journal_august_2026_release_full_edition - Flipbook - Page 23
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David:
One, two, three, go! Ow! Ow! So you mean business; this is serious?
(I admit to somewhat exaggerating the pain he had submitted me to,
squeezing my hand, but nevertheless it was a forceful squeeze.)
Dustin:
Yep. (Grinning in response to my ow & ow &)
David:
So, tell me all about this. I am all ears. (I could not hide my
enthusiasm, anticipating him providing me with his account of these
times in the past.)
Dustin:
I didn't have asthma for a while & for about a year or so & when I
was 12 and 13.
Mother:
It was the result of a bet.
David:
Pardon. (I think I have misheard Marie)
Mother:
(Repeats herself) The result of a bet.
David:
Bet! (I still think I am mishearing)
Mother:
The next-door neighbour & the lady next door & she used to get
asthma, didn't she? And she said: "Right, Dustin, I'll bet you whoever
of us goes into the hospital first pays the other.= It was a hundred
dollars or something, wasn't it? So they had this bet. And that was a
year and a half he didn't go to the hospital.
David:
How much do you think it costs the public health system for a day in
hospital & $300 or $400?
Mother:
Yah, around about that.
David:
Dustin, if the people at your hospital said:
