Mercy Episode 1.16 I'm Fine

The whole family gathers at the Flanagan house for breakfast, and everyone hovers over Veronica. Uncomfortable with all the attention, Veronica swears she's fine, and everyone toasts, celebrating the fact that it's over and done with. Later, Veronica finds herself alone, flashing back to the shooting. The doorbell rings. Veronica asked for a few days to herself, but Sands had to make sure she was okay. He loves her, and they're going to get through this together. He offers a ride to work, but Veronica wants to kiss, and before long they're ripping each other's clothes off and rushing upstairs for a quickie.

At work, Klowden interviews Veronica, who again claims she's fine. When Klowden warns that she could send Veronica home for a mandatory three-week leave, Veronica pleads to stay. Klowden knows how it feels. Her husband died on 9/11, and the hospital offered her six months sabbatical, but she couldn't stay away longer than 72 hours. Veronica admits that she's having trouble "not dwelling," but if she has a place to go and knows she's helping people, she thinks she can hold on. Teary-eyed, Klowden agrees to keep Veronica on the job.

Chloe and a hot ER nurse wheel 11-year-old Molly onto the ward, turning her over to Veronica. Molly has upper quadrant pain and has been vomiting for three days. Veronica immediately bonds with Molly over their matching nail polish, but her dad Nate can't get anywhere with his daughter. When Molly suddenly goes into V-tach, Briggs rushes up to apply paddles, and orders Chloe to administer potassium, which is dangerously low from all the vomiting. Without test results, Chloe refuses to comply since Molly could go into V-tach again. Briggs injects the potassium himself as Veronica calls the lab to confirm his call. Briggs asks Chloe to come into his office for a talk.

Chloe insists she has every right to question Briggs' authority, and he agrees; when it turns out that he's right, Chloe is just making him look spectacular. He doesn't want to yell at Chloe, he just wants to know more about the sexy ER nurse. Disgusted, Chloe claims the conversation is making her uncomfortable, and besides, she doesn't discuss her co-workers personal lives, especially with skeevy doctors. Briggs snorts -- the nurse is going to be upset when she learns that Chloe didn't hook her up.

At the Kempton house, Sonia helps Lauren sort through her old clothes as Lauren complains about having to wear a BiPAP breathing machine. It's uncomfortable. Luckily, Dr. Harris has prescribed liquid morphine to help with the discomfort. With Paul out of town to settle the sale of her house on the Vineyard, Lauren has turned her attention to wrapping up her life. She's decided to end it all, and she needs Sonia's help.

Nate unloads a bag of stuffed animals from the hospital gift shop on Molly's bed as Veronica fills out her admissions packet. Nate obviously doesn't know very much about his daughter, who doesn't like him very much. Molly's mother Tammy rushes in with a bag of her things. She brushes aside the stuffed animals and lays into Nate. He abandoned them in favor of his fancy new family, and Tammy doesn't need his charity, despite the difficulties of being a single mom. And why did he bring Molly to Mercy when he should have known it was outside her network?

Harris pushes the arguing parents into the hallway, leaving Veronica to help Molly unpack. Molly explains that she has to be on her mom's side, and Veronica can give the stuffed animals away. Veronica is surprised to find that Molly is reading "Carrie," a little tough for an 11-year-old. Molly explains that her parents used to fight every night, and she would have nightmares, the kind you can't wake up from. She's already read "Carrie" three times. Carrie isn't the monster, the other kids are. And the good thing about scary books is that in the end, the monsters get their butts kicked. Veronica can relate.

Even though he's on a cleanse, Angel joins the girls for drinks at Delaney's after work. Already tipsy, Veronica wants him to drink; after all it's her first day back at work after shooting a guy. Everyone looks doubtful, but Veronica claims that she's fine and doing well with Sands, who's picking her up at the house later -- he's going to meet her mom... Veronica turns the conversation to Sonia. Has she heard from Nick? No she hasn't, and she's not going to. Veronica's phone rings. Jeannie calls with news that Jim put a pot of turpentine on the stove and almost burned down the house.

Veronica returns home to find Mike already there, taking charge. Veronica sends Jim and Jeannie to the living room to decompress, then pours herself a giant glass of whiskey. Mike comments -- maybe alcohol isn't the best solution to Veronica's problems. The doorbell rings, and an annoyed Jeannie ushers Sands into the kitchen. Veronica immediately goes to his side, as Mike takes his cue to leave. Jeannie offers to walk him out, snubbing Sands.

In the middle of the night, Sands sleeps as Veronica lays awake, the robbery replaying itself in her mind. She's exhausted at work the next morning, tending to Molly during a visit from Tammy and Uncle Greg. Molly politely accepts the gift of a manicure set from Greg before he leaves to drive Tammy to work. As soon as they leave, Molly's cheerful disposition evaporates, and she tosses the manicure set aside, surprising Veronica. Luckily, Veronica has brought a gift: two copies of Stephen King's "The Stand," which they can read together. Excited, Molly starts reading right away.

Later, Veronica finds Molly passed out on the bathroom floor with a bloody sheet around her legs. Harris discovers that Molly started her period and left a tampon in for a day or two, and decides to check a specimen under the microscope for toxic shock. What he finds is much worse... Sonia is back on duty at the Kempton's, where Lauren is planning tonight's dinner, her last meal. Upset, Sonia explains that she's not helping Lauren kill herself, and she's already locked up the morphine.

Sonia promises to take care of Lauren, who still has quality life left. Lauren freaks out, firing Sonia. Sonia points out that that the service won't be able to send anyone until tomorrow -- she's staying. Lauren tells Sonia to enjoy her last night sleeping on 1000 thread count sheets. She's noticed Sonia's taste for the finer things, but she's nothing but cheap. That's why she ditched Nick and seduced Paul. Deep down, Sonia knows she'll always be the help. Sonia loses her temper, calling Lauren a sad old lady who's yelling at the help. Who's worse?

Briggs pulls off Chloe's headphones. He needs a ride to Taormina's restaurant. It's not dinner, but an emergency VIP house call and he needs a nurse who can keep her mouth shut. Besides, he's taking a sabbatical from driving. Meanwhile, Veronica and Harris watch through the window, as Tammy confronts her daughter. How do you ask an 11-year-old how they got gonorrhea? Tammy comes into the hallway to explain that Molly admitted to having sex with four 6th grade boys.

Harris wants to call the Health Department to ward off a gonorrhea epidemic at the school. Molly's disease spread from her pelvis, causing Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome, which they'll treat with IV antibiotics in the hospital over a few days. Tammy claims it's all her fault, since her single mom life doesn't permit her to spend enough time with Molly. She doesn't want a social worker's help, but does agree to Veronica's offer to put a cot in Molly's room. Tammy is going to stay, even if she gets fired from the job she needs so much.

Disturbed by events with Molly, Veronica melts when Sands calls. Why didn't she wake him up before leaving for work? He'd rather see her face than sleep. When Sands offers to cook whatever Veronica wants for dinner, she asks for Beef Wellington and promises to see him at nine. Meanwhile, Briggs leads a nervous Chloe through Taormina's into the kitchen and down to a basement office, where he calls out for Dom. Freaked, Chloe wonders if Dom is Big Dom Fattore? If there's a dead hooker behind that door, she's not going in!

Sommelier Angelo is passed out under Dom's desk, and he can't wake him up. Dom thinks he had a seizure. Chloe's attention is drawn to the bloody newspaper Dom is holding over his crotch... Back at the Kempton's Sonia finds Lauren sitting in front of an open window. It's freezing and Lauren is just recovering from pneumonia, so Sonia wraps her in a blanket, only to find an empty aspirin bottle in Lauren's lap. When Sonia asks if she took them all, Lauren simply says she did what she had to do.

Sonia lays into Lauren. Does she know what acetaminophen OD entails? Liver failure, the worst, most drawn out and painful way to die. Lauren appeals to Sonia's independence. How would she feel trapped inside a failing body with no say in her own fate? If Lauren were a sick dog she'd be treated with more dignity. Again, Lauren asks for the morphine, laying out a plan. Lauren will send Sonia to the drug store, and when she returns, there will be no signs of life. Since Lauren signed a DNR, Sonia will not perform CPR or call an ambulance, and the funeral home will simply collect her body. Knowing it's illegal, Sonia wavers.

Realizing that alcoholic Angelo is going through withdrawal, Briggs has Chloe administer Ativan to prevent seizures and help him wake up on his own. Chloe turns her attention to Dom, who claims he caught his penis in his zipper. He drops his trousers, shocking Chloe and Briggs with the size of his lacerations. Someone knocks on the door as Briggs applies Dermabond. Dom tells them to hurry up, as his father threatens to break down the door.

Veronica's lost her phone, so Sands stops by Delaney's to check the lost and found. Mike asks about Veronica; he's worried. They don't talk about stuff in her family. Sands bristles. Even though he hasn't asked Veronica about the robbery yet, he figures he knows her well enough to handle it. Back at Taormina's Chloe snaps into action as Briggs opens the door for Big Dom. She claims that Dom took offense at something Angelo said and smacked him, hurting his hand. Briggs plays along. Bid Dom knows that something fishy just happened, but leaves. Briggs turns to Dom -- are they square now? Dom punches Briggs in the gut -- his problem is about to get bigger than it already is.

Veronica is reading "The Stand" in the nurses' lounge when she hears a cry and a crash coming from Molly's room. Molly is pounding a crutch into her abdomen, not wanting to get better. After demanding to know what's going on, Veronica grabs sleeping Tammy and starts beating the crap out of her. She's been pimping out Molly! Harris runs in and grabs Veronica, who fights him as he drags her into the hallway. Is she insane? Calming down, Veronica explains what happened. Furious, Harris tells her to stay put, then goes to call the police.

Lauren enjoys a final glass of champagne. It's time. Sonia gives her the bottle of liquid morphine with a straw. Lauren apologizes for yelling at Sonia. She didn't mean what she said, and Sonia can have whatever she wants to in life. And will she be sure to break the news to Paul? Crying, Sonia doesn't want to leave Lauren, but she does. In the car, Chloe gingerly asks Briggs about his trouble with Dom. Tight-lipped, Briggs throws a wad of cash at Chloe for her trouble and hops out of the car.

Sonia returns to Lauren's bedroom to find her dead. According to Lauren's plan, she calls the funeral home. After the cops take her statement, Harris finds Veronica in the nurses' lounge. Tammy was arrested, and the cops think Veronica is a hero. Warning that the Newark PD isn't the moral authority of the hospital, Harris sends Veronica home. Veronica returns to Sands apartment with a bottle of wine, delighted to smell Beef Wellington. It's all smiles and cheers -- not a word about the robbery or what just happened.