This episode opens in San Francisco, where a man is getting on motorcycle. He is distracted by some women walking by and is hit by a SUV. 

We then see Shaun in his house. He is sitting at his table and looking at a cat outside on his patio. Someone knocks on his door. It's his neighbor wanting to borrow some batteries. He gives her some and she leaves after an awkward conversation where he introduces himself to her. 

In the hospital, Dr. Claire Browne picks up a ringing phone. She then runs through hospital towards Dr. Melendez to tell him that they have a liver for her patient Chuck.  

Melendez sends Claire and Shaun to get the liver. They have 8 hours of viability left for the liver.

Claire doesn't want to leave the hospital because she wants to stay with Chuck. She's been with him from the beginning and wants to be the one to take care of him before his surgery. Melendez sends her anyway. 

In the OR, Dr. Marcus Andrews is scrubbing in for a breast augmentation. The board member Allegra Aoki comes in to discuss a VIP patient. She needs it to go perfectly and wants Melendez to be his second in command in surgery.

Marcus is not happy about this because he thinks he can do it without Melendez. 

On the roof of the hospital, Murphy and Claire are waiting for helicopter. She checks with him to see if the noise is bothering him, but he says he likes helicopters. 

On the helicopter, Claire says getting the liver is scut work, but Shaun seems to enjoy the ride. He is fascinated with the rotors on top. Claire doesn't know how to talk to and connect with him. 

At St. Bonaventure Hospital, Jared is questioning Chuck, who is waiting on the liver. Chuck says he has not had any alcohol in the last 6 months. 

Claire and Shaun arrive at the hospital in San Francisco to get the liver. The surgeons there had already taken it out of the donor patient so they have lost 3 hours of time. Shaun inspects the liver, but Claire doesn't understand what he's looking for. 

Shaun says the liver is fine, and they pack the liver up to head back to hospital. 

Claire calls Dr. Aaron Glassman to ask for advice on talking to Shaun. Aaron tells her that he needs to let Shaun be and experience the new stimuli. He explains that she needs to connect with him in her own way. 

Unfortunately, the helicopter can't leave hospital with the liver because of fog. 

Claire tries to get an ambulance to drive to St. Bonaventure with the liver. However, an ambulance isn't available. Claire convinces the hospital to begin arranging a police escort. 

Dr. Andrews meets with the VIP patient. He had a tumor removed from his face and has a hole in his face. Andrews explains that they will take skin from his leg to fix the hole in his mouth. He admonishes the patient for smoking since it will hurt his healing process. 

Claire tries asking Shaun questions, but he doesn't answer her. The police escort arrives at the hospital to take the liver back to St. Bonaventure, but Shaun doesn't want to get into the car. 

In a flashback to Shaun's childhood, he is sitting in the back of a police car. The police have dropped him off at home to his abusive father. He doesn't want to get out of the police car because he's scared of his dad. He keeps saying he was promised by his brother that he wouldn't have to go back to his dad. 

Claire asks the officer to turn off the flashers, and Shaun gets into the car. Before he gets in, though, he wants to know the liver donor's name. 

Dr. Melendez goes to Andrews to ask if he wants help on the VIP surgery. Andrews doesn't want him to be the second, but Melendez stresses how important the surgery is because the VIP has a lot of money to donate to the hospital. 

Jared goes to the lab and is clearly upset. He says Chuck's labs are wrong. The lab woman says it's right and there is alcohol in his system. Jared asks her to run the blood work again. 

In the police car, Shaun is looking at the X-rays of the liver. Shaun randomly tells Claire that he has a girl neighbor but doesn't say anything else when Claire asks more questions about it. 

The temperature on the cooler with the liver is going up, putting the organ in danger. 

Back at the hospital, Chuck's lab results come back again with alcohol in his blood. Jared asks him about it, and he admits that he had champagne 3 days ago to celebrate his daughter's graduation. 

Claire and Shaun stop at a gas station to get ice for the liver but the ice freezer isn't working. Claire tries frozen peas but Shaun tells her it won't work.

Shaun is distracted by the slushie machine, which causes a flashback to his childhood. He's sitting alone in a police station with an officer giving him a slushie. 

Jared tells Dr. Melendez about the alcohol. Melendez begins doing calculations to see if the blood alcohol level is higher than Chuck said. He figures out that Chuck only had one drink so they can argue that Chuck still deserves the liver. 

Shaun has the idea to submerge the liver in the slushie to get it to cool. Claire still has difficulty understanding why Shaun won't answer her questions, but then Claire realizes he doesn't like questions. Shaun is willing to talk when she doesn't talk in questions. 

In the cafeteria, Marcus asks Aaron for advice about Melendez being his number 2 on the VIP surger. Aaron tells him to start acting presidential and stop being egotistical about it. 

In an impassioned speech, Chuck tells Jared he wants the liver for a second chance at life. As he is telling Jared his story, he begins coughing and then goes into a code blue. 

Melendez and Jared work on Chuck and discover blood in his esophagus. Jared is clearly upset because he needs to get this liver or he will die. They say has 3 months to live without it, but they will need to convince the committee that he can still have the liver after his drink.

In the police car, Shaun is still inspecting the x-rays of the liver. We see a flashback to young Shaun in what looks like psych ward or a hospital room. He is looking at an anatomy textbook when Dr. Glassman comes into the room.

Shaun remembers something from the textbook and takes the liver out of the cooler. He feels the liver to see if it's firm. When he feels that it is, he says there must be a clot in the liver but the scans show no clot.

Claire says the scans were taken before the liver was harvested and that it was not harvested correctly. Shaun and Claire need to operate on the liver immediately to get rid of clot and save the liver for Chuck. 

They shut down the highway to remove the blockage in the liver and get rid of the clot. Claire and Shaun are happy because it appears the liver has been saved. 

At the hospital, the VIP is doing well before surgery, and Marcus tells him he will be fine. 

Melendez tells Chuck that he only has two to three months to live with the new complications. He promises that he will try to convince the transplant team that Chuck still deserves the liver but can only try his best because Chuck had a drink.

Chuck's daughter feels guilty because she handed the drink to him. She tells Melendez that if he lets him die, she will have killed her father. 

Melendez is clearly nervous in the elevator with his fiancee Jessica as they head to the transplant committee meeting. In the meeting, Dr. Melendez tries to convince the transplant committee that Chuck deserves the liver. 

Marcus argues that they shouldn't throw out the rules so that Chuck can have the liver when other patients are waiting and have followed the rules. He says that Chuck didn't earn the liver because he knew the rules but broke them anyway.

Jessica says the hospital can lose privileges if they move forward with Chuck's transplant.  

Dr. Glassman says he understands both arguments. He says they have a patient who needs a liver and a liver who needs a patient.  

In the VIP's surgery, Marcus is closing him up when they discover a hematoma. He asks for Melendez to get to the OR to help. 

The liver arrives at St. Bonaventure Hospital. Claire is excited until she finds out about the alcohol. Chuck's been moved to the bottom of the list, and the liver is being sent to a patient at another hospital. 

In the OR, Drs. Melendez and Andrews work together on the VIP surgery.

Shaun and Claire sit outside the hospital while they wait for the other hospital to pick up the liver. 

Claire is upset that Chuck won't get the liver, but Shaun reminds her that they still saved someone's life. 

Dr. Melendez sees Chuck and his family leaving the hospital. He tells Chuck's daughter that it's not her fault, but she has trouble believing that. 

Drs. Melendez and Andrews see the VIP leaving after his successful surgery, but he is still smoking. They are clearly upset about this. 

At his apartment, Shaun knocks on his neighbor's door. He wants the batteries back that he lent to her. She gives them back and Shaun asks her what her name is and says it's nice to meet her. 

Dr. Melendez is lying awake in bed and seems upset about his day. 

Shaun puts cat food on his patio then sits at kitchen table to see if the cat will come back. 

In a flashhback, young Shaun is in restaurant with Dr. Glassman but he's not eating his pancakes. Dr. Glassman takes the pancakes and gives him a big anatomy textbook. Glassman says he can stay with him that night and they'll figure out the rest tomorrow. 

Back at St. Bonaventure Hospital, Dr. Glassman gives Shaun pancakes in the hospital cafeteria. He is taking care of Shaun, which seems to make Shaun happy.