Patch wakes in an operating room disoriented enough to think, for a moment, that he is fourteen again and might somehow have lost the years of grief, violence, and failed searches. That brief hope collapses as he takes in the unfamiliar room and remembers the present.

As Patch looks around, he sees treetops through the windows, medical equipment, and a man seated at a desk. When Patch abruptly sits up and knocks a trolley, the man calms him and explains that Charlotte is safe with Keeper Jen, feeding the meerkats. The man tells Patch that he fainted at the zoo and tries to reassure him by saying such incidents are common.

Patch explains that the snakes and their smell seemed to trigger the collapse. The man asks whether Patch is sick or taking medication, and Patch denies both. Because the episode could still matter, the man advises Patch to see a doctor.

When Patch asks whether the man is a doctor, the man clarifies that he is not a doctor for humans and gives Patch water. He then says he needs to clear Patch out because he has a wolf with tuberculosis to treat, revealing that this operating room belongs to the zoo’s veterinary staff.

As Patch prepares to leave, he notices the name on the door: Jimmy Walters. The chapter ends on that reveal, turning Patch’s fainting spell into an unexpected encounter with a man whose identity now stands out as significant.