Chase describes his fall off the roof in a brief introductory passage. When he wakes up in the hospital, he is combative, speaking hostilely to everyone around him, snapping out questions and orders. He does not know why he is in the hospital or who the people around him are. He has no idea who Chase is and no memory of the events of his life.

He discovers that he fell off a roof and from his mother and his brother Joseph. He is informed by Dr. Cooperman that he has acute retrograde amnesia, which in his case means he knows how to walk and talk but does not retain any personal memories. His only recollection is a vague memory of a young girl in a blue dress in a garden-like setting.

Dismissed from the hospital with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder, Chase rides in his mother’s minivan to his home, where his father Frank, his young stepmother Corinne, and his half-sister Helene surprise him. He is put off by his overly boisterous father and curious about the seeming dislike Corinne and Helene express. Climbing the stairs to a bedroom he doesn’t recognize, he finds his cellphone and discovers photos of himself with two large boys who are obviously his friends.