Night Road

Jude wakes from a nap when Mia’s surgeon appears. He explains that she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the car when it hit a tree. Her injuries were too severe, so she is brain-dead. Jude vomits and collapses. A chaplain enters the room and offers to take them to see Mia. They enter a room and see Mia breathing, yet Miles knows that only machines are keeping her alive. Jude struggles to accept that Mia is gone and questions how they’ll tell Zach. Over the next hour, Miles calls their family and friends while Jude consents to donate Mia’s organs. Jude is about to release Mia when she realizes that Zach will want to say goodbye to his sister.

Lexi dreams that Mia is talking to her and wakes to find herself in a hospital room. When Eva tells her where she is, images of the crash flash through Lexi’s mind. She tries to get up to visit Mia and Zach, but Eva tells her that Mia is dead.

Jude knows that Mia’s organs are going to good people who need them, but she doesn’t care. All she feels now is pain. Miles brings Zach into the room. Zach says that he can’t feel his sister, and Miles explains that she didn’t survive because of her injuries. Zach rips at the bandages covering his burned eyes, saying that he needs to see her. Miles stops him and hugs him. Zach finds and holds Mia’s hands. The family stays together for the last time until the doctors outside knock. Jude lets go of Mia’s hand and steps back.

Jude stays on the floor outside the operating room, where the doctors harvest Mia’s organs. Caroline appears and tries to get Jude off the floor, but Jude refuses to move, so Caroline sits beside her daughter. Miles wakes Jude after the operation and helps her off the floor. Caroline goes to the waiting room while Miles and Jude enter the operating room one last time. They kiss their daughter goodbye and go to Zach’s room. A doctor tells Zach and his parents that a substance in the car’s airbag caused his burns. He then removes the bandages covering Zach’s eyes, telling Zach to open his eyes. Zach’s vision is blurry, but he can see his parents and the doctor. The doctor calls him a lucky young man. When the doctor leaves, Zach says that he’s to blame for Mia’s death and questions how he will live with himself. A police officer enters the room and tells Miles and Jude that he needs to ask Zach a few questions. He also hands Jude a bag with Mia’s belongings. The officer asks Zach about the party and tells the teen that his blood-alcohol level was .28, four times the legal limit. Zach then explains that Lexi wanted to call Jude, but Zach didn’t want to get in trouble. This makes Jude feel like the accident was her fault. Zach then recounts the accident and says that Lexi was driving because he was too drunk.

Lexi limps down the hall, desperate to see Zach. She finds him alone in his room and apologizes for Mia’s death. Zach tells her to go away. Jude then enters the room, and Lexi apologizes to her, too. Jude becomes angry and says that Lexi killed Mia. Eva pulls Lexi away, and they see a police officer outside Lexi’s room. He says he needs to ask Lexi some questions. When they are alone again, Zach tells Jude that Mia’s death is his fault, not Lexi’s, and he asks his mom how he will get through this. Jude wants to help Zach through his grief, but she doesn’t know how.

Molly arrives at the hospital with some toiletries for Jude. Other friends arrive, and Jude forces herself to let them offer their condolences. When she can no longer stand the attention, Jude returns to Zach’s room. On Tuesday, the hospital discharges Zach, so the Farradays drive home. Miles forgets about the accident and drives down Night Road, forcing Jude to see the crash site and the memorial that others have set up for Mia. Flowers and other objects also cover the Farradays’ front door in Mia’s honor, but the smell of flowers angers Jude, and she orders Miles to take them all away. When Jude enters her house, she sees Mia’s green cardigan hanging by the door. Caroline appears and tells Jude that her friends have brought numerous casseroles for the family and that she’s made all Mia’s funeral arrangements. Jude says that she doesn’t want a funeral but finally agrees when Miles says that he and Zach need it.

Lexi and Eva visit a lawyer named Scot Jacobs to help Lexi’s defense. Scot tells Lexi that the president of the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) chapter wants to use Lexi as an example to prevent future accidents. Scot advises Lexi to fight the charges and enter a not-guilty plea, but Lexi feels that she is guilty and should be held responsible.

Lexi attends Mia’s funeral despite being afraid of reporters and the judgment of her peers and their parents. Zach’s ex-girlfriend, Amanda, offers Lexi a seat next to her for the service, and Lexi gratefully accepts. Amanda tells Lexi that the accident wasn’t her fault, and Lexi appreciates her support. At the end of the service, Lexi tries to talk to the Farradays, but they don’t seem to see her and leave the building. Jude refuses to attend Mia’s burial, choosing instead to stay in the limo while Miles and Zach go. She knows that Zach needs her support and comfort, but she can’t be there for him. After the burial, Jude goes home and spends much of the time in bed, feeling that she has failed as a mother. Molly visits, and Jude talks to her about Mia. When she reaches into her nightstand drawer for a tissue, she sees the ring that she bought Mia for graduation and stares at the empty prongs.

Lexi and Eva arrive at the high school on Saturday afternoon for graduation. Eva reminds her niece that she’s a good girl and belongs here. Lexi sees the football field and changes her mind. She hides under the bleachers and sees Zach walk by, his head shaved after the chemical burns. As the ceremony progresses, Lexi thinks of many memories of Mia. Suddenly, Zach says her name and interrupts her thoughts. Lexi asks if he can ever forgive her, but he says that he can’t forgive himself. Before Zach leaves, Lexi gives him her copy of Jane Eyre. Lexi meets Eva in the parking lot, and they go home.

After graduation, the Farradays go home in silence. When Jude gets home, she spends the next 48 hours in bed. When she eventually emerges, the prosecuting attorney assigned to the case visits Miles and Jude. He explains the pressure that he’s under from MADD to charge Lexi with DUI vehicular homicide. Miles says that they should forgive Lexi instead of sending her to prison, but Jude wants justice.

Lexi loses her job at the ice cream shop because her presence would be bad for business, so she stays home and reads books. One day, her lawyer arrives and says that the prosecuting attorney is charging her with DUI vehicular homicide and assault. Her arraignment is Wednesday, and she’ll plead not guilty and get a court date. Lexi doesn’t want to plead not guilty, but Scot and Eva explain that it’s her best option and that prison would do her great harm. Lexi reluctantly agrees to their plan. On Wednesday, the courtroom fills with curious onlookers for Lexi’s arraignment. The judge asks if the teenager understands the charges against her and asks for her plea. Lexi pleads guilty to both charges, and the courtroom erupts. The judge asks if Lexi has a statement, so she explains that she must pay for what she’s done. Miles then provides his view, stating that the accident was not all Lexi’s fault. He tells Lexi that he forgives her and says that he admires her decision. He ends by saying that sending Lexi to prison is not the answer but would be another tragedy. Jude says that she can’t forgive Lexi, but getting justice might help. She also hopes that other teenagers will learn from Lexi’s example. Eva speaks next, praising Lexi. She also expresses her concern about what prison would do to the girl. Finally, Zach stands and says that the accident wasn’t Lexi’s fault because he was the designated driver. He should go to prison, not her. After all the statements, the judge sentences Lexi to 65 months in a women’s correction institution.

Two guards immediately handcuff Lexi, allowing her to say goodbye to Eva briefly. She then goes to the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy. Once in prison, guards search and process Lexi. One guard warns her to be careful with who she hangs out with before entering the cell block. Lexi enters her 8-by-10-foot cell, where she meets another young woman named Cassandra. Lexi climbs onto the top bunk and thinks that she’s just like her mom.

Six weeks have passed since the trial. Jude is still grieving, though Zach and Miles do their best to move on. By mid-August, Miles fears that their relationship is at stake, pleading with Jude to get help and let go, but Jude fears that letting go means forgetting Mia.

In prison, Lexi is constantly afraid and only has Eva’s visits to look forward to. During one of her aunt’s visits, Lexi notices how much older Eva looks and tells her to stop visiting and that she should move to Florida as planned. Eva reluctantly agrees and reminds Lexi that she’s nothing like her mother. Lexi moves into her permanent cell with a woman named Tamica Hernandez, who’s in prison for life for murdering her husband in his sleep.

In late August, Zach tells his parents that he’s going to USC because it’s what Mia would want. This decision forces Jude to try to behave normally, including hosting a going-away party for Zach. The day after the party, the Farradays fly to California to take Zach to college. When she says goodbye to her son, Jude realizes that she didn’t help him to set up his dorm room, something the old Jude would have taken care of to ensure her son’s success.

Zach comes home for Thanksgiving in November, but Jude struggles with her regular routine and holiday traditions. The family is sitting in the living room one day when Scot Jacobs knocks on the door. He hands Zach an envelope and tells him that Lexi is five and a half months pregnant. Jude is reluctant to believe Scot, but Zach does. Scot says that Lexi will put the baby up for adoption if Zach doesn’t want to keep it. Jude tries to convince her son not to take responsibility for the child because he’s so young, but Zach says that he’ll quit school, come home, and be a father. Miles says that they’ll help so that he can continue with school. Scot then says that Lexi expected Zach to make this decision, so she’s willing to give him full custody under two conditions: The baby must never know that she was in prison, and she wants to hand Zach the baby herself.

Lexi’s in the prison cafeteria when she goes into labor, so Tamica helps her to their cell. An ambulance then takes Lexi to the hospital, where she gives birth to a baby girl. The doctor gives them a moment alone before Scot walks in. He asks if Lexi is sure about giving Zach full custody, and when Lexi says yes, Scot sends Zach into the room. When Zach sees the baby, he says that she looks just like Mia. They name her Grace Mia Farraday, and Lexi asks Zach to tell Grace that her mother loved her enough to do what’s best for her. Lexi kisses her daughter and says that she loves her. She hands the baby to Zach. When Zach presents the baby to his parents, Jude immediately sees Grace’s resemblance to Mia. Jude holds the baby, trying to force herself to feel something, but she doesn’t.

In a few months, Lexi’s body returns to normal, but she enters a depressed state, realizing that she’s hurting and that prison won’t be her redemption. She starts using drugs to numb the pain of losing Mia and Grace and finds herself in solitary confinement for fighting with Tamica.