I had been pressing hard against the cushioned bar of the leg-lifting machine in the rehabilitation wing of the local hospital and scrunching my face up with the effort, when a familiar voice caused me to halt suddenly.

“Professor, I see you’re doing much better.”

I lowered my leg, still trembling from the exertion, and looked around to see none other than my good friend and colleague Rodrigo Crenshaw, standing just inside the entry door a few feet away and smiling broadly. . . .