Part Two: Eloise — Chapter 4

In 2017, Georgia attends Mercedes’s beach wedding, observing Ximena’s relief as her daughter marries David, a fellow ER resident. The celebration prompts Georgia to mourn future milestones she will miss with Molly, whom she only watches from afar.

Online, Georgia sees Molly’s early college graduation and plans for Columbia’s public health program. Soon after, Georgia discovers through a church obituary that her father, Reverend Ezekiel Owens, died months earlier. Feeling erased and ambivalent, she wanders into a synagogue, where a rabbi counsels her about complicated grief and faith, urging openness to imperfect divinity.

That night in Piedmont Park, rain-soaked and numb, Georgia meets Officer Kai Yazzie, who gently offers help and brings her to a diner. They share small truths, his Diné views of death, and a parting rooted in “I’ll see you again.”

Days later, Kai leaves daisies and a playful note; Georgia calls, and they begin dating. Georgia is drawn to Kai’s balance between modern life and Diné tradition. Their connection intensifies after Kai witnesses a teen’s suicide on a call; shaken, he rushes to Georgia, and they make love, finding solace in each other.

Afterward, Georgia panics over her hidden past but chooses honesty, confessing her bipolar disorder. Kai responds with his own fear—his father’s early death from heart disease—and accepts Georgia fully, promising to stand beside her against her “demons.”