- Phillip awakes one morning in May to find Timothy taking ragged breaths, fighting for air.
- Timothy tells Phillip he has malaria. Phillip puts a damp cloth on his head, but Timothy's teeth keep clacking and hot air pours from his mouth.
- Later that morning Timothy becomes delirious; he just laughs and mumbles.
- Around noon he tries to get up and wander around the island.
- Phillip hears him crash down the hill and then splash into the water. Then – silence.
- Phillip goes down to the beach and finds Timothy in the water. He drags him to shore, which takes forever because Timothy "must have weighed two hundred and twenty or thirty pounds" (12.18).
- Phillip covers Timothy with grape leaves and brings him water from the hut.
- Eventually his fever breaks and Timothy wakes up, asking how he got on the beach.
- The two return to the hut with Timothy leaning on Phillip for support. Phillip says Timothy never really regained his strength after that.