Patch is jolted awake by a memory of Grace speaking with grim clarity about the future. Grace tells Patch that people like them will never truly be healed, that others will misunderstand their trauma, and that they will likely live in crisis rather than peace. The memory leaves Patch shaken and reinforces how deeply Grace understood the damage they carried.

Exhausted and hungry, Patch lets himself into Sammy’s studio apartment and begins using the space Sammy offered him. Patch is close to physical collapse after pushing himself too hard, including a long, fruitless walk through Ellis County to look for signs of a missing girl in a remote trailer park. Instead of resting, Patch turns to the materials in the studio and starts trying to bring Grace back through art.

As Patch sketches and paints, Sammy quietly supports him without interrupting his focus. Sammy gives one practical instruction about how to hold the brush, later reappears with casual humor, and continues hovering nearby. Patch makes only slow progress at first, painting a few careful strokes while trying to recover Grace’s features from memory.

Patch loses sight of Grace on the canvas and responds by darkening the room, shutting out distraction until he can find her again in his mind. Sammy leaves Patch a cup of coffee, and Patch works on with renewed intensity, drawing color from the rusted fire escape outside to shape Grace’s hair. Even as Patch knows his search and his method are becoming obsessive, he keeps going, while Sammy counsels patience and Patch admits he no longer feels he has time for it.