Turtles All the Way Down: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

The next morning, Aza picks up a phone call from Simon Morris. She slips outside and away from Mom to talk to him. Aza asks if splitting the money with Daisy was okay. Mr. Morris says he doesn't care. He explains that he set up an appointment for her to deposit the money the next day after school.

Aza tells Mr. Morris that she's worried about Noah and asks if there's other family. Mr. Morris explains that Davis has been declared an emancipated minor and the legal guardian to Noah. When Aza asks what happens if Mr. Pickett is dead, Mr. Morris explains that legal death and biological death are different: if no evidence of life turns up in the next seven years, at that point Mr. Pickett will be dead according to Indiana law. He tells Aza that he only deals with finances and assures her that everything legal is cared for.

Aza feels fine the next day until she and Daisy are in Harold on their way to the bank. Daisy chatters about how her most recent piece of fanfiction went viral and retiring from Chuck E. Cheese's while Aza thinks that the medication might be working since she feels better. Suddenly, Aza thinks that the medicine is making her complacent and she hasn't changed her Band-Aid in over 24 hours. Aza's mind persists in thinking that she has an infection and certainly forgot to change the Band-Aid. She argues with the thoughts and even asks Daisy if she went to the bathroom after lunch. Daisy assures Aza that she did, but Aza has to pull over in a parking lot.

When Aza takes the Band-Aid off, her finger is red and inflamed. She shows Daisy and says it's a sign of infection. Aza puts hand sanitizer and a fresh Band-Aid back on and sits, embarrassed. Daisy kindly tells Aza to not be cruel to herself. Aza spirals: she wonders why she gives herself an open wound on her finger, which is one of the dirtiest parts of the body. She thinks she's going to die of sepsis and opening her finger doesn't even prove she's real. She puts on more sanitizer and replaces the Band-Aid three more times until Daisy finally tells her that they have to go. Daisy asks if it's better to reassure Aza or worry with her, but Aza only whispers that she gave herself an infection.

At the bank, Daisy introduces herself to a teller. They escort Daisy and Aza to a private office and set them up with new checking accounts. The teller encourages them to not make big purchases for six months while they adjust to having that much money, and suggests investing in stocks or college savings accounts. Aza can't listen—she's too caught up in worrying about her infection.

As Aza drives to Daisy's apartment, she keeps forgetting where and why she is where she is. After she drops Daisy off, Aza thinks that being mentally ill doesn't make her any more intelligent or observant. In fact, she thinks it makes her less observant and a horrible detective.

At home, Aza examines her finger in the bathroom. She cleans and re-bandages it before taking her regular medication as well as medication to use when feeling panicky. When the second pill starts to kick in, Aza feels heavy and sits in front of the TV. Mom comes home and asks Aza how she's feeling. Aza says she's fine and goes to her room to do homework. She struggles to read, so she texts Davis. He invites her to come over to see a meteor shower on Thursday, and Aza agrees.

Mom comes into Aza's room and asks if she'd like to help make dinner and then if she's scared. Aza says she's scared, but she's not scared of something: she's just scared. Mom says she wants to relieve Aza's pain, and Aza thinks that she hates hurting Mom. Mom finally suggests that Aza needs to sleep, just as Aza had suggested to Noah.