Abby packs for Croatia, and puts a few little bottles of vodka in her toiletries bag. Everything's set for Luka's father's funeral, and their flight leaves at 10 P.M., so she leaves to run some errands. Luka knows something's up, but lets her go. The ER is being decorated for Christmas after a long night shift - 142 patients! Morris thinks if they keep cranking, they can hit 300 in one day, a milestone. Frank points out they've never topped 250. Morris bets $300 against Gates, Frank and Pratt that they'll hit 300.
Julia drops by to inform that she'll be holding a ceremony for blessings and memorials in the ER later today. Seeing the way Gates moons over Julia, the guys realize something's going on between them. Sam is flying on the helicopter, logging hours for her transport training. She brings in unresponsive car accident victim Melissa Tanner in respiratory distress, along with her 20-year old son Lowell, who has Down's syndrome.
Harold yells for a ladder in the bay. The surgery team drew The Nativity for the holiday pageant, and their living tableau has gone awry. A surly camel bit Dubenko on the leg, and they need a swab from its mouth. Frank and Gates give it a go, but only Neela, dressed as a wise man, can get the swab. Her phone rings, and she blows away Harold, asking him to retrieve it from her back pocket, but blows off the call from Abby, who is on her way to Neela's apartment.
Sam needs to log intubations for her training, and asks Pratt if she can intubate Melissa. He's reluctant but Gates sticks up for Sam, and she does a great job. Morris and Sam tend to Lowell. He knows that his mother is very sick and takes lots of pills, but not much else. Sam gives Melissa's husband a call. After tending Dubenko, Neela runs home to retrieve her computer. EMT Zadro offers to take Sam to a case review, a good connection for her training.
Neela finds Abby in her apartment watching TV. When Neela spies the vodka, she demands to know what's going on, finally understanding Abby's recent behavior. If Abby loves Joe and Luka, she'll stop. Insulted by the word "if," Abby fires back, telling Neela not to lecture her about love - Ray's probably wishing he never met Neela now. Neela kicks Abby out.
Pierce Tanner tells Pratt that his wife, now on a ventilator, is in end stage emphysema and has signed a DNR. Pratt advises Tanner to talk it over with his son, but Tanner doesn't know about any son. Sam chats with Zadro, riding the ambulance. She's always been a traveler, and transport may suit her better than being a nurse. Bang! Their ambulance is hit by a pick-up truck, who has hit a little girl while trying to avoid her dog.
10-year-old Evie is talking, but her pelvis hurts. Her mother Joyce runs up as a tense crowd forms. Rodney angrily accuses the driver of the pick-up, Del of being drunk, and he's acting that way, having experienced a concussion. Tanner tells Pratt that he doesn't know Lowell's name. He and Melissa had their son in their 40s. When they learned he had Down's, he convinced Melissa to give Lowell up. Abby tells Pratt that she has to go to Croatia, and gives her the paperwork to fill out in the break room, where Julia is setting up.
Sam is working on Del strapped to a backboard, when Evie takes a turn for the worse. Sam tells Rodney to back off, but he kicks Del in the head. When he keeps kicking, Sam takes him out. Despite Morris' trolling for patients, the count is still below 200. Lowell tells Morris that his Dad doesn't want to meet him. Morris maintains that Dads can change their minds. Abby rebuffs Julia's invitation to talk, but Julia persists, telling Abby a parable. The moral: sometimes using all your strength means asking for help.
Luka and Neela run into each other on the way into the hospital, but don't discuss their concern for Abby. Julia begins her ceremony, asking everyone to remember the patients that changed them in some way. Sam's multiple trauma interrupts the ceremony, leaving Abby and Luka alone in the break room. They talk tensely on the street. Luka tells Abby that she can't hide forever, throwing up his hands and stalking off.
When Evie goes into severe respiratory distress, Sam saves the day with the quickest intubation, a trick learned in transport. Tanner asks Pratt to come with him for his first conversation with his son. Pratt steps back to tell Julia that they may extubate Melissa, which would mean she would die in a few hours. Julia thinks Lowell needs to understand this, and Pratt remembers when his own mother died of breast cancer when he was a kid, and promises to make it happen.
Del is convulsing. Sam tells Neela he was kicked in the head, giving Neela the clue she needs to proceed. Rodney shows up to try to pull Sam away from Del. When Rodney persists, Gates takes him down, and Harold sits on tops of him. Tanner explains Melissa's situation to Lowell, and he consents to take her off the ventilator. Abby returns home to find Luka playing with Joe. She kisses the back of his neck, and tells him that she needs help.
Abby confesses that she started drinking again the night Joe got hurt, and now she can't stop. She needs Luka to help her. If he takes Joe to Croatia, she'll check herself into a facility. He doesn't want to leave her, but she says they have to do it together, alone. He wants to know if she needs to tell him anything else, but she can't do it tonight, she's too ashamed. Each thinking that it's all their fault, the couple apologizes to each other. Luka loads up the car, and Abby drives off.
Gates congratulates Sam on her good work. With only 15 minutes to go the ER has only seen 263 patients. Morris is thrilled when a truckload of Shriners with food poisoning arrive. Tanner and Lowell watch as Melissa is extubated. She explains that she could never forget Lowell, and Tanner promises to take care of him. With ten seconds to go, there are only 299 patients. Morris smashed Frank's hand with a heavy book, making him the 300th patient. Julia continues the ceremony, blessing the hands of the staff.
