After Jimmy's brutal attack, Saint returns alone to her small apartment in Kansas and fixes her attention on the large map spread across half the floor. She has not slept or eaten since leaving, and after driving back she takes a warm shower but avoids looking in the mirror because of the damage Jimmy has done to her face and body.

That evening, Norma calls and immediately notices that Saint has not visited and does not sound like herself. Saint hides the truth, saying she had to get back to work and claiming she is coming down with a cold. The lies protect Saint's pain from being exposed, even as she still tastes blood and feels how badly Jimmy has hurt her when she sits or speaks.

As the conversation continues, Saint studies her short, practical nails and thinks about the mascara, lip gloss, and perfume in her bag. Those small details lead her back to memories of Norma's yard and the tree where she once studied, jarred honey, and imagined a safer, brighter life. Because of what has happened to her, Saint realizes those memories no longer feel untouched.

Saint tries to frame her pain in the language she knows, thinking about cognitive dissonance and how negative associations can supposedly be unlearned. Even with that knowledge, she cannot separate herself from the harm she has suffered. When Norma gently asks if she is okay and offers to take her for ice cream at Lacey's Diner, Saint manages a painful smile and answers that she is too old for ice cream, masking injury and grief with a strained joke.