Howard grits his teeth and listens, although he adds his own cast of negative interpretation onto everything Barbara says still. He can never swallow people saying they admire him for living through the FAYZ - it's just a reminder of how they weren't there, how no one was there, and how separate he feels from everyone else for not sharing their rose-tinted view on surviving.

But he doesn't snap back at Barbara. What is there to say? It's not her fault. He'd be sick of him too. And it's true, she has only tried to be kind to him, kind to someone who's forgotten that kindness can simply be that instead of covering for ulterior motives.

Once she's gone he slams his textbook shut and grabs some Med Bay coffee, stewing in his peevishness for a solid twenty minutes before the next evaluee comes in.