"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty - Q6

Q6. What might have led the student to ask that question? How can the author's remark be seen as an answer?
"She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him." "But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air." This scene is probably the leading cause to the student's question of whether the boy was alive or dead. I believe that this scene is of the grandmother hallucinating her grandson bringing her cake. Then, she realizes, he isn't there. She doesn't really react, so this must be a regular occurence. The author didn't answer the question with a direct yes or no. But by commenting on the state of the grandmother, it implies that the grandson is dead. She is alive, but the grandson is not. He passed long ago.