She wraps an arm around his waist and takes part of his weight. "It must have hit you stronger than most," she says, and there's a thread of worry there. It's multi-faceted, one part worry for his health, another quieter but deeper part worried that she'll fail him somehow. That what she wants -- what she needs from him is too much to ask.

"Maybe I should have waited until after we'd finished our pancakes, hmm?"