This chapter flashes back to Patch's first waking moments after his abduction. Patch opens his eye but sees nothing at all, and the darkness is so complete that he feels as if he has reached the edge of the world. Freezing, shaking, and covered in dried blood, Patch cannot tell where he is and briefly wonders if he is dead.

As Patch takes stock of his body, pain proves to him that he is still alive. He feels stitches across his stomach, bruises on his chest, and the cross hanging at his neck, which Norma gave him for protection. The physical evidence of injury tells Patch that he has survived something violent, even though he still cannot understand his surroundings.

In his confusion, Patch's mind drifts through memories and beliefs that have shaped him. He remembers sitting in church and deciding that death was not comfort or redemption, but blank absence. He also recalls learning, through his father's death in Vietnam and later losses, that suffering strips people down, while love from people like Saint, Norma, and sometimes his mother can help rebuild what has been damaged.

Patch lies on a soft surface over cement and dirt, drifting in and out of awareness as pain makes him retch and scream without fully realizing it. He thinks briefly that he might be in a hospital, with Saint perhaps sitting nearby, but the reality is harsher and more isolating. The chapter ends with a sudden shift when a hand slips into Patch's, and Patch realizes he is not alone in the darkness.