A lil something I wrote about my oc...
Today was not Iris’ day, not one bit.
She first woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose. No big deal, right? It was mid-winter, therefore it was only natural for the cold, dry air to cause some discomfort. She added a spoonful of honey to her first and second coffee that morning, hoping to ease the nagging ache, and off to class she went. The walk was chilly, as per usual this time of year. She wore a long coat and scarf, keeping her gloved hands warm with one in her pocket and the other holding her travel mug, taking sips of the honey sweetened coffee as she walked. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, at least not at first.
As hours ticked by, however, her occasional sniffles turned into frequent and damnedly messy sneezes. The pain in her throat began to creep into her voice- roughening it in spite of her attempted remedy. Perhaps worst of all, she could feel a feverish sweat beading on her skin even as she shivered in her seat during lecture. Silently, she cursed the powers that be- it was painfully obvious she was falling ill, and fast.
She returned home earlier than usual that afternoon- embarrassingly disheveled and resigned to her fate. She had hoped to hole herself up in her room and study to make up for lost class time, however…
Her younger brother, Theodore, looked up from where he sat on the living room sofa, some violent show their parents would surely disapprove of playing on the TV.
Iris shut the front door behind her and slid off her coat, placing it haphazardly on the coat hanger by the entryway. She didn’t look up as she slid off her dress shoes, not keen on tracking melted snow and salt into the house, sniffling and willing herself not to rub at her reddened nose.
“Hey.” She greets him casually, clearing her throat quickly before continuing, “I think we’re having leftovers tonight, I don’t really feel up to cooking.” She steps fully into the living room and adjusts her sweater vest, still not quite meeting his gaze as her eyes linger on the television.
Theo leans onto the back of the couch, his arm draping over the side, immediately distracted, “Ooh can we order pizza instead? Like the good stuff?” He asks hopefully, and Iris rolls her eyes, regretting it as the growing pressure in her head spikes at the exaggerated movement. Needless to say, she didn’t have it in her to argue.
“Knock yourself out, kid.” She waves him off, moving toward the coffee table. She sets her bag down in exchange for a tissue from the box on the tabletop, feeling a telltale burning in her sinuses.
She lifts the tissue to her face, her eyes watering. She can hear Theo say something, but she can’t be bothered to make it out as she draws in a deep, shaky breath.
She sneezes loud and wet into the tissue cupped securely over her nose. She sniffles as her nose treacherously starts to run like mad, and she folds the tissue to give it a little blow, though there isn’t much to dispel aside from a stream of watery mucus.
“Damn, bless you.” Theo remarks, looking a little put off as he covers his own face with the scarf he often wears- even indoors. “Don’t tell me you caught something…”
Iris shoots him a withering glare “Thanks for the concern.” She huffs, wiping her nose with the tissue she folded once more. “Unfortunately, yes, I think I have. So you should probably keep your distance.” It was a fair warning and a valid concern- her younger brother had always been rather sickly, a bug like this could leave the poor kid bedridden, and that was the last thing either of them wanted.
Theo’s expression, though he’s still holding his scarf over his nose and mouth, softens considerably as he takes in how miserable his older sister appeared. He shouldn’t be so cold…
Steeling himself, he stands and grabs her by the shoulders, shoving her onto the sofa with surprising ease.
“Wh- Theo-!” Iris tries to protest the use of force, but her throat has other plans. She promptly breaks into a fit of nasty sounding coughs, doubling over and muffling the sound into her sleeve. While she’s stuck coughing, Theo swiftly moves to the bathroom, rummaging through the cabinet until he finds a digital thermometer. Oh how many times has this thing been used on him… It almost feels good to be the one holding it in his hand rather than his mouth. Almost.
When he returns to the living room, Iris looks- and feels- almost entirely spent. Her face is flushed and tear-streaked, her nose red and runny, and her body wracked with shivers. Despite herself, she gives Theo a sour look as he approaches. “I thought I told you to keep your distance. This is no time to be playing nurse, you know.” She scolds in an almost parental tone, though her incessant sniffling undermines her air of authority. Theo looks down at her with an oddly serious expression, “You don’t look good- like at all. If the roles were reversed you would do the same thing.” He argues, holding the thermometer out to her. She glares at the object like it personally offended her, and sighs heavily, “Yeah well I’m not immunocompromised.” She bites back, though she carefully takes the thermometer from him with a shaky hand, “You’d better take extra precautions. If you catch this, I’m killing you before the virus gets a chance.” She warns, and though it’s clearly an exaggeration, the threat is clear. With that, Iris slides the thermometer under her tongue and slumps, resting her elbows on her knees. Now that she’s home and her illness is plain as day, her exhaustion is catching up to her faster than she expected.
As she sits on the sofa, resting her eyes as she waits for the reading, she sniffles idly. Regret hits her hard as a tickle shoots through her sinuses yet again. Crap.
Iris wrinkles her nose and brings a hand up to scrub at it, momentarily letting dignity fall to the wayside as she fights to maintain control.
Theo seems to notice the shift in her expression, his brow knitting, “You’re not serious, are you?” He asks, typical teenage sass slipping out despite his concern. Iris glares at him through watery eyes, struggling to speak through the urge to sneeze and around the thermometer in her mouth, “Shut… snf Shut uh-hhp…”
Her breath hitches dangerously, but she keeps her teeth clamped on the thermometer to keep it in place even as she struggles.
Her hand hovers in front of her mouth for a few tense seconds, Theo watching all of this unfold without a clue how best to handle it- but sneezes wait for no man.
It’s not long until she can’t fight it a second longer. Iris snatches the thermometer out from under her tongue, doubling over with a pair of rough sounding sneezes,
“Hh-ISHH! HIHH- H’xhHiSHH!”
She grips the thermometer tight in her fist as she sneezes into the crook of her opposite elbow, aiming downwards towards her lap regardless for good measure.
In the aftermath, as she recovers from the dizzying sneezes, sniffling into her arm- the thermometer beeps. The sound is almost mocking as she blinks away tears of irritation.
Theo quietly tugs the thermometer free from her grasp, offering her a tissue in its stead, which she stiffly yet gratefully accepts. Iris blows her nose, rougher this time, as Theo holds up the thermometer to get a look at the reading.
“Yeah, that’s a fever alright.”
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