makes him even more difficult to deal with. Some of the more senior nurses find their hours being reduced as a cost saving measure and stage a walkout. Romano's ...
Emmy nominee Bob Newhart guest stars as Ben Hollander, a distraught architect whose degenerating eyesight causes him despondent while a spirited new nurse, Samantha Taggart joins the staff. Elsewhere, disaster strikes when the doctors suspect a mother is abusing her child while Dr. Corday learns something shocking about the charismatic Dr. Dorset, and Dr. Archie Morris is overwhelmed by the chaos and grisly conditions of life in the E.R.
Dr. Carter celebrates Christmas at a clinic in the Congo dealing with low supplies and anti-Americanism, but in the meantime, falling for an AIDS worker named Makemba.
Abby and Neela are assigned to a month-long rotation in the neonatal intensive care unit where they experience emotional roller coasters while caring for the sick infants.
Dr. Carter's girlfriend makes an impression as she observes ER operations. Dr. Gallant is almost shot during a domestic incident. Dr. Weaver dedicates a center to the memory of Dr. Romano.
Sam treats an abused, pregnant teen. Dr. Carter introduces African girlfriend Makemba to wintertime. ER chaos shocks a risk-assessment expert. Dr. Pratt and Abby restrain a man who has tuberculosis.
Kovacs stops to help a woman and her son whose car broke down. Steve is getting close to Alex, and Sam panics. Abby is looking for her letter whether to see she passed her boards. Pratt shows off his new Chrysler. Elgin tries to build a connection between him and Pratt. Jing-Mei might be battered by her senile father.