The story, broken up into those five stages, delves deep into the inner workings of life pitted against Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and then, finally, Acceptance, with lively secondary characters coming along for the ride. Sebastian York, a successful African American plastic surgeon who until now, handled his world the same way a master puppeteer might, finds out that life has changed the roles on him, putting him now at the end of the rope--so to speak. He is diagnosed with progressive cancer with no hope in sight due to the stage and movement of the cancerous cells. Now he must suddenly compile his life's list of things to do and execute the list expeditiously. He starts looking at the basic things that need tending, his wife, his daughter, his career, however, there is one thing in his past that, until now, he hadn't even realized need resolution--Stormy Brown Gunther.