Katarina finds Bella collapsed backstage and rushes to her side. Bella is conscious but barely responsive, squinting against the lights and clutching the bottom of her rib cage. Ellis appears behind Katarina, and despite distrusting him, Katarina orders Ellis to get the medics and find Heath.

As Katarina watches Bella struggle, Katarina realizes Bella has seemed unwell for weeks through oversleeping, listlessness, and poor appetite. Katarina had dismissed those signs as stress from training and Heath’s recovery, but Bella now looks gravely ill. Heath arrives quickly, kneels beside Bella, and tries to comfort Bella.

In Bella’s weakened response to Heath, and in the way Heath holds Bella with his hand pressed to Bella’s abdomen, Katarina suddenly recognizes the depth of the bond between them. Before Katarina can fully process that revelation, the medical team arrives and evaluates Bella. The lead medic says Bella’s blood pressure is dangerously high and Bella must go to the emergency room immediately.

Bella resists because Katarina and Heath are about to skate, and the competition is already underway without them. While music and applause from the arena continue in the background, Katarina looks at Heath and understands that Bella matters to him deeply. The moment echoes the crisis years earlier in St. Louis, when an ambulance and a career-defining decision collided.

Remembering that earlier loss, Katarina decides she cannot ask Heath to choose Katarina over Bella again. Even though this may be Heath and Katarina’s last competitive chance, Katarina tells Heath to go with Bella while Katarina follows behind. The chapter ends with Katarina giving Heath permission to put Bella first.