Summary

23. In a series of sentences that each starts with “After the Hospital,” Joy describes running through the woods, reaching a town, and waiting at a bus stop, celebrating that she is away from the Hospital and that she has her mother’s photo. A bus stops and Joy gets on, its only passenger. As it heads for Kansas City, it passes a dead deer, leading Joy to list the different things that happen to a dead body. Meanwhile, the driver talks about the value of affirmations (which reminds Joy of the Pathologist), and Joy anticipates joining her mother in Florida.

24. The bus drops Joy off in Kansas City. She makes her way to a hotel, where she tries to bluff her way into getting a room. When that does not work, she agrees to partner with a rough-looking man referred to only as...