Fire Exit

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of addiction, illness, mental illness, anti-gay bias, and death.

Bobby has returned from a trip to North Carolina. He wants to move somewhere warmer and has even asked Charles to join him. Charles knows that he cannot leave Louise and has thus far refused. Charles asks Bobby about the trip, and at first, Bobby doesn’t want to tell him what happened. Finally, he admits that he found the perfect beachside cottage but that he slept with the neighbor. This was an issue because the woman was married, and he’d unknowingly bragged about his conquest to her husband. The man assaulted Bobby, and Bobby left. Charles isn’t sure that he believes Bobby, but he lets it go. 

Louise continues to decline, growing increasingly confused about where she is and whom she is talking to. Charles worries about her, but he also worries about Elizabeth. Cryptically, Mary told him that Elizabeth wasn’t doing as well as she could be, and Charles wonders what might be going on with his daughter. He wishes that she knew the truth about him and vows to find her and tell her the true story about her origins.