The Kings Of Cool

127

Wounded.

Chon hates the word. wounded: Simple past tense and past participle of “wound.”

1. Suffering from a wound, especially one acquired in battle.

2. Suffering from an emotional injury.

I am wounded (2) that I am wounded (1), Chon thinks.

He is of course aware that the word comes from the Old English “wund,” from the Saxon “wunda,” the Norse “und.”

The Norse.

The Vikings, who believed that if you died with your sword in your hand you went straight to Valhalla to join your fallen brothers in perpetual feasting, drinking, and fucking.

(Which is clearly why they slaughtered the Christians so easily.

Come on-grubbing, guzzling, and boinking versus playing the harp?)

But if you didn’t die with your sword in your hand you were basically fucked.

So Chon is a rehab animal.

The rehab techs have to force him to slow down, back off, but it’s a challenge because Chon is determined not to be one of the wounded. He has a medical board coming up.

He’s going out with his sword in his hand.

Speaking of which, he got a card from O.

Her (sort of) wearing (parts of) a Candy Striper uniform.

Sword, meet hand.