He began to cry. She soothed him. "It's all right, baby. Don't cry. What's the matter, darling? You don't have to cry."
"It's the first time you ever called me Jake," he said in a muffled voice.
"Is that why you're crying, sweetheart?"
"It's like we're finally meeting for the first time.... No ... I—I'm mixed up again. Like last week. What's today?"
"Sunday. New Year's day."
"What time is it?"
"Six o'clock."
"Morning?"
"Evening."
He digested that information, thought intensely and groaned. "I've lost the whole damned New Year's Eve. I'm blacked out again from ten o'clock last night. What filth am I going to start remembering now?"