Joan's barb sticks in — and Marcus bursts out laughing. He leans back on his knees by the bath and drops his head and covers his face with his hand and laughs so hard his shoulders shake. "Sorry," he gasps between breaths, "ha, I'll — gimme a second — "

He shakes his head, hauls in his breath to try and calm down. It's not easy. A few aftershocks of snickering shake him. But eventually he manages to say, "I missed you, duck," face all crumpled with an exhausted grin.

He gets up unsteadily, offers her a hand. "I'll get out," he promises. "Just a moment." He wants to strip the bed and order food. Joan said no hospitals: good, he doesn't like doctors either. But first, he has to ask, "Lemme get the first aid kit from my bag. Check you over. Then I'll piss off."