It still didn't register with Phoenix. No, he knew Mac wasn't made of glass. In fact, he knew that Mac was a pretty strong guy for having survived what Caim did to him. However, it wasn't that. It was...

"But Mac, don't you see? I... I love you!"

Phoenix found himself blurting this out, completely out of the blue. Had he been in a more rational state of mind, he would have realized that this was exactly how he felt for Dahlia upon first meeting her, and never wanted to go through that again. But he was completely gung-ho over Mac. Nothing else mattered.