Ethan woke up again to the tickle in his nose. He’d already woken up three times during the night to muffle a sneeze into his pillow, attributing it to the cold he’d been fighting most of the week. This itch was different, though; more tickly, more persistent. He wrapped the pillow over his face to cover a strong “Hachoo.” Fortunately, once again, he didn’t disturb his sleeping boyfriend next to him. Of course, it probably helped that Tim was sick with the same cold and in a NyQuil induced coma. NyQuil never worked as well for Ethan as it did for Tim; the sneezes always broke through.
Swallowing, he realized not only did the sneeze do nothing to alleviate the burning tickle, although he was no longer on the verge of sneezing, his ears itched, the roof of his mouth itched, and his eyes were beginning to itch. This sneeze wasn’t from his cold. His spring allergies had decided to show up at the worst time – when he was already miserable from the head cold.
The thing with his allergies, at least in the spring, was they they didn’t build up slowly until he was walloped. They came on with a bang. He was mostly fine…a few extra sneezes here and there, until he wasn’t. And his hay fever in the spring was the worst of his allergies. The other thing, and the part he found most aggravating: they always hit in the middle of the night.
If he were paying attention, he would catch that his allergies were starting, but Ethan was notoriously bad at taking care of himself and missed the cues every time. Typically, his parents or Dustin had been the ones to set the allergy pills in front of him, ask him where his nasal spray was and tell/strongly suggest he start taking both. Boyfriends who had been through this before did the same. However, this was Tim’s first spring with Ethan, and he had no idea what to look for. Besides, his cold had masked the early warning signs anyway.
He glanced at the clock. 2:30 am. He had two choices. He could lay in bed and sneeze – and risk waking Tim until 5:30, his usual waking time during the week and an acceptable time to take his allergy meds. Or, he could sit in the living room and sneeze with far less risk of waking Tim until he could take his allergy meds.
Knowing Tim needed the rest Ethan’s allergies weren’t going to let him get, Ethan opted for the living room. Grabbing his pillow and tissue box, he made his way in the dark to the living room, opting to sit in Tim’s recliner. Tim slept in the recliner when he was sick and his asthma was bad; he could breathe better sitting up. Ethan curled up in Tim’s recliner, made more comfortable by the fact that, at least what little he could smell, the recliner smelled like Tim.
Taking a blanket off the couch, he wrapped himself in it. One thing about Tim – he was always cold when he was sick, so there were blankets scattered everywhere. He tucked his tissue box in next to him and hugged his pillow to his chest.
“Hatchoo!” He buried a sneeze in the pillow before he’d even had a chance to close his eyes. He blew his nose, trying to clear out the thick congestion from the cold and stop the runniness from the allergies.
It took awhile, but he finally managed to doze off, sleeping fitfully as the intervals between sneezes grew shorter. Around 4 am, he considered Benadryl, even just half a dose, but he knew he’d be a zombie if he did. He’d tried it before; work had sent him home, and he’d had to call his best friend, Dustin, who, fortunately, was working nights at the time, to pick him up.
“Ahtchoo!” The sneeze jolted him awake, and he just managed to cover the second half of it in his pillow. He checked the time on his phone. 5:28. He switched off his alarm and sat up, stretching, taking another tissue and blowing his nose.
Walking into the bathroom, he caught a good look at himself in the mirror. Bloodshot eyes – both from allergies and lack of sleep – red, raw nose, which really stood out on his chalk white skin, dry, chapped lips – no matter how much water he drank. ‘Fuck, I look like shit.” He muttered, completely unsurprised to find that his hoarse voice from yesterday was even weaker, not to mention, completely stuffed up. ‘And if anyone can hear me today, they won’t be able to understand me.’ He groaned.
Returning to the living room, he flopped down on the couch and picked up his phone, dialing his clinic manager. “Hahshoo!” He sneezed loudly just as her voice mail message clicked over so he could leave his, fully capturing, and starting his message with the sneeze. “Sorry about that…Um…It’s Ethan O’Conner.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not going to make it in today. My cold is pretty bad, and then my allergies kicked in just awful.” He sniffled and cleared his throat again. “So, I’m feeling pretty miserable to the point of being ineffective, and as you can probably tell…ehhshoo!” That time he was able to pull the phone away to diminish the sound somewhat. “Again, sorry for that. My voice is pretty useless too. If you have any questions, call me back.” He left his number and hung up, embarrassed to have sneezed twice in the voicemail.
“Hey,” came a voice from the hallway. “How long have you been out here?”
Ethan turned to look at Tim and smiled. Tim’s stood there in a pair of Sponge Bob boxers, a gift from his nieces, and his red hair was standing straight up. He was also pale and red nosed, but looked better than Ethan. “Since about 2:30.” Was Ethan’s raspy answer.
“Why?” Tim asked, sitting down next to Ethan.
“Started sneezing. Didn’t want to wake you.”
Tim nodded. He knew how much Ethan worried about waking him when he sneezed at night. “Cold worse? You should be starting to get over it.”
Ethan shook his head, holding a tissue in front of his face, inhaling deeply. “Hatshoo!” He covered the sneeze with the tissue, blew his nose, and deftly chucked the tissue into the wastebasket. “Allergies.” Came his snuffly response.
Tim looked confused for a minute, then realization hit. “Your hay fever kicked in. Always like this?”
“Usually.” Ethan confirmed. “I sneeze more the week leading up to it, but then it hits hard.”
“I didn’t even notice.” Tim looked down.
“With this cold, how could you?” He coughed, pausing as Tim’s jaw slackened and his long lashes fluttered.
“Hahrahshehh…arrshhehh.” Tim sniffled, taking a tissue from the box Ethan held out.
“Bless you. Anyway, between my sneezing and my voice, I called in.”
Tim gave him a sympathetic smile; he knew how much Ethan hated missing work. “One day won’t hurt you; you sound like you need it.”
“Yeah…Ahshoo! I guess.”
“Bless you.” Tim rubbed Ethan’s back. “You’re sneezing quite a bit. What can I do to help you feel better?
“Had to wait to take something until a more normal wake up time.” He suddenly realized he didn’t even know if Tim had allergy medication; he certainly hoped so. “So, allergy attack is setting in.” He gave a forceful blow into a fresh tissue, then looked at Tim hopefully. “Do you have any allergy pills?”
Tim nodded. “Keep them on hand for Alex and Freddie with the cat. Freddie never remembers to take one before he comes over. Cold medicine? How are you holding up on tissues? Anything else?”
Ethan hesitated. “I’d like to go back to my place if you could take me…it’s just…the air purifiers are there, and it’s just a bit more allergy friendly. And the rest of my meds are there.”
Tim looked disappointed. “If that’s what you want, I’ll take you home.”
“Well, I was hoping you’d stay with me.”
Tim smiled. “Of course. Let me get youhh…uhhshoo…huhhuhhshoo…get the pills for you. Benadryl?”
Ethan shook his head. “Wait till I’m home.”
Tim headed for the bathroom, returning with two blister packs of cold medicine and the bottle of zyrtec. “I’ll get some juice. Go check your blood sugar.”
Ethan headed back to the bedroom, doubling over with a harsh sneeze along the way and checked his sugar, taking his insulin, knowing Tim would insist on feeding him before they left. He came back to the living room and took the pills Tim handed him with a glass of orange juice as Tim took his own dose of cold medicine.
“Breakfast.” Tim ignored the face Ethan made. “I know, I know. You’re not hungry, but you need you eat.”
“I know.” Was Ethan’s congested response.
“What sounds good?”
“Nothing.”
“Peanut butter banana pancakes?”
Ethan sighed. “Ok.” He sniffled, blowing his nose again. Leave it to Tim to use his peanut butter obsession on him.
“How are your tissues holding up?”
“I’ll get them. I know where they are.” Ethan reminded Tim as Tim went to go put a shirt on before making breakfast
“I know, I know. Just fussing over you. You want bacon?”
“No.” Ethan called hoarsely. “Atshoo!”
“Bless you.” Tim came out of the bedroom in jeans and a t-shirt. “No bacon? What kind of a breakfast has no bacon?”
“Peanut butter has enough protein.” Ethan informed him with a sniff, following Tim into the kitchen with the tissue boxes.
“You gonna watch me cook or you wanna get dressed?”
Ethan looked down at his plaid flannel pajama pants and gray t-shirt. “Is there a dress code for breakfast now?”
Tim set the ingredients on the counter, then buried his face in his arm. “Huhshoo, huhyushoo, yuhshoo, yuhhuhshoo, huhrushoo, ruhhshehh! Ughhhh. Hopefully that’s out of the way.” He sniffled, washing his hands.
“Bless you. I forget how much you sneeze when you have a cold.”
“Making up for not sneezing the rest of the time.” Tim joked, mixing up the pancakes and pouring them in the pan.
A few minutes later, he had pancakes in front of Ethan. “Syrup?”
“Peanut butter.”
“I even bought that sugar free stuff,” he mock complained. “And you’re putting peanut butter on peanut butter pancakes.” He sat down next to him with his own pancakes, watching Ethan smear peanut butter on his. “You’re obsessed.”
Ethan shrugged. “It’s the only thing that tastes good when I have a cold.”
“And every other day of the year?”
“Hahchoo! It tastes good all the time.”
Ethan ate two thirds of his pancakes between sneezes where Tim polished his off. “Gonna get dressed so we can go back to your place?”
Ethan shook his head. “Why? I’m just gonna crawl back in bed when I get there.”
“Got the rest of your stuff?”
“5 minutes.” Ethan gathered up his things and met Tim in the living room, where he found him bent over from a powerful double.
“Ready to go?” Tim took his bag.
“I can carry it.” Ethan protested. “HahAhchoo!”
Tim handed him the tissues. “I think you should carry these instead.” He lead Ethan to the hallway, locking the door behind him and down the hall to the elevator.
They had barely stepped outside when Tim stopped dead in his tracks, bringing his free elbow up to his nose. “Uhshoo, Yuhehshoo, eckshoo, Ehheckshuhh.” With a wet sniff, he continued to his car.
“Bless you. Sun get you again?” Ethan teased.
“Shut up.” Tim grumbled, taking a tissue from the box Ethan offered. He tossed Ethan’s bag in the backseat as Ethan crawled into the passenger seat.
“Ahshoo!” He clapped a hand over his face, the other hand tucking the tissue boxes under his arm.
“Bless you. Do you think you need to be seen in urgent care or anything?” Tim fretted.
Ethan shook his head, wiping his nose. “It’s a cold and allergies, plus you know I’m sneezy in the morning anyway.”
Tim nodded, but the worried expression didn’t leave his face. Ethan was good for 10 or so sneezes the first hour or so he woke up, but that should be done by now, he thought. Maybe Ethan’s allergies made it worse was his second thought.
“Does that get worse with your allergies? Your morning sneezes?”
“Sometimes. Right now, who can tell?” Ethan shrugged. “Anyway, I’m sure all urgent care would do would be to tell me to take Benadryl, which I’ll do when I get home.”
“Ok.” Tim started the drive to Ethan’s apartment. Traffic was heavier at this time of day, so it took a bit longer than usual, and by Tim’s count, Ethan sneezed 9 more times times on the drive over, placing used tissue after used tissue in his lap. Tim mentally cursed him self for not grabbing a plastic bag for Ethan to throw his tissues in.
Finally they reached the apartment; Tim looked at Ethan, fumbling with the two boxes of tissues as well as his stack of used tissues and took the boxes of tissues from him, grabbing his bag out of the back seat. They took the elevator up to Ethan’s apartment, where Ethan disposed of his tissues after sneezing into the pile in his hands. “HeyAtchoo!”
“Bless you,” Called Tim from the bedroom where he was switching on the air purifier. He came back out to find Ethan blowing his nose gently on a fresh tissue. “Wanna go lay down?”
Ethan nodded, heading for his bed. He flopped down on it as his phone rang. He sighed. “It’s work.” He looked at Tim. He cleared his throat before answering. “This is Ethan.”
“Hi Ethan. It’s Stacy.” Stacy was his clinic manager. “I got your message this morning. Just wondering if you were using vacation time or sick time?”
“Oh, um, sick time, I guess.” He wouldn’t get paid for it, but he wanted to save his vacation time in case Tim wanted to take a trip together.
“My next question, in the interest of rescheduling your patients, do you think you’ll be in tomorrow? Because I’ll tell you right now, if you sound like you did on the phone, and right now, I’ll probably send you home. I’m having trouble hearing and understanding you, so they probably will too. We almost sent you home yesterday.”
“H-hold…”. Ethan jerked the phone away from his ear. “Hatchoo! Sorry.” He apologized, returning the phone to his ear.
“Bless you.” Her tone made it clear she thought he should take tomorrow off.
Ethan sighed. “I’ll stay home tomorrow too. Sick time. Thanks.”
“Thanks, Ethan. I’ll see you Monday. Feel better.”
“Thanks.”
He hung up the phone, looking at Tim. “They want me to take tomorrow off too. Said they’d send me home if I was still like this.”
“Please tell me for once you agreed instead of working yourself into another sinus infection.”
“I did.”
“Good. I’m gonna make you something to eat for lunch and get you the Benadryl.”
Ethan nodded, snuggling further into his pillow, tucking the tissues in next to him.
Tim went to the kitchen and looked through Ethan’s fridge. Most everything he had was frozen as he had been at Tim’s, but there was a loaf of bread. He made a peanut butter sandwich and pulled out a can of soup. Filling a glass with water, he grabbed the Benadryl and returned to the bedroom. “You ready to take this.
Ethan shook his head, jaw going slack and nose wrinkling. “Hatshoo!” He clamped the tissue to his nose and gingerly wiped it. “When you leave.”
Tim looked at his watch. He had an hour. “Whahht…Ahhshoo, Hayyahhshoo…what do you neehhh…Heyehhshoo, eckshoo…can I gehht…ehhtshoo, huhhehhtshoo…tissue please?” Ethan handed Tim a tissue and waited while Tim took care of his nose. “What do you need from me until then?”
Ethan grinned. “You’re so cute when you try to talk through your sneezes. Just lie here with me?”
Tim crawled in bed next to Ethan, wrapping his arms around him. “You’re warm. Got a thermometer?”
“‘M fine.” Ethan mumbled.
“Thermometer.”
“Bathroom. Medicine cabinet.”
Tim extricated himself from Ethan and fetched the thermometer, slipping it into Ethan’s left ear, remembering the right always ached when he had a cold. “99.8.” He frowned.
“It not a fever. Probably just because I’m tired. Happens sometime.”
“Ok.” Tim was hesitant, but then there was Tylenol in the cold medicine. “Did you take the other meds you mentioned?”
Ethan shook his head. “I just wanted to lay down. Tired.”
“Where are they?” He paused. “What are they?”
“Nasal spray and eye drops in the medicine cabinet. The nasal spray has a prescription label. The eye drops are next to it.” He scrubbed at his eyes with the bottoms of his hands.
Tim nodded, hoping he could figure this out. Mercifully, he was back a few minutes later with the right ones. He watched as Ethan took a tissue and then carefully out the drops in, then still holding on to the tissue, used the nasal spray. “Hatchoo!” His head snapped forward into the tissue a few seconds later. “Hate that.” He explained to Tim. “Happens every time.”
“So we add one more sneeze to your morning?” Tim teased.
“And at night.” Ethan griped. “Now will you cuddle me before you have to leave?”
Tim looked at his watch. Down to 45 minutes. Once again, he crawled back in next to Ethan, pressing up against him. “I’m going to go home after work, check on Cashew, pack for the week.”
“Ok.” Came Ethan’s congested sniffle.
“Grocery store…you want Deli soup?”
“Sure.” Came a deep yawn from Ethan.
“You’re gettihhng…” Tim rolled away. “Ihhtshoo, hhuhihhtshoo!” He wrapped his arms around Ethan again. “Sorry…I know I’m supposed to be snuggling you.”
“‘S’alright. HehtShoo!”
“Bless you. I always forget just how strong your sneezes are until I’m holding you during one.” He rubbed Ethan’s back. “Your sneezing isn’t slowing down, either. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“It will. Doesn’t help that I sneeze all the time anyway.” Came Ethan’s grumble.
“You do not. Really just in the morning and at night. And a handful of times during the day.”
“And compared to you?” Tim was know to go days without a single sniffle.
“I’m making up for it now, aren’t I?”
“I guess.” Ethan took another tissue and waited.
“Again?” Tim brushed Ethan’s hair back behind his ear.
Ethan nodded, inhaling sharply. “HAtshoo!”
“Bless you.” A gentle kiss to Ethan’s forehead. “I think you need the Benadryl.” He sat up and reached over Ethan for the bottle.
“Wait…” Ethan whined.
“I have to leave in te-te Eckshoo, heyedshoo…ten minutes. You won’t be knocked out that fast.”
“Bless you.” Ethan sat up. He had to admit he was tired and miserable. Sleep at least would be nice. He allowed Tim to shake two pills into his hand, swallowing them with his water. “Can you get me some more water, please?”
Tim hopped up and refilled the water, then sat down next to Ethan rubbing his back. Ethan was still paper white, save for two rosy spots on his cheeks from his elevated temperature. His nose was even more red and raw, if that was possible, and was looking slightly puffy. His eyes were bloodshot and on the lightly swollen side. And his lips were dry and cracked. He looked worse than he had when Tim had first woken up as his allergies took hold on him.
“What are you thinking about?”
“How much you need rest. How much I don’t want to leave you.”
Ethan gave a weak smile. “I’ll probably sleep…Ahchoo!… all day with the Benadryl.”
“I know. I won’t expect you to text, but if you’re awake or need anything…”
Ethan nodded, laying back down. Tim draped the blankets over him, placing the tissue box at his side, then slipped out for work.
Tim came home from work early…well, Alex had sent him home once Ella had become obsessive about the bleach wipes, and Alex had started sneezing. “You’re sick, you’re sneezing all over, you’re distracted worrying about Ethan…just go home.” Tim had agreed. After all, all that was left was taping, and he’d caused several mishaps during rehearsal.
He put the groceries away in the kitchen – the soup was still there, but Ethan had eaten the sandwich. He left the ingredients for soup out on the counter and went to check on Ethan.
Ethan was sleeping, but the overflowing wastebasket and crumpled tissues on the floor indicated how his day had went. Tim pulled the liner out of the basket and began picking up the tissues off the floor. “Huhehshoo…ehshoo!” A pair of sneezes caught him off guard, and he aimed them at the floor away from the bed, rubbing his nose on his sleeve, not wanting to disturb Ethan by grabbing a tissue from the box the man was curled up around.
He heard a sleepy “bless you” from the bed and turned back.
“Sorry I woke you.”
“Whad tibe is id?” Ethan was completely stuffed up, and his voice creaked. He grabbed a handful of tissues and blew powerfully several times. “What time is it?” He asked, slightly clearer.
“Six. Alex sent me home. Then I went shopping.”
A nod from Ethan. “Hatchoo!”
“Bless you.” He indicated the bag full of tissue and the pile littering the floor. “Rough day?”
Another weary nod.
“You always this bad? In the spring?”
“No. Just the beginning. It gets better. And the cold isn’t helping. I haven’t done this sick in a long time.”
Tim sat down next to him, rubbing his back. “So…I’m guessing I won’t be taking you camping and hiking.”
“Not til summer.” Ethan gave a wet sniffle. “Unless you think that killing me is easier than breaking up with me.”
“Hey…look at me. I’m not breaking up with you. And I’m certainly not killing you.”
“Please?” There was a wet, gurgly blow, followed by a second and a third. “This is horrible. I forgot how awful it is with a head cold”
Tim leaned in and kissed his cheek, surprised when Ethan pulled away. “What’s wrong, babe?”
“Hair tickled my nose. Have to sneeze.” He sniffled deeply, trying to coax it out. “It’s right there and won’t come.” He looked at Tim, desperately sniffling.
Tim went in for another kiss. All Ethan was aware of was the faint scent of Tim’s cologne and his hair rubbing up against his sensitive nose. With an involuntary sniff, he pushed Tim away and wrenched to the side. “Hatchoo!” More sniffing. “Hahh…HahATCHOOO!” A final sniff and he reached for a tissue, redness creeping into his cheeks.
“Wow! Um, Bless You. That sounded painful.”
Ethan nodded. “Sorry. When I do that, they tend to get a little loud.”
Tim laughed. “No, babe, you normally sneeze ‘a little loud.’ That was definitely loud. I’m sure they heard you next door.” His tone was teasing, but Ethan flushed a deeper red. “I’ve never heard you do that before…sneeze like that, I mean.”
“Only when my allergies are really bad. Or like now – bad allergies and a cold. Last time it happened, Dustin took me hiking, and I tripped and fell into something I must have really been allergic to. It doesn’t happen often.”
“So I don’t need to brace myself for any more ear splitting sneezes?”
“Sometimes, when I have a cold, the sneeze goes away and comes back like that too.” Came Ethan’s admission.
“I just wasn’t treated to that last time?” Tim continued to tease.
Ethan shook his head, blowing his nose, a combination of a wet gurgly sound and a harsh honking sound. Catching Tim’s glance, “allergies make my nose run; the cold has me stuffed up.”
Tim rubbed his back again. “Feel up to some soup?”
“Not really, but I don’t think I have a choice.”
“Y-yehhshoo, Heyehhshoo. You don’t.” Came Tim’s gentle response. He left to go heat up the soup
Ethan came out a few minutes later and poured a glass of juice. “I slept through my snack.” He admitted.
Tim gave him a tight smile. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” He pulled bowls out of the cupboard while Ethan sat down to drink his juice. “I’m going to make soup after dinner. Want to sit out here with me?”
Ethan nodded, ducking his face into his elbow. “Hatshoo!” He looked over at Tim who also noticed they had left the tissues in the bedroom and handed him a paper towel. He winced as the coarse cloth scraped his tender nose, and he got up to fetch the tissue box.
Tim had everything on the small table when he returned and grinning, made room for Ethan’s tissues. Ethan stared at the table full of food. “Tim, I can’t eat all this.” Tim had hit the deli hard – two soups, sandwiches, desserts. “I couldn’t even if I weren’t sick.”
“I know. I was just hoping that I might find something that looked good to you. Something other than peanut butter.”
“You bought all this *and* you’re making soup?”
“Soup, more peanut butter protein balls, anything else you want?”
“I’m good. You should be resting.”
“Not that sick.” Ethan watched as Tim’s nose crinkled and his upper lip curled as he turned away from the table. “Hayehhshoo, yuhhshehh, huhhrsheshh, uhhsheshh.”
“Bless you.” There was a suspicious tone to Ethan’s voice.
“I feel ok. Just keep sneezing.”
“Yet Alex sent you home from work.”
“I kept sneezing and messing up cues during rehearsal. Everyone was getting pissed off.” Tim coughed. “You know how much of a perfectionist he can be, especially about the show. And, his allergies make him cranky.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” Ethan buried a rough “Atschoo!” Into his tissues.
“You’re not cranky.”
“First, you haven’t been around me all day, how would you know?” Ethan pointed out, delicately swabbing at his nose with the tissues. “Second, I haven’t been awake long enough to be cranky. I should have had you pick up lotion tissues.”
“I can run bahhhck out.” Tim sniffled, then sneezed. “HuhUhshoo, RuhShoo.”
“Bless y-”
Tim waved away his blessing, shaking his head. “M-more.” He gasped. “Uhhrshoo, huhhuhhrshoo.” Four more harsh sneezes followed before Tim took the tissues Ethan offered, giving his nose a trumpeting blow.
“Bless you.” Ethan started putting the food that littered the counter back in the fridge. “I don’t think you’re going anywhere tonight. I think soup and peanut butter protein balls are on hold too.”
“I feel ok, really. I can get what you need.”
He paused for Ethan to sneeze and scrub at his eyes.
“Not with those sneezes. I mean, yours never sound good, but those sound miserable.” He crossed the kitchen and gave Tim a gentle kiss. “I think for once you’ve got me beat in the sneeze department.”
“Well, see, you sneeze once, and I always sneeze twice, so I’m automatically double.” Tim protested.
“I think,” Ethan wrapped his arms around Tim, “you should spend the night on the couch with me.” He suggested in a hoarse, congested whisper.
“I think we should check your temperature.” Tim frowned. “You’re still warm.” He fetched the thermometer from Ethan’s bedside table and slipped in in his ear. “99. Better than this morning.”
“What’s yours?” Ethan shot back, taking the thermometer from Tim and sticking it in Tim’s ear. “100.4. Sure, you feel ok.” The sarcasm was heavy.
Tim coughed harshly and blew his nose again. “Alright, alright, I feel a little rough.” At Ethan’s piercing gaze, “A lot rough.” He slowly admitted. “Work took a lot out of me.” Where Tim’s job wasn’t exactly physical, writing for Alex’s show took a lot of mental energy.
Ethan rinsed the dishes in the sink and started putting away the leftovers. “If anything, we won’t have to cook tomorrow.” He glanced at the array of plastic containers on the counter. “Planned that?”
Tim coughed again and shook his head. “Was more focused on getting you to eat. See, peanut butter!” He indicated the desserts – combinations of peanut butter and chocolate.
Ethan laughed. “Sure. That I can eat, like two bites of. Those are all yours.” He finished filling up the fridge with meat from the freezer.
He grabbed Tim’s hand and pulled him to the living room.
“How do you just not eat desserts?” Tim wondered aloud as Ethan playfully pushed him down into the couch. “I’ve never said no to a donut…”
Ethan snuggled in next to him. “Been doing this a longtime…Hatshoo!.” He caught the sneeze in his wrist and reached for the tissue box on the coffee table, sighing. “This isn’t gonna last long.” He noted the box was barely a quarter full. He extricated himself from Tims side and grabbed the fuller box from the kitchen, tossing it on the table. He curled back up against Tim, listening carefully to Tim’s breathing.
Last time they had been sick, Tim’s cold had turned into bronchitis, and Alex had told him, with his asthma, Tim was prone to chest infections. Tim’s cough had picked up since this morning, and with the fever, Ethan was starting to worry.
As if to prove his point, Tim sneezed roughly, then doubled over coughing for several seconds. “I’m ok.” He stated flatly in response to Ethan’s worried look. “It’s just a cough. Comes with a cold. I’m sure they taught you that in school.”
Ethan’s glare was ruined by a poorly timed sneeze. “HahAtshoo!”
“Seriously, I’m fine. My sinuses drain which makes me cough. My breathing is fine.” He stressed the fine. He sighed at Ethan’s disbelieving look. “I promise I’ll tell you if that changes.”
“Ok.” Ethan sounded unsure. “But I didn’t have a cough.”
“Yeah, babe, you did. Not so much during the day, but when you were laying down, asleep…”
“Oh.” He leaned back against Tim, enjoying being able to cuddle up against the taller man. “Wanna watch a movie?”
“Did you take cold medicine today?”
Ethan paused. “Um, 11:30. I forgot to take it again. I slept so much on the Benadryl…Why?”
“You’re getting more congested again. With your allergies, is that going to get better, or do I need to take course in stuffy nose speak?”
“It’ll get better when the cold’s gone and the allergy meds fully kick in. I don’t get too stuffed up after that…just a runny nose.”
“I’ll get you more cold medicine. You want Benadryl again.”
“No,” Ethan protested. Tim paused. “It’s 7:30. If I take the cold medicine now, it’s 1:30 in the morning before I can take NyQuil. I’d rather wait a couple hours and take NyQuil and Benadryl.”
Tim hesitated. “Are you sure? Ugh.” He rubbed at his nose to no avail. “HuhEhshoo, ehckshoo!”
“If you can stand my sneezing…”
“Do I have a choice?” This came with Tim’s grin.
Ethan shook his head. “Maybe if we get it in me early enough, we can avoid the ‘tired sneezes,’” He yawned.
“Maybe you should take it now then.” Was Tim’s teasing response. “You already look like you’re fading.”
“I’m ok. Movie?”
“Action movie?”
Ethan wrinkled his nose. Those were not his favorite, but they managed to settle on The Mummy, spending the next two hours curled up on the couch taking turns sneezing and sharing the tissue box.
It was shortly after nine when Ethan noticed his sneezing was getting more persistent and more frequent. “Hatchoo!”
Tim handed him a tissue and looked at him. “That’s two in less than fifteen minutes,” he remarked. “I think the sleepy sneezes are starting.”
Ethan sighed, getting up to take the NyQuil and Benadryl. He returned to the couch, again snuggling up to Tim.
“Ehsshoo, hahesshoo!” Tim sneezed the moment Ethan had gotten comfortable. “Ehtsshoo, heyehhtsshoo, ehhtsshehh, hehatsshehh.”
Ethen felt Tim’s chest tighten and release with each powerful sneeze. “Bless you Sweety,” he murmured.
Tim took a tissue and wiped off his arm before blowing his nose. “Thanks,” he responded, sounding nearly as congested as Ethan.
“Look…Hatshoo! Looks like I need the stuffy nose talk course too.” Ethan joked, handing Tim another tissue. “And I think the ‘sleepy sneezes’ are here.”
“Yup.” Tim pressed a kiss to Ethan’s forehead. “Snack and bed?” At Ethan’s nod, “Go take your blood sugar. I’ll get you something to eat.”
Tim heard Ethan sneeze again in the bedroom, and he came back out, blowing his nose on a well used tissue he’d carried in with him. Tim handed him a fresh tissue and waited while Ethan gave his nose another productive blow.
“At least this time, you’re able to get it out.” He remarked. Ethan’s last cold had turned into a sinus infection, and no matter how long or hard Ethan blew his nose, he couldn’t clear it. He set a plate with precisely two bites of peanut butter cheesecake and two graham crackers with peanut butter in front of Ethan.
Ethan gave him a look.
“You said you could have two bites.” Tim reminded him, sitting down with the rest of the slice of cheesecake.
“Ahtshoo!”
“Bless you. How’s the cheesecake?”
“Don’t. Buy. It. Again.”
“That good?” Tim devoured his piece. Ethan nodded. “So I should eat the other desserts.” Ethan nodded, eating his graham crackers.
Tim ducked his head down under the table. “HHurrahhshoo, RaHhshoo! Damn. Getting sick of this.” He blew his nose in his napkin.
“And mine are ‘a little…Ahshoo…’A little loud?’”
“Never said mine weren’t. Ready for bed?”
Ethan finished his milk. “Yeah.” Yawning, “I think pills are catching up to me.”
Tim followed Ethan to the bedroom where Ethan changed into his blue plaid flannel pajama pants and t-shirt. Tim watched as Ethan put in eye drops and took his nasal spray, sneezing a few seconds later.
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.” Ethan crawled into bed, looking expectantly at Tim.
“Hahehshoo, yehhshoo. You want me to stay?” At Ethan’s nod, Tim nodded. “First, I’m going to grab the tissues we left in the living room, and a box for myself.”
He left for tissues, setting the alarm on his phone for the time he could take NyQuil, returning and setting boxes in each night stand. He left the fresh box for Ethan “because I know you’ll wake up sneezing and the NyQuil will have me out.”
“Hahshoo!” Was Ethan’s response.
Tim stripped to his boxers and crawled in next to him. “You feel as bad as this morning?”
“Maybe a little better. It’s always better when you’re here. Did you take NyQuil?”
“11:30. I set my alarm.”
“Oh.” Ethan yawned. “I never think to do that.”
“I know.” Tim kissed him gently. They lay, wrapped in each other’s arms until Ethan pulled his head to the side.
“ahhshoo.” He sneezed sleepily.
“Bless you. When they sound like that, it’s time for sleep.” Tim held him for one more kiss, then lay there just watching over Ethan as he fell asleep with one more sleepy sneeze.
Aggedy Ann 