On Thursday, October 2, Sam tells Alice that Charlie has been moved out of the ICU and is recovering well, but relays that Charlie does not want her to visit again, saying he does not want to waste her time. Alice refuses to accept this, telling Sam she will come on Saturday, and Sam approves, joking that Charlie has met his match.

On Saturday, Alice arrives at Charlie’s private hospital room with balloons and an envelope of photos. Charlie insists she should not be there and admits he does not want her to see him like this. Alice answers that she will not stay away, insisting he needs his people and that she is one of them. She gives him the photos “so you don’t forget… us,” and Charlie does not argue further.

Alice visits daily for four days. Charlie recounts that in the spring a routine exam revealed a murmur, leading to tests that diagnosed two potentially fatal heart conditions. An aortic coarctation was treated with a same-day stent, but he still needed open-heart surgery, which has now given him a normal life expectancy, though recovery will take months. He confides that he may not return to work and shares anxiety about Sam’s screening and the baby. Alice coordinates with an exhausted Sam, gets keys to Charlie’s condo, and stocks his fridge, handles mail, waters his plant, and prepares fresh linens.

On a hallway walk the day before discharge, Charlie says waiting for surgery derailed his focus, prompting his sabbatical, which led to meeting Alice. Alice warns she is still angry he did not tell her. Charlie says he hid his condition because she would have stayed and worried, and he did not want to tether her after she had lost herself in a past relationship. He calls himself broken and apologizes for ending things without the truth.

Alice challenges his what-if fears about complications or future surgeries. She says pain is part of love, suggests his late mother would have said the time with his father was worth the grief, and tells Charlie he is worth it whether he believes it or not. The conversation softens the distance between them.

The next day, Sam frantically calls: Percy’s water has broken and they are heading to Mount Sinai, leaving no one to pick up Charlie from his hospital. Alice immediately agrees to handle it. She finds Charlie ready to go, jokes about being upstaged by his niece’s arrival, and then takes his bag to bring him home.