Eighteen-year-old Astrid Bjorklund, studying medicine under Dr. Elizabeth, leaves the town of Blessing and her boyfriend Joshua Landsverk behind to train in Chicago, but when Joshua fails to write and she learns he has left town, she makes an impetuous decision she may later regret.

Astrid Bjorklund is on the Red Bud Indian Reservation in South Dakota trying to stop a horrific epidemic. The elders are suspicious of her, but when some of their people begin to recover, they allow Astrid to continue caring for the sick. Upon returning to Blessing, she learns that the man she thought she loved cannot accept that God has called her to be a doctor. Heartbroken, Astrid fears she may have to give up her dream of marriage and family.