A tense clinic confrontation opens the episode when a woman forces Mr. Hawke to accept treatment despite his pride and Joseph's protests. She demands privacy, begins a lineage-based acupuncture technique and urges him to rest. As she moves to an advanced step the treatment makes his head heavy and he drifts into sleep; she slips away while others argue. When he wakes she's gone and the mood turns urgent — an authority storms in and orders, "Go find out where Nancy went. Even if you turn Merica upside down, bring her back to me!"