Just show up. That's all I've been doing: showing up. Time goes by faster at work. Shift work. Treat and street a few lost souls. You're with them when they're most vulnerable, when they're naked, weak, hurt. You touch them, look at their bodies, see them more closely than their families, their lovers. But it's mechanical, you know, temporary. You fix them up or you watch them die. Either way, it ends and you move on. No next time, no strings, no real connection. Maybe that's why I stay.
S9 E17The Advocate
Medicine was exciting, powerful, alive. Today we saved a teenager's sight. I saved a child's life. I didn't feel it. Didn't feel anything.
There was cartoon I once saw in a magazine. A little man is sitting in a room with two doors. One door says "Do Not Enter" and the other says "Do Not Exit". So he just sits there, holding his hat.
You know, right?
Know what?
That night at the restaurant. I had a ring. You knew that, right?
I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would've.
I didn't go through with it because at that moment it just felt... It didn't feel right. And I don't know why. But I wish I did know why. I think that the fact that I didn't do it, means that there's something that's not working.
I get it. It's O.K. I gotta go.
You get it? Well, that's good. Maybe you can explain it to me, 'cause I don't get it. I know that I show up for work and you're acting like a completely changed person and I think that's great. If that's real. The patch, the sponsor...
Real?!
For real, for you. Or is this something that's gonna be thrown out the window the next time something bad happens? Cause if you're trying to prove something to me...
What?
Like some kind of quick fix.
I didn't do it for you! I woke up sick of myself, OK? And if you're sick of me and just all of it, I don't blame you!
I'm not sick of you. How do you hear that?
Because all I ever do is disappoint you. I feel like all I'm ever going to do is disappoint you...
Stop.
I've said this before, I don't know why you're...
Stop! Stop!!! Stop with this whole routine! This fatalistic, black-cloud, nothing good is ever going to happen to me routine!
The problem is, it's not a routine.
Hey! What do I have to say? What do I have to do to get through to you?
S9 E18Finders Keepers
[to Carter] This is my ER now! That stands for one thing: Everyone's Replaceable! Even you.
Listen, okay Goofus? I'm the doctor, you're not....
You know what? It seems to me that if your intention is to....
My intention is to serve out my time in this hell hole without having affirmative action imbeciles like you make me regret having ever gone into medicine.
They're letting any bottom feeder with a check into med school these days?
Actually, Gallant is one of our best med students.
Well, that doesn't bode well for the future of emergency medicine. But maybe by the time he gets his license, we'll all be dead.
Kerry, can I ask you something? Are you as concerned about Robert as I am? Or, more precisely, his mental health- he seems...broken by this assignment-
He's a cockroach. He refuses to evolve, and yet he'll survive us all.
[on Romano] He has no patient reports, severely stunted interpersonal skills, and he's incredibly hostile-
Qualities consistent with most surgeons!
Kerry, the guy doesn't know what he's doing, and he doesn't wanna learn! And, he almost killed a patient today by prescribing an antiquated treatment.
But, obviously you stopped him from doing so!
Yeah, but I can't stay on top of the guy 24:7!
Well, we're trying to shift him to a more administrative role-
What are you gonna do, chain him to his desk?
Look, the ER may not be the best fit for Dr. Romano, but it's all the man has! Just... make it work. Or better yet, work around him.
S9 E19Things Change
[to Luka] How do you say "bite my big one" in Croatian?
[to Abby] If I wanted a nurse's opinion...well, I don't know what I'd do because quite frankly it's never happened.
[to Pratt] Congratulations, smart-ass. You just bought yourself a month of midnights.
Good, I love the nightlife.
[Carter walks into a trauma room to find Luka's surgeon friend Gordana, who is not licensed in the US, performing a procedure]
What are you doing?
What does it look like?
A lawsuit.
What's Weaver doing down here?
Romano damage control.
S9 E20Foreign Affairs
[as he treats Romano's burned arm] I'm not sure why you'd want an "affirmative action imbecile" fixing you up, but if you're trying to humiliate me...
Zip it. You've demonstrated a certain amount of integrity. Now, that won't last long if you keep working here, but for the time being, it suits my purposes. I'd prefer to keep this between us.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's E.R. pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.