Joanna finds herself in a dark passage that, through further NDEs, she realizes is part of a dream-like version of the "RMS Titanic", on which she encounters passengers of the real "Titanic" as well as someone symbolically near death, a high school teacher whom she had studied with a decade or so earlier, Mr. Pat Briarley. Between NDE sessions, Joanna struggles to figure out why she sees the "Titanic", and she eventually tracks down Mr. Briarley, who spoke often of the "Titanic" in class. Joanna discovers that Mr. Briarley, once a highly animated and keen teacher, now suffers from Alzheimer's disease. This is crushing to Joanna, who was certain that Mr. Briarley could give her "the key" to clarify why she sees the "Titanic". However, Mr. Briarley's niece, Kit, promises to help.