"Not yet," the wizard allowed. Indeed, Rowle was very much doing an excellent impression of a corpse—or would have been, bar the breath and heartbeat. "You will pay close attention, however, and I will leave with you a set of directions above and beyond the usual care—if he does this, alert me at once, et cetera. This will be in addition to twice-weekly reports and my own visits."

Stan was relieved, really, that Nurse Banges had been available; putting the man's care in her capable hands meant that he would be less compelled to spend hours a day on site. Indeed, his own visits could be scaled back to daily at first, perhaps even weekly with time—and the family's consent.