"Congratulations on the 'almost' part," she gets back, deadpan.

He's trying (to the best of his limited ability) not to interrupt her on this one, although truth be told he's never been able to tell what level of input or commentary 'counts' as interrupting and what's an 'appropriate' amount of feedback. He's pretty much given up on ever knowing, truth be told.

"Should I be asking for more detail about the 'death' of near-death, the 'near' part, or neither?"