- Deborah continues to burn her arm, but it doesn't make the feeling of a burning volcano inside of her go away—it just releases a little of the pressure for a while.
- Deborah steals matches and cigarettes from careless student nurses and attendants.
- After a few days of Deborah burning herself severely, her wounds are discovered when the nice new doctor comes and she can't lie to him. She's almost upset that he doesn't see what she's done, that he's "letting her die" (20.6).
- Deborah blurts out to the doctor that she's burned herself some more. The Collect starts making fun of her immediately.
- Rules in D ward become stricter after it's discovered that Deborah was able to steal matches and cigarettes.
- Deborah is still able to steal a few matches and cigarettes, but the burning doesn't seem to help anymore. In fact, it seems to be making the rules of Yr turn upside down, and she's getting punished by Yri gods more frequently and still feels like she's going to explode.
- Dr. Fried comes back from vacation, and Deborah struggles because she doesn't want her to know how she's been harming herself. Deborah also doesn't want to show Dr. Fried that she cares what she thinks of her.
- Deborah feels happy to see Dr. Fried, and this scares her. Deborah even wishes that she could go into the Pit, but her mind stays with Dr. Fried in the present, grounded in reality.
- Dr. Fried thinks that Deborah burned herself to show her anger about her leaving.
- Deborah protests and says she tried with Dr. Royson, but it didn't work. And then she forgot that Dr. Fried would come back.
- Deborah also tells Dr. Fried that she feels like she's going to explode and can't tell if she's alive or not. She still feels poisonous, and she hates the idea of being alive as much as she hates the idea of being dead. She's having a major crisis.
- Dr. Fried reassures Deborah that being able to feel all of these intense things shows she has the capacity to love and feel compassion.
- Miss Coral offers to read The Importance of Being Earnest with Deborah, and soon other members of the ward are acting it out with them and reading different parts.
- Esther comes to visit Dr. Fried again after reading the report about Deborah burning her arm.
- Esther is very upset about it, despite Dr. Fried assuring her that Deborah's sickness is responding to treatment, and the burns are just a symptom.
- Esther asks if Deborah will ever be "normal."
- Dr. Fried responds that there is a good chance Deborah can be "mentally healthy and strong" (20.62). She also says that she only works with patients she feels she can help. She doesn't feel Deborah's case is hopeless at all.
- Dr. Fried knows that Esther can now be a rock for her family and get them all behind Deborah—that is, she can get them all to believe that Deborah can get better. Esther has outgrown living in her dad's shadow, and she's outgrown the need to be overprotective of Deborah.
- Back in the ward, student nurses tend to Deborah's burn wounds.
- Deborah watches as Helene hits Sylvia, and she gets angry when Sylvia doesn't even respond to the blows.
- Deborah recalls how Helene attacked her almost two years earlier after showing her some pictures of family and friends. It was like she had to punish Deborah for witnessing a moment of vulnerability. Deborah also remembers how such a fuss was made over Helene, while Deborah just stood there feeling humiliated—just as Sylvia is now.
- Deborah wants to reach out to Sylvia but can't bring herself to act, and she's ashamed of herself.
- Later, in therapy with Fried, Deborah still insists she isn't human.
- Dr. Fried still thinks Deborah burned herself to show anger that she left for vacation.
- Deborah disagrees. She looks around Dr. Fried's office and feels so separate from everything. She thinks that separateness is more painful than any burning.
- At the end of the session, Deborah lets Dr. Fried know she won't steal more cigarettes or matches, and she pulls some from her sleeve that she'd taken from Dr. Fried's table.