In the first episode, Dr. Kay O'Brien is scolded vehemently by a surly colleague Dr. Mark Doyle for making an improper judgement, wins unspoken approval from surgery chief Dr. Josef Wallach, befriends a sick orphan, and returns home to discover her boy friend has left her. (PK)

A Chinatown tradesman is critically wounded in a shoot-out and requires a kidney transplant, and his brain-dead attacker may be the only suitable donor. Meanwhile Dr. Kay O'Brien's parents breeze into town, adding to her already hectic schedule.

Dr. Kay O'Brien makes critical decisions on a pair of emergency patients: a young woman who refuses surgery due to her parent's religious beliefs; and a terminally ill photojournalist who wants to get the most out of his remaining days.