In an Instant

Chloe is improving; she eats, goes to the bathroom independently, and talks to the psychiatrist. However, Finn knows Chloe is aiming only to get pain medication, some of which she hides when the nurse isn’t looking. Chloe also writes and revises her farewell notes. Finn tries to warn Ann about Chloe contemplating suicide, but when Finn speaks to her mom, Ann wakes up screaming. Finn doesn’t visit her again.

Ann enters the room that Finn and Chloe shared to prepare for Chloe’s return from the hospital. Ann moves all of Finn’s belongings into large garbage bags and dumps them out the window and onto the law. Ann then dismantles Finn’s bed with such energy that she becomes out of breath and sweaty. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door. Bob enters the room and tells Ann she shouldn’t do this alone. They walk to the couch, and Ann embraces Bob and cries.

The hospital releases Mo, and she returns to school. While Mo has improved physically, she still struggles to sleep. She uses makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes. When she arrives at school, everyone watches her. Mo eats alone, missing Finn. Finn sits with her but then moves to be with Charlie. He, too, isolates himself. He pulls out a notebook and draws a cartoon of him and Finn, making Finn smile. Charlie then flips through the notebook, allowing Finn to glimpse numerous funny drawings. She notices that he always draws her beautifully despite his cartoonish style. Charlie finishes his sandwich and returns to school, and Finn feels they would have made a perfect couple.

Mo stands with several of her friends from the neighborhood. They talk about the accident and what Natalie told them about it. One of the girls asks why Mo didn’t just make a fire big enough to keep them warm instead of just melting snow. Mo gives a sarcastic response and walks away. The girl calls Mo a “bitch” and accuses her of thinking she’s better than they are because she’s been in an accident.

Chloe and Jack will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Chloe has a dozen pills packed in her suitcase, and Finn fears it’s enough to kill her. Finn decides to talk to her dad, as he’s sleeping to warn him about Chloe’s plan. She tells Jack that Vance’s abandonment has upset Chloe, not the loss of her fingers and toes. Jack wakes before Finn can tell him about the pills.

Bob and Ben help Jack enter the house in his wheelchair, and Aubrey and Ann help Chloe walk in. Jack goes to the couch downstairs, which Ann made into a bed. He watches Chloe slowly climb the stairs and tells her not to give up. Aubrey and Ben leave, and Bob gets sub sandwiches for lunch. Ann and Bob take their sandwiches into the backyard. Finn hates how much time Bob spends alone with her mom, lying to Karen about where he goes. Bob leaves, so Ann goes inside to check on Jack. He ignores her when she asks if he needs anything. She then says she’s going to work, but he doesn’t respond.

Finn goes to Bob and Karen’s house. When he gets inside, Karen asks how the Millers are, but Bob ignores her. She asks more questions, and Bob becomes angry and tells her to visit the Millers and offer help.

Ann goes to the mall instead of work, making Finn realize how common lying is in her family. Ann window shops, enjoying being in a crowd, as it makes her feel normal.

Finn follows Jack as he takes a cab to Vance’s duplex 20 minutes away. Jack bangs on the door, demanding Vance come out. Finn moves to Vance and sees how dramatically he’s changed. He’s emaciated, bald, and using drugs. She also sees his misshapen ears and missing fingers. Jack bursts into the house and hits Vance on the head with one of his crutches. Vance falls to the floor, and Jack continues to beat him, symbolizing the blame he puts on the boy for Chloe’s condition. Vance doesn’t defend himself, and Jack’s strength quickly fades. Jack accuses Vance of taking Chloe into the storm and leaving her there. Vance only nods, enraging Jack further. He tells Vance to rot in hell and walks out of the room, dumping Vance’s Ecstasy pills on the floor in disgust. Finn senses that her dad’s behavior is a sign of more to come.

Ann returns home and finds it empty. She searches downstairs and then goes to Chloe’s room and asks if she knows where Jack is. Eventually, Chloe responds, speaking to her mom for the first time since the accident. Ann tells Chloe to help look for him. As Chloe gets up and goes to her dresser, she’s startled by her reflection. Her hair is longer, her skin is pale, and she has a large scar across her forehead. Finn watches her sister move, questioning if Chloe continues to feign pain to get more medication.

Mo sees Chloe going toward the beach and runs out to meet her. The girls show each other their injuries. Mo asks Chloe what she’s doing, and Chloe explains that her dad is missing. They walk on the sand, remembering how much Finn loved the beach. Mo talks about how much she misses Finn, causing Chloe to cry for the first time since the accident. Chloe then describes her experience after Vance left her, saying that she could feel her sister’s presence. Chloe mentions she still feels Finn’s presence sometimes, which makes Finn happy. Suddenly, Aubrey calls out that they found Jack. Chloe resumes her act of being in pain.

Finn returns to her house and sees her parents fighting. Jack accuses Ann of being more than friends with Bob. Ann responds by saying Bob has been helpful and led Oz’s search party after the accident. Jack cuts her off and tells her to leave, accusing her of abandoning Oz.

Aubrey spends the night, forcing Ann and Jack to act happy. Chloe comes down for breakfast since Ann no longer brings food to Chloe’s room. Aubrey chats about her wedding, distracting the family from their misery. Chloe offers to help select the music, and Aubrey accepts.

Ann, Jack, and Chloe return to their normal behavior as soon as Aubrey leaves. Ann’s phone rings, and she goes into the backyard to talk to Bob. When she comes back inside, Jack asks if she and Bob are sleeping together again. Ann hesitates and asks if Jack knew about them the first time, and he says he did. When she comments that he stayed despite knowing, Jack responds that he had nowhere to go. Finn finally realizes just how unhappy her parents are.

Finn goes to school with Mo, feeling that the hardest part of being dead is watching everyone move on without her. Mo now hangs out with the drama students, to Finn’s horror. One of the girls in the group asks about the cute boy they picked up before the accident. Natalie told the girl about Kyle, trying to maintain her popularity by exaggerating what happened after the accident.

Mo excuses herself from the group and walks up to Natalie. She asks her to stop talking about the accident, questioning why Natalie would lie about what happened. Natalie confesses that she doesn’t remember much. Mo then asks how Bob ended up with Oz’s gloves, but Natalie shrugs. Natalie then asks if Mo knows what happened to Kyle, but Mo doesn’t. As the girls prepare to part, Natalie tells Mo that her dad traded crackers for Oz’s gloves. Mo promises not to tell anyone.

A home nurse named Lisa arrives to check on Jack and Chloe while Ann works. Chloe tells Lisa she’s almost out of hydrocodone, though she hasn’t taken any of the pills the hospital sent her home with. Lisa says she’ll get Chloe a refill and goes downstairs to Jack. He flirts with Lisa as she helps him, making Finn laugh.

Later that day, Chloe makes herself lunch and sits with her dad in the living room. Jack pauses and then cautiously says he knows she doesn’t want to talk about the accident, and Chloe asks if he wants to know why she left the camper. She says she couldn’t let Vance go for help alone, even though she knew it was dangerous. Chloe affirms she loves Vance and begins to cry, explaining that his leaving her after the accident hurts her. She says she would sacrifice her fingers and toes for someone she loves, yet she realizes Vance doesn’t love her back.

Jack returns to Vance’s duplex and finds the teen in the same position as when he left him two days ago. He dumps a bucket of cold water on Vance, who charges Jack. Vance falls, and Jack instructs him to talk to Chloe. Vance says he can’t, but Jack refuses to listen. He convinces Vance to shower, and Finn worries that her dad’s recklessness will kill Chloe instead of the pills.

Finn returns to her house, hoping Chloe is napping so she can warn her sister about Vance’s arrival. Finn finds Chloe in the bathroom shaving her legs after showering and buzzing off her short hair. Finn is shocked by the transformation and how her sister looks almost normal. Chloe then paints her remaining toenails with a polish Finn knows their mom hates. Finn realizes her sister is preparing for death. Chloe does her makeup and dresses in the white satin dress Aubrey wore at her debutante ball.

The doorbell rings, so Chloe answers it and finds Mo on the doorstep. Mo says she needs Chloe’s help immediately and takes Chloe to the Kaminskis’ backyard. Mo reveals a shoebox containing four tiny kittens, each crying and stumbling because their eyes haven’t opened. She places the box at Chloe’s feet. Chloe picks up the gray kitten and tells Mo to prepare warm milk and an eyedropper to feed the hungry kittens. Inside the house, Mrs. Kaminski asks if Mo’s plan worked and says she’s sorry Chloe is struggling. Finn realizes how brilliant Mo is and how lucky she is to have her as a friend. Mo returns to Chloe, who begins feeding the kittens and names the tabby runt Finn.