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Story: Ian Biederman
Teleplay:
Directed By: Jesus Treviño
Tired and disheveled from working a thirty-six hour shift, Nyland realizes he missed an important conference with other doctors. He accuses Wilkes of deliberately making sure he missed the meeting. To add insult to injury, Wilkes tells Nyland his schedule was altered, giving him only a short time to head home for a much-needed shower. Nyland is livid. Rushing through traffic, Nyland brakes and turns hard to avoid colliding with a slow-moving vehicle. His car skids out of control and collides with a telephone pole. Paramedics extract the badly injured Nyland from the twisted wreckage and transport him to Chicago Hope. Austin meets with Norman Cambridge, a brilliant author with a failing transplanted heart. Austin tells Cambridge he is one of her favorite writers, and is especially fond of one short story that she claims changed her life. Austin notes that Cambridge was dropped by another hospital after he tested positive for heroin use, making him a less-than- appropriate candidate for another transplant. Cambridge insists he has been "clean" for two months. Hospital staff rush Nyland inside an emergency room, where Kronk and Wilkes spring to action. The surgeons manage to stop Nyland's internal bleeding, but they are uncertain if his injuries will lead to permanent paralysis. Afterward, Kronk chastises Wilkes for the way he treated Nyland — implying he is to blame for the accident. Wilder pulls McNeil inside a linen closet. The pair begin to kiss passionately. But McNeil pulls away, insisting he has a previous engagement at another hospital. Austin tells Cambridge she will recommend against his being given priority for a new heart, citing his drug use. But she does an about-face when she meets with the Transplant Committee. She argues that Cambridge deserves special consideration because his body of work has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. But Shutt and other doctors veto the idea outright. Later, Grad suggests that Austin use an organ from an alternative heart program (hearts rejected for transplant use because they are too old, too small, etc.). McNeil convinces Kronk to accompany him to a poker game in the back room of a sports bar. Having lost all of his money during previous games, McNeil borrows heavily from his friend. As time passes, Kronk realizes McNeil's gambling habit is a serious illness. He mentions this to McNeil outside the bar. An altercation ensues, and Kronk punches McNeil in the face. McNeil unscrews a light bulb from a fixture outside the sports bar and tosses it across the street. He tells Kronk he could claim he fell in the darkness after exiting the bar — and sue the owner for the money he lost during the game. Afterward, Kronk informs everyone at the hospital of McNeil's condition. McNeil assures Shutt his gambling habit in no way affects his job performance. When the surgeons examine Cambridge's new heart, they realize it is severely defective. Left with little choice, Austin suggests a procedure which would, in effect, piggyback the organ onto Cambridge's existing heart. The surgeons complete the procedure, but soon after, Cambridge's blood pressure bottoms out and he dies on the operating table. Alone in the hospital room, Shutt notices Nyland wiggling his toes. Shutt is ecstatic. Later, the hospital staff throws a party for the still-comatose Nyland. Austin visits the hospital morgue, where she says her final good-bye to Cambridge.
Aaron to Diane while the are dancing:
"Maybe I should go into a coma."
Diane: "Aaron, if you went into a coma, how would we
know?"
Kate shows finally up at Danny wake-up-party all dressed in
black. Phillip: "Kate, you look..."
Kate: "Dressed to kill, yeah, I figured I should start warning
people."
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