How It All Goes Down
- Back in the present, Dominick calls Sheffer to tell her to he wants Thomas tested for HIV.
- He keeps Ralph's name out of it, and says he wants his own doctor to do it, too.
- He reminds her of how that guard kicked him in the nuts, and he has the documentation to prove it. Ah, blackmail.
- Dominick gets a call back from Dr. Hume, the chair of the security board, so he blackmails that guy, too.
- Later, Sheffer comes by to talk to Dominick about Duane Taylor, the guard whom Dominick saw withholding cigarettes from Thomas.
- He's not just a jerk, he's also a serial rapist—an HIV-positive serial rapist: "As much as a quarter of the population at Hatch may be HIV-positive" (40.95). Yikes.
- Dominick brings his own doctor down for Thomas's physical. He's HIV-negative, but he has been raped.
- Dominick convinces Leo to pretend to be an attorney, and the two pay Dr. Hume a visit, blackmailing him (again) to letting Thomas out.
- He's free, and the first thing he wants to do is visit the Falls.
- They reminisce, then visit McDonald's for lunch with Leo.
- Thomas has to stay with Dominick until Sheffer finds a place for him at Hope House, a home Thomas has stayed before.
- Dominick drops him off and says he'll see him tomorrow. Famous last words…
- He gets a call that night: Thomas is missing.
- They find him. Well, they find his body in the river. He'd plummeted from the Falls: "Whether Thomas had jumped or fallen in, none of us could really say" (40.240).
- Dominick prepares for Thomas's funeral (this all happens really fast) and drinks with Ray and commiserates over Thomas's death.
- Too drunk to go home, Dominick flops down on Thomas's bed and falls asleep.
- He wakes in the middle of the night with a memory from when he was four years old: the first time he realized that he and Thomas were separate people.
- Thomas had scarlet fever; Dominick did not. He realizes "Thomas is sick and I am not. He's asleep. I'm awake. I can save myself" (40.303).