Dr. Welby, called by flying physician Jerome Billings, an orthopedic surgeon, for help finds young Carlos in a diabetic coma. Carlos' grandfather, Charlie, convinced his grandson will die, objects to Welby's treating him but accompanies Carlos when Welby insists on flying the ailing youth to a hospital. Weather forces the plane into an emergency landing in which Charlie is injured, giving Welby two emergencies to handle.

When Julie Langley Kirk's illness is diagnosed by Dr. Welby as serious heart damage, she refuses to accept it at first. Convinced finally by Dr. Welby that she must continue her work, she works on, with the help of her assistant, Greta, finishing a moving photographic essay on the end of life.

When 17-year-old gymnastic champion Rickie Manning falls off the rings in gym, he is examined by Dr. Kiley who suspects the boy has been drinking. He and Dr. Welby want the boy to get help from a group at Comeback House. Richie's parents resist at first, but come to face the fact they have helped create their son's problems by pressures on him following the death of their other son.

Laura Daniels develops a serious heart problem as the result of rheumatic fever. Although she accepts Dr. Welby's order to give up her TV interview show, she is convinced that her husband Paul loves her only as a successful career woman. She returns to work, getting pills from her assistant, Jan, and these, combined with liquor, cause her to collapse, making heart surgery mandatory.

Troubled by his wife's relationship with a charming young political candidate, a successful architect-builder turns to tranquilizers and is seriously injured at a construction site.