"Flesh and Blood" and "A Bridge" in Love Medicine

In "Flesh and Blood" Marie takes her daughter Zelda to see the dying nun, Sister Leopolda. They go up the hill to the convent. Marie notices how the covenant might look shiny and new but if you look closely you can still the age of the building. When Zelda and Marie first meet Sister Leopolda she seems lucid and in her right mind. But no too long before it becomes clear she has lost her mind. Marie tries to steal the large spoon Sister Leopolda uses to bang on her iron bed frame. However, she can't pry the old nun's fingers loose from the spoon. So finally Maria gives up and leaves with Zelda. Once at home Zelda finds the letter that Nector had written saying he was leaving Marie for Lulu.

Her reaction to the letter rather surprised me. she was not angry that Nector left her. But rather she stuck trying to figure out how she would raise her children without a father. But later on, when Zelda brings Nector home Marie places the refolded letter under the salt holder. She decides then and there not to tell Nector if she had read the letter. She going to make him guess for the rest of his life with her. 

In "a bridge" the novel jumps to 1973 in Fargo, North Dakota. Fifteen-year-old Albertine Johnson has run away from home. Now she is in Fargo because she does not have any more to travel any further. Then follows a soldier who turns out to be Henry Lamartine Jr. They drink in a few different bars and then head to a cheap motel. They have sex but that's not the shocking part of this chapter. the shocking part is when it's fairly clear Henry Lamartine Jr. is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But when Albertine starts to fear for her safety it turns out that Henry is not as dangerous as he first appeared.