Rocky is making short ribs in her kitchen on a cool autumn day when her father enters, drawn by the smell of onions. He mentions that the Miles Zapf train story has reached national news, explaining it is part of a larger piece about railroad cost-cutting measures. Rocky shushes him when Willa and her friend Sunny burst in to make leaf decorations, not wanting Willa to dwell on the accident. Rocky reflects privately on how she attended Miles’s burial, standing at a distance to observe his grieving mother.

Willa offers to scramble eggs for her grandfather. Meanwhile, Rocky’s father complains that Jamie declined his offer of the family’s large antique dining table, calling his response harsh. Rocky defends Jamie, arguing that the enormous carved-walnut table would not fit in the tiny New York apartment he shares with Maya. When Willa asks to hear Jamie’s exact text, their father reads it aloud. The message is gracious and warm, expressing fond memories of eating at the table. Rocky’s father admits it does not sound harsh after all, and Rocky empathizes with how people sometimes hurt their own feelings.

Rocky and her long-time friend Jo are camping together, extremely stoned. Jo tries repeatedly to describe how the crickets sound to her while Rocky laughs uncontrollably. They notice each other’s foreheads look unusually large. Rocky keeps seeing writing on the glowing logs. When Jo needs the bathroom, Rocky lights their way with a decorative lantern. Wearing a long flannel nightgown, Rocky thinks she looks like Ebenezer Scrooge, but Jo insists she is Wee Willie Winkie, which sends them both into fits of laughter. They try to stay quiet in the bathroom when a mother arrives with children.

Rocky reflects on her renewed relationship with marijuana after decades of abstinence. At the dispensary called Danks a Lot, she once questioned a young budtender about whether someone could drive a train while high. He revealed he knew Miles Zapf and suggested the train should have stopped regardless of the conductor’s state. He asked Rocky why she cared so much, and she explained she cannot stand the thought of one person feeling solely responsible for such tragedy. He recognized her as Jamie’s mom and shared that he was in jazz band with her son in high school.

Back in the present, Rocky and Jo overhear neighboring campers arguing about Cran-Apple juice before falling asleep.

At her rheumatology appointment, Rocky’s doctor examines the rash covering her arms and legs, noting the different forms are likely manifestations of one underlying condition. The doctor biopsies Rocky’s upper arm and explains that her body is overproducing granulomas. She discontinues the ineffective hydrocortisone cream and prescribes hydroxychloroquine, warning it may take months to work.

When the doctor asks how Rocky feels, the question makes Rocky cry. The doctor’s best assessment is an autoimmune disorder, most likely cutaneous lupus, though some test results do not align. She schedules a biopsy of an enlarged lymph node in Rocky’s armpit to rule out lymphoma, leukemia, or multiple myeloma, conditions the doctor calls “lymphoproliferative disorders” (90). Though she emphasizes these outcomes are unlikely, Rocky asks if she will die, thinking of her family needing her. The doctor reassures her she hopes not anytime soon.

In the waiting room, Rocky cries when Nick greets her. She refuses to discuss the appointment until he invites her to lunch at Sofra, her favorite cafe. Walking to the parking garage, Rocky lists her potential diagnoses. She stops on the sidewalk and weeps in Nick’s arms while he comforts her.

Late at night, Rocky lies awake looking at her phone. She views a Facebook post from Miles Zapf’s mother showing a clay sculpture called Lost Mother depicting profound grief. Nick briefly wakes, makes an insensitive joke about the sculpture before realizing Rocky is crying, then apologizes and falls back asleep.

Rocky receives an Amazon order notification and sees Jamie has purchased a fire extinguisher. She texts him about it, and they exchange jokes about items from their respective Buy Nothing groups, including a slice of Hubbard squash and used molasses. Rocky types that she misses Jamie intensely but deletes it. Instead, she asks if he heard about Miles Zapf. After a pause, indicated by the typing dots appearing and disappearing, Jamie confirms he did. Rocky says the situation is sad, and their exchange about the topic remains brief and awkward.

Rocky washes dishes while her father sits with Willa on the kitchen couch, struggling to remember a bridge partner’s name. After finally recalling Hieronymus, who went by Jerry, he forgets what he wanted to say about him. Rocky invites them on a walk. Fifteen minutes later, they head out into the autumn evening.

Rocky makes a kidnapping joke to a new neighbor about her baby, making the woman nervous. Her father turns back at the cul-de-sac, but Rocky and Willa continue into the woods, walking in comfortable silence and eating wild berries and seeds. Inwardly, Rocky reflects on her latest biopsy results describing an unusual constellation of findings and an unclassified disease process. Her rheumatologist has added methotrexate to her regimen and scheduled her lymph node biopsy.

Unaware of her mother’s health worries, Willa confesses she is still obsessing over Miles Zapf, researching him online. She believes he did not intend to die and suspects the train company is emphasizing the suicide narrative to avoid responsibility. Rocky suggests Willa schedule an appointment with her therapist. As they admire the sunset, they debate whether human appreciation for beauty is evolutionary adaptation or something more mystical.

Rocky arrives at the hospital for her lymph node biopsy, self-conscious about her widespread rash. A young resident doctor appears and acknowledges that Rocky is looking at her ID. Rocky mishears her and is momentarily confused and mortified because she thinks the resident says “vag,” (102), not badge. Then, the resident explains she will perform the procedure with an attending physician present, but Rocky overhears the woman admit she has never done this specific biopsy before.

A nurse sits beside Rocky and holds her hand for comfort. The procedure begins poorly. The attending repeatedly corrects the nervous resident, who keeps coming dangerously close to a nerve. When they try a different site, Rocky starts crying, fearing permanent damage to her arm. The nurse notices Rocky’s spiking heart rate and suggests the doctors trade places.

The attending asks Rocky if she wants her to take over. Rocky, crying and apologetic, agrees. The attending completes the biopsy in one minute. The doctors leave curtly. The nurse comforts Rocky, telling her the situation was not her fault and that she is a living person, not a cadaver. They embrace, and the nurse jokes darkly that they are all just cadavers in the making.

Rocky and Nick stay at a bed-and-breakfast after an awards ceremony where Rocky’s magazine article did not win. Their room smells of mothballs and features dated decor. Nick helps Rocky undress because her arm is sore from the biopsy. Nick does the Spelling Bee puzzle and achieves genius level. Rocky receives supportive texts from Willa and her father. Nick accidentally AirDrops his game score to the innkeeper instead of Rocky.

Then, Rocky shows Nick a news headline about experts being implicated in the Miles Zapf train collision case. Nick acts strangely and tells her to read the article. Rocky learns that the railroad company retained a consulting firm before the accident to recommend cost-cutting measures. Disgusted, she remarks this is the work their son Jamie does. Nick interrupts to confess that the consulting firm is Dickens and that the railroad company is Jamie’s account. As he reveals this, Rocky sees an email notification on her phone indicating she has abnormal lab results.

Rocky and Nick drive home from the bed-and-breakfast in tense silence. Then, they argue about Nick keeping Jamie’s involvement in the accident a secret. Nick defends himself, noting Rocky cuts their children endless slack but is quick to be furious at him. Softening, she apologizes, and touches his leg, acknowledging he was supporting Jamie. They briefly reconcile.

Her anger returns, though, and Rocky questions how Nick could have been lighthearted the previous evening when someone’s child is dead. Nick defends Jamie, arguing he was assessing risk on a team and did not kill anyone. Rocky sobs, saying Jamie decided human life was less important than profit. Nick suggests waiting to discuss everything when Jamie visits next week. As a peace offering, he plays an old Shawn Colvin CD, and Rocky is temporarily appeased.

Later, Rocky reads her lymph node pathology results in her patient portal. The lymph node is diffusely abnormal, and the diagnosis is indeterminate. A spiral CT scan is recommended to assess for solid tumors and granulomatous disease in organs. The report also mentions leukopenia, a white blood cell disorder. Rocky and Nick discuss the frightening results. Looking at her rash, Rocky concludes the problem lies within her.

Rocky sits in bed watching Willa sleep after a severe emotional breakdown. The breakdown began after Willa learned from a New York Times article that Dickens was the consulting firm involved in the train accident. Initially, Willa assumed Jamie would be angry about his company’s work and that he could not have been involved due to a conflict of interest. When Rocky remained silent, Willa realized the consulting happened before the crash, meaning no conflict existed. Then, Rocky confirmed the railroad was Jamie’s account. The color drained from Willa’s face, and she vomited on the floor before locking herself in the bathroom. For an hour, Rocky listened to Willa crying and retching. Not knowing what to do, Rocky baked muffins. Then, she called Davey, Jo’s husband and an emergency room doctor, who spoke to Willa through the door and called in a prescription for benzodiazepine tablets.

When Rocky returned from the pharmacy, Willa asked if she was still allowed to love Jamie. Rocky told her yes and suggested waiting to discuss everything when Jamie arrives on Friday. Willa agreed before finally falling asleep. Rocky reflects on the pain of parenting and receives a supportive text from Jo. Downstairs, she finds her father eating the muffins. She breaks down crying, and he comforts her.

Instead of working on her writing assignment, Rocky prepares for Jamie and Maya’s arrival by cooking lentils and focaccia and arranging fresh lilacs in the guest room. While cleaning the bathroom, she pulls a large clump of her thinning hair from the drain. She notices the rash has spread to her face. Then, Rocky reflects on the frustrating process of renewing her methotrexate prescription every two weeks, which involves coordinating blood work, checking results, and navigating insurance approvals. Multiple things regularly go wrong, forcing her to make endless phone calls.

While collecting laundry, Rocky recalls Willa recently identifying an odd piece of furniture as a whatnot due to her knowledge of American Girl dolls. At her father’s in-law apartment, Rocky finds him in bed with a cold. He insists he caught it from the air conditioner blowing on his neck and shows her an ancient bottle of codeine cough syrup he and her mother shared for 58 years. He then gives her an old bottle of calamine lotion for her rash, gesturing at her wrist. Touched by his gesture, Rocky thanks him.