In the late afternoon, Saint walks through the Monta Clare woods taking photographs and briefly feels calm. The nightmares about Eli Aaron have started to fade, and the peaceful setting makes her feel guided, as if her path has been set for her.

At the drugstore, Saint runs into Ivy Macauley while dropping off film. Ivy, looking worn and exhausted, jokes about nervous boys buying condoms for prom and asks if Saint is going. Saint says yes and thinks about Joseph "Patch" Macauley attending too, likely with Misty, a pairing Saint now believes she can accept.

The conversation turns serious as Ivy reflects on motherhood, Patch's paintings, and the years when people wanted to hold a funeral for her son without a body. Ivy admits she still feels trapped by grief and uncertainty, as if her life might be a dream or purgatory. She tells Saint that Saint is real because Saint brought her son home, then confesses that she still cannot sleep without pills because the nightmares continue.

When Ivy reaches the counter, the clerk tells her there are no refills left on her prescription. Ivy becomes upset and desperate, then leaves the store after pleading unsuccessfully. Saint helps pick up the papers the clerk dropped and notices they are prescriptions under Martin Tooms's name, including antibiotics, painkillers, and sleeping pills.

Driven by instinct, Saint pockets the papers and waits until she is home to study them. In her room, with her prom dress hanging nearby, she checks the refill date twice. The prescriptions began on September 9, the day after Patch was taken, and the discovery jolts Saint into realizing she may have found an important new lead.