In Georgia Pines, Paul has become a “special friend” (163) to Elaine, an elderly woman he is romantically involved with after his wife’s death. Paul has a reputation for being standoffish, but Elaine does not seem to mind. One day, Paul wakes up early to watch TV while others at Georgia Pines are asleep. Elaine finds him shaking on the couch, as if he has seen a ghost. He tells her that he was watching the film, Kiss of Death, and saw the scene where the villain, played by Richard Widmark, pushes an old woman in a wheelchair off the stairs. Paul explains that Widmark’s character looks just like inmate William Wharton. Paul tells Elaine about his time in Cold Mountain, an experience that Elaine has heard before. She encourages him to keep writing about his days in the penitentiary. They depart to their separate beds to sleep while Paul fights off visions of Wharton’s ghost in his head.

Chapter 2 returns to Wharton’s attack on Dean. Paul has his gun trained on the inmate, unable to shoot because of how Wharton had positioned fellow guard Dean’s body. Luckily, Brutal happens on the scene and acts swiftly to hit Wharton’s head with a baton, rendering him unconscious.