ER Episode 12.16 Out on a Limb

Dr. Kovac caught Dr. Weaver at the hospital, when she was under strict orders to stay home. Weaver met with her doctor, who wanted to perform hip replacement surgery on her right away. She let her doctor know that her job came first and it was always going to.

The doctors of the ER were frantic, trying to figure out what was wrong with two teenage girls who were admitted with mysterious flesh wounds.

While in surgery, Weaver dropped a syringe on the floor and had trouble picking it up. Her hip caused her problems with bending down. Sam saw Weaver struggle and went down and grabbed the syringe herself...

One of the teenage girls died on the operating table, while Abby worked on the other. As Abby operated, she noticed her patient's purplish skin, high fever and sensitivity to light, all symptoms of a highly contagious skin-infecting bacteria. She reported the symptoms to Kovac. Kovac ordered all exposed hospital staff to take an antidote provided by the infection control unit. While the ER waited to confirm Abby's suspicions, antidotes were handed out. Abby couldn't take the medication because it might have caused harm to her unborn baby.

In the middle of all the chaos, a suave businessman, Richard Elliot, was admitted after his driver noticed he'd passed out. Sam and Dr. Morris prepped him to be examined. Elliot attempted to wave Sam and Morris away, but when he stood up, he got dizzy and had to sit back down. Morris told him he wasn't going anywhere until he was checked out.

Weaver found an empty operating room and practiced bending down and picking things up off the floor. Abby saw what Weaver was doing and watched sympathetically from the doorway. Abby listened as Weaver gave excuses on why she shouldn't have the hip replacement surgery, citing her job and her son as the two biggest reasons. Weaver asked Abby to look at her and tell her what she saw. Abby pointed out that she saw a friend, a doctor, and a mother. Weaver pointed out that Abby didn't say a disabled person. Abby informed her that she saw Weaver as somebody who was more than a disabled person.

Victor and Jody finally leave their apartment and head to a convenience store to stock up on supplies. They can't Kovac and Dr. Pratt worked to save the life of a young man who had been punched during a bar fight. His three friends were being disruptive in the ER, but stopped roughhousing when they saw their friend was seriously hurt. Pratt escorted the friends out. One of the guys admitted to Pratt that he was the one who punched the friend, but didn't mean to hurt him. Pratt fully understood and explained that everybody has done something stupid that at the time they thought was right.

Pratt decided it was time to come clean about his friend Darnell. He took Kovac aside into an empty operating room and told him how his friend was drunk and was responsible for hitting the patient, Jose Rodriguez, with his car. Pratt confessed that he covered for Darnell when he showed up at the ER shortly after the accident. Weeks later, Jose was still in the hospital being treated for his wounds, which made Pratt feel the worst. Kovac warned Pratt that he was inclined to tell the medical board of Pratt's misdeed and they would probably take away his medical license. As an alternative, Kovac suspended Pratt for five days so he could think about what he did and how he jeopardized his career.

Barnett pointed out that Weaver was not strong enough to perform surgery on a patient's dislocated shoulder, so he took over. A prideful Weaver was grateful for Barnett's help. She decided to dispel her doubts and go forward with the hip replacement surgery.

Sam left her shift in the ER to find Richard Elliot waiting for her at the exit. Elliot wanted to let Sam know he had an interesting offer for her. He had just fired his primary care doctor and wanted Sam to be his personal in-house nurse. Sam declined the offer, but Elliot was persistent. He made another offer — a part-time position and free room and board for her and her son. Sam felt like she was his charity case, but Elliot explained that he was giving her an opportunity. Sam agreed to think the idea over.

Neela attended a support group for women whose husbands were in Iraq. Women reacted differently to Neela once they learned she was against the war all together. Neela didn't mean to cause a debate about the war in Iraq, but that was exactly what she did.

Weaver knew the risks associated with her upcoming surgery. She knew that anesthesia could cause brain damage, possibly death. She wanted to make sure her son Henry would have a good home if anything were to happen during surgery. She enlisted the help of a lawyer to draw up paperwork and wanted Abby to look it over. The legal documents stated that Abby would have guardianship over Henry if anything were to happen during surgery. Abby was honored that Weaver thought of her as that close of a friend.

Ray continues to attend to Dexter Jenkins. Ray realizes he's an old blues great who once played with Muddy After she left the support group, Neela headed home and found Barnett on her couch. Earlier, he'd bragged about the hot date he had planned that night, but when Neela found him he was alone. She asked him if he'd been stood up, and a sensitive Barnett admitted he was. They ended their night together on the couch in front of the television, with a couple of beers and a new episode of the World Poker Tour that Barnett had recorded for Neela earlier.