Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: Bad Days: Chapter 27 Summary & Analysis

Eleanor wakes up on the sofa, which is covered in towels. Her body hurts and her head is pounding. She realizes she’s wearing her lemon nightgown. She wonders whether she’s alive. Eleanor sees a tall glass of vodka on the coffee table before her. She gulps it down before realizing, to her disappointment, that the liquid is water. She hears a man in the kitchen and wonders who he is. Suddenly, she hears a knock and Raymond’s head appears. Raymond asks her how she’s feeling and tells her she’s going to be fine, which Eleanor doesn’t find especially consoling. Raymond leaves to make Eleanor soup.

Raymond returns with a mug of tomato soup. Eleanor tries to eat it with a spoon, but her hands are shaking too badly. Raymond helps Eleanor to her bed, and she falls into a deep sleep. Eleanor wakes up later, drinks more water, and takes a shower. She walks out of the bathroom to find her apartment has been tidied, the empty vodka bottles nowhere to be seen. There’s a vase of yellow tulips with a note from Raymond on her kitchen table. Eleanor cries, realizing that nobody’s given her flowers before.

Eleanor realizes that she’s been living her life the “wrong” way and doesn’t know how to fix it. She makes some tea and calls Raymond. Raymond answers and asks Eleanor how she’s feeling, to which she responds “fine,” as she knows this is “the correct answer.” Eleanor’s response exasperates Raymond. He tells her he’ll come over in an hour.

Raymond arrives with a bag of candy for Eleanor and starts to fill her in on the events of the past week. When she didn’t show up to work for three days, everyone was concerned. Bob gave Raymond Eleanor’s home address. Raymond arrived at Eleanor’s apartment and found Eleanor preparing to kill herself. Raymond tells Eleanor she can talk to him about things—she doesn’t have to keep them inside.

Eleanor doubts that sharing her pain with others will make her problems go away: nobody can understand what it feels like to be her. Raymond suggests that Eleanor see a therapist, but she scoffs at this suggestion, as well. Raymond gently suggests that a healthy person wouldn’t give herself alcohol poisoning and entertain suicidal ideations. Eleanor downplays her actions, suggesting that she just had a stressful night and a little too much to drink.

Raymond really wants Eleanor to seek help: if he hadn’t gone to her house when he did, he tells her, she might be dead now. Eleanor finally admits that she’s unhappy, but reasons that everyone feels sad from time to time. Raymond emphasizes the seriousness of Eleanor’s suicidal thoughts and Eleanor agrees to see a therapist. Raymond asks her if she wants him to get in touch with her mother, but Eleanor shakes her head, saying that Mummy would only be happy to know that Eleanor has been suffering.