Wow, way to go Re! She answered my longstanding Ben Folds question (see below) very succinctly and even points me towards further support for my theory. The sickness in the following weeks would most likely be a sort of post-mortem depression, and the narrator would be the only person in the position to tell the truth about what happened and get help for his girl. But, her depression is drowning him as well, and their both going under without anyone else around to notice.