In a flashback to Friday, January 18, 1980, seven-year-old Leda Zabriskie suddenly becomes violently ill at school. Mrs. Russell carries her to the nurse, who records a high fever and calls Leda’s mother, Abigail Triplett, at work. Abigail is torn between her job and her daughter’s illness, but before leaving she stops to tell her husband, Eddie Triplett, what has happened. Eddie immediately tells Abigail to pick Leda up and warns her to check for appendicitis by pressing on the lower right side of Leda’s abdomen.

At home, Abigail remembers Eddie’s advice and barely touches Leda’s stomach before Leda screams in pain. That reaction sends Abigail to the emergency room, where the staff move quickly once appendicitis is mentioned. Leda is taken into surgery, and only then does Abigail call Eddie from a pay phone. Eddie explains that he recognized the signs because his brother Martin nearly died from a ruptured appendix as a child. Abigail is shaken by how close she came to delaying treatment and silently compares Eddie’s competence and steadiness with Buddy Zabriskie’s absence and unreliability.

Eddie takes charge of the practical fallout. He offers to collect the car, pick up Daphne from after-school care, pack bags, and bring food to the hospital. When he tells nine-year-old Daphne that Leda has had surgery, Daphne is alarmed but also fascinated. Together, Eddie and Daphne go home, pack what Abigail and Leda will need, buy dinner for Abigail, and visit the hospital. Leda sleeps through the visit, and Abigail reports that Leda’s appendix ruptured during surgery, meaning she will need close monitoring. Eddie offers to stay the night at the hospital so Abigail can rest, but Abigail refuses.

After leaving the hospital, Eddie and Daphne drive home through the cold dark. Daphne reflects on how different Eddie feels from her distant biological father: Eddie reads with her, helps her with schoolwork, and makes space for her in his life. While talking about what treat to buy for Leda when she comes home, they begin discussing raspberries and the local raspberry farm. On impulse, Eddie suggests driving up there to sit in the car, eat chicken, and look at the stars, and Daphne agrees because it feels like the kind of harmless adventure only Eddie would offer.

The station wagon climbs the unlit hill to the farm, and Eddie turns off the headlights so their eyes can adjust to the dark sky. As both Eddie and Daphne look up at the stars, the moving car drifts off the road and plunges down into darkness. Eddie’s immediate terror is not for himself but for Daphne, because he does not know whether she fastened her seat belt. The car crashes and comes to rest on its side, injuring Eddie, but in the darkness he realizes Daphne is hanging from her belt and still alive. Daphne answers him, and Eddie understands both that he has not killed her and that his love for her is absolute.