Talia Kemper described the isolation and routines of death row after being convicted of murdering her husband, Noel, while insisting she loved him and had an alibi. In memories and dreams labeled “Before,” she recalled meeting Noel at a café, planning their wedding, hosting a party where jealousy flared, and growing suspicions of his infidelity as his pharmaceutical job consumed him. On death row she awaited news from her lawyer, Clarence Bowman, only to learn her appeal was denied, and she fixated on a visitor who looked exactly like Noel.

Talia wrestled with the certainty of Noel’s death, noting she never saw a body and only heard of DNA identification, and then learned from guard Rhea that the lookalike was chaplain Richard “Father” Decker. Moved to death watch, she clung to the hope that Father Decker was Noel and that his being alive could save her. In a last rites visit, she confronted the chaplain, who recited prayers and denied knowing her until, briefly slipping into Noel’s voice, he told her he loved her before leaving her to face execution.

Interwoven flashbacks revealed Talia discovering a jewelry receipt and smelling perfume on Noel, deciding to exploit their faulty gas stove and his anosmia by leaving food to heat while she dined with Kinsey to create an alibi. At dinner, an elderly coworker, Lisbeth Sharp, wearing the same perfume, told her Noel spoke lovingly of her and had gone home early, exposing Talia’s mistake. Panicked, Talia raced home, finally reached Noel—who was safe, had called the fire department, and had bought her a necklace—and then, in tears, missed a hidden stop sign and was struck by a speeding truck.

On “execution” day, small kindnesses from Rhea preceded injections by Albert as Talia repeated that she had not killed her husband; Albert quietly said they knew. As the sedative took hold, the scene shifted: voices and the constant beeping resolved into a hospital room where Noel pleaded for more time, “Clarence Bowman” was actually Dr. Bowman, and Rhea administered a sedative through an IV. It was explained that Talia had been comatose for a month after the car crash, had made no attempts to breathe on her own, and had an advance directive declining prolonged life support.

With Father Decker having performed last rites the prior day, Dr. Bowman turned off the ventilator as Noel held Talia’s hand and begged her to wake up. Talia perceived fading sounds like a song ending, aligning with the ventilator’s final breath and the withdrawal of life support. In the epilogue, Talia drove home shaken after nearly running a stop sign and almost being hit, reunited with Noel as firefighters confirmed the house was airing out, described a vivid life-flashing vision in which she could never reach a kiss, heard an insistent beeping that only she perceived suddenly stop, felt a weight lift, and finally kissed Noel, grateful for the love and the loss narrowly avoided.