When a Christmastime baby is found abandoned in the hospital parking lot, Dr. Joyner quickly grows attached; Dalgety tries to save a homeless man who was stabbed in the hospital waiting room; authorities bring dozens of homeless people to Mission General to ""clean up the parks;"" and Kellerman assists in surgery with a seductive female physician who was once his lover.
A man who refuses surgery because he thinks he is a space alien sorely tries Dalgety's patience. Meanwhile, Donge plots to become the new chief hospital administrator -- but collapes from a weak heart -- a wife seems strangely indifferent to her husband's life-threatening surgery, and Kellerman is angry when he finds out his ex-wife is pregnant.
Maggie Yang treats a female blues singer for a condition that could end her career; a patient with ""wings"" seems to have the power to heal other patients by his touch; and a beloved hospital volunteer is in critical condition after being shot by burglars. Meanwhile, when a patient is caught smoking a marijuana cigarette, Nurse Poole is determined to find the source; the hospital brass search for an escaped monkey; and Dalgety performs an unauthorized surgery on an illegal alien who could be deported if caught.
When Pangborn allows an ER-set TV show to film at Mission, Kellerman gets in on the act to snag some much-needed medical equipment being used as props. Meanwhile, Quinn and Maggie square off over the treatment of a stroke patient; and Dalgety's fling with a staffer lands him in hot water after it begins to look like a case of sexual harassment.