The film takes us to the Far North. A criminal escapes from prison, and on his way through the tundra meets an old native man who is carriying the salaries of reindeer breeders. Their joint struggle for survival results in the spiritual purification of the protagonist.
Old village doctor Ruben Azaryan is going to operate a sick child, although he feels bad. Perhaps this is the last operation in his life. He remembers his youth, the institute, the student Maro in love with him, the war, the front and the first love - nurse Svetlana, who died during a raid on their hospital. Then marriage to Maro, a difficult job as a village doctor. One day he refuses to have an abortion for one widow. The widow commits suicide from shame. Her death still torments Azaryan. But hundreds of people he saved are also remembered, which means that life was not lived in vain ...