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Patch desperately looked around for anyone at all. Anyone who could handle this, who could ease the responsibility, the acute burden of seeing a girl in trouble. 
Another scream.

This quotation appears in Chapter 4, when Patch sees Misty Meyer being attacked by a strange, hooded man. Patch is only just registering what is happening, and this quote occurs in the moment of decision, when Patch realizes that the only person who can help Misty now is himself. The weight of the moment hits him acutely here, and it is a weight that stays with him for the book’s entirety—the weight of the responsibility to protect those that need protection. Patch’s whole life becomes dedicated to that responsibility; this is a pivotal moment because it is the first time he feels and understands it. In looking around and finding no one to help, Patch is forced to reckon with reality. It is in this moment that his childhood begins to get stripped away, when the illusion of safety and protection fades. Each reference to the lack of help, along with the repeated screams, conveys the urgency Patch feels in his own back-and-forth between his thoughts and the call to action. The decision that follows is the one that puts the entire story that follows into motion.

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