Valerie, fresh from Dr. Dentley’s care, sees her outpatient therapist, Dr. Rex Hieler for the first time. In stark contrast to Dentley and her previous therapist, Mrs. Tate, “Dr. Hieler’s office was cozy and academic—an oasis of books and soft rock music in a sea of institutionalism” (185). The office brims with games, refreshments, and decor rife with meaning, easy talking points for lulls in patient-doctor conversations. Hieler introduces himself to Valerie’s mother as “Rex,” and Valerie “flopped on the couch, watching Mom as she stiffly backed up and sat on the very edge of it, as if it would soil her” (186). Valerie’s mother proceeds to understate Valerie’s involvement in the shootingand downplays her relationship with Nick, which inflames Valerie. Her mother reacts by crying hysterically. Dr. Hieler mediates the discussion and welcomes Valerie to his practice. 

Valerie wakes up the morning after her first visit with Dr. Hieler; when she goes downstairs, she sees Detective Panzella and panics. She’s anxious, unsure of herself since the shooting: “I fought the feeling of the world going out from under me, as it had countless times since my surgery” (191). However, the detective is there to tell her that she has been legally cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting.