 Mr Wyman is an elderly man whose increasingly unreliable memory has landed him in a geriatric ward. Here he is visited by his daughters Val and Molly, and Molly s husband Harold. Another elderly man on the ward, the foul-mouthed Mr Riscoe, makes repeated attempts to escape but is always intercepted by one of the ward s two male nurses, Vic and Donald. Vic and Donald are in competition for a promotion. Donald needs the money as he and his girlfriend are trying to buy a house but are having difficulty arranging a mortgage. From the window at which he sits, Mr Wyman can see a wall. He repeatedly pesters Donald with questions about what is on the other side. Donald constructs a fantasy of the future he dreams of with his girlfriend: a house and garden inhabited by a married couple. As Donald works at night and his girlfriend during the day, almost the only time they have to be together comes when she sneaks into the ward at night. While they are having furtive sex, Mr Wyman seizes the chance to make an escape bid of his own.