After a chaotic morning, a mother scolds the children and is told to take them home, but she decides instead to go to the hospital. Arguments about money, apologies and a cold declaration—"Cade, he doesn't love us anymore"—escalate into a threat: "In this life, I'll make sure you suffer." At the hospital a man hands over medicine, Fern is ordered away, and then Vera bursts in, pleading, "Give my husband back to me! Please, let us live!" The public plea leaves onlookers stunned and the family forced to confront Vera’s demand with no answer yet.