Actually, Jeannie answered the question quite well. There really was no other way to explain it, was there. Betty wasn't alive or dead, nor was she immortal or mortal. She was somewhere comfortably in between. "I think you answered my question very well, Jeannie," she said and smiled to try to put the woman at ease.
"I've died myself, though I never got better, persay. Just different." It was delivered with a bright, friendly smile. For how else did someone deliver that sort of information?
It looked like Jeannie was growing impatient with this conversation, though Betty wasn't sure exactly why. But if the way the harem dressed woman looked longingly at the museum said anything, it told that she wanted to go inside and not sit outside having a conversation about death with a stranger.
"I'm sorry," Betty said after a pause, "were you headed inside? I know I was hoping to see what was new on display." Betty didn't want exactly to leave Jeannie, just in case the woman was slated for a more permanent death.