The morning after arriving in Cleveland, Katarina wakes with a worsening ache in her hip but convinces herself it is manageable. After a hot shower and stretching, she and Heath skate the compulsory Quickstep. Katarina cannot extend her leg normally, so Heath adjusts his turns to preserve their lines, and the performance is good enough to place them seventh.

The next day, before the original dance, Katarina sees a deep bruise spreading from her hip toward her knee. Because she cannot hide it in her usual black velvet costume, she switches early to her longer free-dance dress despite the added pain. During their Latin Rhumba, Heath immediately realizes how badly she is hurting, but stopping would end their chances, so Katarina forces herself through the program. Heath then keeps an arm around her to hide her limp, especially from the Lins, and when another team makes a mistake, Katarina and Heath move up to fifth place, just behind Ellis Dean and Josephine Hayworth.

Back at the motel in a snowstorm, Katarina can barely get out of the car, and Heath has to carry her inside. He buys pain medicine, Tiger Balm, and ice, but nothing relieves her hip. As Heath cares for her, Katarina remembers the only other time she let him nurse her: the night her father failed to pick them up from the rink. She and Heath returned home, found her father dead in his study, and Heath took charge by calling for help, telling Lee, and staying with Katarina through the night. That memory explains how deeply Katarina depends on Heath and why his presence has become inseparable from her sense of safety.

By morning, the pain is even worse, and Heath tells Katarina she needs a doctor. Both of them know they cannot afford one, and they also know withdrawing before the free dance could destroy their best chance to attract sponsors or better coaching and escape dependence on Lee. Thinking bitterly about the wealth and comfort that protect Isabella and Garrett Lin, Katarina decides that privileged skaters do not know how to fight the way she does. She forces herself out of bed and stands, determined to skate the final event despite the pain.