Allegra undergoes an MRI scan for her worsening back pain, lying in a claustrophobia-inducing tunnel while listening to Michael Bublé through headphones. As the comically loud machine operates, she reflects on how she ended up here—first lifting the heavy carry-on bag on the plane, then tripping over a dog's lead while walking with Jonny and his friend Anders. The fall left her nearly sobbing with pain. Jonny drove her home, gave her painkillers, and met her parents when they came to help, but he introduced himself only as "Allegra's friend." Since then his messages have been politely neutral, and Allegra berates herself for pushing him away.

After the MRI, Allegra's mother drives her home. Her mother asks bluntly whether Allegra is having suicidal thoughts—a habit born from anxious research about depression and the prediction from the flight. Allegra admits she's unhappy both because of the pain and because she "mucked it up" with Jonny. Then Jonny texts her a link to a flight school offering trial introductory flights, referencing her past-life joke about being a bird. Allegra insists she doesn't actually want to be a pilot, but her mother seizes on the idea, reminding her that as a child she would leap off her grandmother's veranda pretending to fly. Her mother challenges her to stop being so careful and tentative—with her dreams and with her heart.

Allegra's mother then muses about the fortune-telling woman from the flight, noting that her phrasing—"I expect," "cause of death," "age of death"—sounds like actuarial language from the insurance industry. Meanwhile, Allegra drafts and deletes several texts to Jonny before finally sending: "The problem is I think I maybe love you." She immediately regrets it, her pain spiking to a nine. But Jonny replies almost instantly: "It's not a problem, Allegra, and it's not a maybe for me." Allegra feels as though she has flipped her whole life.