First-year veterinary student Coreen Crowley returns to her hometown to visit both her family and her long-time boyfriend during Christmas vacation. Chris, her boyfriend, is sick with the flu, so she ends up spending much of her holiday taking care of him and trekking between his apartment and her parents' home. On the night of December 28th, she tucks Chris in for the night and phones her father, telling him that she was on her way home and to expect her in 40 minutes or so. But two hours later, her dad mentions to her mom that Coreen should have been home by now...