"It's not my first, if that's any consolation," Tommy says, but he can't imagine it would be a consolation. And, honestly, it's one of the worst. He feels like death only gently warmed over.

He moves his eyes, rather than his head, to look around the room he's in.

"Well, I'm certainly not in Birmingham, but I wasn't there anyway," Tommy says. "You didn't ask where I was, though. You asked where I'm from. Different question."

He sips the tea she brought.