... What?

All she can do is gape at him at first, because it seems like such obvious nonsense. How could a dead person come through the Rift in the first place? If it's like falling through a tear, wouldn't there have to be someone to do the falling?

That's to say nothing of the way his little story makes her hair stand on end, or how awful it would be if another of the Rifties she met in her first few days here was taken away - not just sent home, but killed.

"That..." she shuts her eyes and gives her head a dismissive little shake. "No. That can't be right." If Andrew's gone, and Jay's gone, who's next? The Balladeer? Iman? No. "If you're here, then you're not--you can't be dead." She reaches across the table to lay a hand on his arm. He feels as solid and real as anything ever does in dreams.

Perhaps that isn't saying much - this is her dream, after all, so he might only be as real as she wants him to be - but she wouldn't dream this. She wouldn't just come up with such an idea all on her own. This has to be Jay, and that means he has to be alive.