Emily Owens, an awkward first-year intern at Denver Memorial Hospital, tries to balance work with romance. In the opener, Emily begins her internship and discovers her old high-school nemesis working there, as well as a guy she had a crush on in medical school.

Emily learns that the nurses don't like her when she is assigned a difficult case as revenge. Later, Emily reveals her feelings to Will, and considers using a secret she knows about the chief to get a speedy approval on a procedure.

Emily suffers a major embarrassment in front of her colleagues at the hands of a drug-impaired patient. In the aftermath, Emily decides to follow Dr. Bandari's advice and tries to toughen up. Emily and Will find that a teenage patient needs a partial liver transplant, but they uncover some surprising information when neither of the teen's parents is a match. Meanwhile, Cassandra starts treating Emily better in an effort to learn more about Will, and Tyra sets Emily up on a date with her ex, a fact which she doesn't reveal to Emily.

A beloved flower-delivery man collapses, but he is reluctant to get treatment. Meanwhile, Emily and Will are assigned to help a sick prisoner, but they find it difficult to remain professional and not let his crimes cloud their judgment.

When Emily, Will and Cassandra compete against each other to be Dr. Bandari's research assistant, feelings get hurt when they have to describe each other's flaws. Emily is determined to solve the medical mystery of a young patient whose x-rays reveals a bullet lodged in his lung, but who has no signs of a gunshot wound or scar. Meanwhile, Emily comes to a revelation about her personal life after diagnosing a daredevil with a rare disease that forces him to change his entire life.

Season Finale: Emily's decision about starting a relationship with Micah becomes even more complicated when Will hears about it and begins to feel jealous. Emily and Tyra treat an unruly woman, but after learning of her home hoarding situation, Emily wonders if the woman's personality changes may be caused by her many cats. Now that Cassandra and Will have broken up, Cassandra's strictly professional behavior distracts Will and causes him to misdiagnose their patient. Meanwhile, Micah's sister comes to town after finding out the truth about their mother.