A pushy, abrasive man literally drives into the E.R. to get help for his wife; Ehrlich finds an unusual girlfriend at the laundromat; Fiscus loses both Cathy and Shirley; Dr. Craig clashes with the newly appointed city comptroller, Joan Halloran, over his proposed heart transplant for schoolteacher Eve Leighton.
Medical student Elliot Axelrod and plastic surgeon Dr. Bobby Caldwell join the staff; Eve Leighton's sister expresses reservations about the planned transplant; a resident dropped from the hospital program badgers Cavanero to reevaluate him; and Dr. Craig enlists Dr. Caldwell's help in opposing Joan Halloran's plan to shut down an outpatient surgery clinic.
The men attend a rather staid bachelor party for Kochar; White learns about the dangers of nuclear medicine; Fran Singleton refuses to see her husband, but later walks out of the hospital by his side; everyone opposes Joan's idea of including St. Eligius in a government nuclear disaster contingency plan; Martin gives Kochar a unique wedding present; and the transplant team goes into action.
Dr. Craig performs the transplant amidst a publicity barrage; Morrison tries to adjust to his loss; Luther and Fiscus split an investment in silver futures; and Rosenthal counsels a group on breast cancer.
Dr. Craig and Ehrlich both prepare turkeys for the staff forced to work the holiday; injuries from the Thanksgiving Day parade pour into the ER; and a depressed Dr. Auschlander takes a special interest in an ailing 11-year-old.
Rosenthal gets arrested just before her scheduled breast reconstruction; Mr. Entertainment sets up in a hospital elevator and meets Dr. Ridley, the new psychiatrist; and Morrison worries over an Irish teenager whose near-fatal beating brings the Catholic-Protestant conflict of northern Ireland to St. Eligius.
Martin decides she's in love with Dr. Craig; White regrets helping out an exhausted mother pleading for sedatives in the E.R.; Eve's sense of cabin fever and anger is calmed by a visit from her students; Morrison learns more about Eddie Carson and the `Troubles'.
Dr. Caldwell suffers for his work on Eddie Carson; Joan reveals a secret in the E.R.; Ehrlich meets a brand-new Roberta; Dr. Westphall's housekeeper announces she's returning to Italy; Eve Leighton takes a turn for the worse.
White diagnoses a case of AIDS in a Boston city councilman; Dr. Ridley tries to help a tennis prodigy deal with pressure from her ambitious father; and Daniels and Ehrlich try to run a blood drive amidst a blizzard and rumors about the AIDS patient.
The medical staff and Joan Halloran fight back when a large private hospital dumps an indigent, unstable emergency patient on the E.R.; Ehrlich seeks advice about his relationship with Roberta; Daniels is tied to the drug abuse charges against White; and Dr. Ridley and Morrison try to figure out a woman's violent mood swings and personality changes. Luther loses a father figure. A bored teenager wreaks havoc with the hospital's computerized records.
A blizzard causes havoc for everyone; Dr. Craig can't get to the hospital and has to depend on Kochar for survival; Dr. Ehrlich decides to pop the question to Roberta; and the roof literally falls in on Cavanero.
Dr. Auschlander asks Fiscus and Luther to help him get some marijuana to relieve his pain; White and Daniels face the medical board hearing; Dr. Westphall defends a deaf employee against his impatient supervisor; and Ehrlich meets Roberta's snobbish parents.
Joan's father enters the hospital unexpectedly; Chandler takes a practice run for the Boston Marathon that proves dangerous; and the Craigs host Ehrlich's wedding with guests such as Mrs. Craig's mother and Ehrlich's alcoholic aunt Charice.
A rape occurs in the hospital parking lot; White has trouble adjusting to his restricted status as does Tommy Westphall to the loss of his housekeeper; Cavanero must decide between the man in her life and her career; and a TV crew follows Dr. Craig around to film a documentary.
The women of St. Eligius take rape prevention classes, but can't prevent the occurence of another rape, this time inside the hospital; an old love of Dr. Auschlander checks in; Cavanero dumps her boyfriend when he can't take no for an answer; Roberta broadcasts her marital problems to the whole staff; and Morrison tries to treat a high-rise construction worker for dizziness who's reluctant to give a complete medical history.
Morrison learns a lesson from another doctor who makes the diagnosis of Mr. Keuhnelian; Dr. Craig prepares to accept his anticipated `Doctor of the Year' award; Dr. Caldwell and Ehrlich both make decisions about their romantic futures; Cathy's disappearance raises questions; Shirley fends off an imagined attacker; and the rapist strikes again.
Dr. Craig tries to stop the TV documentary; Cathy has a rough first day back; Mr. Entertainment finds his true calling; Armstrong continues to feel traumatized; and Rosenthal finally has her breast surgery.
White returns to work to face a hostile staff; Axelrod accidentally destroys Fiscus' beloved Boston Red Sox baseball cap; Cavanero has to tell a college student he has testicular cancer; Chandler questions himself about why Amanda remains distant from him; and Martin decides to come forward against her rapist.
Three women in a room become close despite their differences; an old woman facing the loss of her independence; a mother trying to deal with violent surges of erratic behavior; and a bland young woman searching for 'character' through a nose job.
Ehrlich tries to deal with his Aunt Charice and her romantic designs on Dr. Westphall as he crams for the National Boards; a stressed-out Armstrong makes a tragic misdiagnosis; White chooses to take a polygraph test before his trial begins; Shirley tells Cathy that she ""asked for it"", and Cathy's past is used to decimate her on the witness stand.
Fiscus poses in provocative attire for a newspaper feature; Dr. Caldwell and Joan try to take a spontaneous trip to Paris; Armstrong reacts to the pressures she faces; and everyone waits to hear about who will be dropped from the residency program.
The residents scatter as vacation begins; Morrison meets a charming young woman; the E.R. faces major structural repairs; Steven Craig returns home after licking his drug problem; and Luther tries to find a Cheshire cat for a skeptical little girl. Dr. Auschlander collapses in an elevator. Elliot Axelrod has an interview for a position as a resident.