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. 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.