Lucy continues to see the kind doctor as she attempts to gain weight. Eventually, years later, she learns that the doctor has retired. She never sees him again.

Lucy recalls a memory from her writing workshop with Sarah. She overhears Sarah speaking to a student from another class who talks about a woman named Janie Templeton whose father begins masturbating openly in her house after a breakdown. Lucy confesses that she experienced this in her own home. After publishing her first book, she meets with a doctor and writes down traumatic experiences she has had in her life.

Lucy only sees her mother one more time nine years after her visit to the hospital. She does not initiate communication with her family during this time. After her mother grows ill, Lucy visits her in a Chicago hospital. Her father greets her. Lucy no longer feels resentment toward him. On her second evening at the hospital, Lucy’s mother asks her to leave. Lucy begrudgingly honors her mother’s request. As she leaves the room, she tells her mother that she loves her and awaits her mother’s response. She hears nothing. She informs her father about her mother’s request.