[He breathes out a sharp bark of laughter, even if it sends a corresponding spike of pain through his skull. Waited a day she says, as if there's some acceptable time frame that should pace before Rip is allowed to let his manifest worry. He rolls his head to look at her, while at the same time counting off his reasoning on upraised fingers, one ticked after another to explain why his concerns were both valid and appropriately timed.]

We were less than 48 hours out from an event with an element that might have seen someone killed, we reside in a universe which brings people to and from their home dimensions with hardly any measure of predictability, and the last time I saw you, it was when your shadow laid bare your vulnerabilities to such a degree that you wished me to leave you alone so I wouldn't hear whatever you decided to confess to it.

[Three reasons; three possibilities.] I've no idea if or how many times you might have died here already, and I got no answer when I attempted to contact you directly myself. And you are as stubborn as you are strong, Miss Carter. Without fail, you have shown up on my doorstep every Wednesday, no matter what each of us has been through.

[No matter what he has been through. Rip draws in a breath, lets it out as a sigh. Though it seems so obvious now what the difference had been, in those hours last night?
Rip's thoughts ran another way.]

So either you couldn't come, or you chose not to. I needed to ascertain which it was so I would know how to proceed.