A new attending, Dr. Victor Clemente, comes aboard and quickly makes a stir on the ER. Abby's breast cancer patient convinces her to take a long awaited test. Luka befriends a young woman who awakes from a six-year coma. Also, Weaver shows Clemente who runs the ER.

Pratt and Weaver try to create a Christmas miracle when they work to save a girl wounded from gunfire. Eve gets into trouble after punching a disruptive patient. Also, Abby has a special gift for Luka.

In the Sudan, Carter and a colleague struggle to save a woman who was raped by a band of militants. Back in the ER, Clemente asks to return to work after the shooting incident, but Kovac refuses. Meanwhile, Neela and Pratt have a work dispute, and, in a related incident, K.J.'s father shows up again in the ER.

As Abby and Luka cope with their newborn's life and death struggle, the couple is shocked to receive a surprise visitor: Abby's mother Maggie. Meanwhile, Sam fears the prospect of criminal charges; Neela discovers that Tony Gates will be joining the ER team as an intern and Morris gets his job back while Weaver gets demoted.

Kovac anxiously awaits the verdict between himself and Curtis Ames but fears the worst. Meanwhile, Neela disobeys her chief's orders and also questions her feelings for Gates, and Weaver unwittingly steals the spotlight from Morris in his big television debut.

Weaver cares for a Katrina survivor who's reluctant to having surgery on her foot; budget cuts force Luka to make a difficult personnel decision. Also, Gates' home life intrudes on the ER; and Pratt and Hope are shaken after a patient in their care dies needlessly.

Abby and Sam try to treat an obnoxious, aspiring comedian with mysterious symptoms; Pratt must defend his actions in front of the medical board; Neela scrubs in on a kidney donor transplant; and Morris, as the lone attending, must run a busy ER. Also, Kovac gets a surprising proposal from Abby.

In 12 hours, the ER will shut down. As Kovac is under pressure to take care of the patients before the final hours, he makes a pivotal decision about his future. Meanwhile, Sam befriends a photojournalist who returns only this time she's terminally ill; Pratt is concerned when his brother ends up in the ER drunk; Morris confronts Gates when he ignores his orders and angrily sends him home while Gates tries to defend his actions.

Two wounded police auxiliary officers present challenges in the ER. Neela settles in with Abby as she recovers, while Pratt and Bettina consider their relationship. Gates tries to get a patient on a drug trial, with Dubenko's help. And Morris is in a funk that not even a pretty woman can help.

After being passed over for Chief of the ER, Pratt is looking for a hospital that will appreciate his talents. A former employee of the ER brings her sick son in for tests. Neela's cousin is in town for a visit, and Morris and Harold compete for her affections.

There's been a jewelry robbery in town, and Neela finds out that one of her patients might have had something to do with it. Pratt makes an effort to save his relationship with Bettina, and Abby worries about her marriage, sensing that Luka may have given up on it.

Dr. Banfield defends herself during a mugging. Dubenko returns to work, due in no small part to Brenner's organized protests. A young gymnast comes into the ER with injuries consistent with a fall, but Banfield and Gates each think a different family member may actually be to blame. Sarah neglects to ask Gates's permission before getting her tongue pierced.

Sam gets frustrated with Gates when he gets obsessed with finding a homeless war hero. Neela is upset at her intern after he gets the entire surgery department into a lawsuit. A husband and wife come into the ER after someone tried to burn down their home. Brenner loses his cool with a patient and it gets physical.