Ben and Max are having lunch in Max's office. Mmm, sandwiches. Ben wants to treat Maria anyway. Max throws out a bunch of numbers to prove it's a bad idea. Basically, he gives the "HMOs are necessary" argument, just so ABC doesn't lose all their advertising money from HMOs. Ben is upset that COD was so morally superior, "like he's Hawkeye Pierce or some damn thing." Um, isn't that the morally superior pot calling the kettle black? Max says COD is right -- wrong, but right. That Max is a man of contradictions. Ben say that the "plush office" is turning Max into "a number cruncher." Ben thinks there must be something they could do. Max says he knows a lawyer who might be able to help. Well, he says it in a much more convoluted way, but that's the gist. I'm just trying to spare you the extensive dialogue here.

Some cheesy guy kisses Maria's hand and says he knows she is worried about her daughter. I guess he's the Hispanic Johnnie Cochran. He's like Juan Cochran. Yeah, that's what I'm calling him. Ben comes in, and Juan says that he's taking the case, and he'll need Ben's help, even though doctors like to stick together. On his way out, Juan says his specialty is "pain and suffering" -- he takes it from Maria and gives it to the HMO. Did I mention he's wearing a bolo tie?

Giggles and moans come from Linda's room. Cherry, Sid, Boies, and Ollie sit outside and discuss the fact that she's having sex with her secret boyfriend in there. Couldn't they just knock on the door and ask her to keep it down? Boies is all against it. The others start listing off all the places in the hospital that they've had sex. Boies is shocked, and orders Cherry to figure out what's wrong with her ear so that they can discharge her. Boies equals tight-ass. Got it.

Mrs. Lee is under a sheet with Ben's kids, telling a ghost story. Ben walks in and listens. The kids scurry off for bed, and Ben apologizes to Mrs. Lee. She says she still won't stay. Ben can't believe she's really leaving, but Mrs. Lee says that it's time to move on. Then there's a bit where she teaches him some phrase in another language, but I don't know why it was important.

Maria is crashing. Stiles is running the trauma. Apparently, Maria isn't breathing. Stiles intubates. Maria's heart rate goes back up. That was the most non-traumatic trauma scene ever.

Ben and Stiles observe a worn-out looking Maria. Ben asks about the daughter. He tells Stiles to page him if anything changes, and leaves the room. He finds Daughter sitting on the steps and tells her that her mother's condition is stable, but she's doing poorly, and they may lose her no matter what they do. Daughter blames herself, because she feels that she should have demanded that the HMO doctors do something, or brought her to Ben earlier. Ben takes her hand. I'm sure I'm not doing the scene justice, because it was fairly moving. And there wasn't any banter. It was completely banter-free.