In New York City, Telly Paretta has been under the psychiatric care of Dr. Jack Munce for fourteen months, the therapy to help her deal with the grief associated with losing her nine year old son, Sam Paretta, one of six children in a plane that went missing, the plane and the bodies never recovered. In the words of Tellys husband, Jim Paretta, Telly has been holding onto the past like a death grip, which has hindered her therapy. Telly does not appreciate that characterization as it makes it sound like Dr. Munce and Jim want her to forget Sam. Slowly, incidents make it seem like Telly is losing that grip on the past, until one day all physical evidence of Sam disappears, personal as well as public, such as all media stories of the plane disappearance. Subsequently, Jim and Dr. Munce try to explain to her that her therapy is to help her get over the delusion that she and Jim have/had a son. As Telly alone goes on a search for any evidence of the ex