That was a bad thing to say. Cortana tenses up immediately, hands balling into fists at her sides.

"I nearly died, Winter." She snaps angrily, hands balling into fists. "I had to carve off pieces of myself to survive!" Remember: this body (she's decided that her birthday will be one last day free of the robot body before she transfers herself over for good) is an idealized projection based on her internal self-image. It doesn't show things like illness or scars unless she wants it to.

She sighs. "I'm doing better now but that... I." She bites her lip. "I want to live. But what had to happen to enable that wasn't worth it."