They only exchanged a quick glance, meeting in a long passage to the health cancer care department. Alice could not know anything about that strange woman. Nor was she ever introduced to her by his friends or relatives staying on duty for all that time, which was all right under the circumstances. Alice could only notice that on the third day after that woman's arrival his state improved to a degree that he even opened his eyes, and on the fifth day she found them both chatting and making jokes at each other like old friends would do. He seemed happy, and ate well. Everyone seemed enthusiastic as if something was going to happen.
On that day Alice came earlier than unusual to find them fighting. He would reproach her because she needed to go back to the UNO mission in New York, and she would tell him she was coming back in two weeks. Again they only glimpsed as the woman was leaving his room frustrated and agitated. He was staring at the ceiling without noticing Alice's presence. She could grasp he was somewhere deep in his thoughts, holding something very tight in his right hand.
At night she got a phone call from the hospital. When she got there, she would find him already dead, with a necklace in his right hand.