USA, early 20th century. Tusia Hazelri, defying established prejudices, managed to become a doctor, but made a fatal mistake in the operating room and no longer touches either the scalpel or the stethoscope.
To support her disabled son, she works at a corset factory for pennies, and when this source of income runs dry, in desperation she accepts the offer of the charismatic entrepreneur Huey: the owner of a traveling troupe, he sells charlatan remedies during performances and hopes that a medical license will give his enterprise an appearance of legality.
Tusia swears to herself that she will leave as soon as she pays off her debts, but Huey is not going to let her go — he has far-reaching plans for the young woman.
However, in Galveston, where the troupe has stopped for the winter, they face a harsh trial: a suddenly approaching September storm turns into a devastating hurricane, ravaging the Gulf Coast, — and this will force Tusia to regain her faith in medicine, in people, and in herself.