The team takes on the case of a 16-year-old factory manager who fell ill when her lungs suddenly filled with fluid while at work. The teenager informs House and team that she is an emancipated minor living on her own and supporting herself, and has ever since her parents passed away. The team begins treatment for suspected heart problems, but when Kutner chooses to sympathize with the patient rather than follow House’s directions, he and the team find out the hard way that the girl may not be telling them the truth. Meanwhile, Foreman asks for House’s permission to work on a clinical trial and House rejects his proposal. In an effort to prove himself capable of working without House’s supervision, Foreman takes on his own pediatric case. But when the unexplained illness brings the child to the brink of death, Foreman is left questioning his ability to work free from House’s custody.