Lies are about belief, about a reality suspended because we want to believe the lie. Both the teller and the recipient must trust each other for everything to hang together. I sense this trust between us and say, "You did everything you could do. So did we. he could have died just as easily in Toronto. I am truly sorry for your loss."

It's not simple to move a critically ill man. It might seem that it would be like moving a parcel, or shouldering a big, warm duffle bag. But it's not [. . .] The functions of moving air, of regulating fluid, of voiding urine, which a healthy man keeps secret and neat within closed skin and barely refers to while going through life occupied with desire and philosophy, become visible external concerns.