The narrator, whose name we do not learn, has moved into a guest apartment in New York. One night, she wakes up startled: atrial fibrillation. She is familiar with it and takes the emergency pill. At this moment, the narrative begins, covering the two hours between taking the pill and its effect. Thoughts of childhood arise in her: of her parents, her siblings, the houses where the family lived. Above all, her thoughts revolve around her brother. They have not spoken to each other for nearly eight years, since the celebration in Caputh... But this was merely the coincidental trigger for a longer story that culminated that evening when they wanted to celebrate their mother's 80th birthday. The narrator searches for signs, hidden backgrounds; she tries to grasp their shared past once again. For the longest relationship in life is that with siblings.