Older Than You Used to Be

Ethan heard Tim cough as he walked past the table on his way to the shower.   “How was the run?” 

“Great.  Should have joined me, lazy bones.”    

Ethan chuckled.   “I haven’t run since college.  I probably wouldn’t be able to walk tomorrow.” 

“You’re just afraid I’ll run circles around you.” 

“I know you will.”  Ethan pointed out as Tim started coughing again.  “Asthma acting up?” 

Tim nodded, taking a sip of water.  “Not too bad.  Just a bit of a wheeze and a cough. I’ll see how the shower helps.”  He brushed off Ethan’s concern. 

Ethan muffled a sneeze into his right elbow.  “Want me to join you for the shower?” 

Tim shook his head.  “Run’s got me worn down.”  He glanced at his watch.  “Plus I’ve got that meeting for Alex’s special.  I’ll be late if you do.” 

“Don’t forget we’ve got dinner at Alex’s tonight.”  Ethan called as Tim made his way down the hall. 

Tim sat in the office, back against the wall.  He checked once again to make sure that he wasn’t sitting underneath the air conditioning vent.  This room had a definite chill to it.  He couldn’t wait until they broke for lunch, and he could grab his hoodie.    He rubbed his hands over his arms again, then coughed into his shoulder.    He hadn’t stopped coughing since that morning’s asthma attack.    He sniffled, noticing his nose was starting to run, blaming it on the blasting air conditioning.    

He got up to grab a tissue off Freddie’s desk and immediately sat back down as a sudden pair of sneezes struck him.  “HihChuussoo, Chuurrshoo!”  He managed to sloppily cover with his forearm.  Sam, on his  left, started bless him, but stopped when he shook his head at her, feeling more brewing.  “Huhrrruhhshoo, yyyurrshoo, Uhhrshoo, HuhhYuuhhhsheshh!”  He didn’t stop there.   Freddie, on his right, leaned over and snagged the tissues, pressing a handful into Tim’s free hand.   Swiftly, between sneezes, Tim switched his arm for the tissues for another 10 sneezes. 

“Bless you.”  Alex frowned from the front of the room.   They all knew what Tim’s explosion had meant.    Freddie stepped behind his desk, dug in the top drawer and emerged with a packet of cold pills, holding them up.     

Tim hesitated, usually he didn’t need anything following the sneezing fit that preceded a cold.  But, the cough was new…and he noted, he suddenly felt a lot stuffier than he had 5 minutes ago. 

He took the pills from Freddie, leaned against the wall and somehow made it through the meeting, though not contributing much than the odd joke, frequent coughs and occasional sneezes. 

He got home to a note from Ethan.  ‘Coffee with Dustin.  Back around 4.’  He nodded at the note and crawled into bed.   He grabbed the tissues off Ethan’s nightstand and collapsed around them.  The next thing he was aware of was Ethan shaking him gently awake. 

“Sneaking a nap?”  Ethan teased.  “That’s not like you.”  He frowned, noticing the tissues the scattered the bedspread. 

“Got a cold, I guess.”  Tim sniffed, noticing that his voice sounded scratchy.  He cleared his throat, swinging his legs over the bed, ignoring a momentary wave of dizziness.    

“You ‘guess?’  It’s usually pretty obvious when you get a cold.”  Ethan stated bluntly, in reference to Tim’s tell tale sneezing fit that preceded every cold he’d ever had. 

“Hitting faster than normal.”  Tim blew his nose, then gathered the crumpled tissues from the bed, depositing them in the trash can on Ethan’s side of the bed.    

“Need to cancel on Alex and Alyssa?” 

Tim shook his head.  “I’m fihhne..Niihhshoo! Huhhhyyyehhshoo!” 

“Bless you.”  Ethan bit the inside of his lip, nurse brain noticing how pale Tim was, how red his nose was, just since he had seen him with a slight cough this morning.    

He heard rough, hoarse coughs coming from the bathroom.  “Yep,” he sighed; “that was worse, too.” 

He met Tim in the kitchen with a glass of water.  “Do you need to take DayQuil or something?  Your inhaler?” 

Tim shook his head.  “Thanks.  Freddie gave me some cold medicine around noon; I used my inhaler when I got home.”   He rubbed his temples, then slumped in a chair.  “I don’t even remember being around anyone sick.” He grumbled. 

Ethan shrugged.  “Could’ve picked it up at the grocery store for all we know.  From a cart or something.  The virus can live on hard surfaces up to 24 hours.” 

Tim yawned.  “Probably then.”  He rubbed his nose with his sleeve. 

Ethan sighed and handed him a paper towel.  “Juice? Tea? Cough syrup?” 

“Jus’ water for now.”  He had to admit the cold water felt good on his throat, especially with the way the sneezing grated at it.   A few rough coughs shook him.  “Do you have cough drops hidden somewhere?  I couldn’t find any.” 

Ethan paused in thought.  “If you don’t know where they are, we’re probably out.  Leave early and pick you up some?” 

Tim shrugged, looking at his watch, blankly. 

Ethan looked at his.  “We’d have to within 15 minutes.  Gives you time to freshen up.” 

“Ok.”  Tim said, but didn’t move.    

“Serious, babe.  If you want to change, you need to do it now.  And you’ve got to comb your hair.”  Ethan paused for a second to grab his own paper towel.   “Ashoo!  I’ll grab you tissues and cold medicine.  Go. Get. Ready.” 

Tim slowly pulled himself out of the chair and walked down to the bedroom where he changed his wrinkled shirt, then the bathroom to fix his bed head.   When he returned to the living room, Ethan was waiting, handing him a travel pack of tissues to stick in his pocket. 

“Think this is enough?” 

“I’ve got one, too.”  Ethan offered a smile, passing over the blister pack of cold medicine.  “You’re going to have your pockets full of inhaler, tissues, cold medicine and cough drops.  I can carry the extra tissues.  You have your inhaler, right?” 

“Bedroom.”  Tim mumbled, walking back to retrieve the item.  When he returned, Ethan was standing there with his jacket.  “It’s 55 degrees.” 

“You’re sick.”  Ethan’s tone left little room for argument, and Tim slipped the jacket on, not wanting to admit, he hadn’t warmed up since this morning,  ‘Maybe,’ he mused, ‘it wasn’t the air conditioner after all.’ 

After a stop for cough drops, a move Tim’s tender throat wholly appreciated, they were 10 minutes early to Alex’s.   Sitting in the car for a moment, Tim enjoyed the comfort of the soft seat on his sore joint before they headed up to the house.     

“Hey man, how you feeling?”  Alex asked Tim when he answered the door. 

“Rough.”  Tim admitted softly as Ethan and Tim communicated with their eyes next to him. 

“Wasn’t your most impressive pre-cold fit, but it looks like it’s hitting you good.” Alex commented. 

Tim nodded and coughed as they walked into the living room. 

“Drinks?” 

“Just water.”  

“Ethan? Diet Coke?” Alex asked. 

“Sounds great.”  Ethan rubbed Tim’s back as more coughs shook him.  He glanced down at his watch.  “I think you could go for the inhaler and cold medicine now.” He whispered. 

Tim slipped off to the hallway to discreetly use his inhaler, returning as Alex returned with Alyssa and drinks.  He fished the cold medicine out of his pocket and swallowed it.   

“Dinner in about 15 minutes.  I lost track of time grading papers.” 

Tim nodded, pushing hard against his septum with one hand while digging the packet of tissues out of his pocket and struggling to open it with the other.  Realizing he was out of time, he turned to the side, shifting his elbow to block.  “Yyehhshehh, heyyyehsshehhh! Yyehhshoo!  YyyehhHehhsshoo!”  With a wet sniffle, he managed to get the pack open, turn away again and blow his nose, louder than he had anticipated.    

“Bless you.”  Alex gave him a concerned glance as Ethan rubbed his leg.   “You sounded better when you left the meeting.” 

“Guess..” Tim’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.  “Must’ve settled in when I took a nap.” He shrugged.  He slipped a cough drop in and leaned back into the couch, closing the subject…for now. 

Ethan turned to Alex, asking him questions about his upcoming special which Alex was only too thrilled to talk about.   For Alex and Ethan, the 15 minutes until Alyssa brought them in for dinner passed quickly, but for Tim, it felt like an eternity. 

The food looked amazing; Alyssa was as good, if not better in the kitchen than he was.  The taste was dulled, however, by his growing congestion, and he could hear it start to become apparent in his voice.  He’d left the table four, or was it five times for harsh, powerful fits muffled into his tissues or simply to blow his nose when he felt it begin to start dripping.  His head ached, his ears ached, his joints ached…his throat…well that, felt like someone was stabbing it with shards of glass.   His head was fuzzy, and the lightheaded feeling from earlier had never completely gone away, making it hard to keep up with the conversation.  Halfway through, they’d given up asking him direct questions, just leaving it open for him to chip in when he could.  Considering, he was worn out, despite the nap, he didn’t chime in much. 

Mentally, he gave a sigh of relief when Alex and Alyssa cleared the plates, brushing aside Ethan’s offer to help, and brought out dessert.   Apple pie, normally his favorite, but he wasn’t sure he had an appetite left for another bite, despite picking at his dinner.   He reached for his coffee, blinking, sure that the cold had affected his eyesight when he noticed it didn’t look right.    

“Tea.”  Alyssa informed him.  “You should be drinking tea, not coffee.  Don’t worry, I put plenty of honey in for that cough.” 

“ThahhhHahAhshoo!” The first sneeze came before he had time to bolt from the table, and he quickly clapped his hands over his nose.  The obligatory second sneeze was a split second later.  “YyahhSchoo!”  He paused for a second, starting to relax before his breath hitched again.  “Yyehhschoo! Yyeehheescheshhh! Yehhhshescchhh! HeeeYyyaahhSschoo!”  Catching his breath and flushing red, he took the tissues Ethan slipped him and slipped back into the kitchen. 

“Bless you.”  Alex rubbed his shoulder upon his return.  “You could have cancelled.  I knew you were sick.” 

“Thought I was ok.”  Tim mumbled.  “Don’t know why I’m so sick all of a sudden.  ‘S just a cold.”  He took a sip of his tea. 

Alyssa, Alex and Ethan exchanged looks around the table.  They’d been through this, too.  Tim was just the young one of the group and needed some time to catch up.   

“You’re 40 now.”  Alex pointed out. 

Tim looked even more lost than he had most of the evening. 

“Things hit you harder as you get older.”  Alyssa explained.  “Something that you normally would have powered through can knock you for a loop.” 

“You get sick more quickly.  Or are sicker longer.  Or just plain get sicker.”  Ethan explained 

“Or a combination of all of them.” Alex chipped in. 

Tim looked over at Ethan, still not fully grasping everything.  He rubbed Tim’s shoulder.  “I used to have colds for exactly 5 days.”  He started.    

“You’re sick for at least a week.” Tim corrected.  “If not more.” 

“Since I turned 40.  I can still push through, but, yeah, there’s about 8 days…” 

“Hits me harder.” Alyssa sighed. 

“Add me to the sick longer group.  And it’s not because I push through them.” Alex smiled.  “You’re older than you used to be.” 

“Things hit different.” 

Tim nodded, yawning. 

“And on that note, how does dessert to go sound?”  Alyssa asked. 

“Wonderful.”  Ethan was scrutinizing Tim.   “I want to get home and put someone to bed.” 

Tim didn’t make it halfway across town before he had dozed off.