“What happened to her?” “Discharged, I believe. They moved me into here just as she was leaving. I was sharing a room with another woman, but she was too noisy. Jabber, jabber, jabber. Always talking. It gets on a person’s nerves. Do you know what I mean?” I was pretty sure I did. “You know, the way you phrased that comment about Hallie made it seem like she was dead.” The woman put her hand over her mouth. “I suppose it did. She’s not.” “I’m just saying, ‘not with us anymore’ is a pretty common euphemism for ‘dead.’ You might want to update that portion of your vocabulary. You almost gave me a heart attack.” “I’m sorry, dear. Were those flowers for Hallie?” I looked at the bright vase of daisies in my hand and around at the impersonal, gray space. “Nope, they’re for the room. Should I just leave them here?”
