In the course of a 20-minute commute, software engineer Anna Werner goes from worrying vaguely about a sore shoulder to staggering her way into an ambulance. She has suffered a spinal stroke. Over the coming months, her parents join the insurance man in telling her to get ready for life in a group home. The only person who recognizes what Anna is still capable of is Batul al-Jaberi, a recent Syrian immigrant who meets Anna while doing her rounds as a janitor at the hospital. Batul is applying to medical school, where she hopes to regain control of a life hijacked by her family's flight from persecution in the early days of the Arab Spring. At first the friendship is what Anna and Batul each need to regain mobility. But as their relationship deepens, Batul finds that she must choose between her family and Anna.