Sunday, May 10, 2009

um, hi

Today is the last day we'll spend in melbourne as a family.

It's been quite a trip and though I've been slightly less emotionally involved, than the rest of the members its been really good for everyone  I think.

We went to visit my younger cousin Chris who is slowing coming out of a coma (he sustained in a skiing accident), and is now in rehab. 'Talk to him' my dad instructed. So I told him about the Wolverine movie, and how it's pretty gay, and I think he caught on and maybe clutched my hand a little tighter. Though maybe I was just imagining it, he seemed to respond well, as I slowly recounted all the games worth and not worth playing this summer. I told him how 100 bullets ends and how America now has a black president, and showed him pictures of people in singapore on my iphone who have sent their wishes. 

I rub my hand through his hair, trying to imitate my hairdresser. There's a long groove beneath my thumb where his skull was fractured and then cut open to release the swelling. Apparnetly the doctors had opened his skull, removed his brain, kept it in cold storage, and only just put it back in. 

'Hi' I say again, unsure how to continue. 

His eyes roll back over. 

Dad is demonstrating a kung fu move on mum, in the corner of the room who's actually laughing. This - though arguably insensitive - actually comes to me as a relief, as they'd been real-fighting for the last two days. 

I remember kung fu fighting Chris. Making him cry. Taking him clubbing. Lying about the meanings of acronyms. talking about the grossness of periods and vagina juice. I remember him telling me things he thought 'were gay'. I remember telling him how gay he was. 

I clutch on to his head and imagine that he does too. 

'Good luck' I whisper into the groove on his head, 'I love you'. 


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