Chapters 7, 8 and 9 Summary and Analysis

A chronology of events after John's death follows: how Didion and Quintana's husband Gerry discussed how to break the news of John's death, how Quintana was at first unable to absorb the information, and how she managed to speak at her father's funeral. Quintana had to make another sudden emergency trip to the hospital shortly after the funeral, due to blood clots, for which she was prescribed blood thinners. Quintana and Gerry made plans to re-start their married life on a trip to California, and Quintana was typically nervous before their flight. Didion imagined all the things Quintana and Gerry were doing while there, but as she was getting ready to go out to dinner, a neighbor informed her that Quintana was undergoing emergency brain surgery.

As she and Gerry had been leaving the airport, Quintana collapsed and was...