Young describes the events leading up to the fire. Her husband, Pak, left her in charge of his business, even though she was neither certified not qualified to be there, while he runs a quick errand and tells her not to tell anyone. Young is nervous, as there are four patients being treated, accompanied by two caregivers; Pak calls to tell her the protestors have returned, and she will need “to turn off the oxygen when the session ends” (6). However, the DVD one of the patients is watching has ended, and TJ begins beating his head off the wall of the chamber. The DVD player needs new batteries, and Young runs home to find them.

At home, Young calls for Mary but she is not there. Pak calls again, but Young does not tell him she has left the chamber. She finds the batteries and races back to the chamber just as it explodes; her daughter, seemingly on her way to the house, “flings up like a rag doll and arcs through the air. Gracefully. Delicately. Just before she lands on the ground with a soft thud, [Young] sees her ponytail, bouncing high. The way it used to when she was a little girl, jumping rope” (10).