 Dr. David Edwards is a cancer specialist, and his life is his work. He has no family, and only one friend, Lou Rosen, who happens to be his 73 year-old psychiatrist. Lou is part of David s experimental treatment program, but at his age, chances are grim. But everyone deserves a chance, or at least that s what David thought before Sonny Rollins walked into his office. On paper, Sonny looked ideal: early forties with an inoperable baseball-sized tumor in his lung. But his file didn t say anything about his attitude: crass, crude, and indignant. Would the doctor who s famous for giving even the most gravely ill patient a chance, turn this man away simply because he has a bad attitude? That s the question only David can answer. Sonny sees David as just another doctor who can t help him, but David recognizes a great deal more in Sonny. David remembers young Sonny Rollins, who in 1977, was the prince of the high school. David was definitely the pauper, and Sonny nicknamed him "Special Ed." Every day was demoralizing agony for Special Ed - at the hands of Sonny Rollins and his band of miscreants. They pushed him so hard and far, that David eventually tried to kill himself. Now the real healing begins - because sometimes healing has nothing to do with medicine.