Try not to rely too heavily on time passing swiftly. It won’t cooperate. Besides, there will come a time when you want to slow it back down. It won’t do that, either. Better leave time to its serpentine tasks. Allow for confusion inside the cockpit bubble of pain management. Keep your finger on eject. Mistakes will be made. Bed too short. Too much morphine. Not enough. Remember how the simple act of breathing got you through the crash. It’s there to carry you through again. Death was waiting out in the open. You nearly drove past, but its ghost swerved at you. Ignore the plastic tube they make you blow into. Let the words bruised heart blossom into their full, clear, un-ironic truth.