A young widow with a stomach tumor leans heavily on her 14-year-old son, who has dealt with the pressure by becoming a closet alcoholic.

A group of radicals kidnaps Melanie, and gives Trapper an ultimatum: either he kills a policeman who has survived two earlier murder attempts, or they will kill his ex-wife.

A man diagnosed with terminal cancer tries to come to terms with the fact that he only has months to live, then must deal with something almost equally disturbing: he has gone into remission while the new friend he has made continues to get worse.

Gonzo takes a leave from the hospital to supervise a very rich young woman with a rare medical condition, and is charged with sexual misconduct when he rejects her advances. Trapper looks for a new scrub nurse to replace Starch.

The mother of a little girl who needs heart surgery refuses to let Gonzo operate because of sexual misconduct charges pending against him. Ernie agrees to take the job as Trapper's scrub nurse.

Hub Wendover arrives at San Francisco Memorial Hospital for treatment for his leg and to be close to his son, Gonzo. Trapper operates on Hub finding his body riddled with cancer. Gonzo and Hub have some issues to deal with. Gonzo can't help but love the Father that supposedly walked out when he was four years old.

Stanley wants to upgrade the hospital's image, and puts forth a talented staff surgeon as a ""typical"" SFM doctor - until he learns that the man is a local Ku Klux Klan leader.

A woman prisoner gives birth to a premature baby, who is rushed to SFM for care. The mother, upset at not being allowed to be with her child, beats the prison warden who refused to arrange for her to be taken to the hospital.

Trapper buys himself a gun after being robbed, then has second thoughts.

A mentally disabled man who works at the hospital is able to make friends with a crotchety old hermit who is dying of cancer, but gets embarrassed and quits his job when he misinterprets Gloria's feelings for him.

Jackpot convinces several of the staff to invest in a promising young boxer he is managing, but after the fighter kills his opponent in his first professional match he begins to suffer mysterious injuries that may keep him out of the ring permanently.

A baby admitted to the hospital for a urinary tract infection turns out to be a hermaphrodite, sparking a battle between the parents over which sex it should be.

When Gloria Brancusi learns that Andrea, the orphan girl, has come back to the hospital as a patient her first reaction is to run away. Gloria has second thoughts after deciding to adopt the troubled orphan.

Gonzo's mother introduces him to her new boyfriend, a sportswriter his age. Gonzo is not happy about the situation.

Gonzo starts dating a high society woman who tries to convince him to leave the hospital and set up a private practice. She also talks him into selling the Titanic to Jackpot.