Editor's Choice:
Occupational Hazard

Dr. Patrick Drake is a brilliant surgeon, but his arrogance has overshadowed his unswerving commitment to medicine. Recently, that commitment got him smacked with a frightening lesson in humility.

It began when an injured patient with advanced symptoms of AIDS - but no insurance - was rushed to G.H. in need of surgery, only to be denied care, thanks to penny-pinching Ms. Sneed (scene stealer Mary Stein, who proved that there's no such think as a small part.). Sneed's toeing of the corporate line set off dedicated docs Robin and Patrick, and Chief of Staff Alan had to step in to make the final decision. "This is a hospital," Dr. Quartermaine declared. "Our job is to save lives, including this woman. Your job is to find out how to pay for it without hassling my doctors. You've got the OR, Patrick. You pick a team. If you need someone to assist you, I'll do it."

After Sneed pointed out that anyone involved was putting their own health at risk, Patrick was infuriated when nurse Epiphany announced that there was a hitch assembling a team. "I knew we'd run into problems in this backwater town," Dr. Drake huffed. Quite the contrary: There were so many volunteers that the docs had to choose. G.H: 1. Drake: 0.

Things took an alarming turn when, during surgery, Patrick pricked his finger. Faced with finishing the procedure or tending to his own wound - thus endangering his patient's life - Patrick lived up to his Hippocratic Oath and finished the operation, but in doing so, exposed himself to AIDS.

The gravity of his situation slowly sank in as he silently stood, endlessly rinsing his hands. "No matter how hard you scrub, it won't go away," Robin sighed. For weeks, Patrick had accused paramour Robin of neglecting life and hiding behind her HIV-positive status, and those words haunted him as he faced the predicament that Robin has lived with for over a decade. Dr. Scorpio offered heartfelt reassurances, touchingly conveying her own experience with contracting and living with the virus. Taking Patrick to the docks to get some air, she told him, "I don't believe that people get AIDS as punishment. Sometimes horrible things happen to the best of us - But I promise, you're note alone."

The key to a well-crafted story is not only the careful construction of a powerful, dramatic event, but how its aftermath affects both the characters and future story. This emotional bump in the road brought bickering lovers Robin and Patrick closer than they've ever been. (Patrick tried to keep a sense of humor, joking, "No woman is going to come near me...Looks like you got your committed relationship by default, Dr. Scorpio.") Not only did this affect our participants, but their loved ones, as well. Once the kids' parents found out, beloved vests stepped up to the plate. Anna and Robert bemoaned how choosing their careers over their child kept them away when Robin went through this herself 10 years ago, and the delinquent duo vowed not to let history repeat itself. And, Patrick grew closer to his estranged dad, Noah, as the elder Dr. Drake prescribed his own remedies for Patrick's condition, transparently masking his paternal concern with medical advice.

There's nothing like a crisis to bring people together, and as the Scorpio/Drake families showed, their true colors are brilliant.

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