His own eyebrows raised when she told him how long it had been. "The title part isn't terribly surprising. But yes, I'd like to go and see him. He was my friend." He rested his forehead on his knees and looked at the ground. "It's just...rather a lot to take in. I knew there was so much I left undone, but I figured...that was it. My time was up."

He looked up as she left, wrapping his arms around his legs and settling in to wait. When she came back with food and closed, he smiled and said, "Thank you, I was just thinking how I was going to get these things." He ate and nodded while she talked, because what she was saying really was true. "It's not your fault," he said. "It's probably going to take me a while to adjust, and I need to catch up on what's happened since I died, but the way I see it, if that's what I have to do, I'll do it. This life is a gift I never expected to have, ever."