Tube

My girlfriend has a tube coming out of her nose. Well to be more precise, her right nostril. "so why did you choose the right one?" I ask "because it is my favourite nostril", she astutely replies.

I don't particularly have a favourite nostril, or have ever given it much thought. Having a girlfriend with an NJ tube makes me consider, and yes I think I agree, the right nostril is also my favourite.

A nasojejunal (NJ) tube is a thin, soft tube that is put in through the nose, goes through the stomach and ends in the jejunum, a part of the small intestine, and yes I did look this up!, I knew it of course, but I couldn't quite articulate it, "she has a tube coming out of her nose" doesn't quite cover it.

So what do I think of it all then?, that is a very good and salient question, I am assuming you mean the tube and not the meaning of life, the life one is easy of course, I won't tell you now, maybe later.

The tube one is also easy, I don't really think anything about it, it came with the girlfriend. When I first met her she had a tube coming out of her nose, I asked her about it, she told me, I listened, I thought about it and then noticed her baby blue eyes peering at me, I smiled, and she smiled. We were at a Starbucks, a bottle of water was purchased, for syringing and for flushing. Was everyone looking at us?, judging?, finger pointing?, whispering?, I have no idea, I didn't notice, I was explaining to her how good the last episode of Dark was.

It dangles, it swings, sometimes it catches on things!, sometimes I have to move it, sometimes I move it anyway, sometimes I place it back round her ear and sometimes I help to stick it back on her face. These are all things that I do, habits now formed, so yes, I don't really think about it, and before they were perfectly formed habits I just did these things, naturally, organically, just little tactile forms of affection, like a normal couple do, except…. we are a normal couple.