The board decides to extend the search for a new ER Chief, leaving Kerry waiting for a decision. Benton visits a doctor who is deaf and he realizes that there is nothing "wrong" with his son. Mark saves the life of a gay prostitute and then tries to get the kid to avoid reckless behavior. Carter loses his Resident Advisor job because of Lucy, then blames her for not going along with his plan to defraud an insurance company, but she inadvertently leads him to shave off a nasty-looking beard he'd been growing. Corday saves two lives and impresses Benton enough that he decides to request she be his intern instead of Dale's. Carol tries to help an elderly Jewish guy find a place to live.

Corday faces M&M where the board was discussing the mistake that Corday made after she gave the wrong dosage to a patient. She decides to take the offensive and let the board know how wrong it is for her or any other doctor to work 36 hours. The board decides to do nothing about it, and she later decides to amicably end her relationship with Benton. At the hospital arrives Ruth Johnson who was born 100 years ago in that same hospital and shares some experiences with Carter. Carol is horrified by the truth behind a young boy's fatal shooting.

Dr. Greene tries to help get Amanda Lee the proper credit she deserves on a paper she wrote. However, he starts to become suspicious of her credentials. An old friend of Dr. Greene recommends him for a NASA mission. Benton's son is having difficulties in day care. Doug and Carol help the exhausted mother named Joi of a little boy named Ricky who has a terminal illness. Carter is jealous when Lucy goes on a date with Dale.

Lucy begins her surgical rotation under Benton and Corday. Romano offers to get Corday's fellowship reinstated and asks her to assist him in surgery. Weaver interrogates Corday, asking if Romano ever sexually harassed her. Corday denies it and concludes that Doyle must have filed charges. Ross jeopardizes a liquid pain medicine study by surreptitiously giving some of the drug to Joi's son, Ricky. Greene discovers the secret and informs Weaver. They decide not to tell Anspaugh because, by violating protocol on a federally-funded trial, the hospital would be unable to obtain research money and Medicare payments for years.

Carter deals with tenant drama at an apartment tower during a ride-along that later has deadly consequences, Lucy has to hide a cancer diagnosis from an ill woman at the behest of the patient's family, Carol finds out she is pregnant, Kerry reflects on her own family issues when an injured wrestler comes to the ER, and Greene continues to help Mobalage, who may be deported if he can't tell the INS about the abuse he suffered in Nigeria.

The ER has to deal with a stripper and some shady dealings from apparent FBI agents. Lucy reveals to Carter that she's still on Ritalin. Hathaway begins to reveal her pregnancy to those closest to her, including a fax to Doug. Dr. Anspaugh decides that the trauma fellowship will go to Benton, who then faces anger from Romano and Corday. A car accident involving teenagers may have been alcohol-related and leaves one teenager with grievous third-degree burns.

The rest of the staff finds out that Hathaway is pregnant. Benton begins a custody battle for his son when Carla Reese reveals an intention to marry Roger and take the child to Germany. Weaver rescues a toddler that has been drugged. Carter's protégé is mugged and beaten up. Greene and Corday fall in love.

When Anspaugh decides to retire as chief of staff and return to surgery, he appoints Romano as his replacement. Greene expresses reservations about the decision, but Weaver does not support Greene. Romano makes Weaver the new chief of emergency medicine.

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

A recommendation from Weaver allows Jeanie to have temporary approval as a foster parent for baby Carlos. Reggie and Jeanie get married. Lucy and Kovac talk with a young woman whose husband they believe is very dangerous.

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.

Benton struggles with the idea of taking a DNA test to determine whether or not Reese is actually his son. As the signs continue to pile up, Kerry and Mark use a fake patient to convince Dr. Lawrence of his Alzheimer's. Carter has trouble persuading a woman from a nursing home fire to sign a DNR for her husband and later is asked to forge charts for a family with no insurance. Carol continues to meddle in Meg's life, having her arrested so that she can be detoxed. Cleo is blamed for an explosion in the suture room but it may actually be Dr. Dave's fault.

In order to get her patient 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.

Dr. Pratt applies for the job of ER Chief and gets turned down. This causes him to give 2 weeks notice. A female soldier, home 2 weeks from Iraq, is 2 months pregnant and her husband demands an explanation. Neela's cousin has arrived from London for an extended visit and gets pursued by both Dr. Morris and Harold Zelinsky. After 9 years absence, a fall in gym by her son brings Jeanie Boulet back to the ER. Not only is she troubled because of her son, but the disorientation of knowing virtually no one on the current staff does not help.