Reese goes to visit his former mentor, Dr. Trainer, who is now retired. Reese confides his guilt over Emma’s death and why he’s hesitant to practice medicine again. Trainer says, “Sometimes trees forget they were meant to blossom and just need to be reminded,” (214) steering Reese toward his higher calling as a heart surgeon. 

Reese and Charlie roast a whole pig over a fire, joined by Cindy, Annie, and Termite. Reese has a fun time and thinks he isn’t all that different from Annie: “Maybe my inner emotions still had expression, still made it to the surface and bubbled out. Maybe I wasn’t dead after all” (220). They all take a jet ski ride and come back to eat the cooked pig. 

Reese thinks back to when he and Emma kissed for the first time: It differed from “the way you […] kiss your mom goodbye before school; I mean Emma spoke to me. Her lips were wet and soft, and her hands trembled slightly” (234).

Reese then finds Cindy and Annie sunbathing on his beach. While they make themselves at home, he goes into his workshop to work on a table that he’s been crafting for them as a surprise.