The hospital room seemed very far away from her now. She was only just aware of Aphrodite's words, murmured like a blessing, making her feel loved and at peace.
If she turned, she felt certain she would see the way down to Hades. The path would open up, and she would be able to pick her way down to the river and pay the ferryman, and go Beyond, to walk the hallowed fields and live in peace until the end of all things. She could see the beauty of it in her mind already. Her soul yearned to see it.
"I need a coin," she said to the woman cloaked in shadows, "for the ferryman."