Demon forces the 911 call while Murrell “Stoner” Stone tries to stop him with punches. In the ambulance to the hospital, Stoner performs as the concerned “husband,” lies that he made the call, and produces pill bottles while blaming Demon’s mother’s coworkers, convincing Demon this is just another manipulation.

At the hospital, Demon is barred from the ER and waits for hours with Mr. and Mrs. Peggot and Maggot. A DSS worker (a tired woman Demon thinks of as “Baggy Eyes”) arrives and insists the Peggots go home, saying she will place Demon herself. In a private interview, she questions Demon about the Peggots as potential abusers; Demon realizes Stoner has made accusations and insists the real danger is Stoner.

Demon describes Stoner’s violence and, exhausted and furious, admits graphic thoughts about hurting Stoner; the worker documents everything and photographs Demon’s injuries. A male hospital staffer then evaluates Demon’s mental state, asking about weapons and whether Demon truly wants Stoner dead or feels suicidal; Demon explains he mainly wishes he could wake up in a different house, and the man reassures him he will be “sorted out.”

DSS decides Demon cannot go home: Demon’s mother, now awake, has signed paperwork placing Demon out of the home while she enters longer-term treatment. Demon repeatedly requests placement with the Peggots, but DSS refuses because Stoner has filed a complaint requiring investigation, and Demon cannot go out of state to Aunt June due to paperwork.

In the morning, Demon meets his new caseworker, Miss Barks, who initially makes him think he is “going home,” then drives him toward a temporary foster placement on a farm. Baggy Eyes is still with them, and Miss Barks explains Demon will keep attending the same school but has no belongings for now, and Demon learns his mother will go from the hospital directly into residential treatment. When they arrive at the farmhouse to meet Mr. Crickson, the two workers hesitate over who must escort Demon inside, revealing Miss Barks’s fear and inexperience as Demon faces the reality that he is not going home.