A sympathetic Abby takes pity on a young couple whose premature baby was born far too early -- a cold fact of life which the desperate parents struggle to accept -- while Drs. Greene and Corday re-define their relationship in the wake of domestic hassles. Dr. Benton engages an equally stubborn Dr. Romano in a war of wills over an obnoxious homeless man who once again requires extensive treatment resulting from his chronic disdain for maintaining his dialysis appointments. Dr. Weaver and a caring Dr. Kovac are helpless to assist a severely comatose woman whose longtime life partner is not legally empowered to cease any heroic means of saving her. Elsewhere, Carter ponders the implications of his future return to the hospital and Dr. Malucci stays out of sight from a candy striper who's on a mission to find him.