Gately, the wraith, and the figurants (p. 839)
Gately wonders if the wraith has to endure the same pain as Gately in order to hear his brain-voice and have a conversation with him. Even in a dream, that’d be a higher price than anybody’s ever paid to interface with D. W. Gately.
Context
After the wraith gasps and nearly falls off the heart monitor in sympathy with a dextral pain-flare. A small line with the scene's whole pathos in it: Gately measuring the cost of being spoken with, and defaulting to the dream-frame ("Even in a dream") even as the empathy in front of him argues otherwise.