Sybil has feelings for Ramon that she has never felt before. She wonders if it is love, and if her ability to feel so intensely means she is well. Though she has always been afraid to get too close to anyone, for fear that they will discover her “lapses,” or her other personalities will take over, or they will hurt her, she dates Ramon continuously for eight weeks. She does not dissociate at all during this time, and Ramon knows nothing about Sybil’s condition.

Ramon, who is Colombian, is in the process of adopting his niece and two nephews in the wake of their parents’ death in an automobile crash. When he’s over for dinner, Ramon shows Sybil a letter from his niece, and remarks that Sybil would make a great mother. Sybil realizes that she could love Ramon’s niece and nephews, and that being with him could fulfill her desire to be a mother, as she’s likely incapable of being pregnant. Listening to the radio, Ramon remarks offhandedly that people with real troubles don’t need a shrink, that Latinos and Europeans don’t indulge in such silly luxuries. At the end of the dinner, Ramon tries to make love to Sybil.