Reed and Malloy rush 8-year old Jimmy to Rampart Emergency Hospital with an as yet undiagnosed illness. Upon arrival, the immediate conclusion, and diagnosis are the same: Diabetes.

Scared of the hospital, Jimmy runs off, and it's up to Reed and Malloy to find him before he goes into a diabetic coma. They follow the only lead they have, to the one happy place he was before the attack began, at the pet store, to buy a puppy.

Elsewhere, Malloy's new girlfriend, Cathy, mans a hospital telephone hotline, which is about to go under due to lack of funds. One call has her worried, that from Sherry, a 15-year old junkie threatening suicide to escape her troubled life. Sherry won't discloes where she is while she takes some "reds," supplied by her similary junike mother.

Malloy and Reed need to find her fast, before she OD's.