ER Episode 13.23 The Honeymoon Is Over

Abby and Joe accompanied Kovac to the airport as he was flying out to Croatia to care for his ailing father. He promised Abby a honeymoon soon. She said she just wanted a chance to meet Kovac's father and have Joe meet his grandfather, someday.

A patient, Kyle, was brought in with a deep gash to his forearm. His friends told the doctors that Kyle fell through a glass coffee table. Kyle was a soldier who had served time in Iraq. Morris and Moretti were told ahead of time that Kyle had addiction issues at Walter Reed and was not to be given any codeine or painkillers. He begged for it and Moretti was convinced the man was faking his pain to try to score a fix.

Gates was still confused about his relationship with Neela and wasn't ready to give up on her. He got her alone and asked how to win her back. As Gates headed back inside the hospital, Neela got a phone call from Ray.

Neela left work early and headed to another hospital. As she walked down the hall, she saw a glimpse of a scratched up Ray in a wheelchair. She was taken aback when Ray spun around in his wheelchair and revealed that he had no legs. Ray glared at her as he was lifted into his hospital bed by one of his nurses. Katie was also by his side.

Kyle managed to steal Sam's key to get into the medicine cabinet. He took as many pain pills as he could get his hands on. By the time Morris and Gates were able to bust in and get Kyle back to his room, they realized he had taken an entire bottle of pills.

As Katie went to check on the arrival time of Ray's parents, he and Neela had a private conversation. He told her he had to move because of no wheelchair accessibility at the apartment. She told him she tried calling him after the wedding and he said he was checking her message when the truck hit him.

After Moretti gave specific instructions to not incubate Kyle, it was exactly what Morris and Gates did. Moretti was furious that they went over his head and, in fact, might have made Kyle even worst.

Ray opened up to Neela about how he was in love with her and how she never came through for him. She assured him that Gates and she were done, but Ray told her that it was too late.

Gates was shocked to find Sarah's grandfather at his apartment packing her things. He told Gates that he had a court-ordered petition granting him and Sarah's grandmother custody of Sarah for the summer. Gates was forced to let them take her away. Sarah cried as Gates said his good-byes.

Ray's mother came into the hospital room to take Ray back home with her. She told Neela that Ray always talked about her and Neela called Ray a very good friend. She gently kissed him good-bye on the cheek and promised him he would get through this. When Ray was wheeled away Katie ripped into Neela, holding her responsible for Ray's condition and telling her to live with it.

While Kyle was being incubated, Morris heard him saying sentences in Arabic. Later on, Morris talked to a more coherent Kyle and asked him about what he had said. Kyle talked about his comrades in Iraq torturing innocent civilians for information and how much it still haunted him. He took pills to numb the pain. He begged Morris to not let him go back to the VA hospital. Morris assured him he could stay at County General.

Neela took a cab home after visiting Ray and encountered a war protest going on downtown. She asked to be let out of the cab and joined the march. She listened to the speakers and walked by soldiers and their families who were in the audience.

Moretti had the staff of the hospital gather around as he chastised them for their job performances. Sam tried to defend herself, but Moretti would have none of it. He demanded a better job performance from everyone. Moretti told Abby she would have to get used to his management style and also get used to a chief she wasn't sleeping with.

As one woman was giving her speech, war supporters begin heckling her. Gates spotted Neela and got her attention. Just then, shots rang out and chaos ensued. People began scrambling everywhere and Neela got pushed to the ground. Gates rushed to save her, but she began to get trampled by the frenzy of people and disappeared under the madness.