Chona Malachi lies comatose in a private top-floor room at the Reading hospital, placed there because a wealthy Philadelphia theater owner insisted on quiet and paid cash. Nurses resent the unusual traffic: Addie, the Black nursemaid, sits by Chona daily with a Bible, while Moshe comes and goes at odd hours and other Black visitors appear, feeding gossip and prejudice on the ward.

After four days, doctors presume Chona is in a second coma and unlikely to awaken, but Addie notices a pattern: each morning Chona stirs and mumbles as if trying to form a small prayer or chant. When Moshe arrives on the third day with Nate, exhausted from theater work, Addie tells Moshe that Chona seems to be “trying to get it out.” Moshe, disheveled and desperate, sends Addie away so he can sit alone with his wife.

Outside the room, Addie and Nate speak privately for the first time since the assault. Nate warns Addie not to give Moshe false hope and urges Addie to deny knowledge if questioned, framing the incident as “white folks’ business.” Addie refuses to pretend and states plainly that she saw Doc Roberts tearing at Chona’s clothes; Nate cautions her not to say Doc Roberts’s name in the hospital and explains Doc Roberts’s version: Dodo attacked Doc Roberts, and Chona fainted.

Addie challenges Nate about drinking at Fatty’s instead of visiting Dodo, and Nate admits he could not bring himself to go to Pennhurst. Nate reveals that he also changed his name, hinting at a past he fears. He mourns that Dodo had potential—still able to speak and hear some things—but believes Dodo will never get out of Pennhurst.

As they try to understand how authorities found Dodo, suspicion turns toward Reverend Ed Spriggs. Addie recalls Bernice’s silent hospital visit and believes Spriggs knew Dodo’s hiding place through Bernice’s children; Addie fears Spriggs may have informed the state. Nate’s anger builds into a dangerous focus, and Addie tries to redirect him by asking him to gather supplies for Dodo, call Pennhurst through Paper at the store, and arrange a visit. Nate’s rage eases, but he only promises to think about going.