Rep. Giffords' husband: She gave me neck rub

TUCSON, Ariz. - The husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says his wife's condition has improved so much that she has been able to smile and give him a neck rub as he has kept a near-constant vigil at her bedside.

The interactions with astronaut Mark Kelly are new signs of Giffords' impressive progress in recovering from a gunshot wound to the head at a political event nine days ago. Giffords still cannot speak, because of a tube in her throat that is helping her breathe.

"She's in the ICU. You know, gone through this traumatic injury. And she spent 10 minutes giving me a neck massage," Kelly said in an interview with Diane Sawyer to air today on ABC. "It's so typical of her that no matter how bad the situation might be for her, you know, she's looking out for other people."

Such encounters indicate higher levels of functioning, implying that "she's recognizing him and interacting, perhaps in an old, familiar way with him," said Dr. Michael Lemole.

Doctors upgraded Giffords' condition from critical to serious over the weekend and say they carried out three procedures. A breathing tube was moved from her mouth to her throat along with a feeding tube shifted from her nose to her stomach.

Doctors also said they performed a surgery on Giffords' eye socket to remove bone fragments to relieve pressure on her eye.

With doctors preparing Giffords for the rehabilitation stage of her recovery, the discovery Monday of a little-known statutory provision in Arizona law presented a legal complication that, if left unamended, could endanger her hold on her seat.

A statute buried in state law says that if a public officeholder ceases to "discharge the duties of office for the period of three consecutive months," the office shall be deemed vacant, and that at such time, a special election could be called to fill the opening.

It was unclear how the state law would apply to Giffords.The suspect in the shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, 22, remained jailed in Phoenix. Investigators have described him as mentally unstable.