Do Not Disturb

Rob answers the phone. Scott Dwyer is on the other end. Scott tells him that he is calling from the phone they found in Derek’s home, with calls and messages from this number. He asks where Rob got the phone, and Rob admits that he found it in Claudia’s things.

Scott comes over to talk to Rob. He asks where Claudia is, and Rob admits that he doesn’t know. He then asks if Scott thinks Claudia is capable of hurting Derek. Rob thinks for a minute, rubbing a scar on his forehead from a fight a few years ago where Claudia threw a paperweight at him. He admits that he does think Claudia could harm someone.

The narrative point of view shifts to Claudia. Claudia admits that she has been sleeping with Derek for the last six months. She thinks back to how her relationship with Derek started. She went over to Quinn’s house to water her plants and decided to take some of her nice clothing to wear or sell. As she was trying on a jacket, Derek walked in and found her. He asked for a massage, then the two had sex.

Claudia admits that she was initially sleeping with Derek because of the physical attraction and to get back at Quinn because of her jealousy. She has always been angry that she had to drop out of college to help Quinn after their parents died. In return, Quinn complains about her nice life and her husband, never even offering to help Claudia and Rob.

After sleeping with Derek a few times, she began to truly like him. They would lie in bed for hours and talk, promising to leave their spouses to be together. The night Derek died, she called Quinn and found out that Quinn wasn’t home. She went over to have sex with Derek but instead found him dead. She plans to make Quinn “pay” for killing the person she loved.

When Claudia first arrived at the hotel, she saw Quinn leaving with her bags. She stopped her in the parking lot, demanding to know how she could kill Derek. Quinn tried to defend herself, saying that Derek attacked her, but Claudia didn’t believe her. She stabbed Quinn, then dragged her into her trunk. She then saw the light in Rosalie’s room and realized that she had to kill her, too.

Claudia goes into Rosalie’s room and finds her sitting in front of the window with her binoculars. Claudia talks about her sister, and Rosalie insists that she doesn’t know what happened and didn’t see anything. However, Claudia doesn’t believe her. She pulls out Nick’s phone, showing that she stole it and that he won’t be coming to rescue her.

Rosalie continues to try to plead with Claudia, but Claudia advances toward her with the knife. Rosalie thinks of how hopeless her situation is, while also being afraid for what happened to Nick. She knows that, if he’s still alive, he’ll likely go to jail for her murder anyway.

When Rosalie coughs, Claudia pauses. Rosalie realizes that Claudia doesn’t know what’s wrong with her or if she’s contagious. She coughs repeatedly, causing Claudia to retreat. At the last moment, she uses all her strength to lunge at Claudia. Rosalie manages to knock her to the ground, then uses her nails to scratch her face.

Nick appears in the doorway. Rosalie realizes that Claudia is knocked out beneath her. Nick tells her that he saw Claudia coming into the house with a knife and rushed over. Rosalie starts to laugh but then begins to cry.

Claudia wakes up on the floor of Rosalie’s room. Nick is standing over her with a knife. She pleads with him, warning him that the police will believe her story and think that Nick and Rosalie attacked her. However, Nick is undeterred, threatening to stab her if she moves. He tells her that he saw what she did to Greta.

When the police arrive, Claudia thinks how they must know everything already. They immediately arrest her and take her outside. On the way to the police car, Claudia sees Scott looking in the trunk of her car.

Claudia realizes that she needs to know whether Quinn survived. She runs toward the car, but Scott intercepts her. She taunts him, saying that he “missed [his] chance with [Quinn]” (278). She can tell Scott wants to hit her, but he doesn’t. She asks if Quinn is still breathing. No one answers her as they drag her to the police car. She thinks how Quinn will survive because she was always “the lucky one” (278).

Rosalie doesn’t fully understand what happened. However, she knows that Quinn was taken to the hospital, still barely alive. She also knows that Claudia stabbed Greta. When the police found her, she was still alive, but they’re not optimistic she’ll survive.

Nick tells Rosalie that he still wants to be with her. Rosalie is relieved, realizing how much she still loves him. She suggests that they make the dining room into a downstairs bedroom for her. Relieved, Nick and Rosalie spend the rest of the night “making plans for the future” (281).

Quinn sits on her front porch drinking lemonade. She thinks about how much nicer her small house is, having sold her and Derek’s home. She spent a little time in prison, but thanks to Nick speaking in her defense about the bruises on her neck, she got leniency for self-defense.

Claudia was convicted and will spend a long time in prison. Quinn tried to give her money for her legal defense, but Claudia wouldn’t take it; she now refuses to let Quinn visit her in prison. Quinn is still surprised at how much Claudia grew to “resent” her and still can’t believe that Claudia fell in love with Derek. She discovered after her arrest that Claudia had stopped taking her bipolar medication months before. Her lawyer was unsuccessful at arguing her innocence based on her mental health.

Scott comes home. He became good friends with Quinn, helping her during and after her trial. A few months ago, they went on a real date together, then started a romantic relationship. Scott asks her if she is ready to go to the restaurant, opening her car door for her.

The narrative then shits to Rosalie’s perspective.

At the diner, Rosalie works in the kitchen. They modified the restaurant so that she can check over all the plates and run the kitchen, even though she can’t cook anymore. She is also pregnant, feeling more in love with Nick than she has in years.

Nick comes into the kitchen and tells Rosalie that she should go say goodbye to Greta. She is leaving to travel the world the next morning.

As Rosalie goes through the restaurant, she sees Quinn eating with Scott. Rosalie and Nick learned most of the details of what happened from the newspaper. After it all ended, Rob came to their hotel to apologize for what Claudia did. He also fixed the leak in room 201, and they managed to fix the ceiling that had been stained red from the rust in the water. However, Nick still does not rent the room out.

Rosalie says goodbye to Greta. She jokes about how Greta was right about her happy future, but Greta admits that she could never tell the future. However, she tells Rosalie that she had a hand in making Rosalie’s future. She saw what was happening between Nick and Christina, so she decided to kill Christina to save Rosalie’s marriage. She also saw Quinn getting close with Nick, so she told her she was in danger and wrote in her Bible to scare her off. Greta then shows Rosalie the “Do Not Disturb” sign which she took off the door of 201, insisting that Nick should start renting the room out again.

Rosalie is shocked by the information. She decides that she has to call the police. However, before she can do anything, her water breaks. Greta leaves her to get Nick.

When Nick arrives, Rosalie asks where her phone is, but Nick insists that they have to go to the hospital. Rosalie starts to tell him about Greta, but Nick tells her that she already left—she got a flight to leave that very night.

As they leave the hotel, Rosalie realizes that Greta was right. If it weren’t for her, Rosalie would not be with Nick or be having a child and would likely be dead. She decides that, if they have a girl, they will name her Greta.