After the whale accident, Dominic examines Raff and finds that Raff’s wrist is badly swollen. Raff explains that he felt it twist when the humpback’s body crashed beside him and hurled him away. Dominic is overwhelmed by how narrowly Raff escaped death, because if the whale had landed directly on Raff, Raff would have been killed.

Dominic does what he can with limited medical knowledge and almost no resources. Because the base has no power, Dominic cannot use an X-ray machine, and even if he could, he does not know how to read the result. Dominic bandages the injury, gives Raff pain medication, and recognizes another practical limitation: without a working freezer, the family has no ice to reduce the swelling.

Raff remains awake and calm, and Dominic clings to him in relief. Raff says that he wants to stay with Rowan until Rowan wakes, suggesting that their shared brush with death has created a bond between them. Dominic agrees, partly because he also has no intention of leaving Rowan.

The family settles together in the hospital space around Raff and Rowan. Dominic, Raff, Raff’s younger brother, and Raff’s sister all remain there, sleeping, talking, and eating on camp beds. For Dominic, the aftermath of the disaster briefly creates something rare and precious: the longest stretch of time he has spent with all three of his children together in months.

As Rowan continues to sleep, Dominic studies her and feels that something has shifted. Rowan seems different from the way she looked when she first arrived and Dominic first watched her sleeping, but Dominic also suspects that the real change may be in himself and in how he now sees Rowan.