The best medicine

My dad has an amazing sense of humour. I have recently come to appreciate how much he uses it to carry on in the face of insurmountable challenges. It is the way he connects to people (and assesses how seriously they take themselves), instantly creating a bond through laughter, and quietly reminding them that he is so much more than a man with a bunch of broken ribs, pneumonia and a blocked bowel lying in a hospital bed after an accident.
He's covered in bruises and circumnavigated by tubes. "I'll know I've got the full set when they shove something up my bum," he jokes.
The nurse reaches down his shirt and attaches the ECG machine to assess why  his heart is working too fast. 'Watch out what you grab down there' he warns. 'I'm not reaching that far,' she replies. He feigns shock 'I was talking about my nipples, what were you meaning?'
He laughs, and that sets off a round of hacking and coughing as his lungs work to bring together all the distant flecks of infection for the great expectoration. He's disappointed by his spitting range, as it gets lodged on either his nasal tube thats draining his stomach contents, or gets stuck in the oxygen mask. 'I can usually hit the arse of a fly at ten yards' he says by way of explanation of poor form.
The Physio helps him to sit in the chair as he explains his multiple medical problems. 'aren't you  a work of art' she pronounces kindly, although he thinks she says 'arent you a right arse'. He tells her he is a spy for the medical association undercover checking out the treatment of patients by staff, and that he is going to report her. I tell him staging a motor bike accident to get into work was taking his pretend job too seriously.
We discover he coughs the most effectively after a laugh so the ICU nurses are encouraged to deliver their best line in the spirit of healing. I feel sorry for the consultant who doesn't take the time to listen to his patient, in this case to hear the joke he's got to tell. Every else who comes and looks after my Dad feels so much better afterwards.