Original Airdate: September 29, 2003
Among the brave people who serve as paramedics, firefighters and police on the third watch--the shift between 3:00 and 11:00 p.m.--are paramedics Kim Zambrano (series star KIM RAVER), Monte "Doc" Parker (series star MICHAEL BEACH) and Carlos Nieto (series star ANTHONY RUIVIVAR); firefighter Jimmy Doherty (series star EDDIE CIBRIAN); and police officers John "Sully" Sullivan (series star SKIPP SUDDUTH), Ty Davis Jr. (series star COBY BELL), Maurice "Bosco" Boscorelli (series star JASON WILES), Maritza Cruz (series star TIA TEXADA), Sasha Monroe (series star NIA LONG) and Faith Yokas (series star MOLLY PRICE). Yokas and her husband, Fred (series star CHRIS BAUER), are raising two children, including their teenage daughter, Emily (series star BONNIE DENNISON).
In the immediate aftermath of a shootout, Yokas lies with a punctured lung and a bullet lodged near her spine. Severely injured, Cruz is under arrest for shooting Yokas, and the drug-addicted novelist whom Bosco and Yokas were trying to arrest is dead. Having shot Cruz to protect Yokas, Bosco is wracked with guilt, taking responsibility for the entire convoluted matter. His situation worsens when an FBI agent informs him that Cruz and the dead man were covertly working together on a major federal case that is now ruined.
Meanwhile, Kim and her associates mourn the death of Alex Taylor, who was killed in a fiery blast that critically burned her superior, Johnson (recurring guest star JOHN MICHAEL BOLGER). In unbearable agony while helpless hospital workers give him the highest safe amount of painkillers, Johnson begs Doc to hasten the end of his life. With the silent approval of Johnson's grieving wife, conflicted Doc secretly administers a fatal dose of medication.
