Chap­ter XXXV brings the Beau­mont fam­i­ly to the heart of Sali­na Hope Hos­pi­tal, where ten­sion and emo­tion fill the air as they step into the crit­i­cal care unit. The family’s arrival is marked by a somber atmos­phere as Mom­ma gath­ers her children—Rocket, Fish, Sam­son, and the protagonist—into a tight embrace. With vis­i­ble con­cern, she express­es her anx­i­ety over Poppa’s con­di­tion, hold­ing her chil­dren close as she process­es the fear of what’s to come. While she is focused on Pop­pa, Rock­et, in a qui­eter moment, asks about the protagonist’s recent birth­day. His ques­tion is not tru­ly about the cel­e­bra­tion but rather a sub­tle way of check­ing in on how the pro­tag­o­nist is cop­ing with their new­found abil­i­ties, par­tic­u­lar­ly their savvy.

Momma’s wor­ry about the protagonist’s adjust­ment to their savvy is evi­dent as she tries to gauge how they have been han­dling life since their last meet­ing. Sam­son men­tions Pop­pa, and Momma’s facial expres­sion shifts, reveal­ing her sor­row despite the faint smile she forces. Her eyes fill with unshed tears, silent­ly acknowl­edg­ing the grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion. As the fam­i­ly moves toward the nurs­es’ sta­tion, the weight of their emo­tion­al bur­den is vis­i­ble, with the nurs­es offer­ing sym­pa­thet­ic looks that show they under­stand the grav­i­ty of the moment. The ten­sion is pal­pa­ble as they approach the sta­tion, and every step tak­en feels heavy with antic­i­pa­tion, yet there is an unspo­ken sense of uni­ty with­in the fam­i­ly, each mem­ber hold­ing on to the oth­er for emo­tion­al sup­port.

A nurse in cheer­ful blue scrubs greets Mom­ma with a warm yet mea­sured tone, but Mom­ma, try­ing to mask the dis­tress, intro­duces her chil­dren humor­ous­ly as “delinquents—my wan­der­ing adven­tur­ers.” Despite the attempt at humor, the sit­u­a­tion remains tense, and the pro­tag­o­nist, des­per­ate to see Pop­pa, pleads with the nurse to allow them into the room. Mom­ma, though anx­ious, stress­es just how impor­tant it is for the fam­i­ly to be togeth­er with Pop­pa at this crit­i­cal junc­ture. The nurse, with a soft nod of under­stand­ing, grants them per­mis­sion to enter, but the uncer­tain­ty of what they will face behind those doors lingers in the air.

As the fam­i­ly walks down the cor­ri­dor toward Poppa’s room, emo­tions run high. Fish, unable to mask his con­cern, ner­vous­ly asks if Pop­pa has wok­en up, reveal­ing the deep fear that hangs over them all. Momma’s gen­tle response, inform­ing them that Pop­pa has not wok­en and that the doc­tors are uncer­tain if he ever will, hits like a heavy blow. The news leaves the pro­tag­o­nist feel­ing unset­tled, caught between dis­be­lief and sor­row, while Fish—surprisingly calm—remains com­posed, mask­ing the anx­i­ety that oth­ers can­not hide. This moment under­scores the emo­tion­al impact of the sit­u­a­tion, where the uncer­tain­ty of Poppa’s recov­ery looms over the fam­i­ly, cre­at­ing a shared sense of help­less­ness.

Rock­et, always deter­mined not to be exclud­ed from impor­tant moments, insists on enter­ing Poppa’s room, declar­ing that it would be worse to remain out­side in sus­pense. Mom­ma, torn between want­i­ng to pro­tect her fam­i­ly and her desire to keep them close, reluc­tant­ly agrees. She turns to the pro­tag­o­nist, seek­ing reas­sur­ance, but the pro­tag­o­nist feels pow­er­less, know­ing that their savvy can­not fix this sit­u­a­tion. There is an over­whelm­ing sense of help­less­ness, espe­cial­ly as the pro­tag­o­nist reflects on their inabil­i­ty to influ­ence the out­come of their father’s con­di­tion. This moment high­lights the com­plex­i­ty of their emo­tion­al struggle—wanting to offer com­fort, but being unsure how to do so.

Even­tu­al­ly, Mom­ma push­es open the door to Poppa’s room, and the fam­i­ly steps in, greet­ed by the qui­et real­i­ty of his con­di­tion. Pop­pa lies in the bed, seem­ing­ly life­less, lack­ing the vital­i­ty that once defined him, a stark con­trast to the fairy­tale image of Sleep­ing Beau­ty. The sight is a dev­as­tat­ing reminder of how frag­ile life can be, and the family’s emo­tions are a blend of vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty, fear, and a frag­ile sense of hope. The room, silent except for the faint sounds of the machines mon­i­tor­ing Poppa’s con­di­tion, encap­su­lates the uncer­tain­ty and the del­i­cate bal­ance between hope and despair that defines this moment. For the fam­i­ly, this vis­it marks not just a con­fronta­tion with Poppa’s uncer­tain future but also a reflec­tion of the com­plex­i­ties of their love for him and their fears for what lies ahead. In this moment, the true weight of fam­i­ly bonds and the emo­tion­al tur­moil of fac­ing a loved one’s mor­tal­i­ty are felt deeply by each mem­ber of the Beau­mont fam­i­ly.