A long, cold night finds ER staffers with hours of time to kill. Weaver recruits staffers to participate in a study on sleep deprivation combined with physical activity. Gant appeals to Anspaugh after a public scolding from Benton. Carter ditches Dennis again to escape his whining, only to discover deadly results. Peter is denied a recommendation from Keaton one last time before she leaves for Pakistan. Mark and Chuny discover that they have a lot in common. Carol is at a crossroads when management demands she cut two RNs. Charlie comes into the ER severely beaten. Carol and Doug perform a safety check in the ER and a clock falls on Weaver's head.

Carol takes an interest in an ailing police sergeant who's hiding a degenerative ailment. She also meets with a newspaper reporter to air the complete story on her fatal mistake and is subsequently suspended. Peter runs into a pregnant Carla, upsetting the rest of his day. Carter, already fed up with Benton's lackluster attitude, accepts a transfer to Hicks's team after Peter fails to show up at a lecture the two were to give. Jeanie and Greg Fischer disagree on whether to inform a patient's spouse that he's suffering from neurosyphilis. Weaver and Mark each take a trio of prospective students through a day in the ER, with widely differing results. Chuny and Mark break up; and both get over it rather quickly.