On the night of his twenty-fifth birthday, Sam is seized by excruciating pain as he reaches his door. He rips off his prosthetic and collapses. Marx lets himself in, finds Sam on the floor, cleans him up, and stays beside him watching a concert recording until the pain eases. Sam explains the phantom limb pain and asks Marx not to tell Sadie, fearing it will distract her from finishing the game.

Flashback: after the amputation, Sam initially healed quickly and planned a swift return to work. On his second night at his grandparents’ house, he woke screaming with violent phantom pain, fell trying to reach the bathroom, chipped a tooth, and was comforted by his grandmother. A doctor diagnosed phantom limb pain, offered mirror exercises, and prescribed antidepressants he did not fill.

When fitted with his first prosthetic, the pain returned with greater fury; after a single step he vomited. Referrals to therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture, and massage provided only partial relief. Sleep and walking became reliable triggers. Adjustments to the prosthetic failed to solve it, and the pain consumed his thinking. He lost weight, then gradually either the pain lessened or his tolerance grew; he returned to work, but games no longer provided comfort.

Meanwhile, at the missed birthday dinner, Sadie and her new boyfriend, Abe, leave for his Silver Lake home. Abe shows his meticulously organized 45s and enthuses about A- and B-sides, playing the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” The evening is tender and low-stakes, a contrast to Sadie’s past intensity.

Months later, Abe leaves on tour and the relationship ends cleanly. Sadie decides brief, uncomplicated relationships can be worthwhile. At the office, she and Marx trade views on being consumed by love; Marx embraces the intensity, while Sadie, scarred by Dov, is wary. Marx urges her not to give up on passion, teasingly affectionate.