ER Episode 15.08 Age of Innocent

Brenner frolics in bed with Leanne, a hot, smart PhD student. Meanwhile, Sam makes pancakes while quizzing Alex and assuring Sarah that she doesn't look fat. It's a happy hubbub until Gates gets another call: his homeless patient Alex has disappeared and can't be found.

After learning that Ray is spending the holidays with a new girlfriend, Neela trudges into work, bumping into Brenner and Leanne. After Leanne leaves, Neela offends Brenner, suggesting that superwoman Leanne isn't his type. Brenner meets an ambulance containing Beth, injured while escaping a house fire, and her husband Henry, who refuses to be checked out.

Neela and Dubenko discuss the death of Bertha. Neela wants to make sure it never happens again -- how can she delegate responsibility to an intern she can't trust? Dubenko snorts; it's Neela's job to help Andrew become trustworthy. When Neela remarks that she'd rather not supervise anyone, Dubenko grants her wish and moves Andrew to the surgical clinic. Andrew freaks out, thinking Neela has it in for him. Daria and Tracy think Andrew's crazy, but lend him their support.

Gates is still wondering where to find Alex. When Morris wheels in a dying homeless man, Gates spies Alex's bag and panics. Gates abandons his patient to hapless Daria, while Morris performs CPR to no avail. After dealing with his own patient, Gates is relieved to discover that the dead man isn't Alex.

Without Andrew, Neela is cranky and running behind. When Andrew pokes his head in to offer to help with Beth, Neela dismisses him with a look. Morris brings Beth's brother Richie into the trauma room. Richie immediately lays into Henry -- it's all his fault. Richie told Beth to leave Henry a year ago, when he was first accused of lewd behavior with a 12-year-old girl. Henry tearfully denies that anything happened.

Figuring someone ripped off Max's bag at a homeless shelter, Gates goes through it to find a heroic photo of Max saving an Iraqi kid. Gates decides to put the photo up at fire houses, promising Sam he'll let it go after that. Andrew tells Daria that Neela gave him the stink eye. She doesn't believe him until she sees the stink eye for herself, just as Neela is served a subpoena for malpractice in Bertha's death.

When Brenner takes Beth for a CT scan, he insists that Morris check out Henry. Elementary school music teacher Henry confesses his story. About a year ago, a student leveled an accusation. Even though Henry was cleared, the whole neighborhood turned on him. That's when the harassment started, culminating in the most recent arson attempt. Morris tries to reassure Henry that the cops will find the guilty party, but Henry insists that the cops don't care.

Neela confronts Andrew -- did he get a subpoena? Andrew can't believe that Bertha's family would sue, they told him they wouldn't. Neela can't believe that Andrew talked to the family, but he felt that ethically, he had to tell them the truth. Neela explains that it's not just about Andrew. As an intern, he's protected, it's the rest of the team that will fry.

Harried Mrs. Phoenix brings in her 11-year-old daughter Meredith, who's put in a bed next to Henry. Neela complains to Brenner about Andrew -- why would he talk to the family? Brenner promises to talk to Anspaugh on Neela's behalf. Meanwhile, Tracy advises Andrew to kick butt at work. The more outstanding his performance, the more likely everyone will be to forget the Bertha incident.

Sam needs to draw blood from Meredith, who's clearly nervous without her mother. Henry offers to find her mom, but Meredith grabs his hand and asks him to stay. Just as Henry calms Meredith, Brenner walks in with Richie. Brenner freaks out, pushing Henry away from Meredith. When Richie attacks Henry, Brenner stands by. Finally, Morris puts a stop to the terrible beating.

Brenner tries to help Morris with Henry, but bloody Henry doesn't want Brenner touching him. Brenner stalks off as Neela wheels car accident victim Tasha into the adjoining trauma room. Morris calls Neela for help as blood pours out of Henry's eye, but she stays with Tasha, who's more critical, and calls Andrew to help with Henry.

Zadro comes in with a tip on Alex, so Gates packs a bag and asks Sam if she wants to come. Knowing that Alex is different from Gates' other patients, Sam asks Gates to let her in, but he takes off. Meanwhile, Henry's optic nerve is being compressed by a hematoma, and blood is pouring out his nose. Nervous, Andrew asks Neela to switch patients, but Tasha has gone critical.

As Brenner freaks out in an adjoining room, Neela talks Andrew through a complicated procedure he's never done before. Tasha loses her pulse, so Neela does compressions while talking Andrew through a canthotomy, putting Henry's vision on the line. Screwing up his courage, Andrew bets that he's not cutting a tendon, and manages to drain the hematoma and eliminate the pressure on Henry's eye.

Gates shows a liquor store owner a picture of Alex, without much response. Ironically, when Gates pulls out the heroic photo of Alex saving kids, the guy relents, but he still doesn't know where Alex is. Gates is prowling through a homeless encampment when Sam drives up to offer her help.

Morris confronts Brenner -- what's going on with him? When an altercation between a pregnant woman and a parking cop spills into the ER, their conversation is cut short. Dubenko scolds Neela for Andrew's victory -- Andrew could have ruptured Henry's eye. Dubenko isn't sure why he's wasted his time teaching Neela for all these years. If she wants to be a rock star and doesn't want to teach, she should look for a job somewhere else.

Sam grows frustrated, driving in circles. Gates gets hostile, then tells her about Keith, Sarah's dad and his best friend. After they returned from military service in Iraq, they were both messed up, and no one cared. Keith got increasingly aggressive, until one night he attacked Meg in front of Sarah. Instead of helping Keith, Gates kicked him out. Two days later, Keith overdosed.

Morris meets with Henry after surgery. Both Henry's eye and his wife will be fine. Henry complains about Brenner's attack. Morris promises to speak to Brenner, Henry got lucky this time, but what about the next time? Henry claims he would leave town, but his wife refuses to leave her life and the house she grew up in.

Tracy and Grady are just congratulating Andrew -- Neela won't be able to say jack now -- when Neela walks up. Andrew thanks her for trusting and teaching him. Now he realizes that what's right for him might not be right for the team. Neela complements Andrew on his empathy, but next time, he should talk to her or Dubenko before he approaches a patient's family.

Morris finally catches up with Brenner. Does Brenner realize that the hospital might be facing a huge lawsuit? Brenner insists that Henry is guilty, as it dawns on Morris that there's more to this than meets the eye. Brenner confesses that a friend of his mother's sexually abused him as a child. People like Henry appear to be nice, but when you let your guard down, that's when they make their move.

As Brenner confesses to Morris, Meredith visits Henry. They discuss her blog, and Henry promises to email Meredith as soon as he gets home. He pulls her in for a hug, then tells her they'll be special, secret friends. Morris advises Brenner to get help, but Brenner claims he merely needs to get back to work. He's dealing with it in his own way.