2: Larissa

After Nancy is taken to the OR, Larissa, already exhausted and overwhelmed by finances and her father’s $22,000 identity theft, breaks down in the empty waiting room. Chris arrives with Nancy’s forgotten bag, sees her distress, and refuses to leave. He proposes breakfast and takes charge, confirming a nut-free café and checking Larissa’s EpiPen, revealing he is a pharmacist.

At the café, Chris orders multiple breads to “rate,” easing Larissa’s nausea and anxiety. Their banter steadies her, and he gently asks about Mike. Chris shares that Mike is a licensed master plumber and the stepson of the “Toilet King,” surprising Larissa and reframing Mike as more capable than she assumed.

As they eat, Larissa explains Nancy’s surgery is to fix a badly set wrist break and discloses her father’s fraud and the loss of her tax refund she needed for her car. Chris reciprocates, revealing his mother died three months prior, creating a quiet, judgment-free space between them.

They rate breads—unexpectedly loving the pumpernickel—and add eggs and ham, with Chris guiding Larissa to a full breakfast. Fed and calmer, Larissa recognizes that Chris’s care made the morning bearable and interprets Mike’s sending Chris as thoughtful support. She decides she may not need to break up with Mike after all.