ER Episode 13.17 From Here to Paternity

Sam was helping prepare Alex for his stay at a school for at-risk teens. He was not stoked about it and showed no interest when Sam mentioned she would visit on the weekends. Later at work, Alex's departure was affecting Sam's attitude and she leaned on Kovac for support.

The ER worked on the Paxton family who were stuck in their car for two days following a blizzard and suffering from hypothermia. They discovered that their fourteen-year-old son, Spencer, was still lost in the mountains. Things took a turn for the worst, when the father began to go into heart failure and his worried young daughter Charlie watched.

Morris and Sam worked on a gang member, Mario, who was brought in after being shot. The cops wanted to question Mario about the shooting. They informed Morris that Mario had spent time in jail for a gang shooting before. The other gang member, Donnie refused to be questioned and said he had no clue on who had shot him.\

Mario began to flip out when he saw his son being treated in the next room. He wanted to know what happened. Morris informed him that Junior was found at the bottom of some stairs unconscious. Morris had hoped that seeing Junior would make Mario start remembering what happened prior to the shooting. Meanwhile, Donnie died on the table from his bullet wounds.

In order to treat one of the hypothermic patients, Pratt got consent to cut the man open and poor warm water into his heart. The procedure was risky but also their only hope. Charlie snuck into the OR to watch them operate on her father. She told Pratt that the accident was her mom's fault because she confessed to an affair while they were driving.

Once the cops started questioning Junior about involvement with the shootings, Mario took all the blame. He told the cops to arrest him. Morris thought the confession was staged and asked Pratt to try to talk to both father and son. Pratt accused Morris of getting him involved just because he was black. Morris didn't deny his motives.

Hope was convinced that Abby and Kovac were planning on getting married. Her final sign was when she caught Abby reading a bridal magazine that was left on a table in the locker room. Hope called Abby out on her wedding plans. Abby denied everything, but Hope saw through Abby's lies. Abby made Hope swear to keep their secret, but she later told Morris in secrecy.

Gates had to leave early from his shift to take care of his dad. He got a call from a local bar complaining that his father was causing a raucous with the other patrons. Gates ended up taking his intoxicated father home with him and offered him a place to stay. When they arrived back to Gates' apartment, they found Sarah and her grandparents baking in the kitchen.

Pratt tried talking to Mario but couldn't get through to him. Afterwards, he tried to talk to Junior, hoping to get facts of what really happened that led his father and another gang member into the hospital. Pratt made Mario sound like a hero for the shooting, until Junior stepped up to take all the credit. Junior made a confession to the cops and claimed to have shot his dad and the other gang member. Mario watched his son get arrested.

Abby was surprised when Spencer was wheeled into the ER on a gurney. He was found in the woods when the search crew traced his cell phone signal. Charlie was forced to watch the doctors work on her brother from outside the ER. Spencer survived his ordeal with only losing three toes to frostbite. Before he went to the OR, Charlie stopped them to tell Spencer he saved his whole family.

Pratt thanked Morris for turning to him for help. Afterwards, Pratt went into Mario's room to tell him he understood why he was protecting his son. They talked about the frustrations of raising an angry young man and Sam listened. She could relate Mario's story with her own. She knew she was doing everything she could to protect Alex.

Meg's father took Gates aside to work out custody of Sarah. They both decided it was best that Sarah live with them on their Wisconsin ranch and let Gates visit during holidays and any other time he wanted to. He knew that would be the best move for Sarah.

Neela had a rough day after Dr. Dubenko took her off of surgical rounds and replaced her with a new hotshot intern that he paraded around. Neela knew it had to do with her refusal to participate in the illegal kidney transplant earlier. She ended her night hanging out with Ray where their night ended with a passionate kiss.

Sam took Alex to his group home where they had a tour. As she was about to leave, Alex grabbed her and hugged her and asked her to not leave him. He promised he would be good. She told him to be brave and he broke down and told her he loved her. Sam was forced to walk away.