Joe, now in his sixties, is released from the hospital following a lengthy struggle with pneumonia and is confronted with the grim reality of his legacy: everyone he knew assumed he was dead, and life continued as usual around him. When he returns to his old neighborhood in Chicago's 'Patch' section, he discovers his car has been stolen, his landlord has pawned all of his worldly things, and the apartment he has lived in for his entire adult life has been rented to a single mother and her eight-year-old daughter.