The scientist Alexandrov is seriously ill. In his white hospital room he recalls his experience tries to put his confused thoughts in order. His memory takes him back to an evening spent in the company of his friends Bubi and Rina. He can hear her cynical confession: man cannot live by fine ideals alone. His colleague Vasil,who has come to visit him in hospital, interrupts his thoughts with a gossip about office intrigues. Alexandrov remembers the unpleasant conversations he has had with a dogmatist Stoev about his book on the psychology of the emotions. He recalls Stoev's misrepresentation of the work of Freud. He has had to choose between steering clear of controversy or fighting the dogmatists. Stoev fades out of Alexandrov's memory and gives way to recollections of Sashka. She was his student, sweetheart, wife and mother of his two daughters. ButSashka is dead, only his memory of her live on. Vasil's visit breaks the stream of visions: Alexandrov's book has been turned, down after Stoev's intervention; they want to break his will. He lapses back into his hallucinations: all the people in the street wear hospital garb, Stoev appears to him with many faces. The doctor tries to help him out of the depression. Vasil manages to secure the go-ahead for the publication of his book, but Alexandrov's energy is spent. The window of his room remains desperately empty.