Orin's condo morning: caring for the leg, still squeezing the ball
Orin was out by himself in the Jacuzzi by the pool late in the day, caring for the leg, sitting in the radiant heat and bloody late-day light with the leg in the Jacuzzi, absently squeezing the tennis ball he still absently squeezes out of habit.
Context
Years out of tennis and into pro football, Orin still runs the old maintenance reflex. He sits "caring for the leg" in the Jacuzzi — servicing the valuable instrument — and "absently squeezing the tennis ball he still absently squeezes out of habit." The conditioning that E.T.A. drilled into the body outlives the sport it was for; the hand keeps working its grip-strength ball on autopilot while the whole rest of the athlete's life has changed. The academy-built body never fully powers down. (Cross-ref 132/165's ball-squeeze; the dream substance is dreams'.)