At least a bullet is honest. It had actually happened, had stuck, rather than become some nightmarish memory with barely any mark to show for it. That bothers him the most. He can still remember it all, he swears he can still feel the pain, but did those past five days really happen? If they had, why fix it at all? But he can't find the will to dwell on that question, all the why this, why that, and so he'll just focus on Strange instead.

And he isn't the only one comparing this to when he'd been shot. It's eerie and he's already half-expecting to be told off for getting himself abducted, which means when Strange asks if there's 'anything he can do for him', Childermass actually looks puzzled, because that isn't a question he's used to hearing, not unless he's the one saying it.

"What?" No, really, this is never how this conversation goes, but he'll gather his wits again in another second or two to add, "Ah, no. No, there isn't."