The scene shifts into the hypnosis session itself. Dr. Livingstone guides Agnes through relaxation techniques, instructing her to imagine a surrounding, warm, enveloping presence of “a chorus of angels” (52). Agnes responds to suggestions and confirms that she can hear and recognize Dr. Livingstone. Under hypnosis, Agnes admits that she is afraid. She fears that she is in trouble. After prompting, she reveals that she did, indeed, have a baby.

Agnes describes her awareness of the pregnancy and her fear that she was not worthy of being a mother. She states that she did not want the baby because of this and believed that she was being punished. She denies knowing how the pregnancy occurred in detail but acknowledges that she believed she would have a child. She also admits that another nun guessed correctly about the pregnancy, but Agnes refuses to identify her.

Dr. Livingstone guides Agnes back to the night she became ill, instructing her to recall her room in the convent. Agnes describes eating dinner, attending vespers, and later returning to her room due to illness. Under deeper hypnosis, she reports finding a wastepaper basket in her room when there was not normally one there. She also remembers severe pain and hallucinations, including the sensation that she had “eaten glass” fed to her by the other jealous nuns. Becoming increasingly agitated, Agnes also reveals the belief that someone was present in the room to take her baby. She becomes increasingly distressed, experiencing physical contractions and emotional panic.

As the hypnosis intensifies, Agnes relives the traumatic episode and cries out in fear and anger. Mother Miriam intervenes, attempting to stop the session, but Agnes reacts violently and resists. Dr. Livingstone calms her and brings her out of the hypnotic state. Agnes regains composure but remains frightened. She then embraces Dr. Livingstone. As she leaves, she begins to sing.

After Agnes exits, Dr. Livingstone and Mother Miriam argue over the implications of what has been revealed. Mother Miriam insists that Agnes is spiritually special and that she is possibly the subject of a miracle. Dr. Livingstone rejects this interpretation. They debate possible causes of the pregnancy, including the existence of a father or external—even miraculous—intervention. Mother Miriam suggests that it may be a parthenogenesis orchestrated by God, while Dr. Livingstone attributes Agnes’s current state to psychological trauma and past abuse. Mother Miriam wants to believe that Agnes could be more than “the sum of her psychological parts” (62).

The conflict escalates as both women challenge each other’s beliefs about religion, science, and truth. Mother Miriam wonders why Dr. Livingstone is so desperate to save Agnes and then leaves to report Dr. Livingstone’s conduct to the court. Before exiting, she states that a “small miracle” has already occurred. Agnes briefly re-enters, confirms that she will not see Dr. Livingstone again, and identifies her mother as the person she believes was present in the room.

Dr. Livingstone recounts a vivid dream in which she was a midwife in a white, remote hospital surrounded by snow. In the dream, she performed a cesarean section on a woman. As she did so, she experienced a disturbing sensation of being physically drawn into the birth, as though the infant were pulling her inside the womb. She was overwhelmed by the experience and woke abruptly.

Upon waking, she discovered blood on her sheets. She reveals that she had not menstruated for approximately three years prior to this event. She reflects briefly on the idea of having a child, stating that she would have done “nothing” with it, repeating the thought in a detached manner.

Dr. Livingstone explains that—shortly after this experience—she requested and received a court order placing Agnes under her care. She states that she was convinced that she was right in her assessment of the case. She reflects on her professional role as a doctor and suggests that she should have maintained greater detachment, acknowledging her emotional involvement. She breaks down physically, striking her chest as she insists that she is made of flesh, blood, heart, and soul. She concludes by describing her thought process as incomplete and unresolved, referring to it as “the unfinished thought” and “the last reel” (65).

Mother Miriam confronts Dr. Livingstone, accusing her of escalating the investigation and interfering with Agnes’s care. Dr. Livingstone states that she intends to hypnotize Agnes again and questions Mother Miriam about inconsistencies in her account of Agnes’s pregnancy. Under pressure, Mother Miriam admits that she knew Agnes was pregnant but claims that she did not realize it until it was too late to prevent scandal or intervene medically. She explains that she gave Agnes instructions not to tell anyone.

Dr. Livingstone presses her about the night of the birth. Mother Miriam admits that she entered Agnes’s room during the labor but insists that she only intended to help and panicked because of the severity of the situation. Dr. Livingstone suggests that she may have been directly involved in the baby’s death, but Mother Miriam denies killing the child and insists that she left to get help. The argument escalates, with each accusing the other of distortion and denial. If Agnes does not confirm Mother Miriam’s story, the incensed Mother Miriam says, then she is a “goddamn liar” (68).

Agnes enters, and Dr. Livingstone begins another hypnosis session, returning her to the night of Sister Paul’s death, when the women believe that Agnes became pregnant. Agnes describes waking in the dark and sensing someone in her room. She experiences a hallucinatory vision of a flower transforming into blood and light, culminating in a divine image. She suddenly begins to bleed from her hands and becomes terrified, believing that the event is real and external. She accuses both Dr. Livingstone and Mother Miriam of causing her suffering.

Dr. Livingstone attempts to redirect Agnes’s interpretation, suggesting the presence of a male figure who assaulted her. Agnes initially resists but eventually identifies the figure as God, expressing fear of divine punishment because she now hates God. Dr. Livingstone insists that she is not guilty, while Mother Miriam attempts to stop the session, arguing that Agnes is too distressed to continue.

Under continued questioning, Agnes recalls the birth clearly. She states that Mother Miriam was present during the delivery and then left her alone with the newborn. Agnes describes the baby as alive and recalls killing it by tying the cord around its neck to “give her back to God” (73); she then disposed of the body in a wastebasket. Dr. Livingstone brings Agnes out of the hypnosis.

After the revelation, Agnes becomes dissociated, singing softly as she withdraws. Mother Miriam expresses grief and blame toward Dr. Livingstone, suggesting that irreversible harm has been done. Agnes then shifts between fragmented spiritual visions and childhood memories, describing experiences of divine presence and fear, in which a godlike figure came to her during the night and lay on top of her while singing. The scene ends with her singing as she is led away.

Dr. Livingstone begins the scene by singing the song that Agnes sang while she was being taken away. Dr. Livingstone reflects on what happened to Agnes after the case concluded. She recalls Agnes singing and the ambiguity of the song associated with her final state. Dr. Livingstone considers two possible interpretations of the song: Either it reflects seduction and sexual violence linked to a male figure, or it is a childhood lullaby connected to innocence and longing. She acknowledges that she cannot know the truth behind Agnes’s experience.

Dr. Livingstone states that she has withdrawn from the case. She explains that Mother Miriam submitted Agnes to the court, after which Agnes was sent to a hospital. There, Agnes stopped singing and eating and eventually died. Dr. Livingstone questions the meaning of these events, asking why a child was abused, a baby died, and a “mind destroyed.” She expresses frustration at the absence of a clear explanation or moral order.

She reflects on her own involvement, acknowledging that she has made a personal confession of belief despite her earlier skepticism. She questions whether Agnes’s suffering had any purpose and whether it can be understood as part of a divine or meaningful structure, as Dr. Livingstone would like to believe.

She concludes by stating that she misses Agnes and hopes that some part of Agnes remains with her; she wants to believe that Agnes was “blessed.” She suggests that this lingering presence would be a sufficient form of miracle.