In Chap­ter 160 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the nar­ra­tive begins with Patch and Char­lotte dri­ving to Lake Pine dur­ing a freez­ing day. Patch assists Char­lotte with her ice skates while watch­ing Misty as she per­forms spins on the ice. Although he wor­ries for Misty’s safe­ty due to her speed, he enjoys momen­tary laugh­ter with her, reflect­ing on the beau­ty and com­plex­i­ty of the moment amidst her declin­ing health.

Misty express­es her desire to con­fide in Char­lotte about her ill­ness, men­tion­ing how much Char­lotte will appre­ci­ate and adore Joseph Macauley when she knows the truth. Patch responds stark­ly, ask­ing her to remain qui­et, affirm­ing that she is too unwell to make sense of these mat­ters. Despite this, Misty’s enthu­si­asm for shar­ing her feel­ings and con­nec­tions shines through, hint­ing at the depth of their rela­tion­ships.

Through­out the chap­ter, the emo­tion­al weight of mile­stone vis­its to a spe­cial­ized ther­a­peu­tic facil­i­ty in Alice Springs is pal­pa­ble. The lux­u­ri­ous land­scape of Mis­souri greens con­trasts sharply with the grav­i­ty of Misty’s sit­u­a­tion as she receives pal­lia­tive care. The facil­i­ty sig­ni­fies a refuge for Misty, who enjoys the com­pa­ny of friends, while Patch takes a step back, engag­ing in dai­ly rou­tine with Char­lotte at school and Priya Mey­er.

On their return dri­ve, they pause at St. Raphael’s, where the heav­i­ness of fear and uncer­tain­ty over­shad­ows their inter­ac­tions. Misty reveals her fears regard­ing her health, lead­ing to an inti­mate moment where Patch com­forts her by embrac­ing her tight­ly. This chap­ter encap­su­lates the fragili­ty of life, under­scored by humor, fear, and the bit­ter­sweet nature of rela­tion­ships in chal­leng­ing times. Patch’s pro­tec­tive demeanor and Misty’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty shape the atmos­phere, set­ting a stage of emo­tion­al res­o­nance that invites pro­found reflec­tion on their jour­ney togeth­er.