“Mm. Being familiar with most of their tools and their proper use made it all the worse, in some ways.”

Another pause. He opens his mouth; closes it again; opens, closes. He goes to offer her the choice of what he ought to elaborate upon, then remembers she left the ball in his court. And there is so much besides what happened in the hospital. But the hospital is what they’re talking about now. And what does he want to say, and how does he do it without suffering some kind of collapse?

Quietly:

“… Being in a world that lacks the same technology as mine or yours can be difficult sometimes, but mostly I am grateful that electricity is far less prevalent.”