[Doc Hayward once called him the most cold-blooded man he'd ever seen, and the fact of the matter is, that's not true. There's a difference between being cold-blooded and simply having priorities, just like there's a difference between seeing through Cooper and barging through the thin walls of security he's managed to hold around himself yet this time. It's not hard to follow the pattern of loss in Coop's life; he was like this with Caroline, and more recently in a far milder form with Carmen when she was gone running around the world and back again. It's not hard to guess that Cooper is drifting because he's missing someone else.

Of course, even Albert will admit he's not expecting the answer he gets.

The coffee machine goes silent and he seizes the opportunity to pour the two mugs full, extending the red one to Coop. Maybe it'll put a little spot of color in his gray and bleary mood.

Maybe Albert's getting sentimental in his concern.]

That explains not knowing where to start.

[He takes a prolonged drag on his coffee and finds himself wishing it were a cigarette.]

You might be the only one who can pull yourself out of that. But that doesn't mean you don't have a damn lot of people willing to help keep your head above water until you do.