Weaver confronts a dilemma when influential alderman John Bright, seeking treatment after a fall, tests positive for syphilis—potentially damaging information that could become public. Meanwhile, Carter is impressed by irascible old Doctor McNulty, who oversees an inner-city medical clinic. A sympathetic Kovac defies conventional ethics when he tricks a seriously injured patient who refuses to leave his dying wife's side into believing that she has already expired. Pratt unilaterally allows a drug-addled man to be with his terminal mother. Pratt also keeps a wary eye on his mentally challenged brother Leon as he starts a new job. And Weaver and Kovac differ on what to do with a young boy whose medical history suggests repeated child abuse.