- Numbed by career demands and a recent divorce, Dr. Alexandra Kendall (Marsha Mason) hides behind a hard shell of professional detachment, until she treats Buffy Koenig (Kathleen Beller), a dying 17-year-old cancer patient who reawakens Kendall to life's possibilities. Soon the courageous girl's condition takes a downturn, and the physician must carefully, even agonizingly, weigh the consequences of keeping a promise she made to Buffy.
- In part as an escape from a divorce, the twelve year marriage which ended up not being anything she envisioned, Dr. Alexandra Kendall moves to West Hartford, Connecticut to accept a position working at a medical clinic under its head physician, Dr. Walter McInerny. She has decided to throw herself into work in not being emotionally ready to deal with the personal side of her life. While Dr. McInerny is away, Alexandra, in an emergency, sees who would be considered one of his patients, seventeen year old Elizabeth Koenig - Buffy to her friends - who broke her leg in a soccer incident. Believing the break inconsistent with the nature of the incident, Alexandra decides to dig deeper and discovers that the break was a manifestation of tumor in her leg, the biopsy confirming it malignant which leads to an immediate amputation of said leg above the knee. After Buffy overcomes the initial grief of losing her leg, she, through her parents, Bud and Fran Koenig, requests that Alexandra remain her primary physician for this situation, her prognosis immediately following the amputation uncertain. Dr. McInerny agrees with the change seeing what Buffy needs is more a comforting presence than a doctor. Buffy's parents, while not fully seeing Alexandra as a qualified physician, also went along with Buffy's request in seeing in Alexandra that young woman who will respect their want solely to provide Buffy with "happy thoughts" and not medical diagnoses. Alexandra gets caught in the middle as Buffy herself wants Alexandra to let her know of anything to do with her diagnosis and prognosis as soon as she herself knows. As Alexandra and Buffy negotiate and renegotiate their relationship, they each deal with their own personal lives, Buffy especially with regard to the relationship with her boyfriend, Gerry Hulin, and Alexandra if she will allow herself to open up again to the possibility of romance, this time in the form of radiologist, Dr. Jim Sandman. As Alexandra's personal situation evolves, the question becomes how her emotions will dictate how she relates to that changing situation with Buffy, regardless of Dr. McInerny or Buffy's parents.—Huggo
- A young doctor, Alexandra Kendall, seeking change while recovering from a recent heartbreak, moves from Chicago, Illinois to Hartford, Connecticut. She joins the West Hartford medical practice of Dr. Walter McInterny, a doctor approaching retirement age. 17-year-old Elizabeth "Buffy" Koenig is a precocious student at West Hartford's William Hall High School. Her boyfriend Gerry is a football player at Hall High. While Dr. McInterny is away on vacation, longtime patient Buffy hurts her leg while harmlessly kicking a soccer ball during Gerry's nearby football practice. At the hospital, Dr. Kendall finds that not only is the leg broken, but the bone was also weakened by cancer. Dr. Kendall treats Buffy and the two develop a bond that extends beyond the doctor-patient relationship; Dr. Kendall is drawn to Buffy's humor and raw honesty. As Buffy's health deteriorates, she pushes her friends away. She pushes loyal Gerry away. Buffy insists on full disclosure from Dr. Kendall regarding the true nature of her condition and prognosis. Buffy's parents, Fran and Bud Koenig, oppose such disclosure for their little girl. Dr. Kendall's professional ethics are challenged and she has to decide between the strict professionalism advocated by Dr. McInterny and the promise she has made to her young, new friend.
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