Spring Fever

Ethan lay in his lofted bed, tissues pressed to his nose.   3 minutes until the Alarm went of and he’d rather that woke Dustin than he did.   It was clearly spring; his eyes itched, ears itched, the roof of his mouth itched, his nose was running and all he could think about was how badly he needed to sneeze.  “Hihh” his breath hitched involuntarily, followed by a loud, though slightly muffled by the tissues “hatchoo!”  Then the beeping of the alarm clock; Ethan kept their shared alarm on his side of the bed; Dustin had a habit of shutting it off in his sleep. 

“Bless you.” Dustin mumbled sleepily from the other side of the dorm room as Ethan gave his nose a wet blow.   Dustin crawled out of bed while Ethan blew his nose again.  Ethan fumbled for his glasses and set the tissues on the bedside tray that came with the metal lofts, then crawled down as well.  

Dustin took stock of Ethan’s red, watery, puffy eyes, and pink tipped runny nose.  He noticed how wiped out his friend looked.   “Damn man, you look awful.  Getting a cold?” 

Ethan sniffled, and shook his head.  “Remember last fall, when we both had allergies?  I told you I have awful hay fever in the spring?”  Dustin nodded.   “This is the start.  I’ve been wiping my nose and trying not to sneeze half the night.”   He dug in his dresser for the allergy pills, nasal spray, and eye drops he hadn’t touched since November.  Ethan preferred to hang things up much more than Dustin, and as a result, his top dresser drawer had become a catch all for things they weren’t sure where to store…like Ethan’s allergy meds.   

He pulled them out and flopped down in his desk chair, opening the bottle of pills.  “Thanks” he mumbled as Dustin placed a glass of water next to him.   “Can you hand me my tissues, please?”  He asked.    Dustin reached up and snagged the box, setting them next to the water.  He watched as Ethan put in the eye drops, blot his eyes, then blow his nose.   He grabbed another tissue, then used the nasal spray.  He seemed to be counting down, Dustin noted just as Ethan mashed the tissue to his nose.  “Hahshoo!”  Another nose blow. 

“Bless you.”  Dustin bit his lip to keep from smiling.  He’d forgotten how the spray made Ethan sneeze each time he used it.  “Should we get ready for class?” 

Ethan nodded, trying not to rub his eyes.   The two got ready, Ethan stuffing his pockets with tissues, then on second thought, tossing the box in his backpack, ate breakfast in the dining hall, and took the short walk to the nursing building.  Both groaned when they heard the sound of a lawn mower as they crossed campus on their way to the building.   “Why are they mowing now?” Ethan griped.  “It’s 8:30.” 

“It’s supposed to rain later.” Dustin commented, scrubbing at his nose.   Unlike Ethan whose allergies were seasonal, his were year round, and grass never failed to set him off.    

Ethan noticed and handed him a handful of tissues before turning away and sneezing.  “Ahhtchoo!”  He wiped his nose carefully, and sniffled.  “Hatshoo!” Came a second sneeze a few minutes later. 

Dustin kept the tissues at the ready, waiting for the sneezing to start.   It didn’t take long.  “Ahhkishoo-kishoo-kshoo-Kshoo-shoo…Hahkishoo.”   He clamped the tissues over his nose and blew one handed, the other hand hanging onto his backpack.   3 more similar sets of sneezes followed before they reached their destination.  Once inside, Dustin set his backpack on the floor, leaned against the wall and gave his nose a long, loud blow.     

Ethan, in turn, doubled over with a loud “HahAhtchoo!”and blew his nose as well.   Both deposited their used tissues in a nearby trash can, and continued up the stairs to class, taking seats in the back so Ethan could slip out if his allergies got too bad.  Dustin didn’t care if he spent half of class sneezing, but Ethan could be self conscious about the volume of his sneezes. 

They spread out their books and notebooks, Dustin with his mini tape recorder on the desk, Ethan with his box of tissues.  The girl about to sit next to to Ethan gave him a wary look.   “It’s allergies. I promise.” He assured her as she sat down.    

“Explains why you’re wearing your glasses.”  She said lightly, setting up her table to her liking, giving him a smile.    

“Yeah.” He said.  “Gonna be too itchy and irritated for contacts for awhile.” He sighed. 

“Well, I like how you look in your glasses.”  

Thanks.”  He said, feeling his face flush.  “HehAtchoo.”  He sneezed, turning towards Dustin, cupping his hands over his mouth.   “Excuse me.”  He blew his nose as quietly as possible, then sat back up. 

“Bless you.” She said. 

“Thanks.” He replied, awkwardly, save from further small talk as the professor entered the room and started class. 

15 minutes in, it was clear that Ethan wasn’t getting anything out of this class at least.  He’d sneezed four times in the 15 minutes; his nose wouldn’t stop running and was beginning to get sore from all the wiping and blowing, and he had a headache from the whole mess. 

He passed a note to Dustin.   ‘Going back to the room.  Too miserable.  Can’t focus.  Get your notes later, ok?”    Dustin read the note, looked at him and nodded.   Ethan packed up his stuff and slipped out of the classroom.   

Ethan arrived back at the dorm room and tossed his stuff over by his desk, collapsing on the couch with the tissues.  “HahChoo!”   He sneezed loudly, no longer needing to hold back.  He closed his eyes and tried to rest, but two minutes later, another loud “Ahchoo!”  He continued to sneeze every two to three minutes until, thoroughly fed up, he went over to the closet.   He dug in the dresser drawer for the Benadryl.  “HehAhshoo!”  He took the Benadryl, curled up on the couch and waited for it to do it’s magic. 

He was dozing on the couch 2 and a half hours later when Dustin came in.  He woke up when he heard the door close.  “Hey.” He mumbled in a stuffy, sleepy voice.   

Dustin noticed the bottle sitting on the fridge. “Took some Benadryl, huh.  That’s gonna knock you out of commission for the rest of the day.”  Benadryl had a tendency to wipe Ethan out so he typically only took it at night. 

“Had to.”  Ethan sniffled, swiping at his nose with a tissue.   “I was sneezing every couple minutes for about a half hour.   I knew it would stop that.”  He pressed his tissue to his nose.  “Ahhshoo!  I’m still sneezing but it’s slowed down.” 

“Bless you.”  Dustin sat down next to him.  “You gonna be this bad all spring?  I mean, you gotta get through class.   I can tape lectures, but we’ve got chem lab separate.” 

Ethan shook his head, giving his nose a liquid blow, followed by a second into a fresh tissue, tossing them into the wastebasket which Dustin saw was half full.   “The first day they kick in is the worst.  The first week is bad.  Then the medication’s kicked in, and I’m better.  Not great, but at least I’m not a constantly sneezing, puffy eyed, snotty mess.”  He paused and sighed.  “I took your tissues by the way.  I need to go buy more.” 

Dustin laughed, going to the top shelf of his closet and pulling out two more boxes of tissues from the multipack he had bought awhile ago.   “We’ll get you more.  Until then,” he handed a box to Ethan and stashed the second box in its usual spot next to his bed. 

“Thanks.  I’ll make it through class tomorrow.  Today was just awful, and the grass didn’t help.” 

Dustin chuckled.  “Should have stayed.  You weren’t the only one sneezing your way through class.”  He sniffled.  “Or back.”  He rubbed his nose and his breath hitched.  “Or now.” He gasped. “Hahkishoo-kishoo-kshoo-kshoo-shoo-shoo.  HahhKishoo!” 

“Bless you.”  Ethan handed over the open box of tissues so Dustin could blow his nose. 

“Thanks.  I’ll never understand how most of my allergies are so mild, but grass gets me going like crazy every time.” 

 Ethan gave him a sympathetic smile.  “Kinda like how I don’t know why summer and fall are tolerable, but spring throws me for a loop.” 

Dustin sat down next to him.   “I brought sandwiches.  Kinda figured you wouldn’t be up to the dining hall.”  He handed one over.  “Ham and Swiss, no onions.” 

“Hatchoo. Thanks.” Ethan sniffled, setting the sub next to him and blowing his runny nose.   “Hopefully that’ll hold long enough to eat.” He sniffed.    

After eating their sandwiches, Dustin looked at his watch and then at Ethan. “Think you can try psychology?” 

Ethan nodded.  “I’ll give it a shot.” 

Ethan yawned, putting on his shoes.  Normally, stepping out into the fresh air would clear the cobwebs from his head, but he knew today, it would only bring on another onslaught of allergic misery.   “Let’s go.” He muttered, sticking tissues in his pockets again, and, once again, the box in his bag.    

“Take your sociology book too.” Dustin told him. 

Ethan gave him a pained look.    

“They’re in the same building.  You don’t have to go back outside.” He pointed out. 

Ethan shoved the text in his bag with a sneeze.  “Ahshoo.  You sure I can’t just get your tapes today; when I was sick, you’d let me.” 

Dustin sighed.  “ You had stomach flu.  You couldn’t go to class.  You could barely get off the couch.  This is different.”  He picked the box of tissues up off the couch.   “Need one before we go?” 

Glaring at him, Ethan took a few tissues and blew his nose several times.   “Ok.  I guess I’m ready.” 

The two ventured back outside.  It was darker and cooler than the bright sunny morning they had encountered this morning.   “I told you it’ll rain today.” Dustin said. 

Ethan gave him half a smile.   “Trying to be a weatherman now instead of a nurse?”   He pulled a tissue from his pocket.  “Hachoo!  Ughhh.” 

“Bless you.  Come on, the building’s right over there.  5 more minutes.” 

Ethan gave his nose a wet blow and sighed before rubbing at his eyes. 

“Eyes itch?”  Ethan gave him a look that read ‘isn’t it obvious?’  “I thought you could use your eye drops three times a day?” 

“Yeah, well, they didn’t itch before I left the room.” Ethan snapped.  Dustin, wisely, left the subject alone. 

They reached the building and climbed the three flights of stairs to the classroom.   Ethan could hear Dustin’s labored breathing at the top, a change for Dustin.  “You ok?” He asked, drawing out of his own misery for the moment. 

“Grass this morning messed with my asthma.” Dustin shrugged, pausing by the restrooms, and fishing for his inhaler.  “I’ll meet you in class in a few minutes, ok.” 

Ethan nodded.  Dustin was rather cavalier about his asthma, but self conscious about using his inhaler.  He continued on to the classroom, again choosing seats in the back.  “Ahtchoo.”  He sneezed as he sat down. 

“Bless you.”  Came a familiar voice from next to him.    

“Thanks.”  He turned and looked.  It was the girl from this morning.  “Susanna, right?” 

She nodded.  “Not feeling any better?” She asked as Dustin slid into the seat to Ethan’s left. 

“First day my allergies kick in is always the worst.”  He explained.   

She nodded.  “I’ve got a friend like that.  She says the first week is the worst.” 

Ethan sniffled.  “Yeah.  Excuse me for a second.”  He turned towards Dustin, pulling a tissue from his pocket and tried to blow his nose as softly as possible, then turned back to Susanna.  “Sorry.” He apologized.   

“It’s alright.”  She hesitated.  “Say, since you missed class this morning, do you want to get together and go over the material?” 

“Um, well, I..”. He felt Dustin kick his shin.  “Um, yeah, I’d like that.”  He set up a time and location with Susanna for tomorrow just before class started. 

Ethan glared at Dustin as he sat down.  “Later.” Dustin mouthed.  They turned their attention towards the front and Ethan struggled to pay attention with the Benadryl in his system.   However, the Benadryl also cut down on his sneezing, and even though he spent half of class with a tissue pressed to his face, it was to stem his runny nose rather than block a sneeze. 

He said goodbye to Susanna at the end of class, telling her he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.   He and Dustin headed downstairs to their final class for the day. 

They were alone in the back before class.   Dustin turned to Ethan.   “How are you holding up?” 

Ethan gave a ghost of a smile.   “Better than this morning.  But the Benadryl is wearing me down.”  He admitted, turning away.  “HahAtchoo!”  He gave his nose several blows in an attempt to clear its constant runniness.   “Why’d you kick me?” He changed the subject. 

“After class.” Dustin promised as the professor approached the front of the room.   He arranged his tape recorder on his table and prepared to focus for the next 50 minutes while Ethan prepared to deal with his nose.   The Benadryl was wearing off, so Ethan was quite a bit sneezing this class.   Dustin counted 10 sneezes this time, and had to give his roommate credit for not fleeing again.   He looked at Ethan’s notebook and saw a scant amount of notes that he’d have to help Ethan supplement later. 

They began the 10 minute walk back to their dorm room, and it was obvious the Benadryl had outlived its usefulness.   Ethan was sneezing within a few minutes of being outdoors. 

“Hahshoo!”  He clasped a tissue to his nose and blew.  4 minutes later. “Ahhshoo!”  And a third “Hatchoo!” As they entered the building.   They headed to the second floor to their room where Ethan collapsed on the couch with another “HahAhshoo.” 

“Bless you.” 

“Don’t.”  Ethan said.  “Unless you want to say that every couple minutes.” 

Dustin nodded.  He’d seen Ethan like this before.   Long, slow fit with sneezes every two to three minutes.   “More Benadryl?” 

Ethan shook his head, clutching the tissue box.  “Wait for bed.   Now why…Yahhshoo…why did you kick me?” 

“I didn’t want you to tell her no.  She’s a really nice girl.” 

“I was gonna say yes.” Ethan protested.  “I just got caught off guard.  I could use friends other than you.”  He rubbed his nose with the tissue. 

“I don’t think she wants to be friends.” 

“Then why would she offer to study with me?” 

Dustin stared at him.  God, either the allergies or allergy meds were making Ethan dense.  He opened his mouth to respond, then waited as he saw Ethan gearing up to sneeze again. 

“Hatshoo!” 

“She was asking me a lot about you after class.” 

“Why? Wait, what did she ask you?” 

“If I thought you’d be feeling better this afternoon, if I thought you’d be in class this afternoon, if you were seeing anybody…”Dustin trailed off. 

“Why would she want to know that?” 

“Ethan, she likes you.” 

“I got that.  That’s why she wants to study together.  A new friend.  Hahtchoo!” 

“Ethan…follow what I’m saying.   She likes you.   It’s not friends getting together to study.” 

“But she said…” 

“Ethan,” Dustin interrupted.  “It’s a date.  She was asking you out.” 

Ethan stared at him for a few seconds and sniffed.  “But we’re just meeting for coffee and….ohhhh.  No.”  He shook his head. 

“Yes.” 

Ethan blew his nose.  “No.” 

“Ethan?  There’s nothing wrong with a date.  I go on them all the time.” 

“Ahshoo!  It’s not that.” 

“You don’t like her?” 

“No, Susanna’s great.” He protested. “But..”. He blew his nose, looking down at floor. 

“But…” Dustin prompted. 

“I have to tell you something.  I don’t know how you’ll react, but I’ll completely understand if you want to…UhhtChoo! To move out.” 

Dustin swallowed.  He’d never seen Ethan look so serious. “What?  Ethan, you can tell me.” 

“Just don’t hate me.”  Ethan’s voice was slightly pleading, and Dustin sensed, he was scared. 

“I won’t,” he promised, placing a hand on the other man’s knee.  “Ethan?” 

Ethan looked up, not meeting his eyes.   “Dustin, I’m gay.” He rushed. 

Dustin nodded.  “Okay.” 

“It’s okay?”  Ethan looked relieved.  “You don’t hate me, you’re not going to change rooms and never speak to me again?” 

Dustin shook his head, waiting to answer as he saw the sneezy expression cross Ethan’s face again. 

“Huhtchoo.” 

“Sneezing’s picking up.” He commented.  That usually indicated Ethan was mid-attack.  “And, no.” He continued.  “I don’t hate you; I’m staying in this room, and I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”    

Ethan relaxed. 

“You’ve had some bad experiences with this.”  Dustin noted.   

Ethan nodded. 

“My uncle’s gay.”  Dustin said simply.  “It doesn’t matter.” 

“This wasn’t how I planned on telling you.” 

“I know.” 

“HahAhtchoo!  I wasn’t going to be sneezing my head off for one.” He smiled. 

Dustin laughed.  “I’m sure that’s never part of the plan.” 

“So now what?  I have a date with a girl.” 

“You tell her.  I know her pretty well from high school.   She’ll understand.” 

“How?” 

“You’ll know.” 

Ethan sniffled and Dustin went to give him a sideways hug.  With Dustin on his right and Dustin’s hand on his shoulder, Ethan pitched forward to sneeze again into his hands.   “Hatchoo.” 

“Bless you.”  Dustin was surprised at the force.  He’d never felt his slight roommate sneeze before, just knew that sometimes the sneezes were strong enough to bend Ethan double.    

Ethan nodded his thanks, blowing his runny nose, and grimacing at the sound. 

“If anything’s gonna get me to move out, it’s listening to that for the next 2 months.”  Dustin teased. 

Ethan punched him in the shoulder.  “We’re cool?” 

“Yeah, man.  We’re cool.”  He coughed lightly.   “I’m gonna start homework before dinner.  You work this out of your system.” 

He slipped behind his desk and began taking notes from his sociology text, the regular intervals of Ethan’s sneezes serving as a soundtrack.   After 15 minutes, the sneezes slowed, then stopped, and Ethan headed to his desk.    

“Bless you.”  

“Thanks.” Ethan laughed.  “Got your tape from this morning?”  Dustin handed it over and Ethan began listening.  45 minutes later, he turned to Dustin.  “You weren’t kidding about sneezing your way through class.” He commented.  “Sounds like you weren’t the only one.” 

“You should have stayed.  Would have fit right in.”  Dustin plucked a tissue from the box on his desk.  “Grass is still getting to me.” He complained, inhaling sharply.  “Hahkishoo-kishoo-Kshoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo.  Hahkishoo.” 

Ethan shot him a sympathetic look.  “How’s your asthma?” 

“It’s ok.  Not great, but ok.” Dustin admitted. “I can use my inhaler again in about another hour.”  He shook his head.  “I haven’t reacted this bad to grass in a long time.” 

He turned back to his homework and Ethan followed suit until their stomachs reminded them to eat dinner.    

They were almost back to the dorm after dinner, noticing that the sky had turned dark and stormy looking, when the wind picked up.   Getting hit with a strong gust of wind was not what ither of them needed.    

“HahChoo!”  Ethan sneezed almost instantly.    

“Bless you.” Dustin rubbed fiercely at nose, groaning inwardly as he realized the gust of grass pollen was definitely triggering the asthma attack he’d been fighting off all day.  “HahKishoo-kishoo-kshoo-shoo-shoo.  HahKishoo.”   The sneezes sounded tight and raspy, and Ethan noticed. 

“Bless you.  You alright, man?”  He asked.  They were a dozen or so steps from the dorm’s entrance.  He could hear and see that Dustin was struggling to breathe.    

Dustin patted his pocket for his inhaler, groaning when he realized it was in his room.  “Asthma.” He wheezed. 

“You know, you can use your inhaler in front of me-“ Ethan started. 

Dustin cut him off.  “Left it in the room.”   They were standing in the stairwell by the door, and Dustin was eyeing the stairs warily. 

“Where?”  Ethan was pulling his keys out of his pocket. 

“Desk.”   

Ethan nodded and darted up the steps to the third floor.   He was back minutes later, slightly out of breath, handing Dustin the inhaler. 

Dustin shook it up and took the first puff, holding his breath as long as he could and releasing it with a few coughs as Ethan stood nearby.   “Thanks.”  He said, starting to breath easier.  I don’t think I could have made it back to the room.” 

Ethan nodded.  “How’d you forget it anyway,” he asked.  “You always have it on you.” 

“Took it out of my pocket when I went to shower.”  He patted his pockets and smiled sheepishly.  “I don’t have my keys either.”   He raised the inhaler to his lips for the second puff, this time able to hold it longer.    “You can go up if you want.  I just need to wait a couple minutes.” 

“Hatchoo!”  Ethan pitched forward with a sneeze that echoed throughout the stairwell.   “I can wait with you,” Ethan offered, taking a seat on the steps.  Dustin followed suit and joined him.  Ethan pulled a tissue out of his pocket and blew his nose.   “Hey, you used your inhaler in front of me.  Only took, what, 7 months?” 

Dustin looked down.  “When I was a kid, my allergies and asthma were really bad, and I got picked on a lot for it.”  He cleared his throat.  “So I hid the asthma bit and the allergies as much as I could.  They got milder as I got older, but now it’s just habit.”  He said simply. 

Ethan nodded.  He’d faced his share of teasing for his allergies, especially his sneeze.   “I used to try to change my sneeze to try to be less noticeable.” He admitted. 

Dustin nodded.  “Me too.  Try to stop them after the second or thi…hihhh…third-Hakishoo-kishoo-kshoo-kshoo-shoo-shoo.  Hahkishoo! Ugh.”  He sniffled.  “Got another tissue?” 

Ethan patted his pockets.  “Sorry.  Used them all.” 

Dustin sniffled again.  “I guess we better head up.”   They slowly made their way to their room. 

“You want to call off studying for tonight and just watch a movie?” 

Dustin nodded.  It was their Friday night thing when he didn’t have a date.  They just usually studied for a couple hours first.  “I think I’m done for the night.”  He flopped down on the couch.   

Ethan found a movie on TV which Dustin thought sounded good.   “I’m gonna hit the Benadryl early.” He said, admitting his allergies had thoroughly whipped his ass today. 

“I’ll get in on that action.”  Dustin sniffled.  “Get my allergies and asthma calmed down.” 

Ethan passed over the bottle of pills, pouring water into Dustin’s cup, then curled up on the couch.  An hour later, both men were dozing on the couch when they heard the clap of thunder.   Each saw the other relax noticeably.  For Dustin, it meant the grass pollen would be washed from the air, placing his asthma back under control.   For Ethan, it meant everything still would bloom again tomorrow, but at least he’d sleep tonight.