At the third count, the line was still level. At the fourth, I felt the pressure turn beneath my ribs.
"Pain," I said.
The examiner told me to release. I had already begun reducing the flow. The line faded instead of breaking, and I lifted my arm only after he loosened the brace. For a moment, I couldn't feel the tips of two fingers.
I put the hand in my lap so I wouldn't have to watch them while I waited for sensation to return. The examiner checked the strip. No contact shift this time. A brief, steady resting trace lay across the record, true for the few seconds it described.
He set it beside the first one.
"That's enough at rest."
I heard enough and nearly stopped listening.
"The controlled response remains. Given the pain, I would prefer to take that under a revised procedure with the duty reviewer present."
My fingers began to sting. I concentrated on opening them beneath the table.
"Today?"
