Because Blackjack is called away to deal with a fight in the cell block, Patch and Dr. Tooms are left waiting together for an hour. They sit back to back, and the physical arrangement seems to ease the strain between them enough for the conversation to grow more candid.

Tooms begins by admitting that he never wanted to be a doctor. Patch answers with dark humor that he never wanted to rob a bank, though he jokes that might not be entirely true. Their shared laughter shows that the guarded exchanges of earlier meetings have shifted into something warmer and more familiar.

Tooms then reveals a formative loss: when he was fourteen, his nineteen-year-old sister became pregnant and later died by suicide. He says he found her hanging from a tree and still speaks with lingering shock about the details, suggesting the trauma has never left him.

Instead of asking about Patch's investigation, Tooms asks about Patch himself and about the people Patch loves, especially Misty and Charlotte. When Tooms recalls seeing Patch's mother after Patch's father died, Tooms says he could already tell she would struggle. Patch acknowledges that Tooms looked out for him, and Tooms answers that he did not do nearly enough, admitting a failure that still weighs on him.

The chapter closes on a quiet exchange about parenthood. Patch says a parent wants more for a child than for oneself, and Tooms teases him about how low that sets the bar in his case. Then Tooms turns serious again, telling Patch he is sorry Patch is in prison and that, despite everything, it is good to hear his voice.