On the Christmas special of Chasing Life, Leo makes a shocking decision about his health, April’s paternal grandparents pay her a visit, and April's family decide to cheer her up by having Christmas in May.
The episode picks up right where the mid-season finale left off with April listening to the voicemail she’s received from Leo. He’s decided to have the surgery after all. When April shares the news with Beth, Beth is ecstatic—and extremely proud of April for having made a positive impression on Leo—while April is still a bit worried that something will go wrong.
Meanwhile, at the Carver house, Sara and Emma fret over an impending visit from Sara’s in-laws. Soon enough, Brenna emerges from upstairs and joins in the conversation while she also continues to lament over ex-girlfriend, Greer, and Greer’s parents’ decision to keep them apart.
A few beats later, the doorbell rings and the three women go to answer it. Sara’s in-laws have arrived and are already causing tension for Emma, who finds herself in a constant “grandma competition” with Sara’s mother-in-law, and Brenna, who must conceal the truth about her most recent dating mishaps.
Cue opening theme.
Cut to April in her hospital bed. She’s missing her job and she feels like she loses something else every day she spends in treatment. Beth cheers her up by telling her she should let the nurses know she’s in a lot of pain, so they’ll give her a morphine drip, but April explains that her paternal grandparents are coming to visit. When Beth’s attempt at brightening April’s mood fails, she says that she’s wasted all of her savings and needs to find both a job and a roommate as soon as possible, meaning her current life situation sucks, too. When April suggests she help Beth start looking for a new home and a new roommate, their conversation is interrupted by Sara. She needs to talk to April about something before April catches up with her grandparents. Once Beth leaves the room, Sara mentions Natalie and asks April not to bring up her father’s affair in front of her grandparents.
Cut to Dominic who decides to give April a call, then quickly changes his mind and hangs up before she can answer. In walks Graham, who expresses his concern for Dominic post-April break up. Dominic asks Graham about going out for lunch, but Graham already has plans with Beth, who’s waiting downstairs. It’s then that Dominic finally starts to realize the huge mistake he’s made in breaking up with April at the hospital the previous night, admitting it makes him sound like a jerk. Graham assures him everything will blow over, though Dominic admits he’s not so easily convinced and is considering returning to Europe.
Cut back to April in the hospital, who’s creating an online profile for Beth in the hope of finding her a roommate, when the door to her room suddenly swings open revealing Leo. She’s a bit shocked but still thrilled to see him. Leo explains that he needed to have tests done before he could go into surgery so his tumor won’t be removed for another few days. When he asks April how she’s feeling and mentions Dominic, April says that Dominic broke up with her. An awkward tension fills the room and April claims she’s tired, so Leo leaves to give her some space.
Later in the day, April wakes up from a nap to see that her paternal grandparents have finally visited. And when she wakes up, April is disheartened to learn that some of her hair has begun to fall out.
When Brenna visits April at the hospital that night, April expresses how upset she is about her hair falling out and Brenna tells her it’s okay for her to cry. Brenna also mentions her tricky predicament about still not having told her parents that she’s a “sometimes lesbian.”
Cut to the interior of the Carver house the next morning. Brenna has taken all the Christmas decorations out of storage and wants to use them to spruce up April’s hospital room since she’s been really sad lately. Given how much April is “obsessed” with Christmas, the rest of the family seems to think it’s a good idea. Enter April’s uncle George, whose dating life becomes the topic of conversation after a quasi-scuffle between Emma and Sara’s mother-in-law.
Since some of the Carver’s decorations had to be thrown away the previous year due to Sara’s mother-in-law’s belief that there were bedbugs in the house, she, Emma, and Brenna go to The Christmas Tree Store looking for more, except they come up short.
Back at the hospital, Dr. Hamburg checks in on April. It’s April’s last day of chemo, but her numbers are a little low, so Dr. Hamburg's keeping a close eye on her. In addition, Dr. Hamburg sends in a male nurse to cut April’s hair. Upon arrival, he’s immediately ready to start, though Beth has other plans and sends him out of the room while she and April talk. Beth suggests she cut April’s hair instead of the nurse, to which April agrees. Beth cuts April’s hair a little shorter, saying she’ll take it all off in “baby steps,” so that way they can experiment with some different hairstyles and April can have a little fun before it’s all gone. A nurse enters to check on April and they chat for a little bit. The nurse is new to the hospital and in need of roommate, which would make things easier for Beth.
Meanwhile, at the Carver house, Sara and George discuss his parents’ visit and also start to think about where they stand with their feelings toward one another. On top of that, Sara thinks she’s catching a cold and George reminds her that if she’s really sick she won’t be able to visit April at all.
At the hospital, Dr. Hamburg checks on April again and apologizes for Sara not being able to visit due to her cold. April’s grandparents also stop by to see how she’s feeling. April pretends to have fallen asleep in order to avoiding having to talk to them.
A little while afterward, April visits Leo to see how he’s preparing for surgery. Leo admits he’s scared of dying. April asks if he’s thought about what’s on his “bucket list.”
Back at the Carver house, Brenna becomes emotional after she looks through old family photos in April’s room.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, April chats with her uncle George and confesses that she feels bad about complaining about her grandparents visiting when she doesn’t see them all that much anymore. George tells her it’s okay and that he understands. Later on, April video chats with her mom in her hospital room. Soon enough, the rest of the family intrudes on the conversation, including April’s paternal grandparents, who continue to test her patience. Similar issues begin to plague Brenna, when she and April’s grandparents continue to tease her about having a boyfriend, and she loses her cool, admitting that she’s bisexual. After Brenna’s mini blow-up, the rest of the family follows suit, calling out April’s grandparents for being too overbearing at times. George rejects his parents’ idea that his brother, Thomas was the “model son” by divulging information about his affair, but his parents admit they already knew about it. When the tension, becomes too much, April stops the video chat, saying that the failed attempt at being a “happy family” isn’t making her feel any better. After April stops the video chat, Leo stops by to see her.
Leo takes April to the children’s playroom to have some fun and act like kids for a while, since that’s at the top of his bucket list.
Back at the Carver house, everyone is eating breakfast when George enters, saying they need to talk about what happened the previous night. George says everyone needs to put April first, so they decide to have Christmas in May again.
At the hospital, Beth is browsing the Internet for a new haircut idea for April, when the new nurse they met brings paperwork for her to sign. She and Beth are officially roommates. A little while later, April visits Leo and asks him to shave off the rest of her hair. When April has second thoughts, Leo says he’ll shave his head first if that will make her feel better. After Leo’s shaved both their heads, they talk about Leo’s surgery and share an emotional goodbye.
When April returns to her room, she is surprised to see that her family is there and they’ve decorated her room with some Christmas cheer. Everyone reconciles and puts the fight behind them. Sara is still sick, so she calls April from outside the hospital, showing that she’s still there in spirit and the Carver’s spread the Christmas spirit around the rest of the hospital.
The episode ends with Leo beginning to flatline during surgery.
Chasing Life returns with brand-new episodes on Monday, January 19 at 9:00 p.m. on ABC Family.