In the ICU that night, Charlotte refuses to leave Norma's side. Charlotte is overwhelmed by guilt and believes Charlotte's own actions caused Norma's heart attack, even though Saint tries to reassure Charlotte by pointing to Norma's age, family history, and long habits of excess. Charlotte withdraws from Saint, curls up on a bench, and stares numbly at the television while Sammy and Mrs. Meyer keep watch nearby.

Saint recognizes the hospital room as a place tied to other moments of life and death in her past. A little after three in the morning, an older nurse comes for Saint. From the nurse's expression, Saint understands that Norma is nearing the end, and Saint is taken in alone even though Saint does not feel ready.

Beside Norma's bed, Saint sits with the sound of the machines that are breathing for Norma and tracking a heart that is fading. Seeing Norma so frail forces Saint to measure the distance between memory and the present. Saint remembers Norma holding Saint's hand as a child, guiding Saint across the street, hearing the bees, and walking with Saint to graduation, and Saint realizes that now Saint must be the one to hold Norma's hand.

Saint speaks softly to Norma, confessing old fears and grief. Saint recalls promising God that if Joseph were spared, Saint would live decently and kindly, and Saint admits that Norma taught Saint what goodness looked like. As Saint kisses Norma's cheek and cries, Saint apologizes for failing Norma, calls Norma the best of the family, and mourns how people cling to bad memories while losing hold of the good. Saint longs for one more ordinary moment with Norma, like going for ice cream at Lacey's, but understands that this goodbye may be the last.