According to Michelle, Richard is alive in a care home with severe brain damage. Mandy realizes that no one except Chloe and Pat ever said explicitly that Richard was dead. The remembrance service was just a way of saying goodbye to someone with no apparent hope for recovery.

Mandy finds the nursing home where Richard is being cared for. He has no response to her until she takes his hand and presses it to her cheek. When she does, he has a spasm. The doctors tell her that contact with a Match has sometimes been known to stimulate brain activity, especially when a child is involved. Pregnant women produce pheromones that can strengthen a bond. However, Richard still has no brain activity. The doctor expects no recovery and believes Richard’s movement was a meaningless spasm, but Mandy believes reached him.

Mandy goes back to Pat’s house, intending to pack up and move out before Pat gets home, but Pat and Chloe appear before she has a chance to get away. She confronts them about their deception and threatens to never let them have anything to do with Richard’s child. Pat tries to stop her from leaving, and in the scuffle, Mandy falls and strikes her head, losing consciousness.