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The weather map was on the television. He stared at it. There were numbers listed in neat rows and he knew what they meant. Brisbane. Max 30 degrees. Late afternoon storm. He knew what this would mean. It was information that had been communicated. A simple transaction. He closed his eyes, turned his head away from the screen. He struggled to remember what he had seen. Something on the television. Something about the weather, maybe. This was as far as he could take it. When he opened his eyes and looked back at the TV it was sport. He was almost certain it was not sport that he was struggling to remember. It was something weather related.

His brain was an open fist and any information seemed to trickle through his fingers. When a nurse came to take his bloodpressure he said "Hello, hello." and had to wonder if this was a repetition, if she had arived an hour ago and if he had already greeted her several times in the interim. He distrusted his own responses and his memories. Perhaps it would be safer to ignore her, nod without comment. He struggled to even say the word 'hello'.