"I will tell my brother," Shuri says, tapping at her bracelet of beads as Sharon gets up from her seat and follows Nakia into a tastefully appointed restroom – more like a powder room with a separate space for a shower and toilet – off the lounge. Her friend pulls out a pair of light trousers and a loose shirt, along with a pair of sandals, and offers them to her.

"I've filled the closet in your room with other things," she says, as Sharon goes into the shower area to change. "But I thought you would prefer comfort while recuperating."

"I like the comfort," Sharon tells her, slipping out of the robe and into the clothes, "but honestly it doesn't feel like I'm doing much recuperating. The medicine here is a miracle."