The Good Doctor

Martin Blake transfers to a Southern California hospital to begin his residency. He appears outwardly charming but is really a narcissist who longs to wield power over others. His attitude quickly strains his relationships with nurses and even some of his supervisors.

Despite his charm, Martin fails to endear himself to his first patients and earns a reputation for arrogance. Nurses and junior staff begin to distance themselves as he overestimates his own competence. He remains on thin ice with his superiors.

Eighteen-year-old Diane Nixon is admitted with a kidney infection and becomes Martin's patient. Martin administers treatment and is briefly hailed by her family as a hero as her condition improves. This success fans Martin's ego.

As Diane's health seems to recover, Martin starts to tamper with her medications and subtly botch aspects of her treatment. He maintains the illusion that he is doing everything possible to nurse her back to health. His manipulation grows as he seeks to prove his superiority.

Diane's critical condition deepens and Martin's negligence escalates; eventually, he falls asleep while watching over her and she dies. His actions are not discovered immediately, masking the fatal mistake as if he was still helping. The hospital remains unaware of the cause.

Jimmy, an orderly, finds Diane's diary containing sexual fantasies about Martin. He recognizes that even the implication of an improper doctor-patient relationship could damage Martin's career. He uses the diary to blackmail Martin into providing narcotics.

To silence the threat, Martin laces Jimmy's drugs with potassium cyanide and kills him. He then breaks into Jimmy's locker and steals the diary. The crime is framed as a dangerous, escalating manipulation to preserve his reputation.

A police detective questions Martin at his home, triggering a panic. Martin locks himself in the bathroom, attempts to flush the diary down the toilet, and ultimately escapes through a window. He wanders to the ocean, contemplates suicide, then returns to dump the diary in the garbage.

After the confrontation, the detective leaves without solid evidence tying Martin to Jimmy's death, allowing him to resume his routine. The hospital reopens wards as if nothing occurred, and Martin maintains the façade of a dedicated physician. The investigation lingers unresolved in the background.

An unspecified amount of time later, Martin returns to his duties at the hospital. He projects confidence to colleagues and patients, treating his role as a restoration of control. He resumes his work with a practiced calm, masking the earlier crimes.

With no concrete charges, the case remains unresolved and Martin continues practicing medicine. The story ends on him reassuring a young patient with the line, 'I'm getting better all the time,' underscoring his dangerous capacity for harm disguised as competence.