Uli and Nora share an intimate late love. However, Uli, who works as a tour guide in Hamburg, is reluctant to commit to their relationship.
One morning, while guiding a tour of the harbour, Uli suffers a stroke, suddenly rendering him incapable of communicating. He struggles on to reach the reading room of the library where Nora works.
Uli is rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Finding it difficult to cope with the situation, Nora is eventually prompted by her friend and colleague Eva to pack an overnight bag for Uli at his flat. While there, she listens to a woman calling Uli's mobile who sounds as if she was close to him, so close, in fact, that Nora suspects a secret in Uli's life. She turns to her friend Eva for advice and also seeks the help of Uli's older brother Frank, an arts restorer, and his wife Hilde, only to be told that the brothers have fallen out many years ago.
Nora still can't bring herself to visit Uli in hospital as she doesn't want to face her suspicions towards him. Instead, she drives to Uli's home town on the coast where she meets Karin, the other woman, who Uli has been having a relationship with for years.
In the meantime, Uli senses that his double life is about to cave in. Gathering all his strength, he manages to leave the hospital in spite of his critical condition and sets off on a journey to the coast to confront the two women in his life.
