When the winter freeze arrives, Patch drives Misty and Charlotte to Lake Pine. Patch helps Charlotte lace up her ice skates, then sits close to Misty and watches Charlotte skate with joyful, reckless speed. As Charlotte spins across the ice, Patch is struck by how quickly she is growing and by how fiercely he wants to hold on to the time they still have together.

While they watch, Misty thanks Patch for not constantly asking whether she is all right, and they briefly joke with each other. The light exchange gives Patch another memory to treasure because Misty is fading fast. Misty then says she wants to tell Charlotte the truth, but Patch immediately resists, though Misty insists the moment will come soon and says Charlotte will love him.

The chapter then shows their weekly routine as Misty's illness worsens. They drive to a private palliative care center in Alice Springs, where Misty receives excellent care and visits friends she made during treatment. Patch usually waits outside while Charlotte is in school and Mrs. Meyer gets a break, and during one of these visits he runs into Chief Nix, who now spends Sundays volunteering there.

Seeing Nix help a young woman in a wheelchair deepens Patch's sense of how widespread suffering is. Cancer, once something abstract to him, now feels immense and inescapable. On the drive home, Patch and Misty stop at St. Raphael's, where Misty finally admits that she is scared, and Patch answers by holding her tightly.