Carter goes next door, yanking off the hat and wig, and asks Peter, "What do we got?" The patient says, "Yo, Santa," and Carter gets the rundown: a fifteen-year-old with a GSW to the left shoulder, injured in a drive-by. The fifteen-year-old, one Taylor Sparks, bitches at Carter to get the Santa beard "outta my face." Carter asks how many times he got shot, and Sparks says, "That punk-ass Lohman emptied a clip at me," so Carter and Peter roll him to make sure they didn't miss any wounds, and while looking Sparks's back over, Carter finds a gun; he lifts it with two gloved fingers and says wryly, "Ho ho ho!" He hands the gun to Malik, who says, "Not exactly the present I had in mind," and Sparks gripes, "Hey, fool, that's mine!" Peter orders tests while Sparks continues to grumble about getting his "piece" back, and Carter asks, "Whatever happened to peace on earth, goodwill towards men?" Geddit -- piece/peace? No, I can't believe the writers resorted to that pun either, but in any case, Peter says to Carter, "You tell us, Santa," and leaves.

In an exam room, Luka examines Kate. Her fever has gone up since the last time Carol took her temperature. Carol makes a comment about how long it takes to get out of the house with the twins, and she jiggles Tess comfortingly and says she knows Luka and Haleh "think I'm being crazy, right?" Luka tells her it's good that she brought Kate in; it's probably nothing, but a fever in a four-week-old "can be cause for concern." Carol agrees, adding that she knows all the things that can go wrong. Luka offers to do a septic work-up. Carol asks if that's necessary, and Luka tells her she has to decide. Carol says that as a nurse, she would say no, and looks to Haleh for back-up. "And as a mother?" Luka prompts her. Carol says she just wants to make sure Kate is okay. Yes, yes, yes, professional-maternal conflict -- we get it, for god's sake. Luka says he can do a less invasive test and take it from there when they get the results; Carol wants Haleh to draw the blood because she's "the best stick in the ER." I really and truly could not care much less about this sanctimoniously trite subplot.