HE was lying on a high bed, as though in a deep sleep. Attached to his body were various tubes and cables, where they went and what they were for I did not know. Above his bed were some monitors, flashing away. The room was expensive, cool, sterile. But I heard my brother’s every breath like a reluctant repetition.

I left the hospital to go home. A few minutes later came the news of his death.

It was no surprise. Kartono had been ill sinc