“Hatshoo!”
Tim popped in at the irritated sneeze coming from the living room. “Ready for a break?”
Setting his tissue down, Ethan Tim with a hard Look that did little to faze him. “I told you. My recertification exam is tomorrow. I have to study.” He picked up his tissue and scrubbed his nose again. Between his allergies and Tim today, he was struggling to get anything done. He’d agreed to spend the morning with Tim before studying and was, now, regretting not swapping the order. They’d had to walk a few blocks to and from breakfast; that had kickstarted his allergies on a high pollen weekend, and they had only amped up since. Now he was trying to study, staring down an allergy attack.
“All you’ve done for the last two weeks has been study.” Tim pointed out.
Ethan sighed. “We are not hahh…” He held up a finger, turning his head. “Ahtshoo!” He finished. “We are not having the ‘you feeling neglected’ conversation right now. Not while I’m trying to study. Not during an allergy fit.” He punctuated his statement by blowing his nose.
“Bless you.” Tim went and slumped on the couch, turning on the TV.
“Tim!” Ethan hissed, exasperated. Tim looked at him blankly. “I’m trying to study.”
“So I can’t watch TV in here?”
“You can watch in your bedroom. Which is where I was going to study…before you decided to take a nap. Then I was in the kitchen where you decided to bake cheesecake -“
“Which smell amazing.”
“Can’t tell. Can’t eat it. Don’t care. Anyway, I came out here specifically Because you can watch TV in your bedroom. Which you agreed to do.”
“I got lonely.”
“So go call a friend. I’m not your sole means of entertainment.” Ethan’s nose crinkled and he pressed the back of his hand against it, failing 2 seconds later to stop the sneeze. “Ahshoo!”
“Maybe you should take a break until your allergies let up? You’re pretty irritable.”
Ethan blew his nose. “I. Wonder. Why.”
“Just pointing out. It’s hard to study when you can’t stop sneezing.”
“Used to it.” Ethan wiped his eyes, not wanting to admit Tim was right. His head throbbed, and oh, he wanted to stop, but the test was tomorrow…
“At least, let me help you.”
“You don’t know the first thing about diabetes. How can you help me study?”
“I can use your flash cards.”
Ethan sighed, but realizing Tim wasn’t going to let up, handed him a stack of flash cards.
“Okay,” Tim cleared his throat. “One of the most important keys to successful management of type 2 diabetes is educating the person on A. meal planning. B. regular urine testing. C. signs and treatment of hypoglycemia. D. selection and use of over-the-counter medications.”
“A.” Ethan nodded. “Give me something harder.
Tim flipped through the cards until he found one he thought would be hard for Ethan. At least, it had a lot of big words. “Okay, Which of the following is a major clinical feature of hyperosmolar hyperglycemic nonket…nonketo..keto…Ethan, how do I say this?” He thrust the card at Ethan.
“Nonketotic. Hyperosmolar, hyperglycemic, nonketotic syndrome.” He hesitated a second, not to deliberate, but for yet another sneeze. “HahChoo! Answer is C.” He flipped the card over to verify. “Yes, C.”
“See, you know what you’re doing. I mean, you passed this test before.”
“Well, yeah. I just need to be sure I know it.”
“You teach it every day.”
Ethan nodded. “Yeah.” He wiped his watery eyes again.
“You know you can study too much.”
Ethan laughed. “That’s just what people say.”
Tim shrugged. “Happened to me.” He looked straight at Ethan. “Failed a biology test. Studied every minute I could for a week; made Mark tutor me. Still failed Had to repeat the course. So take a break.” He paused. “You know you want too.”
Ethan sighed. He did want too. Between the sneezing, and the headache, and the watery eyes, studying was getting harder. And, looking at his watch, it was time for a snack Maybe that and trying to nap until dinner wouldn’t be that bad. He pushed his chair back. “I have to eat.” Was all he said, digging string cheese out of the fridge.
“And then?”
“Atchoo. I guess I could take a break.”
“Wanna watch a movie?”
“I was hoping a little bit more for a nap.”
“Movie in the bedroom? You can lay down.”
Ethan looked up at Tim. “My head is absolutely pounding, sweetheart.”
“Skip the movie. Have a nap. I guess if I can’t sleep again, I can read a book.”
“Probably should read a book; two naps, you’ll be up half the night.”
“Come on. Let’s see if you mumble about this stuff in your sleep again like you did last night.”
“Let’s see if I stop sneezing first.” Ethan grumbled, taking his tissue box and following Tim to the bedroom.
Aggedy Ann 