Gene tells Finny he would never have been any good in the war anyway, because he would have wanted to play baseball with the enemy instead of fighting. Brought to tears by this, Finny asks if Gene's part in the fall was just "blind impulse," and not a deliberate expression of hate. Gene assures him, and Finny gratefully accepts the explanation.
Gene spends the rest of the day in school activities, but returns to the infirmary at five o'clock to check on Finny after the surgery to set his leg. There he learns from Dr. Stanpole that marrow from the broken bone had leaked into the bloodstream during the operation and traveled to Finny's heart, killing him. Although he is overwhelmed by the news of Finny's death, Gene does not cry, not even at the funeral, because he feels as if it is actually his own funeral.
