[ he is actually pretty surprised when she says something, and takes a moment, just a short one, of his own before replying. ]

Yes, I guess that's true. Just, I don't know, uhh, it sort of makes me feel sad, in a way, that maybe, this is all the time I have, if that's a way that I can phrase it so that it articulates the things that I'm feeling in a clear way. And also the others that, possibly, have the same fate, or worse, since, I don't actually know the details of what that is.