“Stay where you are,” said the doctor brusquely, and he disappeared.

At last! At last she was nearby, here, and what did it matter where “here” was? I saw the familiar saffron-yellow silk, the smile-bite, the eyes with their curtains drawn.⁠ ⁠… My lips quivered, so did my hands and knees, and I had a most stupid thought: “Vibrations make sounds. Shivering must make a sound. Why then don’t I hear it?”

Her eyes opened for me widely. I entered into them.

“I could not⁠ ⁠… any longer!⁠ ⁠… Where have you been?⁠ ⁠… Why?⁠ ⁠…”

I was unable to tear my eyes away from her for a second, and I talked as if in a delirium, fast and incoherently, or perhaps I only thought without speaking out: “A shadow⁠ ⁠… behind me. I died. And from the cupboard.⁠ ⁠… Because that doctor of yours⁠ ⁠… speaks with his scissors.⁠ ⁠… I have a soul⁠ ⁠… incurable⁠ ⁠… and I must walk.⁠ ⁠…”