John nodded as the woman offered her name. In the previous bustle, he hadn't realized that he didn't really know who she was, or that they'd not introduced themselves. He grunted in recognition, and replied, "I'm John. I'd say 'Nice to meet you', but given the circumstances... Well, actually, maybe I should be, especially due to the circumstances, and considering what might have happened if I hadn't... Oh, and thanks, by the way. I owe you."

Realizing he was still holding his open phone, and since it was no longer needed it, he closed it up, and went to stuff it back in his pocket. Just after he'd tucked it away, he was interrupted by another twinge of pain--he'd apparently moved too quickly, or carelessly--and suffered another small coughing fit. God damn, I'm going to be sore for days, he thought.

Bringing his attention back to the subject at hand, he piped up with a question from pure, idle curiousity. "Sick, huh... what's he come down with?"

He hadn't heard of anything going around, not since that depression hype from awhile back, but then again, he usually wasn't plugged into the latest gossip, and for that matter it could just be isolated. People get sick all the time for no reason, after all, as he recalled a nasty stomach bug he'd caught a couple weeks back.