The chapter opens in a hotel room where Lottie (Charlotte) has been recounting her past to Alice for hours. Lottie falters, and Alice, exhausted and angry, demands the point. Lottie insists she did not truly get away from her past. Alice accuses Lottie of using a tragic relationship as an excuse and declares that the story cannot redeem what Lottie did to her.

Emotions escalate. When Alice lunges, Ezra steps between them and restrains Alice, reinforcing Alice’s sense that Ezra is aligned with Lottie. Overwhelmed by Lottie’s grief leaking into the room, Alice flees, tearing through the hotel, onto the street, and into the darkened Boston Commons, feeling suffocated by her new condition.

Ezra follows Alice outside and coaches her to breathe, explaining that bodies keep old habits and that familiar rituals can calm the mind even when they no longer serve a physical purpose. He shares small anecdotes—his former pipe, a friend who loved the smell of bread—to illustrate sense memories as anchors. Alice practices controlled breathing until her nerves settle.

They talk about identity and change. Alice admits she came to Boston to become someone new but now feels that future is gone. Ezra counters that her condition is not a death sentence, echoing Lottie’s assertion that a life is still possible, if different. He advises Alice to let Lottie finish her story and warns that anger and resentment are like weights that drown you.

Looking back at the hotel, Alice sees Lottie silhouetted in the lit window and remembers Lottie’s plea, “It wasn’t me.” After one last steadying breath, Alice decides to return to the hotel to learn the rest of Lottie’s story.