a sickie succumbing to a nasty midwinter cold, but they still want to make it home from a trip in time for christmas. they sound so bad over the phone that their partner says not to bother and to stay home and rest because itās a horribly long trip, but theyre determined. they pack their bags and, after a night where their stuffy nose keeps them from sleeping well, they make their way to the economy class flight scheduled for early in the morning.
itās a 9 hour flight and they feel horrible the whole way. they try to sleep, but they canāt quite get comfortable, and whenever they dose off a little they let out little stuffy snorts and snores from their cold, which they feel terribly self consious about. the pressure makes their sinuses ache and their stuffed up ears pop, their face hurts, and the dry air of the cabin doesnāt help their throat or nose. by the time they land theyāre starting to get a wet, chesty cough and chills to go with everything, but they buy another full tissue box and make their way to their connecting flight, only struggling to stay awake during an hour layover.
another four hours there, and again they try to sleep with their lap overflowing with used tissues, but they barely sleep a wink. their nose whistles and snuffles and burbles. their cold is so wet and obvious and severe that other passengers try their best to avoid them. they just canāt get comfortable, and again the take off and landing puts even more pressure on their overfull sinuses and ears. by the time they stagger off the plane they feel like death warmed over, but itās dark again now, theyre horribly jet lagged, and they need to drive another three hours through the ice and snow home.
they get into their car and immedietely sneeze all over the steering wheel. itās a relief to not have to hide their disgusting sick nose sounds now that theyre alone, but the chills and aches and coughing and sneezing are miserable at this point. they honestly wonder if they should have stayed at the hotel as their partner wanted them to. between the ice, snowstorm, sneezing, and need for breaks to drink more coffee, the trip takes five hours instead of three, and they struggle to stay awake the whole time.
they shiver as they pull into the driveway and cough as their partner runs out to greet them. āDodd ged doo glose,ā they say as a warning, āBudd berry grisdbas. I bissed you so budge.ā they sound disgusting; their partner is happy to see them, but terribly worried. they urge them to shower; by the time they get out, their partner has the humidifier running on high and severe cold and flu medicine set out for them, but itās also 1am, and the sickie was feeling themselves almost fall asleep in the shower.
āBy dose bages gross doises whedd I sleeb righd dow,ā they warn with a congested sniffle. their partner reassures them that they donāt care what they sound like; they just want them to rest. between the cold medicine and the humidifer and this reassurance, they fall into a loud, snoring, congested sleep.
the plan was to meet their partnerās family at 8am on christmas morning, but at 6am the sickie is shaken awake and feels utterly horribleā the long, sleepless travel home, coupled with stress and the jetlag, has caused the cold to grow even worse, and they feel absolutely knocked flat on their back even with a generous dose of medicine. their partner takes their temperature; theyre running a fever of 102, and their partner decides the sickie will be spending christmas in bed, both for their own health and to keep from spreading this awful bug around any further. the sickie, propped up in bed to help them breathe, barely awake, is quick to fall back asleep.
their partner visits their family, but only briefly, citing how ill their partner is. when they get home, the sickie is still fast asleep, although itās uncomfortable and theyre clearly fighting for itā the cold is loud and full of snorts and whistling and wheezing and coughing. they might have been fine if theyād just stayed for a few more days, but a proper trip to the doctor might be in order nowā¦
