After wealthy fertilizer heir Tony Brown is accidentally shot in the posterior while duck hunting, he is taken to a hospital to which he contributes $100,000 a year. Overly solicitous administrator Oliver Wherry orders nurse Katie McDermad to assist Dr. Jeff Chadwick during Tony's minor surgery, even though Katie is exhausted after a long day. Katie is so annoyed that she openly complains during the procedure. Later, Tony tells Wherry about his "shabby" treatment, threatens to cut the hospital off and insists that Katie be fired. After Katie is dismissed by Wherry and her supervisor, Nurse Vogel, she goes to the annual hospital dance with her friend, Dr. Rollie Cobb. There Jeff, asks the provocatively dressed Katie to use her "assets" to persuade Tony to change his mind. Katie, who is attracted to Jeff, agrees in order to save Jeff's job as well as her own. When Katie goes to Tony's hospital room, he does not recognize her without her surgical mask and starts to flirt. After she identifies herself, he becomes furious, but quickly softens and offers champagne. Katie returns, very drunk, to the party and lets Jeff know that she has had some success with Tony, but Jeff now seems annoyed and abruptly leaves. The next morning, Katie arranges for an appointment with Jeff for her pregnant sister, Ann Elcott. Later Vogel, who has been told by Tony to rehire Katie, and Wherry tell Katie that she can have her job back if she persuades Tony to reinstate his contribution. She reluctantly agrees, but soon learns from Tony that he cannot give money to the hospital because Lucille, his ex-wife, is demanding $300,000 to compensate for losses she suffered when he manipulated stock given to her in their divorce settlement. When Katie relates this to Jeff, he tells her to keep at Tony, even though he is attracted to Katie himself. After Tony has been released from the hospital, Jeff invites Katie for dinner at his home, a faded mansion he shares with his eccentric Aunt Clara. When he takes Katie to his basement laboratory, Katie sees a photograph of an attractive woman. She then starts to play up to Jeff, and they kiss, but she cannot help asking about the woman in the picture. He angrily tells her that the woman could not stay by him through years of privation. Hearing this, Katie apologizes, then leaves, after which Jeff confides his feelings for Katie to his research monkeys. The next night, Katie's family tries to spruce up the house to make a good impression on Tony, who has asked Katie out, but he accidentally sits on a chair with a loose spring. At the same time, Jeff comes to the door, claiming that he wanted to check Ann's elevated blood pressure. He examines Tony's reopened wound and determines that Tony must go immediately for a shot of penicillin. After the men leave, Katie takes Ann's blood pressure herself and, because it is normal, realizes that Jeff's excuse for the visit was a ruse. The next morning, Frank, Ann's ne'er-do-well husband, goes to Tony to ask for a $5,000 loan for a real estate deal, and Tony says yes. Meanwhile, Jeff complains to Wherry that he should not be using Katie to get at Tony, but Wherry warns Jeff that his job may be in jeopardy. A short time later, as Jeff and Katie prepare for surgery, they argue until Rollie tells Katie about Jeff coming to her defense with Wherry. After the surgery, Jeff and Katie start to talk, then realize that they are in love, and kiss. That night, Katie gets a call from a man saying that Tony has been in an accident and has been taken to a nearby motel room. When she arrives at the motel, the room is empty, until Tony, who had received a call that Katie was in an accident, arrives. Just as they realize that they have been tricked, a photographer snaps their picture and rushes off. Tony and Katie then follow the man, who drives off in a car with Lucille and her mother. Tony forces them off the road, then fights the photographer, but is interrupted by a policeman, who takes them all to night court. After paying a fine, Tony tells Katie that he has no other choice but to pay Lucille, and she promises that Frank will repay the $5,000 loan. By the time Katie reaches home, though, Frank has been arrested for his unwitting part in a real estate fraud. Needing money for bail, Katie goes to Jeff, who hurts her by turning her down, saying his money is only budgeted for research. She tells him they are through, then asks Tony, who quickly offers the money. The next morning, a very happy Tony tells his lawyer to pay Lucille, send the hospital its money and give Frank a job, certain that his company's finances will improve. He later makes Wherry permanently reinstate Katie, to whom he proposes. When Jeff learns this, he makes a comment to Katie about Tony "buying" her, but quickly apologizes. Tony's generosity toward Katie's family continues over the next few weeks, despite Katie's warning that she does not want him to feel used. One night, when Ann goes into labor, the overly protective Katie is upset that the fun-loving Rollie will be her doctor. Katie begs Jeff to take over, but Jeff insists that he cannot question Rollie's abilities. Ann successfully delivers the baby, but a few hours later, the baby has developed a respiratory problem, and Rollie calls Jeff in to collapse the lung. By the time Jeff arrives, the baby's condition has worsened, and Rollie successfully performs the surgery himself. Jeff then says goodbye because he has taken a position at John Hopkins and must catch a train. Now realizing that Katie loves Jeff, Tony drives her to the station. Katie finds Jeff on the platform, and the two kiss, just as Tony, who has been searching the departing train for Jeff, looks on. He decides to stay after meeting an attractive woman, but immediately sits down on her knitting needles.
