Historic vintage photos early 1900's around the time of the arrival of the Bubonic Plague in San Francisco. Photo of newspaper article about the Plague, ships from India docked, scenes of people in San Francisco's Chinatown, ghettos in Chinatown.
With unseen narration about the history of the arrival of the Plague from India to San Francisco's Chinatown and what it took to obliterate it (a literal earthquake).

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CU huge red sign reads: "Influenza Wear Your Mask it May Save Your Life!

CU on Huge headline "INFLUENZA!" How to Avoid it! How to Care for Those Who Have It!

1918 Anti - Mask campaign. Flyer reads: "You submitted to the UNHEALTHY MASKS Are you willing to submit to the filty serums manufactured from diseased animals?

Pan down from exterior of General Hospital. African American female reporter standing outside reports the hospital is "ground zero" for the new epidemic, "AIDS"

Interior busy hospital corridor with overlay, "one hospital's fight against AIDS"

Woman, nurse Alison Moed, walking with her dog up the steps to her San Francisco home. Same woman holding a file folder runs down hill

Montage workers in hospital - nurse turning pages of a binder, man pushing hospital bed down corridor, cu doctor talking on phone, pan inside patient room. With narration by unseen nurse Moed states she observes the activity and it helps her figure out what the day will be like.

Pan down on white board with list of patients and their room numbers.

Male Latino volunteer, Freddie Ramos from El Salvador, cleaning up hospital room using mop and pushing cart with cleaning supplies. He talks with reporter about having friends with no regard to sex, age - this doesn't matter.

Freddie is seen removing a large red plastic garbage bag. Freddie, still talking with reporter, explains he was exposed to a dirty hypodermic needle in a garbage bag.
Reporter explains that a year later doctor's are watching Freddie closely as they study how AIDS spreads. Fortunately he is not showing signs of infection

Pan in on patient in wheelchair with overlay of large clock ticking away.

Medical staff at the hospital in a meeting room taking notes and discussing each patient and their needs.

CU on nurse Alyson, she talks with unseen interviewer about Dr. Abrams and praises what he does and how involved he is with the patients.

Dr. Abrams and Head Nurse Alyson talk with unseen interviewer about their patients, young and healthy men, and the enemy - "the virus" disease that has ruined so many lives.

Medical lab - vials of medicine. Patient listens as he gets good news from his doctor about major improvements in his health condition. He throws up his arms and shakes doctor's hand.

CU on vial of medicine "Suramin" known to slow down the progression of AIDS in the test tube, a parasite treatment from the 1920's.

Nurse practitioner examines a white hair'd bearded male patient who feels he may have been exposed to AIDS and wonders if he may now have it. She reassures the patient everything appears to be good.

Nurses talk candidly in a group session about what it's like to treat such sick and dying patients. They talk about their emotions, individual patients and why they do what they do. Z'in on nurse holding the hand of another nurse in the session.

CU on a male volunteer giving a foot massage to a sick patient. According to unseen reporter the volunteer is a gay actor who appears in a successful series of gay sex films and has recently lost his partner in real life.

Young girl dressed as a rabbit with bunny ears and cotton tail wheeling a cart of treats down the hall of the hospital. Known to patients on the AIDS ward, she is known as "Rita Rocket". She is seen with other volunteers setting up for a party on the ward.

"Rita" and her team dancing on a stage at a bar, raising money for her AIDS patients and the parties she puts on for them.

Rita and her team tap dancing down the hallway of the AIDS ward.

Three nurses sitting at table and looking through a large red scrapbook full of photographs of memories of the faces of doctors, nurses, staff, and patients.
CU on finger pointing to writing in the book and flipping the pages

CU on bearded AIDS patient, "David" in hospital bed with oxygen device in his nose. Pan out from cu reveals a friend sitting concerned by his side on the bed, large monitor on side of bed.

Various folk, including head nurse, doctor, friends of patients talking about AIDS and death is now being a part of their lives

CU on nurse as she speaks candidly about saying goodby to patients at the end of the day and not knowing if they'll see them in the morning.

Nurse speaks candidly CU about how grateful she is to have the opportunity to be alive and doing what she's doing, she's learned alot about life and the little things that are so important that add up everyday.