One night, an unnamed man and his new coworker named Dale drive a heart to Lebanon Springs for a woman who is about to die. The man and Dale must stop every hour to call the hospital and ensure that the patient is still alive, but they are not allowed to stop for food, drink, or even the restroom, if possible. While he holds the heart in its metal box in the passenger seat, Dale asks his coworker what the patient’s name is, but the man says it doesn’t matter. Dale then complains of hunger, and his coworker re-explains the rules. Dale turns the radio up, only for the other man to turn it back down, and the man thinks to himself that people like Dale are not meant for this line of work because they are too apathetic about the job. The man tries to explain the importance of their work, and emphasizes how people who have suffered from accidents are only able to stay alive because people like them transport hearts to their hospitals quickly and efficiently. However, he thinks to himself that Dale will never truly understand.  The man also thinks about the strange things he has seen in his life; for example, once, a woman offered to sell two kidneys at a hospital, and the one time he flew on an airplane, there was a woman who began to scream and went into labor two months early. Dale then asks where exactly they are headed, and the man responds that they are on the way to Lebanon Springs but doesn’t tell Dale that it is his hometown. He begins to quiz Dale about other rules related to their work, such as what to do if a designated phone they stop at to call the hospital is out of order, but Dale guesses incorrectly. The man begins to recognize parts of the forest in the window. When the two men are twenty miles from their next phone station, two other men in a pickup truck pull up next to them and ask for the time. Dale and his coworker do not have a working watch, and one of the men in the truck points a shotgun at them, asking for money instead. They do not have money either and don’t know what to do but sit perfectly still. Eventually, the other men leave, and they proceed to the last phone station but are unable to get through to the hospital. They drive on, only to be stopped by a police officer who questions them about the men in the truck, which delays them even more. They arrive at the hospital, but the woman at the desk is confused by their claim that they are transporting a heart. She looks through paperwork, makes some calls, and finally tells them that the patient has already passed away. The man is overcome with grief, even though he knows it is part of the job.