[For once, Aubrey's trust is well placed. Lin is fully aware of the question's meaning and the emotions behind his ex-boyfriend's words There's a long pause. He takes the old mercury thermometer out of his mouth and reads the numbers the little red line sits next to. 96.3. He cocks his head to the side, and pops the glass back into his mouth. More silence.]
I don't know.
[Another pause as a thousand and one jokes run through the boy's mind, several of them making the trip all the way to the tip of his tongue. He bites them back.]