Benton treats a battered wife who refuses to have her husband arrested for his repeated beatings, saying she just fell down and hurt herself. The hospital reports the beating. Unfortunately, the police officer who responds is the victim's husband. Benton reports the situation to another cop, who later brings in the husband badly beaten up. The cop tells Benton a story about how the husband just fell down and hurt himself.

Benton and Hathaway treat a motorcycle accident victim whose arm was severed at the elbow. After getting caught stealing morphine and injecting it, the victim's wife reveals that they purposefully chopped his arm off with an ax to collect insurance money. To her dismay, the skilled surgeons reattach the arm and ruin the plan.

Lewis agonizes over what to do with baby Susie. She consults an attorney about putting her up for adoption, checks with Greene about possibly working part time and makes a futile attempt to get help from her parents, Henry (recurring guest star PAUL DOOLEY) and Cookie (recurring guest star VALERIE PERRINE). Finally, Lewis decides to adopt the baby herself. Carter is ecstatic to discover his first malignant cancer in a patient. The patient is not as excited.