Pharmaceutical CEO Wilbur Watson is in a race against time. He must find a test subject, and fast, for a hastily developed cure for cancer. It is just what he needs to save his company, Helix Remedies, which has been plagued with problems.

Meantime, Kyle Maxon has been in and out of hospitals more times than he cares to remember. He was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 7. Now 16, he has come to terms with the knowledge that he is probably going to die. Shortly after a fight with his parents, he ends up at the local diner, planning to drink his sorrows away with a chocolate malt.

When their paths cross, Wilbur and Kyle finally have the one thing they've both been lacking... hope... but is it merely an illusion?