She was standing beside his cot again, and he concentrated to make the walls stop spinning.
"It had a blue line."
"Yes, I know. Where?"
She showed him with her fingers. "This much."
"Halfway up?" he prompted.
Dumbly, she nodded.
He looked at the plants. "Hertha, listen. I've got to talk before the paralysis comes back. You'll have to listen very carefully and try to understand. I'll be all right in about ten days. You know that?"
She nodded again.
He took a deep breath that seemed to catch in his throat. "But you'll have to go outside before then."