Mercy Episode 1.08 I'm Not That Kind of Girl

On the way into work, Chloe is mortified to find her picture scrawled with the word "whore" taped to Mercy's front door. Inside, Veronica's eyebrows raise higher and higher as Dr. Harris lectures a cancer patient. Bacon, tobacco and booze are not food groups, and Mr. Moskowitz needs to get his fat lumpy body off the couch. Veronica pulls Harris out of the room. She knows he's committed not to let anyone under his care die ever again, however she also knows that he's dealing with an enormous mount of grief. Harris is going to get in trouble, because his patients will complain.

Sands and Sonia tend to teen beauty queen Ashley Jeffries, who's with her jock boyfriend Josh. Sands explains that Ashley has a kidney infection and Sonia is going to insert a catheter. Perplexed by what she sees, Sonia asks Sands to check her work. After a quick exit, doctor and nurse confirm that they both saw the same thing: a penis. Later, Sonia's parents return for a consultation with endocrinologist Dr. Hofstader.

Hofstader explains his unusual discovery. Ashley has a pair of internal testes. Although her sex organs appeared female at birth, she has a rare autosomal condition which makes her genetically male. She can either have surgery to remove the testes and what is forming into her penis, or let the testosterone flow and let nature take its course. With her parents gobsmacked, Ashley takes command. The Junior Snow Queen pageant is this weekend, so she wants to cut it off and get back on track.

Gillian stops by the nurses' station to ask everyone to sign up for her green Bike to Work event. Sonia walks up with another Chloe whore flyer. Chloe can't understand who would want to harass her, so Angel suggests she draw up a list of potential haters. Klowden pulls Veronica aside for a confab with Sands, worried that Harris is going off the deep end. Since Veronica is the only one who isn't afraid of Harris, Klowden assigns her to keep him on track. Their patient is Ben Shin, who was badly shot up at a gas station. His lung is punctured and he's on his last legs.

Veronica advises Harris not to get nutty over Ben Shin, as his family has already signed a DNR. Harris tells Veronica about Dr. Virginia Apgar, who did revolutionary work saving premature babies, when everyone else had given up. Harris wants to aim higher and save the unsavable. Inspired, Veronica accepts the challenge. Ben's wife Julie explains that the smell bothering Veronica is diesel fuel. Her husband is a lab assistant who was covering for his father at the family-owned gas station when the shooting occurred.

After six hours of surgery, Ben's lung is still punctured and his cardiac condition is deteriorating, but Harris insists they will save his life, despite what the other doctors said. When Veronica checks Ben's dressings, she's overwhelmed by nausea and has to run for the toilet. Ben's grandmother steps in to feel Veronica's belly, then pronounces that she's pregnant. Women know these things.

Chloe and Sonia help Veronica to move back into her parents' house. Chloe tries to figure out the identity of her stalker, deciding that it must be her ex-boyfriend Carl's fiancee. When Veronica declines Jeannie's offer of a drink, Jeannie immediately assumes she's pregnant -- the Korean grandmother must be right! Veronica insists that she's not pregnant, because if she was, it would be terrible because Mike still isn't returning her calls, which would make her a single mother living with her parents. Jeannie promises that if Veronica is in fact pregnant, Mike will step up. Veronica's not convinced.

With Petey at her side, Chloe walks down the street on cloud nine. She invites him to see a friend's band in Brooklyn, but Petey can't make it. Instead he promises to stop by after his night shift. At work, Sands asks Veronica about Harris -- has she cancelled the war on death yet? Recalling their time in Iraq, Veronica admits that she's on board. Sands reminds Veronica of the first rules they learned. Number One: Soldiers die, and Number Two: Nobody can change the first rule. Sands thinks Harris' life is spinning out of control, and he's picking a battle he can't win. Admitting that her life is also spinning out of control, Veronica insists that striving to save Ben Chin's life is at least a really great distraction.

Angel asks Sonia about Ashley, recalling the time his mother caught him wearing his sister's quinceaera dress. It hurts when your parents think you're a freak. Thoughtful, Sonia checks on Ashley, finding her surrounded by gawking doctors. Claiming she needs urine cultures, Sonia shoos them away, then offers her ear if Ashley wants to talk. Closing down, Ashley insists that she doesn't need to talk to a stranger; she has her own real friends.

Veronica finds Ben's family all dressed in white. Julie explains that Koreans wear white when someone dies. Veronica assures Julie they're doing everything they can. Maintaining Ben's blood pressure is a problem, so Veronica and Sands brainstorm, to come up with a few hail mary techniques. Sands opts into their discussion with a double entendre, explaining that he's a sucker for a lost cause. Their discussion breaks up when Mike interrupts to ask Veronica to lunch.

When Mike admits that Jeannie told him Veronica's pregnant, Veronica gets huffy and tries to leave. Mike insists they have to talk about it, that is, if he is in fact the dad. Of course Mike's the dad; she didn't want to tell him until she knew for sure. Mike tells Veronica to pee on a stick, but she insists it's too early to tell. She'll call when she knows something, and until then, Mike can continue to ignore her. Mike reaches out. If there is a baby, that changes things, and they'll work it out together.

Sands finds Gillian standing in front of her empty Bike to Work sign-up sheet. Sands offers to sign up, but Gillian points out that people might figure out what they're doing, and there are Veronica's feelings to consider. Sands compliments Gillian for being nice; she admits that she's actually scared of Veronica. When Sonia spies Ashley's boyfriend Josh spreading news of her penis around school, she grabs his phone and tells him to get some respect. Meanwhile, Veronica gets to work on Ben, trying yet another technique to save his life. Julie worries that they're just putting him through more pain. Julie leaves to get some air, and Grandma tells Veronica she'll make a great mother.

Chloe is just writing a strongly worded letter to Carl's fiancee when she receives a text from Petey, asking her to meet him at Sinbad's. Klowden pulls Veronica aside. She should have known better than to send Nurse Crazy to look after Dr. Mean. Ben is going to die, and he should be able to do it with dignity. Insisting that Ben is not going to die, Veronica heads out to get a bite with Sonia. Ryan runs up to them in the parking lot with bad news. Chloe's stalker is none other than Petey's wife Jackie -- Veronica and Sonia need to hurry over to Sinbad's.

Chloe is sitting alone at Sinbad's when Jackie and her posse plop down next to her and immediately start trash talking. Chloe needs to stop banging Petey, because she's ruining the lives of Jackie's adorably innocent daughters. Admitting that she didn't know Petey was married, Chloe tries to leave, but the girls corner her. Luckily, Veronica and Sonia arrive in the nick of time to set the record straight. Chloe is a sweet girl and Petey took advantage of her. When Jackie and her crew threaten to kick ass, Sonia tells them to go ahead; Veronica's been to war, and she's crazy.

The nurses repair to Delaney's to drown Chloe's sorrows. Sonia and Veronica insist that the incident is merely a hiccup, one of those milestone things you do in your 20s, but Chloe knows otherwise. She was falling in love with Petey. There has to be some sort of explanation. Veronica explains -- Petey is a douche. Noticing that Veronica's still not drinking, Sonia asks if she's taken a pregnancy test yet. Veronica admits that she hasn't, and no matter what the answer is, she's scared.

The next morning, Gillian stands alone in the parking lot, sad that no one has taken up her green challenge to bike to work. No one except for Sands that is, who shows up on girls' cruiser, the only bike he could find on short notice. Accepting his free T-shirt, Sands tells Gillian that he's decided to tell Veronica about them. He likes Gillian and he doesn't care who knows it. As proof he lays a hot kiss on her right there in the parking lot.

Sonia finds Ashley dressed in her pageant dress. Ashley looks great, but it doesn't matter; no one's going to let a girl with a penis win Junior Snow Queen. When Sonia tries to talk it out, Ashley explodes. A pep talk won't fix things. Her parents think she's a freak, and her boyfriend's disgusted. She always knew there was something wrong with her. Actually, she's always hated girly stuff. Sonia eggs Ashley on, as she starts ripping off her dress, just as her parents enter the room in shock. Mr. Jeffries turns to Sonia -- what the hell is she doing to his daughter?

Still wearing his Bike to Work T-shirt, Sands runs when alarms sound from Ben's room. Ben's family chants as Harris, Veronica and Sands start CPR and pull out the paddles, administering every drug they can think of to save Ben's life. Veronica recalls a case in Iraq, where they dropped an internal pacemaker wire through an IJ to jumpstart the patient's heart. At the very last minute, the technique works. Ben's life is safe. Overwhelmed, Veronica faints into Sands' arms.

Petey finds Chloe sitting on a bench outside the hospital, sadly eating a sandwich. He offers her a bouquet of yellow roses and an explanation. He's falling in love with her, and he's already separated from his wife, emotionally. Reminding Petey that she does have an Ivy League master's degree, Chloe may be naive but not stupid, and she's not going to let him break her heart again. Besides, yellow roses mean infidelity.

Klowden presides over a meeting with the Jeffries and Sonia. Ashley is no longer sure that she wants surgery, and it's all Sonia's fault. Sonia insists that this is about Ashley, not her. Ashley will have to life with her decision for the rest of her life. Doesn't she deserve a chance to think about it? Sands is waiting when Veronica regains consciousness. She explains that her fainting was nothing, and Sands agrees. Having just completed a blood panel on Veronica, Sands knows she's not pregnant. This is about PTSD. On the way out, Veronica notices Sands T-shirt, and realizes he's sleeping with "Dr. Ladypants." Although she congratulates him and makes a good show of it, the news cuts Veronica to the core.

Harris intercepts Veronica in the hall with good news. Ben Chin is stable, and they'll be able to wean him off the ventilator in a few days. Barely holding it together, Veronica darts into the elevator and proceeds to the Maternity Center, where she cries a single tear, holding a newborn. Mike returns to his empty house to get a voicemail message from Veronica. It was all a false alarm, and his life can go back to normal. It's probably for the best, and he doesn't have to call.