The narrator, likely also the author in autofiction style, is a woman in her sixties visiting an old friend with cancer. They once worked together on a literary journal. The narrator stays at an Airbnb, reading a detective novel to distract herself from her swirling thoughts. She attends a lecture by a climate change activist who offers no hope. Depressed by this, she reveals that the speaker is an ex-partner with whom things ended badly. He emails her, touched by her attendance, suggesting they resume contact.
The narrator visits her friend in the hospital, discussing her friend’s difficult relationship with her grown daughter. The daughter resented being raised by a single mother and felt neglected due to the lack of connection with her absentee father. Now, when the friend faces a chemotherapy decision, her daughter indifferently says, “it’s your choice,” which the friend interprets as a lack of care. The narrator confirms the daughter’s past hostility towards her mother’s friends and partners. Nevertheless, the friend proceeds with treatment.
Returning home, the narrator exchanges notes with her ex, who is estranged from his son over climate concerns. The narrator manages her own work and keeps an eye on a frail neighbor whose son unexpectedly dies, leaving her to be taken to a care home.
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