'90s Flashback

Summary: Mark is examining David at home to see if he has pneumonia. David’s health may be declining but his crankiness is completely intact. Weaver’s back at County after her weeks-long suspension, but I don’t think she’s learned her lesson. Romano has been filling in for Mark in the ER so he can take time off to be with David, and he claims he enjoys working with his “troops.” He reminds Weaver that if she doesn’t follow his rules, he can take away her title as chief.

Carter is still having trouble sleeping, and his grandmother finds him asleep at the kitchen table after getting up in the middle of the night. He’s been watching infomercials, and he jokes that he bought Millicent a machine so she can make her own beef jerky She probably doesn’t even know what that is. He gets a knife to cut some bread, and it gives him a flashback to his stabbing. Millicent suggests that he talk to someone about his problems.

Benton/Cleo relationship update: She’s meeting his family. She quickly bonds with his niece, since they both play basketball. Jackie sends Benton away so she can interrogate Cleo about her family and career. It’s not clear how Jackie feels about her brother’s new girlfriend, but she doesn’t seem to outright hate Cleo.

At County, Elizabeth and Abby tend to a girl named Delia who was in a car accident with her father. Mr. Chadsey mentions that Delia’s been in remission from leukemia for eight months. Carol is looking for a new car, and the nurses (and Randi) all have suggestions. Luka tells her he knows a guy with a dealership, so he’ll take her there when they’re both off work. The nurses think that’s a good idea, since car salesmen don’t often give women the same deal they would give men.

Abby gives Elizabeth Delia’s bloodwork, which shows that her leukemia is back. Abby says she’ll talk to Mr. Chadsey about a bone marrow transplant. Mark brings David in for treatment, then meets up with Elizabeth. David still isn’t thrilled to be brought in, but he’s becoming fast friends with Sarah, the woman in the bed next to his. Mark and Elizabeth take over David’s care instead of letting Malik do his job.

While Cleo plays basketball with Jackie’s kids, Benton asks his sister what he thinks of her. For possibly the first time ever, Jackie says it doesn’t matter what she thinks, just how Benton feels. He likes Cleo but thinks it’s too early for them to be serious. Jackie tells him that’s good, since Cleo isn’t serious about him. She’s just having fun but isn’t ready to settle down. Benton claims he’s not ready, either. In that case, Jackie likes her.

Luka and Carter take care of a little boy named Edgar who may have meningitis. Carter holds him still so Luka can perform a spinal tap, which makes Carter remember the spinal tap he helped Lucy do on Paul. Mr. Chadsey tells Abby that Delia’s doctors discussed a bone marrow transplant with him when she was first diagnosed, but there were no relatives who matched her well enough to donate. She’ll need chemo again, but in a couple months, they can look for a donor. Mr. Chadsey reveals that he has a daughter from his first marriage, but he knows his ex-wife will never let her donate.

Luka passes his patients off to Weaver (good news: Edgar doesn’t have meningitis), then heads off with Carol. Edgar isn’t happy to see that Weaver is his new doctor, thinking she’s mean and possibly abusive just because she has a cane. Someone needs to teach their child about being polite to people with disabilities. Connie can’t calm Edgar down, and he runs off.

David has pneumonia, so he’ll be in the hospital for a little while. Mark tells Elizabeth he’s going to take some supplies for home treatment. Elizabeth is excited to help out with a secret mission to steal from the hospital. Mark starts to get emotional during the heist, but he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.

Carol and Luka have to take the El to the car dealership since his car is in the shop. That would be the car he bought from the same dealer they’re going to for Carol’s car. He claims it’s just routine maintenance, and that he and the dealer, Herb, are really close. Herb is Luka’s second cousin’s wife’s brother-in-law, which totally makes them family, right? Carol refuses to buy a minivan, as her mother suggested, since she thinks that means her life is over. Luka jokes that they’ll put a Porsche engine in it.

Carter’s next patient is an elderly woman, Mrs. Pooler, who’s been taking her husband’s medication for high blood pressure because Medicare won’t pay for her prescription. Unfortunately, she has asthma, which led to a bad reaction to the medication. Mr. Pooler is in an HMO because of his heart trouble, which is why he can afford the medication, but the HMO won’t cover Mrs. Pooler. In a nutshell, American’s healthcare system sucks and has sucked for a long time.

Dave tracks down Edgar and brings him back to the ER, so Weaver asks him to take over the case. Luka can’t remember the exact location of the car dealership, which is how he and Carol wind up across the street from Wrigley Field. They’re both hungry, so they go to a nearby hot dog cart. Does this count as a date? I think it counts as a date.

Abby tells Mr. Chadsey that the hospital’s legal department says there’s nothing they can do to make his ex-wife allow their daughter to get tested as a marrow donor. Mr. Chadsey is upset that Abby went that far, since he never gave her permission to look into that possibility. Abby pleads with him to let her talk to his ex herself, but Mr. Chadsey refuses. Carter learns that Mrs. Pooler was at County a few years ago for an operation and heads to Medical Records to get more information.

In the empty stands at Wrigley Field, Carol tries to explain the infield fly rule to Luka, then admits that she doesn’t understand it. As they head back out to look for the dealership, Luka mentions that his first vehicle was his dad’s tractor. His father was a train conductor and let him and his brother ride along with him on trips. They felt special because their father drove the train.

Luka asks if Carol used to come to baseball games with her father when she was a kid. As we know, Carol’s father died when she was young, and she doesn’t have a lot of memories of him. Luka says that must make her think about Kate and Tess, and how they’re missing out on a relationship with their father. Carol says that Luka would know what they’re missing more than she would. It’s not clear if she means because he had his father around or because he had children himself, but either way, it makes him a little sad. Carol reminds him that they’re on a mission to get a car.

Carter has to wait for Mrs. Pooler’s records, since they’re stored somewhere else, but in the meantime, he’s also pulled Paul’s records. That’ll make for a fun afternoon. Dr. Deraad comes by and asks how Carter’s adjusting to being back at work. Carter admits that it’s not all terrific, but he isn’t that eager to talk about it. Deraad convinces him to come by for a chat that afternoon.

Sarah’s husband, Sam, used to be in the Navy, so she and David have found even more to talk about. Sarah says Sam still thinks he’s in the Navy and takes his boat out on the lake all the time. David can relate – he loved being on the water. He could feel peace even in the middle of a big storm. The next morning, the water would be calm again, like there was never a storm at all.

Abby goes to Mr. Chadsey’s ex’s (Mrs. Lomax) house and tells her and her teen daughter, Jessamyn, about Delia. Mrs. Lomax doesn’t want to talk about her, and refuses to even let Jessamyn get tested to see if she’s a match. She hates her ex that much. Luka and Carol finally find the dealership, and he plays salesman, trying to talk her into various cars. None of the options seem great to her. Luka accidentally breaks the antenna off a car, and I’m not entirely sure that was scripted, judging from Julianna Margulies’ laugh.

At County, Edgar hides behind a supply cart and spies on Weaver. She tells Dave to retrieve him. Chen suddenly shows up in the episode, trying to convince a man named Mr. Hemmings and his daughter that Mr. Hemmings’ elderly mother’s life shouldn’t be prolonged. They disagree. Abby returns and puts off telling Mr. Chadsey that she went to see his ex and daughter.

Carter meets with Deraad and tells him about his flashbacks to his attack. He calls the incident “the accident,” which Deraad thinks is interesting. Carter thinks he should have realized something was up when Paul reacted to his spinal tap like he was being stabbed. Deraad notes that Lucy didn’t pick up on anything, either. Dude, she was a student. Don’t pin this on the poor dead woman.

Deraad continues that there are a lot of what-ifs here. For example, what if Deraad had gotten his butt to the ER and taken over the case before Paul got violent? Well, doc, I think things would have turned out much better than they did. What do you think? Deraad tells Carter it’s going to take some time for him to get over this. Okay, thanks for your help! Carter asks if Deraad has talked to Paul’s wife. He claims not to be curious about how things turned out for the Sobrikis, but if he’s bringing up Samantha, he definitely is.

Carol successfully buys a used station wagon, and Luka suggests that they celebrate. David asks Mark if he’s stealing supplies, but Mark says he’s just borrowing them. Chen asks for his help with her patient’s family, since she can’t find Weaver, and though Mark isn’t working today, he agrees to talk to them.

Mr. Pooler is brought into the ER after falling in the ICU. Carter helps Elizabeth tend to him while Mark talks to Mr. Hemmings about what prolonging his mother’s life would mean. She’s going to die either way, but if they don’t drag things out, her death will be peaceful. In case it’s not clear, the point is that Mark is going to lose his father no matter what, so he can either seek treatment David doesn’t want or just enjoy the time they have left. He decides to check David out of the hospital.

Jessamyn shows up in the ER, and Abby has to reveal to Weaver that she went against Mr. Chadsey’s orders to talk to her about the transplant. Jessamyn thinks that her desire to help and her father’s desire to save Delia should overrule her mother’s objections. Unfortunately, since Jessamyn is a minor, Mrs. Lomax gets to make the final decision. Abby offers to take Jessamyn to see her father and sister, but Jessamyn doesn’t want to see him. Abby thinks he would want to know that Jessamyn wants to help. Jessamyn doesn’t care what he thinks – she just wants to help Delia.

Carol and Luka get burgers and eat at a spot by the lake where he used to come when he first moved to Chicago. It has a great view of the city, which he’s not used to, having grown up near the coast of Croatia. Carol gently asks if he was there during the war. Luka tells her a little about the small apartment he and his family lived in, and how hard it was for the kids to have to stay inside all the time. One day Luka went out to buy some food, reluctantly leaving the kids behind after they’d begged to come along. He was still near the building when an artillery shell hit it. Now everything has been rebuilt. Luka gets that idea of moving on: “It’s what you do.”

Edgar’s spying on Weaver again, so she goes looking for Dave. Instead, she catches Abby drawing Jessamyn’s blood for a test. Weaver blasts her for going behind Mrs. Lomax’s back; if Jessamyn is a match, did Abby expect to do the transplant without Mrs. Lomax finding out? Sometimes doctors have to say no. Abby says that trying to help isn’t a bad idea. She urges Jessamyn again to go see her father, but Jessamyn still doesn’t want to.

Carter tells Weaver about the Poolers’ situation, hoping they can get Mr. Pooler’s HMO to agree to admit him to County instead of sending him to another hospital and separating him from his wife. Weaver’s on a roll today, saying no again. On their way home, Luka tells Carol about a time when he and his brother rented out their grandfather’s farm animals to a Swedish movie crew. The car suddenly breaks down, and Luka says this happened when he bought his car, too. Herb called it a fluke.

Mark takes David to the lake so they can look out at the water together. David says some years feel faster than others, and this has been the fastest. He served in multiple wars and never saw anyone die in battle, but he did witness a death in a PX in Guam. Everyone ran outside when they heard an explosion at the motor pool, but before David could join them, he came across a man who was having a heart attack.

Anyone who could help had left, and David didn’t know what to do, so he just sat with the man so he wouldn’t be alone. It took four minutes for the man to die, the longest four minutes of David’s life, but also the best. It felt like there was value in being there for someone. He thanks Mark for bringing him to the water. It turns out they’re there to meet Sarah’s husband.

Weaver sends Mr. Pooler to his next hospital, and though he’s not happy to be separated from his wife, he feels like they’re being well taken care of. Weaver obviously regrets having to enforce this rule. Carter goes to see Samantha, who tells him that Paul is on medication and in an in-patient program. She doesn’t know how she couldn’t see that he was having psychological issues. Carol and Luka can’t get her car to start, but other than that, Luka thinks it was a good day.

David would agree, since he and Mark wrap up the day on the lake, on top of Sam’s boat. Mrs. Lomax would disagree, as she’s now at County to retrieve Jessamyn, who’s visiting with Delia. Abby tells Mrs. Lomax that everyone wants the transplant. Weaver goes by Edgar’s room and he smiles at her, as if they’ve been playing a game all day. She’s pleased that not everyone in the hospital is mad at her.

While waiting for a tow truck, Carol tells Luka that she and her sisters ran a lemonade stand when they were kids. They didn’t make as much money as he and his brother did with the farm animals, but at least there was less clean-up involved. Carol looks forward to her kids having fun experiences without worrying about the rest of the world. She says the tow truck should have arrived by now, and Luka notes that nothing has gone as planned today. She leans toward him and they kiss.

Thoughts: Delia is played by Dakota Fanning.

John Cullum (David) is so good in this episode. Every time he talks about his past, it feels like there’s nothing else going on and no one else in the room. You just want him to keep talking.

Imagine being so mad at your ex-husband that you won’t let your child save an eight-year-old’s life. But also imagine not even bothering to ask your ex about it because you think she’ll keep your daughter from helping.

Among Carol’s options: a ’97 Camry for $18,000 and a ’91 Mercury for $2,900. First, that price on a used Camry is a rip-off. Second, that Mercury must have some major issues to be priced so low. I don’t trust Herb.