Brookner examines Ned, but finds that he does not have the symptoms of this disease. In the waiting room, Ned meets Sanford ( Stephen Spinella), a patient whose face and hands are marked with skin lesions caused by Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare cancer. All of these cases seem to be appearing in gay men. Back in the city, he visits the offices of Dr. Emma Brookner ( Julia Roberts), a physician who has seen many patients afflicted with symptoms of rare diseases that normally would be harmless unless their immune systems had been compromised. While traveling back to New York City, Ned reads an article in the New York Times titled 'Rare Cancer Diagnosed in 41 Homosexuals'. Later, when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, Craig begins to cough repeatedly. While walking on the beach, however, Craig feels dizzy and collapses. Other friends in attendance include Mickey Marcus ( Joe Mantello) and the charismatic Bruce Niles ( Taylor Kitsch), who has recently begun dating Craig, who is young and appears to be in good health.
Ned (Alexander) Weeks ( Mark Ruffalo) is an openly gay writer from New York City who travels to Fire Island via Long Island to celebrate the birthday of his friend Craig Donner ( Jonathan Groff) at a beach house.
