In the present, a middle-aged man is in the Brigham and Woman's hospital to get tested to see if he has multiple sclerosis (MS), which he has suspected for weeks that he does. Along the way, he is surprised to see the daughter of his friends and deduces correctly that she is here for a secret abortion. He remembers one of his girlfriends telling him about her harrowing experience getting an abortion. This leads to him looking back at how he met his friends and their daughter. He shares that he has been experiencing MS symptoms for weeks, but the doctors at his local hospital did not diagnose it, and he is forced to go to Brigham and Women's. He leaves after his appointment, and he goes back to his friends' house, where he has been staying. Along the way, he wishes he had a soft and demure woman to go home to. His friends start setting the table for dinner and tell him their daughter isn't joining them because she's at her boyfriend's. He knows that this is not true, but he does not tell them otherwise.