As the second season of HAWTHORNE opens, several Richmond Trinity doctors and nurses have been transferred to James River, a failing hospital in terrible shape. There, Christina butts heads with the ER's head nurse, Gail Strummer, who is extremely set in her ways. Christina is impressed, however, by the charming Dr. Steve Shaw, who hails from England, and the hard-working ER clerk Marcus Leeds, who has his eye on Camille.