After a car accident she blames herself for, Marybeth cares for her quadriplegic son Tommy alone. Her career is over and her husband has left; Marybeth imagines herself like a child playing with a ragdoll, forever looking after Tommy. When Dr Quo suggests a new experimental treatment, Marybeth and Tommy raise the money through charity and try it.

The treatment seems successful. As Tommy lies unconscious, the electrostimulator working on his spine, Marybeth is overcome with a fit of jealousy and fear that Tommy will leave her forever too. She turns off the electrostimulator and decides to tell Tommy the treatment didn't work.