Fern returns to Wellwood from the hospital wanting to disappear, but the girls watch her arrival and Nurse Kent fusses over her in the Barn. Fern notices her donated Wellwood clothes already washed and hung for the next arrivals, reinforcing how replaceable she is. Exhausted and numb, she hides in her room with the radio rather than seeking out Hagar or explaining what happened.

Clem, no longer pregnant, visits Fern to smoke and quietly compare what they were allowed to do after delivery. Clem avoids giving her real name, talks about leaving tomorrow, and makes it clear Fern will never see her again. Fern eats rich meals she feels she doesn’t deserve, then accepts Nurse Kent’s injection to dry up her milk, surrendering to the routine rather than fighting.

Holly and Zinnia finally get into Fern’s room and press for details. Fern admits Miss Parcae came to the hospital, tried to bargain for Fern’s baby as a substitute vessel, and threatened they would force Fern to comply later; Zinnia responds by insisting Fern can outlast Parcae using the protective pouch and salt. Zinnia pitches an elaborate plan to keep Holly out of the hospital, deliver at Hagar’s, and run away to Rose’s family’s empty place, but Fern—raw from her own delivery—calls it fantasy and urges a “real world” approach of going to Diane for help. Holly reveals she already told Diane first, and Holly and Zinnia leave Fern behind.

Afterward Fern tests the pouch and feels the world sharpen without it and recede when she wears it, convincing her it truly protects her from witchcraft. Counting the days until her father picks her up, Fern clings to the idea of returning to her old life and burying the last months, even as she recognizes she can’t ever be the same. In the Barn, Fern and the other postpartum girls compare scars, pain, and shame while Nurse Kent manages their recovery.

On Friday Fern is forced into the main house and Zinnia warns that Holly is “wrong.” Fern sees Holly unnaturally scrubbed, dressed like a doll, and distant. Miss Wellwood sends Fern to serve iced tea to a guest, and Fern discovers the visitor is Reverend Jerry, who presents himself as an excited father-to-be while touching Holly’s belly. Fern retreats, tells Zinnia it is “none of our business,” and repeats to herself that she is leaving in three days and cannot be pulled back into Holly’s danger.