"Well, Strand doesn't get to have an opinion about this." There's a sharpness in Alex's voice that hadn't been there in a while--it was as bad as it had been before she'd apologized and Coralee had shown up; how it had been when Strand threw her out of his father's house. In her tone there's also a defeatist note that she really doesn't like and Alex knows that given how expressive her voice is that it would be hard to miss. For a long moment until he asks how she is, Alex just keeps her head resting on the top of her knees before she turns his attention to him.

"I don't know, honestly. I've never died and been brought back before." Which was probably an understatement considering everything in her once relatively normal life. But looking at him more clearly causes her empathy to kick into high drive and it's always easier for Alex to care about other people or a story rather than herself and her wellbeing. "What happened to you? How long have you been here?" Because of course Alex was going to ask every question that she could, even if it was with less of a spark than it might have been before; it'll come back eventually.

But at least he knew who she was, Alex is relieved to see honestly. And when she looks at him, she can see that he's grown more than a little bit from the skinny malnourished kid at Three Rivers. Which of course makes Alex wonder: "when are you from?" And she slightly wishes that he's at least from the voicemail he'd left for her.