Alicia Nash (Jennifer Connelly)’s Timeline and Summary

Alicia starts out as John's student, but she quickly makes sure their relationship takes a romantic turn.
She goes to his office hours and asks him out. He's weird about it, but she doesn't mind.
Soon, they're getting married and making a baby.
Things aren't totally smooth sailing, though: Pretty much right away, they learn that John has been dealing with undiagnosed schizophrenia for some time.
She sticks with John through his treatments and supports the family financially while he's too medicated to work.
John eventually gets tired of feeling blunted by the drugs/treatments and goes off his meds…which means the delusions return. Which means his doctor fears for his/his family's safety and suggests that Alicia commit him.
However, he begs her not to do that, saying that he just wants a little time to try to get well on his own, if she'll give it to him.
She agrees, and John does seem to get better, slowly but surely. The power of love at work, folks.