Charles Faulque is an alcoholic writer who never goes anywhere without his bottle of wine and wine bucket full of clinking ice. His work and marriage have long since fallen apart and, to make matters worse, his health fails him as well, which he finds out when his brain cancer shows up at his door. The cancer is annoying, talks too much and is here to stay, until Charles kicks the bucket. Things brighten a bit when his maid Louisa declares her love for him, though she too is soon visited by her own cancer...