Paul Scudery, a 70-year old long-time actor in the soap, Babylon Revisited, has been playing the role of Ari Bloom for twenty years. He collapses and is admitted to a hospital where he learns that he has contracted a rare and incurable disease. The director of the soap has Paul record several scenes in which he is gradually phased out of the storyline. Paul collapses for the second time in a pool room. In a coma, he is flown to a clinic in France that offers an experimental drug, Cephylor. Awakening out of the coma in the clinic, he answers exclusively to Ari Bloom, the role he played for so many years. He has no idea who Paul Scudery is.

In the clinic, Ari meets Penny, another patient, and they form a bond. Together, they attempt to forge a life together in the time remaining. Through dreams which Cephylor amplifies and prolongs, Ari learns of his life as Paul Scudery, a rather unsavory individual interested only in himself. But he also learns that Ari Bloom, if naive, possesses decent and caring qualities.

In a delirium, Ari passes after taking the train to Paris in his pajamas. Sadly, Penny flies to New York to view the final scenes Paul filmed representing his last days on the soap.