When several people die suddenly and without warning five years after receiving transplants from a single organ donor, House and the team rush to save the only two surviving recipients. House has hired Lucas Douglas, a private investigator, to dig up information about the deceased despite the team's skepticism. Meanwhile, House auditions new best friends to replace Wilson, and soon uses Lucas for his own personal means to spy on Wilson and the other team members.

When House receives word that his father has passed away, he brushes off the news and dismisses the idea of going to the funeral. However, he is soon coerced into going despite his strongest protests. Back at Princeton-Plainsboro, the team encounters the case of a young woman adopted by American parents who collapsed while in China looking for her birth parents.