The epigraphs for this section come from Misery's Child and Misery's Return. In the first, a "gipsy woman" tells Misery that she will be visited by a "tall, dark stranger." Misery smells Gwendolyn Chastain's perfume then feels "the madwoman's hands close" around her throat (341). She tries to scream but can't breathe.

In the second, Hezekiah tells Ian that no matter how one looks at the bee goddess icon, it seems to be looking at the viewer—even when the viewer is behind it. Ian says the goddess is, "after all, only a piece of stone" (341). But this, Hezekiah says, is what gives the goddess her power.

Paul remembers the sounds he first heard "in the haze" after his accident: Annie Wilkes saying, "number one fan" (343).

Paul remembers Annie saying, "Now I must rinse" (343).