Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and Lea (Paige Spara) open the November 12 seventh episode of Season 2 of “The Good Doctor,” “Hubert.” in hopes of bringing further domestication of their roommate relationship by bringing home a pet. Lea loves the puppies, but the persistent licks are too much for the tactile-averse Shaun. He prefers cats, who are “smart and independent,” but Lea is allergic to them. They even consider boa constrictors before settling on a nice-sized goldfish, christened as “Hubert” by Lea.

Doting Lea reminds the new member of the family that “daddy shows his love in a different way,” as Shaun studies proper goldfish care.

At the hospital, Dr. Murphy, Dr. Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) become mediators between two brothers over saving a family business or saving a life.

When Dr. Brown (Antonia Thomas) visits her college roommate, now in the final stages of ovarian cancer, she decides to intercede with Dr. Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) to do a procedure that will only buy a little time, but much less pain. The patient herself, Kayla (Rachel Boston) asks a much bigger favor of Claire Brown—to become the next woman in her husband's life.

A lot more than a nail

When a patient named Santiago (Hemky Madera) presents to the emergency room with a nail from a construction job in his forehead, the solution seems relatively simple, and Dr.

Lim removes the nail, under the critique of his brother (Gonzalo Menendez), who insists that he could've taken care of the situation at home with “a pair of vise grips.” Suddenly, Santiago begins to crash, and the doctors discover a nail wound in his back. During surgery, they find that his kidney has been completely destroyed by the impact of the power tool, and decide to leave Santiago with one kidney until they discover that he was born with only one.

Dr. Lim challenges Shaun and Morgan to convince the brother to consent to giving a kidney to Santiago since he has only days to survive. The best and most viable match is the closest family member, but the brothers are in conflict over Santiago striving to run the family business, started by their father, and the option to sell the enterprise at a much higher price, negotiated by his brother.

This bad blood becomes a matter of life and death. Morgan suggests having a kind of “open call” of volunteers to be tested, during which they can say that other relatives have gone through the trouble and process, in order to persuade the elder brother.

It soon becomes apparent that Santiago is not willing to budge, no matter what, while his brother’s only caveat is the sale. Shaun learns a new meaning of leverage, and another about the colloquialism of “playing cards” one has available to get a preferred outcome. Amidst the intense feuding, Dr. Murphy relates how his own father deemed that he was “not worth it” and wished his son had never been born, but his brother, Steve, offered constant support and belief.

That moment in truth moves the brother to sign papers, and also to share some positive affirmations with Santiago, even if they stretched the truth a bit.

However uneasy, the brothers come to terms, and jokes that the next time a kidney is needed, it will require “a big check.”

In the middle of all the medical drama, Lea pesters Shaun about Hubert's condition, and by the time the good doctor gets home, the fish is dead. In a moment of maturity, Lea confronts the situation, realizing that she is more the problem than the new pet. Shaun picks up the fishbowl and departs. He gets word of some untypical test results during the transplant surgery, but the rest of the team doesn’t quite pick up on the context, as Shaun reminds that “it's not this patient.”

A huge favor

Claire understands the situation that Kayla is in completely, knowing that she cannot halt the progress of cancer, now that no treatments are having an impact.

She asks Dr. Melendez and Dr. Park (Will Yun Lee) to consider a laparoscopic surgery the excise a growth that is invading the diaphragm. Kayla wants Claire to be part of the surgery, saying she will not do it without her, and Dr. Melendez assures that Dr. Brown will prep her for surgery.

Kayla wants Claire to be her successor of sorts with her husband, Dash (John Patrick Amedori), knowing that he will be devastated by her loss and that Claire “already has chemistry” in her opinion. Under much cajoling, Claire agrees to one real date with Dash, but the situation is so contrived, and the grief so real, it goes nowhere. Claire and Kayla have a major dispute just before the surgery that is undertaken to perhaps do more than relieve pain.

Claire contends that Kayla is only trying to control her husband and the future, while instead, she should be celebrating the time she has left to the fullest. Kayla comes through the surgery, barely, and both friends apologize. Kayla comes to see that she should relish in the love and support of her husband now, more than worrying about his life without her.

Claire still cannot bring herself to an apology with Dr. Melendez, and he tells her that it would be best if she returns to Dr. Litton’s team next week, even with her stellar surgical performance on Kayla's behalf.

The final scene is a treat on this installment of “The Good Doctor.” Shaun debates that Hubert was sold with an existing parasitic condition, and thus, they are due to have a fresh, healthy fish in exchange.

The clerk gives the predictable policy yadda-yadda until he is presented with the full lab report by Shaun, who seemed to be acting much like a husband in this particular exchange. Shaun comforts his roomie, reminding her that “it's not your fault” regarding Hubert. The closing frames depict him and Lea considering a platy, a very “hearty” species.
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