1978. A group of idealistic young doctors join a mission of mercy to Africa. Two of them, Matthew and Silvia, fall in love. They have one year together before they are swept apart by bloodshed and violence. Matthew has been in mourning ever since.

The present. A pioneer in genetic therapy at the very top of his field, Matthew is appealed to by a rich man whose wife's brain tumour has been declared inoperable by every other surgeon. When she walks through the door he sees that it is Silvia, as beautiful as ever - still his 'only love'. It's as if the years have never passed. He must save her life. And if he does . . . what then?