A beat, the slightest arch of an eyebrow before he presses down that faint concern. Poker face, doctor, work on your poker face.

“Three consecutive years? And these lapses, are they short-term blips or longer, as in you can’t remember most of those three years? Again, that can happen,” Strange adds quickly, an attempt at reassurance. “During periods of profound stress or trauma, we might not record as many memories. Stress can quite literally alter the brain structures involved in memory encoding, storage, and retrieval. And the mind is an astounding organ; this can also be its way of protecting you, disconnecting you from remembering an awful time. ”

At least he doesn’t start blathering on about cortisol, thank goodness.