Lucca, Tuscany. A young woman is driving at high speed through the streets of the city. On a sharp bend she starts to overtake - she hesitates for a split-second - but it's too late. Her tiny car crashes straight into a lorry coming in the opposite direction. Shortly afterwards Chiara, an attractive woman in the prime of life, is watching a film report of the dramatic accident on television when she is suddenly gripped by the anxiety that the accident victim could actually be her daughter. After several phone calls and tortuously long hours of waiting Chiara finally realises that her worst fears have come true. She goes cold with horror when she sees her daughter Gianna lying there in the hospital: the young woman is very seriously injured and in a coma. From this moment on, Chiara's entire life is shattered. Her boyfriend Giulio, a famous lawyer, tries to reassure her without success.