This episode opens with a flashback to 2016, showing a young Taryn Quintyne (Brittany Adebumola) rehearsing her valedictorian speech. She begins to cough but powers through, only for her condition to worsen. Her mother calls an ambulance, and Taryn is hospitalized with sickle cell anemia. Fast forward to the present day, and Taryn is once again in the hospital after years of battling the disease. Her doctor informs her that she’ll need a blood transfusion, though the costs of current treatments are astronomical. Just as her doctor leaves, Taryn suffers a stroke, leaving her paralyzed on her left side.
At the clinic, Sasha, Stephens, and Adam are puzzled by Watson’s sticky notes on the glass wall, which mention a “Man with the Glowing Chest.” They try to make sense of it, while Sasha speaks with Ingrid, who is furiously typing. Ingrid, a lead neurologist on a groundbreaking project, is frustrated because the chairman keeps rejecting her recommended candidates for surgery.
Meanwhile, Adam continues texting Watson for clarification on the cryptic notes. Watson eventually confirms that he's actually examining a man with a glowing chest. Watson is checking on his friend Hobie, whose glowing chest results from a gene-editing experiment he performed on himself to stand out. He bio-hacked his own genome.
Back at the clinic, Mary asks Watson to look at Taryn’s case, emphasizing that her sickle cell anemia is rapidly worsening. She needs to be eligible for a sickle cell trial, and Watson is intrigued by the possibility of editing her genome. Watson agrees to help but cautions that the procedure is risky and could jeopardize his career and freedom.
When Watson examines Taryn, she's wary and has blurry vision, which prevents her from recognizing faces. During the exam, he notices that her eyes are bleeding internally—a troubling symptom. Watson proposes using a needle to draw fluid from her eye, which she hesitantly agrees to. He explains that there's a potential cure for sickle cell anemia, one that involves genome editing, and that she shouldn't have to suffer.
In the office, Watson discusses Taryn’s case with the team. He’s determined to use CRISPR technology to edit her genome and potentially cure her sickle cell anemia. The team devises a plan to monitor her condition, reduce her episodes, and stabilize her enough to be eligible for the trial.
Sasha and Ingrid continue looking into Taryn’s medical journal, discovering that her condition is worsening. Ingrid also turns her attention to a neurological trial and asks Sasha for help in getting a patient selected for it. Meanwhile, Watson and Shinwell discuss the logistics of obtaining the expensive $3 million cure for Taryn. Watson is determined to find a way to make the treatment happen, even if it means bending the law.
The next morning, Watson explains the risky, unauthorized procedure to Taryn: a gene-editing treatment that could potentially cure her of sickle cell anemia. He tells her that no one has done it before, and that it’s not approved, so she can't tell anyone about it. When she asks why he’s willing to risk everything for her, he simply says, "Because you're my patient, and you deserve this."
Later, Shinwell and Watson execute the plan to transfer Taryn to another facility, while Stephens and Adam are left suspicious. Later, Stephens notices Hobie and Watson’s secretive actions and puts the pieces together, figuring out what they’ve done.
The procedure itself involves infusing Taryn’s blood with edited cells that will eventually replace the sickle cells, making her disease-free. Watson believes this new science will work, and after some hesitation, Taryn agrees to the treatment.
The team remains on edge, unsure of the legality of Watson's actions. However, Watson is confident he’s made the right choice. He leaves them to decide whether or not to report him. When Taryn wakes up, she’s feeling better, and Mary notes that her vitals are improving. But Mary later draws blood from Taryn to investigate further.
At home, Taryn feels pain in her chest and calls Watson. He sends her to the OR for an emergency procedure. Afterward, he recalls that Taryn has a copper IUD, which might have caused the embolism, not the gene-editing procedure. The team is left uncertain about the cause but relieved that Taryn is stable for now.
The episode ends with Ingrid getting her patient into the trial, thanks to Sasha's referral, and Mary uncovering a surprising piece of news: Taryn is pregnant. It turns out the IUD failed. Taryn, however, is happy and hopeful, and the episode ends on a positive note for her.
The episode explored the moral implications of medical bureaucracy, the lengths to which Watson is willing to go to save a life, and the costs of groundbreaking medical treatments like gene-editing. It also offered a personal glimpse into the lives of the fellows, with Shinwell enjoying the thrill of the secret operation that saved Taryn’s life. The episode also provided insight into sickle cell anemia and why affordable cures remain out of reach for many.
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