Dr. Steven Kiley, embarrassingly hospitalized for Chicken Pox, becomes interested in "Dutch" Radtke, a husky oil field worker who panics at the prospect of surgery. Radtke's physician plans exploratory surgery to determine if he has cancer of the bladder. Dr. Kiley, who has been checking up on tropical diseases, advocates alternative testing. However, he is unable to reach Radke's physician, and Radtke, the night before the surgery is scheduled, escapes from the hospital.