Persistent Cough
Sicktember 2021 - Day 2
It had seemed like A was getting better by the time they left. But when they came back it was a different story. The dry cough they’d started to shake had instead moved deeper down their chest. The light sniffles had been exchanged for completely blocked up sinuses, and their body was wracked with chills.
*cough* *cough cough* snxxx…guh *cough*
The telltale sounds of illness reached B in the kitchen. They frowned. A had woken up. They’d hoped A would be able to sleep a little longer.
It had started with a tickle in A’s throat two weeks ago. The tickle turned into a cough, accompanying the massive head cold they were coming down with.
And it might not have gotten any worse, had A not insisted on going on the stupid camping trip last weekend, B thought. B said it wasn’t a good idea, but A promised that they were feeling better, that this had been planned for months, and they were driving and didn’t want to let the others down.
Well. A was a grownup and could make decisions for themselves, no matter how ill-advised. And their partner B sure thought this trip was ill-advised. But there wasn’t much they could do about it.
It had seemed like A was getting better by the time they left. But when they came back it was a different story. The dry cough they’d started to shake had instead moved deeper down their chest, the light sniffles had been exchanged for completely blocked up sinuses, and their body was wracked with chills.
B shook their head in frustration. It was so unnecessary. They weren’t sure if they were more angry with A for leaving, or with themself for not fighting harder to convince A to stay at home.
But when B got up from their make-shift desk at the kitchen table and walked over to the living room and saw A, all anger melted away. Left was just sympathy, along with a small but growing seed of worry.
A looked so tiny and frail as they lay there on the couch. Covered in blankets pulled tight to their body, propped up by pillows to help them breathe. It looked like they were being swallowed by it all.
The coughing which woke A up had subsided, but A was left awake, staring blankly into the room. They blinked slowly and then caught sight of B.
“Hey, love,” B said as they made their way to the sofa. “Think you can go back to sleep?” they continued while brushing away some stray hairs from A’s forehead. While there they gently pressed their palm to A’s forehead to feel for any change in the fever. It wasn’t down. Maybe even up a little. B’s brow knit in concern.
A didn’t respond, they just shook their head weakly.
B moved their hand down to cup A’s cheek and looked into their glassy eyes. “I don’t like this fever,” B said, more to themself than to A.
When A had come home it was clear they were running a fever. Since then it had gone up and down but never quite gone away.
A’s breath suddenly caught and they started coughing. It was a deep, chesty cough which made A lean forward with the force of it. B could only imagine how much it must hurt. They wished they could do something, anything to help alleviate the pain and make A feel better.
“There, there,” B whispered as they rubbed circles on A’s back until the coughing stopped.
A leaned back against the pillows, slightly out of breath. They swallowed thickly and winced at the pain in their throat. B noticed a tear rolling down A’s cheek. B carefully wiped it away.
“Oh, love… Is there anything I can get you? Anything at all.”
A looked at B for a few moments while trying to catch their breath.
“Could yo-,” A began but their voice gave out. They cleared their throat and tried again.
“Could you stay? In here? Please,” A finally managed in a gravelly voice.
B threw a quick glance towards the kitchen before looking back at A.
“Yes, of course,” they replied with a soft smile. “I’ve just got to fetch the laptop so I can finish an email, then I’m clocking out for today.”
“I can see that I am needed more urgently elsewhere,” B added, smiling properly now and winked at A.
A grinned back, but the moment passed when another coughing fit wracked their body.
B went out to the kitchen to fetch their laptop. But when they spotted the freezer they suddenly had an idea.
When B returned to the living room A had closed their eyes, but it was clear they weren’t sleeping.
“I’ve got something that might cheer you up,” said B with a mischievous grin.
“Oh yeah?” A rasped, looking up at B who was standing by A’s feet, laptop in one hand and the other hand hidden behind their back.
“You know how we keep some things around the house for when your nephew comes to visit?”
“Hmm…?” A wasn’t following.
“Well, I realised you might appreciate one of these right now.” B proudly held up what they’d been hiding behind their back. “A popsicle!” B announced triumphantly.
This was an unusual show of playfulness and theatrics from B, and it made A laugh. It was the best sound B had heard in days.
B smiled and handed the popsicle over to A. In a more serious tone they then continued.
“I thought it might be soothing do your throat.”
“Plus, I’m worried you’re not getting enough sustenance in you since you won’t eat much. That fever of yours keeps eating up all your energy reserves and we need to keep your strength up,” B added, sounding more severe than they had intended to.
“That thing,” B continued in a lighter tone, nodding towards the popsicle A was now enjoying, “is basically sugar water in solid form, so while it’s hardly nutritional it might at least give a small temporary energy boost.”
A’s mind was too foggy with fever to take in most of what B said. They just nodded and enjoyed the cooling and soothing effect of the popsicle on their raw and sore throat.
B sat on the edge of the couch and quickly fired off a few emails before putting the laptop away. By this time A had finished the ice pop and had burrowed down into their pillows again, pulling the blankets up to their neck.
A started coughing a bit again, but it wasn’t quite as harsh now as it had been, and the fit ended quicker.
B fetched the TV remote and while standing, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on A’s head. They then returned to the far end of the couch, gently lifting A’s feet and sitting down, putting A’s feet on their lap.
B turned on the TV on low volume and then slipped their hands below the blankets to give A a gentle and relaxing foot rub.
“Think you can sleep for a bit now?” B said quietly as A was watching the television with heavy-lidded eyes.
A nodded faintly. “Yeah I think so,” came a hoarse reply.
“Good.”
B knew this was far from over, but hearing A laugh had made them feel so much better. Even though they knew A’s condition was unchanged, the small burst of joy had somehow made everything seem a little brighter. Hopefully now A would be able to get some sleep, and with some luck they would feel better tomorrow.
And if not, there were plenty more popsicles where the first one came from.
