A group of eight young medical interns joins the City Hospital surgery team, led by Dr. Prang, a brash and cynical surgeon who lives an expensive, dissolute lifestyle.
Meanwhile, old mafioso Sal Bonafetti is admitted under an assumed name after a stroke, while his son Angelo / Angela Bonafetti disguises himself as a woman to watch over him, fearing retaliation by rival crime syndicates.
A professional hitman, Malamud, is admitted to a bed next to Sal to assassinate him, but his every attempt fails, forcing him into painful and unnecessary treatment.
The resident who regularly checks in with Sal and Angela is Dr. Walter Rist. Over time, he seems to develop feelings for “her,” not knowing it’s Sal’s son in disguise.
Dr. Stephanie Brody and Dr. Simon August begin a relationship as the hospital weeks unfold. On a night out, she experiences a strong pain in her side but tries to shrug it off.
As Dr. Phil Burns works two other jobs to afford the residency, he’s half-asleep when a dirty note is passed to him by head Nurse Nurse Norine Sprockett. He initially mistakes it for a come-on, and when he makes a pass at her, Norine slaps him. As an awkward apology, he demonstrates the fox step, his second job as a dance instructor. He then discovers Norine wears the key to the medications cabinet around her neck and uses that to press his luck for an upper.
Dr. Prang schedules Simon for a basic surgery, but Simon panics when assigned an appendectomy. He has a flashback to a birthday joke played on him with a piñata, a moment that lingers in his mind.
Stephanie and Simon’s bond takes a intimate turn when Stephanie has sex with him on the operating table to help him overcome his fear of the room.
Months pass, and Sal continues to foil Malamud’s assassination attempts, a tension that shadows the hospital corridors.
At the Christmas party, Stephanie and Simon announce their engagement, only for Stephanie to collapse shortly afterward. It’s revealed she has a condition requiring a labor-intensive procedure, forcing Simon to push for the operation.
Simon pressures a reluctant Dr. Prang to proceed, even though the procedure is highly complicated; to shield the team, they practice on a dummy first.
Meanwhile, Phil’s illegal drug dealing—sourced from the hospital—lands him in custody after Norine uncovers the scheme.
As the operation looms, Stephanie’s procedure is scheduled, but a nurses’ strike erupts at the last minute. Dr. Prang confronts bankruptcy on his books, leaving Simon to operate without him, supported by his fellow residents.
In the end, after a sequence of scares and setbacks, the operation is a success, delivering a cautious but hopeful resolution to a hospital filled with ambition, risk, and the fragility of life.
