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“Do I?” He kept his eyes on his food. Good thing. Their new harrowing, hypnotic quality gave her the shivers.
“Just a little.” Like maybe scouts from an alien mothership had sucked out the old Joe and replaced him with a too-perfect pod person.
“I reckon I’m still a little befuddled.”
Befuddled? There was another term you didn’t hear every day. His expressive language problems hadn’t affected his newly acquired vocabulary of Mayberryisms. “I’ve noticed you have some trouble remembering things.”
“I suppose. They tell me I had quite a jolt.”
“To put it mildly.” Shock. Temporary cardiopulmonary failure. Oxygen deprivation. A fluid-filled body was an excellent conductor of electricity. Lightning entered through holes in the head, eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The brain, bathed in salt water, was particularly vulnerable to electrical effects. The fact that he was sitting here talking at all was amazing.
She poured bottled dressing on her salad. “Ranch or French?”
He looked up, clearly confused by the question. She raised one brow, waiting for his answer.
“Neither.” Joe continued wrangling the slippery spaghetti onto his fork.
Fast thinking. She’d seen stroke patients become quite proficient at compensating for cognitive deficits. The smart ones learned quickly how to talk around the odd little holes in their memory. Like calling a hammer a hitter and using verbal confabulation to avoid answering direct questions. She’d try another tack. “Would you like dressing on your salad?”
He looked up, and a large blob of sauce-soaked pasta slid off his fork into his lap. “Tarnation!” He grabbed for his napkin, upsetting his glass in the process. Tea and ice cubes joined the spaghetti. “Well, now I’ve done it!”
Mallory stepped over to the rack near the sink and tore off a wad of paper towels, which she handed to him. He scooped up the spaghetti, and then scrubbed at the wet tomato stain on the front of his jeans.
“I’m as clumsy as a booze-blind cowboy.” Flushing, he dabbed at the puddle of tea darkening the green placemat. “I hope I didn’t ruin anything.”
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