Thursday February 10, 2005 9:59 PM 1.0 ER
SHORTNESS OF BREATH

SHOCKED DR. WEAVER FINALLY MEETS HER BIRTH MOTHER; OSCAR WINNER SISSY SPACEK AND SARAH GILBERT GUEST STAR -- Dr. Weaver (Laura Innes) encounters an evasive patient (Oscar-winning guest star Sissy Spacek) who shocks her by revealing that she is her birth mother, who put her baby up for adoption at 15. As they spend time sharing their life stories, their budding relationship withers when Weaver confesses to her mother -- an evangelical Christian -- that she is gay. Elsewhere, Dr. Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) warily turns over an addled elderly woman to the care of Jane (guest star Sarah Gilbert, "Roseanne") while Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) causes a commotion when he confronts a couple hoping to scam some painkilling drugs. Sherry Stringfield, Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, Linda Cardellini, Parminder Nagra, Eion Bailey and Shane West also star.