Sulu might've taken that excuse at face value, if only Ianto hadn't looked so worried - if he'd looked Sulu in the eyes as he'd offered it up. Sulu shook his head, slowly but firmly. He knew Ianto would see the motion out of the corner of his eye, and he wanted him to know that he wasn't accepting that. Because if he was getting better...

"Has this happened before?" he asked, his tone changing as he struggled to keep himself calm, to not blame Ianto because Ianto wanted to get better, and Sulu knew just how powerful just believing you were getting better could be. But Ianto's reaction to all of this - he wasn't surprised by it, not really, and Sulu needed to know if this was happening more than once, if Ianto was holding back from him. What Ianto was holding back from him.