Jarod Randolph joins the EMT’s in Atlanta, Georgia, and arranges to be partnered with Gary Rennert, an EMT driver who has been taking certain well insured patients to Queen of Mercy Hospital, regardless of whether it’s the closest or best hospital for the patient. Rennert has a deal with the hospital administrator at Queen of Mercy, and gets paid a kickback. Fletcher, the hospital’s administrator, in turn, bills the patient’s insurance companies for large sums of money.

Rennert took a grad-student, Steven Chambers, to Queen of Mercy Hospital, after he suffered an accident during a school wrestling match. The hospital was so far away from the sports complex where the accident occurred that it took 25 minutes for the ambulance to get there. Chambers fell into an irreversible coma and his parents eventually had to suffer the agony of making the decision to stop life support.

To avenge Chambers and catch Rennert, Jarod sets up a faux accident, with a victim that should go elsewhere. As Rennert is collecting his money from Fletcher, Jarod, Dr. Sarah Corey, Max Vargas, from the state inspection board, and another EMT, Julie Thorton, enter the room to expose the illegal activity. Fletcher and Rennert are both arrested.

Jarod believes that he has found a treatment regimen that will help coma patients to awaken. He calls it “Halstrom’s Technique” and leaves it for Sydney to find in one of his red notebooks. Sydney uses it on his twin brother, Jacob, who has been in a coma since suffering injuries in a car accident that took place while Sydney was driving. Jarod realizes, too late, that the regimen is flawed, only providing a temporary “awakening” - the patient eventually falls back into a comatose state. However, the technique worked long enough for Jacob to write Sydney two notes ... one said, “SL 27” and the other said, “It’s not your fault”, relieving Sydney of the guilt he had borne for all the years in which Jacob had been in a coma.

Mr. Raines orders Miss Parker to kill Jacob, in order to keep him from talking to Sydney, and orders Sam the Sweeper to watch her do it, in order to verify to him that it was done. But Miss Parker and Sydney work out a plan to fool Sam, and although Raines believes Jacob to be dead, Miss Parker didn’t hurt him at all.

Steven Chambers’ parents donate his heart to a family in Cleveland, who have a child that desperately needs the transplant.