A professor is dissecting the heart of a dead young man in front of his students, pointing out its chambers and valves as if that were all there is to know. Then the heart itself speaks. It objects to being treated as a mere "functional utility" and insists that the empty chambers once held the man's hopes, dreams and loves. It breaks when life falls apart, races with joy and anger, and aches when its owner hurts.
The tone shifts from clinical to tender, then to something startling and surreal. The other hearts join in, repeating "I ache when you are in pain," and the watching doctors' own hearts burst from their mouths. The speaker seems to side with the heart against cold, purely scientific seeing. The ending mixes horror and beauty: blood spreads across the floor and sprouts red roses, the traditional symbol of love. The mood is eerie but ultimately moving, suggesting that feeling cannot be reduced to anatomy.