Chap­ter XXXVI opens with the Beau­mont fam­i­ly gath­ered in the qui­et, ster­ile envi­ron­ment of Poppa’s hos­pi­tal room, a space filled with ten­sion and heartache. As they approach his bed, the weight of the sit­u­a­tion press­es down on them, each fam­i­ly mem­ber hold­ing onto some­one else, find­ing com­fort in shared strength as they inch clos­er to Pop­pa. The sight of Poppa—unrecognizable with his bald head wrapped in ban­dages and numer­ous med­ical devices con­nect­ed to him—sparks a deep emo­tion­al reac­tion in each of them. The pro­tag­o­nist, strug­gling to keep it togeth­er, feels her heart race, her breath quick­en­ing with the sheer weight of what they’re fac­ing. Her emo­tions bub­ble up, and she fears that her tears might spill over at any moment, reveal­ing the depth of her fear and help­less­ness.

The family’s pres­ence in the room reflects their love and con­cern for Pop­pa. Grand­pa Bom­ba, though clear­ly shak­en by the cir­cum­stances, tries to dis­tract him­self by attempt­ing to open a jar, his actions a small attempt to cling to nor­mal­cy. Rock­et steps in, offer­ing his help with the jar while soft­ly singing the famil­iar love song that sym­bol­izes the bond between Pop­pa and Mom­ma. These sim­ple acts, though small, offer a sense of com­fort and famil­iar­i­ty amidst the over­whelm­ing sad­ness. Mean­while, the pro­tag­o­nist gen­tly touch­es Poppa’s face, her fin­gers trac­ing the lines of his skin, reflect­ing on the dif­fer­ence between his con­di­tion and the home­less man she once encountered—someone who, unlike Pop­pa, had no one to care for him. She recalls Poppa’s fad­ed tat­too of a mer­maid, Miss Mer­maid, which once seemed to rep­re­sent his vital­i­ty and life. Now, that image seems dis­tant, a sym­bol of a time when Pop­pa was a dif­fer­ent per­son, and the pro­tag­o­nist yearns to re-estab­lish the con­nec­tion they once shared.

As the silence in the room deep­ens, the pro­tag­o­nist finds her­self yearn­ing for any sign of recog­ni­tion from Pop­pa, but there is only still­ness. Despite her attempts to lis­ten for any sign of life, noth­ing reach­es her ears. Fish and Sam­son, both rely­ing on the pro­tag­o­nist to offer insight into Poppa’s con­di­tion, look to her for answers, but she is pow­er­less to pro­vide any. Unable to hear any­thing encour­ag­ing, she watch­es as Fish qui­et­ly walks out of the room, fol­lowed by Mom­ma, leav­ing her to face the still­ness alone. The con­stant beep­ing of the machines becomes a haunt­ing reminder of the sit­u­a­tion, ampli­fy­ing the sense of hope­less­ness that fills the air. Yet, despite every­thing, the pro­tag­o­nist refus­es to give up, her heart hold­ing onto a sliv­er of hope, a belief that per­haps her words can reach Pop­pa, despite the silence sur­round­ing them.

In a moment of qui­et resolve, the pro­tag­o­nist whis­pers soft­ly to Pop­pa, offer­ing words of encour­age­ment, telling him that he still has his “savvy,” the fight­ing spir­it that has always been a part of him. She pours out her love for him, hop­ing that these words will bring him back to her, wish­ing for his recov­ery with all the strength she can muster. As if respond­ing to her plea, there is a faint sign of life from Poppa—his fin­gers twitch, his eye­lids flut­ter, and for the first time in what feels like an eter­ni­ty, a tiny spark of hope fills the room. The fam­i­ly, who had been hold­ing their breath in anx­ious antic­i­pa­tion, watch­es in stunned silence as this small, yet pro­found, response breaks the ten­sion. The alarms sud­den­ly blare, and the machines go hay­wire, sig­nal­ing a med­ical cri­sis, but the protagonist’s unwa­ver­ing belief in her father’s strength push­es her to con­tin­ue speak­ing to him.

With the room now in chaos, she per­sists in call­ing out to Pop­pa, urg­ing him to wake up, to come back home, and to ful­fill the promis­es they had made, like build­ing the porch swing they had always dreamed of togeth­er. Her words cut through the noise, offer­ing a touch­stone of hope amidst the fren­zy of the hospital’s response team. As Poppa’s fin­gers twitch once more and his eyes flut­ter open, the room erupts into com­mo­tion and dis­be­lief, but there is an unde­ni­able sense of hope that floods the space. The protagonist’s words, filled with love and the weight of a promise, seem to have reached Pop­pa, bring­ing him back from the brink. This pow­er­ful moment sym­bol­izes the strength of fam­i­ly bonds, the trans­for­ma­tive pow­er of love, and the mag­ic of belief in moments of pro­found uncer­tain­ty.

In the end, the chap­ter leaves read­ers with a sense of hope, cap­tur­ing the theme of resilience and the depth of famil­ial love. Despite the ongo­ing chal­lenges and uncer­tain­ties they face, the Beau­mont family’s unwa­ver­ing con­nec­tion to one anoth­er proves to be a source of strength. This chap­ter high­lights the pow­er of words, the influ­ence of love, and the abil­i­ty to hold onto hope, even when faced with the most dif­fi­cult of cir­cum­stances. It serves as a reminder that, in the most chal­leng­ing moments, love can be the force that pro­pels us for­ward, push­ing us to nev­er give up on those we care for. The hope that fills the room as Pop­pa stirs again is a pow­er­ful sym­bol of the belief that no mat­ter how dark the times may seem, there is always a chance for light to shine through.