Abby is mortified when her impulsive mother, Maggie Wyczenski (recurring special appearance by SALLY FIELD - "Norma Rae"), visits the hospital unexpectedly. Maggie, who suffers from bipolar disorder but refuses to take her medication, charms the staff, but Abby is unable to deal with the needy Maggie's extreme mood changes. After telling Maggie to return to Florida, where Abby's brother takes care of her, Abby guiltily allows her to stay.

Malucci is cocky when Greene and Corday allow him to work on a gravely injured gunshot victim requiring complex surgery. No one realizes that the patient is Jesse, Benton's nephew, until Cleo meets Benton's sister, Jackie, in the waiting area and notifies Benton. Benton bursts into the emergency room and roughly pushes Malucci aside after Malucci unknowingly makes disparaging comments about Jesse, assuming that he is a common gang member. Despite Benton's strenuous efforts, Jesse dies. After Benton gives the tragic news to his sister, Malucci tries to apologize to Benton for his attitude. Enraged and grief-stricken, Benton attacks Malucci, resulting in a violent fistfight.

Greene and Corday strive to escape the hospital by 6:00 p.m. to go on a romantic weekend. Romano criticizes Corday for performing an outpatient procedure on an injured surfer instead of ordering more complicated spinal surgery, implying that she is interested only in getting off work in time. Later that night, Corday must rush back to the hospital when the surfer suddenly develops serious complications from the operation.

Kovac suspects that a bruised teenager was beaten by her father, but the true culprit is her boyfriend, who also got her pregnant. Also, Chen must confront the father, Frank Bacon (recurring guest star MORRIS CHESTNUT - "The Best Man"), of her unborn baby, before she can give it up for adoption. And Abby worries about Carter's lack of interest in his required recovering addict meetings.