Mitchell learns that Elsa is in a coma because of her Brugada. Mitchell grapples with his emotions, feeling betrayed that she did not tell him about Ticonderoga’s phone and hopeless about her recovery; he blames himself, believing that her letters were actually subtle calls for help. Mitchell has trouble focusing on his work at FutureWorld.

One day he feels the desperate need for a cheeseburger but loses his appetite when he steps onto the street and sees a rat. Mitchell recognizes that the animals of New York are behaving erratically, possibly because of the drought and heat wave. Continuing to walk, Mitchell finds himself in an art museum and purchases a $29,000 piece of artwork called Psycho Canoe: a fully functional canoe that has been painted multicolored and decorated with reclaimed objects from the natural environment. When the canoe is delivered to his apartment, the doorman believes it is a coffin.

Mitchell pays the doorman to help him bring it to his room. The man breaks open the box and offers to take the wood away. Mitchell declines. Mitchell eats his dinner in the canoe and sleeps in it. He sleeps well for the first time since he heard about Elsa’s coma two weeks before.