Dr. Joy Gilbert loses her job at a clinic in the city due to her habit of treating patients who cannot pay. To her shock, she arrives back home in the small town of Juliet, Misssouri, to find that Tressa, the daughter of her wealthy and influential former employer, has quietly hitched a ride with her. Not only does this threaten Joy's career and her freedom, since she has crossed a state line with a minor, but the return home, and loss of her job also forces her to face her estranged mother, Molly, and Zack, her former fiance, who is now director of the emergency department. When Joy is forced to swallow her pride and take a job in the ER working for Zack, she and her young friend, Tressa, must stay with Molly and her menagerie of cats, dogs, a goat, a miniature horse and various other rescued animals. While Joy struggles to make amends with both Zack and her mother, Tressa becomes ill, and the situation threatens to spiral out of control.