“I’ve come to ask if you would do me a favor,” began Lama Tashi, once they were sitting. “I may be needed elsewhere from tomorrow, for a few days. I wonder if you could please visit the cabin, and if I’m not there, feed Shanti?”

Tom nodded. “Of course.”

For a few minutes they discussed details of timing, where Shanti’s food was stored, and her preference for variety. Her water, and the means by which she came and went from the cabin. Then talk turned to general chit chat about the early warmth of spring this year and its effect on the black bears who were coming out of hibernation earlier than usual.

The small talk ran its course. There was an awkward silence. It was now or never.

Lama Tashi turned, gazing toward the balcony where Tom sat alone, night after night. “I see you in the evenings,” he said.

Tom followed his eyes as if joining him to study the diminished version of himself, slumped in his chair.

“I like a bourbon,” he observed, tilting his head in the direction of his bar in the corner of the room, showcasing a row of spirit bottles lined up in regimental precision against a mirrored wall.

Lama Tashi surveyed the many bottles. “Alcohol,” he nodded, sagely. “Sometimes, I think, the effect is like meditating.”

Tom’s eyebrows twitched sharply upwards. “How d’you get that?”

“It doesn’t change a thing,” he explained. “But it may change the way you feel about a thing. Temporarily.”

Tom knew exactly what Lama Tashi was up to, trying again to lever open that particular door. He made no reply, looking instead at the floor with an avoidance that had become reflexive.

“It helps you sleep, yes?” the lama attempted.

Tom didn’t say anything for a long while before grunting, “Anesthetic.”

Lama Tashi nodded. “Pain relief.”

“You’re probably going to tell me I should meditate instead,” Tom flashed a look of open defiance. “But sitting still for hours isn’t my bag. I’m a man of action.”

They were on the same page now. The subject of Tom’s pain acknowledged along with his recalcitrance. And only because of his heartfelt compassion, Lama Tashi did the last thing Tom expected. While Tom studied him through blue eyes so light they were almost vacant of color, Lama Tashi reflected back an altogether different reality.