DR NILES CAULDER, experimental doctor and medical science pioneer, has seen his fair share of hopeless cases— a girl with an unstable molecular structure, a scarred man emitting waves of radiation, and a race-car driver whose body was completely destroyed, to name a few.

Over the years (and there have been many), he's grown more than familiar with other doctors giving up; abandoning difficult patients in their time of need, purely because they deem their condition as inexorable. Call it a saviour's complex if you must, but in Dr. Caulder's eyes, nobody is beyond repair.

Not even the unconscious girl who is being wheeled into Northern Michigan Hospital on a stretcher, a crowd of medical staff surrounding her, barking frantic information back and forth.

Lydia Harrison, age twelve, had fallen through the ice-covered lake that she and her foster brother — the same person who had called the paramedics — had been playing on top of.

By the time the ambulance arrived, Lydia had been underwater for five minutes and was already cold to the bone. CPR was attempted throughout the whole ride to the hospital before the waiting doctors jumped into action and continued the procedure for another twenty minutes. During that time, Lydia showed no signs of life, until finally, mercifully, her heart starts once again.

But that doesn't mean she was in the clear. The girl's body temperature remains at 90 degrees, leaving her in the range of a life-threatening situation. Her heart rate slows, as does her blood flow, and she remains unconscious for days, brain activity low. The doctors are well aware that this girl is still in trouble and fading fast, but remain entirely perplexed on what can be done as test after test to save the girl fails.

After two weeks have passed, Lydia's foster family stop visiting, and the doctor's only come to check that she is still breathing. Unbeknownst to Lydia, it seems she's doomed to a life in a hospital bed, until someone eventually pulls the plug.

That's where Niles Caulder comes in.

As he continues to search the world for those he believes are in need of a safe place to heal, Dr. Caulder discovers the case of Lydia Harrison and makes it his goal to save the young girl. She has nobody in her corner, but she would soon have a real family.

He travels to Michigan, even speaks to her foster parents who seem relieved to find someone that actually wants to take the sick girl off their hands, and before he knows it, the doctor has signed Lydia out of hospital and brought her to his own home in Covington, Ohio. With the assistance of the other housemates, previous patients of his, Dr. Caulder works through the day and into the night for five days straight before his serum is perfected.

The serum glows in the light of the moon that shines through the window as the man pushes the needle into Lydia's arm, pressing down slowly on the plunger and watching closely as his cure enters her bloodstream; the blue liquid shining through her skin while it travels through her veins.

All that there is to do now is wait.

Dr. Caulder enters the large living room where three people (well, two and one robot) stand, chatting idly until they catch sight of him.

"Well?" the woman asks, nervously wringing her hands together. "Did it work?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Caulder replies.

When the group awaken the next morning to a cool chill in the air and light frost covering the entirety of the home, they know they have their answer.