ER Episode 15.01 Life After Death

Archie is blasting Tony for not seeing patients fast enough when a man carries his injured son into the ER, yelling that an ambulance has exploded. Tony realizes that Sam was outside. He runs outside and sees Sam walking into the ER. Abby wakes in the middle of the road. The explosion knocked her out. Dr. Greg Pratt is still in the front seat of the destroyed ambulance. He has a bone sticking out of his leg and is coughing up blood.

Neela doesn't look happy as she dons her clothing after an intimate session with Dr. Brenner. In the ER, trauma victims from the explosion are arriving. Bardelli, the ambulance driver, has a pole skewered through his gut. The staff swarms around Dr. Pratt in the trauma room. He yells at everyone to stop and takes control of the situation from his bed. In the next room, Dr. Brenner attends to Bardelli. In reception, the staff examine Abby's broken wrist.

Looking at Pratt's X-rays, Abby can't find a fracture to explain the bone sticking out of his skin. They re-examine his leg. The bone must be someone else's. Archie pulls it out as Pratt's breathing worsens. The doctors decide to ventilate him. Abby is called over to an asthmatic girl with breathing problems. When she returns to Greg's bed, she finds Tony is having difficulty inserting his breathing tube. Greg's stats begin to drop. In the other room, Bardelli is bleeding badly.

In the middle of cleaning out his office after resigning, Lucien abandons his work to help Neela deal with Bardelli. As Greg worsens, the team discovers they can't intubate him his throat has been damaged. Greg's heartbeat begins to slow. Archie performs an emergency tracheotomy to restore his airways. The team is relieved to have averted a major crisis.

Paramedics bring in an elderly lady named Rose who was knocked into a drain by the explosion. With Bardelli in surgery, Brenner takes charge. Norman, who rescued the woman, is brought in with a broken leg. Greg's brother arrives to see him. Abby attends to the asthmatic girl and slips, landing hard on the floor. The asthmatic girl passes out. In the trauma room, Greg's brother spots a bulge on Greg's neck. Archie calls surgery and the team rushes into action.

Abby orders tests on the girl before checking on Norman and Greg. Greg is covered in blood as Archie tries to stem the bleeding from the artery in his neck. Neela attempts a dangerous maneuver and ties the artery, risking giving Greg a stroke. Abby is called back to the asthmatic girl. The tox report diagnoses cyanide poisoning from the explosion. Abby orders an antidote as she watches Neela fix Greg's hemorrhaging artery. Abby injects her patient, bringing the girl back around.

Greg goes into V-fib as Tony begins compressions. The team hooks up Greg to machines that will do the work for his heart and lungs. In another room, Brenner dresses Norman's fractured leg. Rose's X-rays show a serious concussion and a broken pelvis. The news comes down; Greg's brain has stopped working. The team will wait before making a decision on stopping life-support.

Standing around Greg's bed, Archie tells everyone to leave. They will take shifts staying with him. Greg would want them to look after the patients so that's what they will do. After two hours, Greg still hasn't had any cardiac activity, and Sam can't reach his girlfriend to tell her what's happened. Tony asks Greg's brother about organ donation. He agrees to it if Greg dies.

The staff goes about their duties, but can't stop thinking about Greg. Rose's stats begin to drop. Brenner's intern tells him about a procedure she learned in Nicaragua that might help Rose. Neela backs up the intern's idea. Brenner tells the intern to start the treatment. The neurosurgeon checks Greg but fails to find any vital signs. He is taken to surgery for organ donation. His body is wheeled through the ER to the elevator one last time as all his colleagues look on.

One week later Tony, Sam, Frank and Abby arrive at the ER in black suits. They've just come from Greg's funeral. Brenner tells them it's quiet and they can take another hour. Carter and Weaver have sent gifts. Archie stops by with Tina. She tells them Greg loved everyone very much. Norman is wheeled into the ER. As Neela goes to Norman's trauma room, Brenner discovers puss in Norman's wound. Neela says he needs to go to the OR immediately.

Archie comforts Tina in the staff room. He grows nervous and tells her he has been holding onto something. He tells Tina there will never be a right time for what he has to do and pulls out the engagement ring Greg bought for her. Archie tells a tearful Tina the ring was in Greg's pocket on the day he died. She hugs Archie and breaks down.

While everyone is in reception, Brenner gets a call from Anspaugh. Greg was going to be the Chief of ER. As Neela wheels Norman out of surgery, Brenner brings Rose, now healthy and in a wheelchair, to see him. Archie organizes farewell drinks in Ike's bar where they each tell stories of the good times with Greg before one final toast to their chief. They toast with mozzarella sticks, Greg's favorite.