The answer to this question can be found in the final sentences of chapter 33.
The Admiral was an odd bird, but he'd done something no one else had been able to do for her since she'd left StaHo. He'd given her back her right to exist.
Chapter 33 begins with Risa appearing before the tribunal at the Graveyard. It is their job to figure out what job to give each Unwind. Risa is assigned menial labor. Specifically, she is told that she will be a dishwasher in the camp, and she is not happy about it.
"Well, they always need help in the galley," says Starboard. "Especially after meals."
The girl gives Risa a long, pleading look, perhaps hoping that Risa will come up with something better for herself, but all Risa says is "Fine. Dishwasher. Am I done here?"
As Risa turns to leave, the next Unwind comes in with blood pouring out of his nose. Risa simply reacts to help. She begins questioning the cause of the injury, and she begins physically administering care. Basically, without even knowing it, she exactly follows the steps of a trained medic.
His shirt is caked with dried blood, and both his nostrils have started bleeding fresh.
"What happened to you?"
He looks at her, sees who it is, and says, "Your boyfriend— that's what happened to me. And he's gonna pay."
Risa could ask him a dozen questions about that, but the kid's bleeding all over his shirt, and the first priority is to stop it. He tips his head back.
"No," Risa tells him. "Lean forward, otherwise you'll gag on your own blood."
The kid listens. The tribunal of three come out from behind their desk to see what they can do, but Risa has it under control.
"Pinch it like this," she tells him. "You need to be patient with this kind of thing." She shows the kid exactly how to pinch his nose to stem the flow of blood.
The tribunal is impressed and immediately changes her role from dishwasher to medic. Risa is terrified of the job, but she gains considerable confidence in herself and her skills over the next month. Risa once again has confidence in herself, and she feels more complete because she has a purpose. She finds her role fulfilling and important, and she knows that people depend on her. She is pulling her own weight, and that makes her feel wanted. It makes Risa believe that she truly belongs in the world and that she deserves to live rather than be unwound.
Chapter 33 describes the beginning of Risa's time in the Graveyard, starting with the tribunal all new recruits must go through, in front of the Admiral's particularly trusted proteges. While the tribunal is not impressed with her musical skills, Risa insists that she will do any job she is given, and manages to pass the tribunal on this basis. Risa eventually is assigned galley duty.
However, as she is leaving the tribunal, Risa encounters a boy whose bleeding nose was, he says, caused by Connor. The tribunal notice that Risa seems to know exactly what to do, and determine that Risa should be "immediately promoted from dishwasher to medic." While Risa initially finds it "terrifying" to be performing the duties of a medic without any training, soon she develops a sense of security in herself.
At the end of the chapter, Risa says that the Admiral had "given her back her right to exist."
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