Mark's wife arrives in the ER with the news that she has passed her bar exams but several members of the staff interrupt their intimate celebration. Greene treats an elderly woman whose husband isn't ready to let her go. It's been eight weeks since Hathaway's attempted suicide, but Doug Ross has yet to bring himself to visit the woman he went out with for two years. Susan Lewis saves a newborn who is brought into the ER choking. She also argues with the psychiatric attending who refuses to admit a patient suffering from dementia. Carter finds himself having to care for a group of German tourists who are suffering from food poisoning. He also treats a young flirt with a rash. Benton treats a recent surgery patient and finds his correct diagnosis overturned by the man's physician. Susan Lewis treats a family struck by a drunk driver. The husband and daughter will survive but there is little hope for the woman. The drunk driver is also brought in suffering from only a few scratches.

Drs. Benton and Langworthy are unsuccessful in reviving a teen-aged boy involved in a traffic accident and it's left to Carter to determine the boy's identity and notify the parents. Unfortunately, he tells the wrong parents that their son is dead. Doug Ross tells a young patient that he will not be separated from his schizophrenic mother knowing that she will likely be hospitalized for a long time. Susan Lewis tells Mark that she is dating the psychiatric attending physician Div Cvetic. She also treats a salesman whose cell phone is having an odd effect on hospital equipment. Benton forgets that he was supposed to sit with his mother while his sister and brother-in-law were to go out for their tenth anniversary dinner.

Mark Greene's wife Jen gets a position clerking with a Federal judge. Unfortunately, it's in Milwaukee, 2 hours away and she wants Mark to look for a job there. Greene and Susan Lewis treat Samuel Gasner, a man who has been waiting for a heart transplant and who will not survive the night unless a donor can be found. John Carter is worried that his latest paramour may have left him with a souvenir of their sexual encounter. Doug Ross treats a young girl suffering from severe asthma but whose mother can't afford her medication. Benton treats Ivan the liquor store owner who is shot for the third time in as many weeks.

Doug Ross' hopes of renewing his relationship with Carol Hathaway take a positive turn after the two of them kiss following a particularly stressful trauma, but his hopes are dashed when she decides to move in with boyfriend Tag. John Carter has a particularly good day when Dr. Green successfully walks him through a complex procedure. Haleh takes Dr. Benton to task when he refuses to act as a role model for a young gangbanger she has an interest in. Benton is also competing with Dr. Langworthy for a prestigious fellowship. It's Susan Lewis' birthday and her sister Chloe shows up at the ER drunk.

The ER staff's slow snow day becomes chaotically hectic when the casualties of a 40 car traffic accident flood in.

It's Christmas-time and the expected range of emotions is to be found among the ER staffers. Susan Lewis treats a middle-aged woman who is overjoyed at finally getting pregnant. Susan is also shocked to hear that her boyfriend Div Cvetic has quit his job and moved out of his apartment. Mark Greene treats a young drowning victim. Doug Ross takes Greene's advice and decides to tell Carol Hathaway that he loves her; unfortunately he chooses to do so at her engagement party. Peter Benton jumps the gun and arranges for transplant teams to harvest an accident victims organs but the man's wife is now refusing to give consent. Susan's sister Chloe announces that she is pregnant.

It's Carter's last day in the ER and finally fed up with Dr. Benton's apparent indifference, rejoices when he learns that he gets to write an appraisal on him. He subsequently regrets his negative input when he gets offered the surgical sub-internship he'd hoped for and learns that Benton gave him a glowing appraisal. He also spends a good part of the day with young leukemia victim who is fed up with life. Benton and Jeanie Boulet's relationship reaches a crossroads. Mark Greene is offered an attending position at the hospital but also learns that he is being sued for malpractice over his handling of the Jodi O'Brien case. The big day for Carol Hathaway and Tag is here but doubts creep in and one of them gets left standing at the altar.