It's not a good joke. Jack's not even certain if it's a joke at all, but he sits up and smiles. "Captain." He nods his head. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, but I'm glad."

He's had quite a few visitors. He wants to bury any meaningful visit he might have in a whole lot of meaningless ones. So he asks the staff to let fans come and see him, claiming that he doesn't want people to worry unduly, doesn't want anyone to think that he's worse than he is.

They probably don't let them all through, but they let enough of them come in that Jack is tired. Not too tired to talk to Steve, though. "How bad was it? Did they cut the feed before I made an ass of myself? No one has let me see it."