Maddy, a social worker, is trying to balance her career and three children, but her husband's verbal furies have made the family wary and frightened. Where once his fiery passion had been reserved for defending his clients, now he's lashing out at all of them. She vacillates between tiptoeing around him and asserting herself for the sake of their kids --keeping a fragile peace --until the rainy day when they're together in the car and Ben's volatile temper gets the best of him, leaving Maddy in the hospital fighting for her life.