"Bits and pieces," he agrees, albeit quietly. "There's only room for one beard like that. Why the rest of us can only manage looking scruffy."

Low-key mutual silliness. He's pretty all right with this. By now Max has made his way into the room and to the side of Nate's bed, though he's sitting and being careful, his chin is propped on the side of the mattress.

"They give you any idea how long it'll be before they let you out of here?" There was a point where getting to lie down and rest up stopped being a nice a change, and in his opinion that was any time when you were doing it because you had to.