Tegan, confined and bored in the basement, thinks she hears someone enter around lunchtime—soft, hesitant steps and a sniffle—but when she calls out, no one answers. She wonders if she imagined it.

Later, Polly comes downstairs and offers to get Tegan out of bed. Acting like a competent nurse, Polly cleans the wheelchair and slowly transfers Tegan using a belt as a makeshift gait belt. The movement triggers sharp pain in Tegan’s left leg; when her boot touches the floor she screams. Polly urges removing the boot, worried about the injury, but Tegan refuses, fearing what’s underneath. The transfer succeeds, and Tegan gains limited mobility.

After a brief lesson on maneuvering, Tegan mentions wishing she could leave the room; Polly’s friendliness disappears and she withdraws upstairs to make dinner. Alone, Tegan explores the basement. She finds no exterior door, and the high windows are unreachable, especially given her late pregnancy and injured leg. Stacking boxes or standing is unrealistic.

Worried her untreated leg could be permanently damaged, Tegan considers dragging herself up the stairs but decides it’s too dangerous for the baby and would cost her the privilege of leaving bed. Accepting that escape is not currently feasible, she concludes her only option is to find a weapon.