Grace realizes that Patch is seriously ill. Patch has known for some time that something is wrong, but he tries to hide how badly he is shaking, how short his breath has become, and how overwhelming his nausea feels.

To steady him, Grace builds an imagined escape. Grace describes a snowy night at Rockefeller Center after a meal at Barbetta, and Patch follows her into the fantasy. Their teasing about his blind side, a pirate’s cutlass, and whether he can skate turns the game into something intimate, while Patch admits that he has barely ever left Monta Clare and Grace promises to show him a wider world if he trusts her.

As Grace keeps painting New York with her words, Patch lets himself believe in the city’s lights, sounds, and movement. Then music becomes audible for real, and Grace helps Patch to his feet even though the pain is almost unbearable. Patch understands that there is no practical way out for them in that moment, and the narration reveals why his condition is so severe: one rib has punctured his lung and his ruptured spleen is causing him to bleed internally.

Grace responds by turning the moment into another imagined scene, telling Patch that they are on the ice beneath the stars. They hold each other and move slowly as if they are dancing in public, and for a brief moment they feel like ordinary teenagers falling in love instead of prisoners. Grace softly insists that they will be found, and when the music fades, Patch kisses her.