[Giles starts slightly, obviously coming out of his own deep thoughts. He blinks at Estelle for a minute, and then he smiles gently and waves her concerns away.]

People are, um, waiting for most of us, I would imagine. All the more reason for us to, to stop whatever's brought these thorns about, s-so we can get back to where we're meant to be.

[Even if, for Giles, he doesn't see how there's any going back. Not like this. But the fact that Estelle was softhearted enough even to ask a question like that means that Giles doesn't want to drop the extra bomb quite yet about his current ghostly state.]

Besides, I was, um, particularly fortunate. A friend arrived the day after I did.