A biology professor, Adam enters a hospital for observation. He is a loner and a serious-minded man, who dislikes any display of emotions. He spends three months in the hospital while being tested. After observing patients and hospital routines around him from a distance, he learns that he will need a kidney transplant. Meanwhile his personal and professional life is falling apart: he refuses his wife's offer to donate the kidney for him; the scientific problem he was working on has been solved elsewhere. In the end Adam cracks under the prolonged pressure, waiting for the sound of an ambulance bringing a moribund patient whose kidney may be used for the transplant.

Adam Małecki jest naukowcem, który poważnie zachorował. Konieczny jest przeszczep nerki, ale Adam nie chce jej dostać od swojej żony. Zmuszony jest więc czekać na dawcę. Podczas choroby zmienia swoje poglądy na życie.