This Blue Ball

"Okay -- no problem," he said with his voice trailing off. After a moment, when he realized that his expression couldn't give him away, he asked: "How is he?"

"Andrew is fine," she replied, in a tone to indicate that the quality of his care was not at issue.

"Good. -- Good."

In the brief moment before she continued, Gary could hear her inhale, even through the telephone's thin connection. That already told a great deal about the misgivings and pressure she felt. She was calling on Andrew's behalf, but about something that worried and concerned her. Only her interest in Andrew could resurrect Gary from the ash heap of her personal history -- Gary understood that much about her.

"Something very strange happened last night with Andrew's computer, and you are the only person I could think of" -- another chance to distance herself -- "whose opinion I could trust." The last w