After being unable to save an elderly cardiac patient referred to him by Vucelich, Carter is relieved not to have to tell her husband, Ruby, whom Carter had befriended. But when Ruby hears the bad news from the neurology department, he berates Carter for not being forthright.

When the victim of a terrible car accident is brought into the emergency room, Benton convinces Hicks that he is capable of operating on him in Vucelich's absence. But complications arise, and Vucelich has to come in and save the patient, humiliating Benton. Later, Benton and Jeanie go to a dinner party at Vucelich's house, both insisting that it is not a date.

Ross refuses to speak with his estranged father, who telephones repeatedly. Later, Ross reveals his anger at his father when he confronts a negligent father whose children were injured playing in traffic. Hathaway subdues Ross.

A drunken woman comes in severely ill, but the doctors cannot save her because she signed an order not to be resuscitated. This distresses her estranged daughter