Alan:
[in an email]
Dear Dr. Hakem. I hope this message finds you well. Your skill made quick work of that cyst. So I want to thank you again. I've been feeling increasingly energized since the operation and I've already been able to transfer that energy to others successfully. The only catch is now I don't have anything to blame my problems on. That little growth explained everything, and now it's gone. I am sincerely grateful, though, I think. Alan Clay.
Zahra:
[her response]
Dear Mr. Clay, even though it went a little harder than I expected, it was a simple extraction. Usually the discovery that you're not dying of a malignant tumor leaves most people with their spirits high. But you are not most people, are you? Dr. Zahra Hakem.
Alan:
Dear Dr. Hakem, actually, my spirits are very high indeed, maybe too high. I'm feeling a little dizzy. The cause is mysterious. But I have felt a strange new lump in my back. I'm no doctor, but it feels like a rubber glove. Is there a chance you left one? Sometimes people leave things like gloves with someone they like in hopes their retrieval will provide an excuse to see that someone again. Yours, Alan.
Zahra:
Dear Alan, I actually might have left something. I'm thinking a sponge? Or maybe part of a snack I ate during the surgery. I think I need to see you again. Perhaps out of the hospital? We don't want to worry your insurers. Zahra.
