He thinks back to his first experience with medicine, to his first step into the expansive, destructive wastes. Both had presented a lesson in futility, not nerves--the idea that there was nothing else to do except step forward, that his thoughts and feelings had no place in those matters. One simply needed first aid while the other required a step forward.

When Neil thinks about them that way, however, it makes sense. It seems easier to hold to the fact of care in the face of something unknown.

"Alright," he says quietly. "Thanks, doc."