Humour in the Face of Death, Part 3

My father is pretty weak these days, but the old bugger is lingering on. He's doped up on morphine for the pain, which has him insisting that since the cancer is in his abdomen, there's little point in taking tablets through his mouth. But a few days ago he expressed a wish for a cigar and cognac, or at least cognac. So I thought I'd get him some. Soon enough I found out that cognac is the most expensive alcohol in Australia, but I gritted my teeth and purchased a bottle.

When I turned up with th