He dragged himself out of bed and changed clothes, then went to rouse Ethan for breakfast. He knew Ethan usually ate between 7 and 8 when he was off and didn’t want him to get off schedule. He shook Ethan awake. “I’m gonna start breakfast. You wanna go get your blood sugar and insulin?”
Ethan nodded blearily, coughing and throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “Dustin, you sound like shit.” He commented in his faint, hoarse voice.
“Thanks. Pretty sure you don’t sound much better.” He winced as Ethan let out a sneeze that was way too loud for this close to just waking up, followed by several harsh coughs. “Oatmeal, ok?” He asked as Ethan blew his nose. “Jesus, are you always this loud?” He griped.
Ethan took Dustin’s crankiness in stride. “You’re definitely sick.” He commented. “I’ve got a stash of real Sudafed around here. You go make breakfast. I’ll find that for you.” Dustin was normally easy going, but the sicker he got, the worse his mood was.
Dustin offered a smile. “Thanks. I barely slept due to the congestion, and my head is throbbing.” Stealing a tissue from the box next to Ethan’s bed, he slipped out of the room, blowing his nose.
Ethan dragged himself to the bathroom, noticing he didn’t feel quite as good as he had after all the medications he had been given yesterday. He checked his blood sugar, injected his insulin, used the inhalers, then brought out a packet of regular cold medicine for himself and the box of behind-the-pharmacy-counter-decongestant cold medicine for Dustin along with his antibiotic and steroid.
Dustin was facing the microwave, using his inhaler when Ethan entered the kitchen. Trying to go unnoticed, Ethan slipped into one of his kitchen chairs…before doubling over with a sudden loud sneeze. “Hahshoo!” He announced his presence.
Dustin turned around, slipping his inhaler into his pocket. “Bless you. Still doing that, I see.” “That,” was Ethan’s normal morning of sneezing the first hour of being awake. Normally, it wasn’t that many, but illness or allergies tended to double or triple it.
“Every morning.” Ethan scrubbed at his nose, then took his pills with the glass of juice Dustin handed him. He shot Dustin a concerned look as Dustin started coughing. “You ok?”
Dustin paused. “Asthma’s flaring up a bit,” he admitted as Ethan handed over the stronger cold medicine. He gave him a grateful look. “This will help. Thanks.” He swallowed the pills with his glass of juice and set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Ethan. He took his own bowl and sat down. “How are you feeling? I don’t think you woke up too much. At least I didn’t hear you sneezing that often during the night.”
Ethan shook his head. “I slept.” He took a bite…and a good look at his friend’s haggard appearance. “Did you?”
Dustin shook his head. “Not much. Too stuffed up.” He laughed. “At least AdaLyn still naps.”
Ethan offered a quick sympathetic smile before cupping his napkin over his nose for a third sneeze. “Ahshoo!” A quick sniffle. “This is why I’m not a morning person.”
“Bless you. I know. How’s your breathing?”
“Okish. Little rattely. I used the extra inhaler this morning. Overall, I’m tired and just feel like crap.”
“Wait til the steroid kicks in. Then you’ll feel better. Just remember, it messes with your blood sugars. So you don’t freak out when they’re high.
Ethan nodded, picking his napkin back up again. “Hatchoo! Oh, we’re doing it this way this morning.” He sighed, blowing his nose and taking a bite of oatmeal.
8 sneezes in 10 minutes later, Ethan was ready to go back to bed. “Wanna bet on how many more?” He asked, looking at Dustin, as he picked at his oatmeal.
“You’re sick. At least 5 more. Based on past history.”
Ethan took a bite of oatmeal and sighed. “I’m thinking 7. It just feels like close to 20 but not there today.”
“Finish eating and go lay down. I know it’s usually useless, but maybe you can fall asleep and end this.”
Ethan finished his oatmeal and headed back to his room to change his pajamas and lay back down. Dustin, breathing better on a real decongestant, joined him a few minutes later to make sure he had everything and to have him set his alarm for 10 for his snack.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need me. Tim will be here at 9.”
Ethan nodded, pulling his t-shirt up over his nose. “Atchoo!”
“Bless you.” He looked at his watch. “You’ve got 30 minutes for 6 more sneezes if you’re winning the bet”
“Ughhhh.” Ethan sighed, laying down, tucking the tissues in next to him.
Dustin curled up on the couch, called Beth with an update, and counted Ethan’s sneezes for the next half hour. They stopped at 5 – the bet had no winner. Yawning, he stretched out and fell asleep until he heard Tim knocking on the door shortly before 9.
Dustin pulled himself from the couch and let Tim in. “Hi.” He sniffled.
“Hey. How are you feeing?”
“Ehh…it’s a cold; it’s showing to be a bad one, but Ethan gave me the behind the pharmacy counter Sudafed, so I can breathe again.”
Tim chuckled. “I know that feeling. I’ll send you home to try to get some rest while chasing after your daughter. How’s Ethan?”
“He’s asleep. He slept most of the night. He used the albuterol inhaler this morning – said his breathing was “rattely.” He’s had breakfast. Alarm is set so he wakes up at 10 for a snack. He had his pills. Sneezed his head off like usual.”
“Like usual?”
“Ethan sneezes the first hour he’s awake. I have a feeling you’ll find that out.”
Tim shook his head. “He really does sneeze all the time, doesn’t he?”
Dustin laughed. “Yeah, he does.” Dustin held up 2 fingers, indicating Tim should wait, then turned away. “Hakishoo-kishoo-kishoo-kshoo-kshoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo…Hakishoo. Ugh…Excuse me.” He turned back to Tim.
“Bless you,”Tim waited while he blew his nose, taking the time to pull his book and notebook out of his backpack as he planned to get some work done while Ethan slept.
“Thanks.” Dustin sighed. “I’m in for a long day.”
Tim offered up a sympathetic smile, setting his books and pens on the coffee table.
Dustin gave him a curious glance. “Annual Tax Update Handbook? That doesn’t seem like something a comedian would be into…”
Tim blushed. “It’s for my real job. Stand up is gig to gig, and the show is 6 week contracts. So, I’m an accountant on the side. And tax season is starting. Gotta be up to speed.”
Dustin laughed. “I think Ethan will like that.” He coughed. “I should go retrieve my daughter now”
They heard a loud “Hatshoo!” from Ethan’s room.
“He’ll fall right back to sleep.” Dustin reassured Tim. “Encourage him to sleep today. Take it easy. He can do more tomorrow. I’ll call later, and I’ll come back tonight if he wahhhnts…” He pressed his wrist to his nose and turned to the side. “HahKishoo-kishoo-kishoo-kshoo-kshoo-shoo-shoo…HahKishoo!” He crossed over to the coffee table and grabbed a tissue to blow his nose. “Apparently now the sneezing’s started.” He grumbled.
“Maybe it’s me.” Tim half-joked.
Dustin scrutinized Tim. “Not unless you covered yourself in cat hair before you left. I’m slightly allergic to cats, but it gets a lot worse when I’m sick.”
“Probably some on me. But I wouldn’t say covered. He wasn’t even on my lap this morning.”
“It’s the cold. I’ve found once I start, there’s always one or two after the first with this one.” He blew his nose again. “Massive congestion and sneezing.”
“Those are the worst.” Tim sympathized. “I hope you can get some rest. Does your daughter still nap?”
“Fortunately. I’ll call this afternoon, probably around 3 when Ethan has his snack, so I know he’ll be awake.”
“Sounds good.” Tim closed the door behind Dustin and started reading until Ethan, bed head and all emerged from the bedroom an hour later.
He grinned when he saw Tim sitting there. “Hi,” he said, hoarsely.
“Hey, you. How ya feeling?” Tim crossed over and pressed his hand to Ethan’s forehead. “Still got a fever,” he commented.
“Yeah. I think I will for a few days.” Ethan shrugged. “And not as rough as when I first woke up. The steroids really help me breathe better.”
“Yeah, they do.” With his asthma, Tim was well versed in the effects of prednisone. “Amazing how breathing helps you feel better.”
Ethan cupped a hand over his nose. “Hatchoo!” He immediately went for the hand sanitizer on the coffee table. “Tax handbook?” He shot Tim a confused look.
“Bless you, and yeah…that’s mine.” Tim cleared his throat. “I needed some sort of steady income during the lean times, so um, I’m an accountant. I have a friend who owns an accounting business and he sort of keeps me on as needed. He pulls me in during tax season though as a trade off for being flexible the rest of the year. And tax season’s starting.” Tim explained.
Ethan stared at him. “Were you going to tell me this?”
“Yes. You were just so interested in the comedian part I never got a chance. Let’s go get your snack, and I’ll tell you all about my boring life.” He followed Ethan into the kitchen and sat down while Ethan grabbed a protein ball.
“So, accountant. Dustin would say you’re just my type.”
“Oh?”
“I tend to date people with jobs that are detail oriented. I thought I broke the mold with you.” He broke off, coughing harshly. “When did you become an accountant?”
“I went to college right after high school, before I came out here. Got my bachelors in accounting then. I’ve been working as an accountant ever since. Got my masters and my CPA five years ago.”
Ethan nodded, then grinned. “You are never what I expect, Timothy Fitzpatrick.”
Tim grinned. “This may be my biggest secret.” He laughed. “I told you, I’m boring.”
Ethan laughed, which turned into a coughing fit.
“Need your inhaler?” Tim looked concerned.
Ethan shook his head. “Breathing’s ok. Just need cough syrup, I think. If you don’t mind me being asleep.”
“I’m under orders to make you rest.”
“Dustin?”
“Yeah.”
“How was he this morning?”
“Looked rough. He was planning to nap when his daughter did. Sneezing a lot and said without the Sudafed, he was pretty congested.”
“They were planning to go out of town this weekend too, visit Beth’s sister. Leaving in the morning. He’s off until Tuesday. Hopefully, they leave him home to rest. He’s a bear when he doesn’t feel well.”
Tim laughed. “You don’t seem to be.”
Ethan shook his head. “Nah. I mean, I get irritable when my blood sugar drops but other than that. When I got cranky when I was sick like this as a kid, my blood sugar got checked. If it was fine, I got told to take a nap. Probably why I sleep so much when I’m sick. Conditioning.”
Tim laughed. “With six of us, my mood was the last thing my parents noticed when I was sick.” He grinned. “Actually it was pretty easy to hide being sick, at least until one of the others ratted you out.”
“And with two of us, it was harder to get away with anything.” Ethan grinned, finishing his orange juice. “Once in awhile, we did though. Usually if we worked together.” He paused, reaching out and taking a napkin, pausing a few seconds longer. “Sorry, thought I had to sneeze.”
Tim smiled. “Nothing to apologize for.” He said as Ethan yawned. “Why don’t you go lay down, I’ll tell you stories of how my brothers used to torment me, and you can tell me how wonderful it was to grow up without brothers?”
Ethan nodded. “Couch or bed?”
“I’d prefer you lay in bed.” Tim said, gently. “If that’s ok. Then you’ll be more comfortable. I’ll leave once you’re ready to fall asleep.”
Ethan stared at the napkin in his hand for a long second. “Ok.” He said finally, letting out a breath. “Sorry,” he sniffled. “Sneeze is toying with me. I wasn’t trying to freak you out with the pause.”
He got up and lead Tim to the bedroom, stopping suddenly two thirds of the way across the living room. “HatSchoo!” The loud sneeze escaped, restrained by his forearm.
“Bless you. Feel good to get that out?”
Ethan blushed. “Yeah.” He admitted, blowing his nose on his napkin and leading Tim into his bedroom. He sat down on the bed, then slowly, invited Tim to sit next to him.
“Did you get your cough syrup?”
Ethan shook his head. “I forgot,” he admitted.
“Lay down. I’ll go get it. Bathroom?”
“On the counter.”
Tim came back, handing him the cough sunup and measuring cup. Ethan took the cough syrup, making a face. “Hate that stuff,” he complained.
Tim sat down next to him. “But it helps. You doing ok?”
Ethan nodded as Tim turned away, wrapping his arm around his face. “Hihhihshoo…ihhshoo. Excuse me. Ugh. I’ve been doing that all morning.” He said with a sniffle.
“Bless you.” Ethan offered over the box of tissues. “You ok? I didn’t reinfect you?”
“Thanks. And no. Cashew got caught behind the couch this morning. There’s something about the dust and cat hair behind the couch that gets me going for hours.” He cleared his throat.
“Sure you’re not allergic to dust?”
Tim shrugged. “I dunno. I was when I was a kid.”
“Probably still are, somewhat.” Ethan yawned. “Especially if you don’t go behind your couch that often.”
Tim shrugged again. “Every couple of months.”
Ethan sniffled. “Yeah. Makes me wannahhh Ahhshoo! Sneeze just thinking about that. That’s probably why you say you sneeze all day when you clean.” He paused. “I didn’t hear you sneezing.”
“Tried my best to muffle them.” Tim rubbed at his nose.
Ethan nodded. “Want a zyrtec? See if that helps?”
“Ummm…if you don’t mind.” Ethan started to get out of bed; Tim stopped him. “I can get it. You can tell me where they are.”
“Bathroom, medicine cabinet, bottom shelf.” Came Ethan’s directions.
Tim easily found the medication, grabbed a pill and swallowed it with the water he’d brought with him. Returning to the bedroom, he sat next to Ethan again. “Thanks.”
“Hope it helps. Just wish something would help with mine.”
“The cold medicine?”
“Helps with everything but the sneezing.” At Tim’s sympathetic look, he smiled a bit. “So you had allergies as a kid?”
Tim nodded. “I had really bad asthma and allergies when I was little. Still have asthma and a little touch of the allergies. My older brother Steve had allergies, but nowhere near as bad. One of my nieces has allergies and asthma like mine were which baffles my brother since he never had either, even though that’s not how it works.”
Ethan laughed. “Nope. My parents have no allergies, but they run in the family for Erin and I.”
“So, I’d be left out of the activities with my brothers or struggling to keep up with them. Steve, he was 5 years older than me, he’d watch out for me, and when my allergies got bad, drag me kicking and screaming back to the house. The rest of the time, they all tormented me. My sister would fuss over me or ignore me.” He regaled Ethan with a few tales of life in a crowded house. “And life without brothers?”
“A lot quieter.” Ethan laughed, reaching for a tissue, pressing his wrist against his nose. “Hatshoo!” He wrapped the tissue around his nose and blew. “‘Scuse me. Erin’s just barely a year older; she’s the quieter one.” Tim laughed; where Ethan could be talkative and was definitely friendly, he was not overly outgoing. “You think I’m kidding?” Ethan laughed. “She’s super shy. Not at all talkative. Unlike me, where once you get me going…”
“You never shut up.” Tim finished with a chuckle.
Ethan nodded. “Anyway, growing up was very quiet. Couldn’t get away with anything because Erin never did anything wrong. My allergies aren’t really horrible in the summer and fall, so I ran cross country in junior high and high school. They got worse junior year, but if I kept my mouth and nose covered, I could still run. My spring allergies have always been atrocious so I couldn’t do anything in the spring. No winter sports on account of being too small for basketball or hockey.”
“I didn’t play sports because of my asthma until high school. Then it was basketball. My brothers taught me how to ice skate though. Said it was Wisconsin, I had to at least know how to do that. I can sorta play hockey.”
“Sorta?” Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“I know the basics. I’m just not good.” Tim sniffled, then buried his face in his arm. “Huhshoo…huyuhhshoo. Ugh. Bless me.”
Ethan handed him a tissue. “It takes a little bit for the zyrtec to kick in.”
“I figured.” Tim paused as Ethan yawned. “Codeine starting to get you?”
Ethan nodded, rubbing his nose. “Starting to get sleepy.” He picked up his phone to set his alarm. “You said Dustin was calling around 3?” Tim nodded and Ethan finished setting the alarm.
“Want me to go out to the living room and let you get some sleep?”
“HahAtchoo!” Ethan buried a large sneeze into a handful of tissues, then blew his nose loudly. “Stay for a minute.” He sniffled, blowing his nose again. “Before Dustin calls, we need to decide who’s spending the night with me.” He tossed the tissues in the trash.
Tim nodded. “Ok. What are you thinking?”
Ethan paused. “I don’t know.” He said hesitantly. “I think Dustin’s in for a pretty bad cold. He was pretty miserable this morning. And he’s gotta run around after AdaLyn all day.” He paused to cough. “How was he this morning?”
“I think the meds had kicked in when I got here. He was stuffed up but not awful. Sneezed a couple times…well a lot, but a couple times for him, I think.”
“A couple of his little fits?” Ethan asked, and Tim nodded. “He says he’s always sneezed like that. But for him to have a couple in a short period of time doesn’t happen often.”
“He was kinda pale too.” Tim added.
“He’s sick. I should let him rest.”
“And then there’s me. Is there anyone else?”
Ethan shook his head. “Not for something like this. It’s Dustin or Beth, and with Dustin sick, Beth is out. So…”
“They said in the hospital, you really only couldn’t be alone for the first 24 hours, so, you could be alone tonight.” Tim pointed out.
“I could.” Ethan remained hesitant.
“You’re not used to being alone when you’re this sick.”
Ethan looked down, shaking his head.
“Hey, that’s ok.” Tim said gently. Ethan looked up. “Last time I had pneumonia, Alex spent a week on my couch. And he’s allergic to cats.”
Ethan gave a smile…and a yawn. “Sorry…codeine.” He explained.
“I know. So let’s figure this out.” Ethan nodded. “It leaves me.”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re not sure we’re at that point…and honestly, neither am I. I mean, obviously, I’d stay in the guest room…”
Ethan nodded. “I know.”
“And I wouldn’t come in here unless you asked me to.”
“I know.”
“And I make a great breakfast.”
“I didn’t know.” Ethan laughed.
“Do you think you could stay alone?”
Ethan shrugged. “Probably. I just don’t think I’d like it.” He sniffled, coughing.
Tim nodded. “You wanna think about it for a bit? If it was me, and you decided half way through the night you weren’t comfortable, I would go home…”
Ethan nodded, looking serious. “Wake me early, before Dustin calls, and we can talk more.” Came his request.
Tim nodded and another yawn stretched Ethan’s face.
“HatChoo!” This was followed by a loud sneeze, louder than the last.
“Ok, yawns are getting bigger and sneezes are getting louder. Time for you to get some rest.”
Ethan nodded, sliding down onto the pillows. “K.” He yawned again.
Tim slipped out of the room and back to his tax book. Ethan heard him muffle a pair of sneezes, and then Ethan was sound asleep until Tim woke him at 2:45.
Aggedy Ann 