Baseball Fanfic-M - (3 Parts)

[Sneesee]

Here's something I've been working on for awhile, and it's still in progress, but after re-reading it yesterday, I was anxious to post the first part! Perhaps I'm just anxious for baseball season to start again! Anyway, Jon Garland is about to come down with a cold the day before a big game he's pitching against the Boston Red Sox. Poor guy!

“Jon, wake up!”

Jon Garland opened one eye and saw Scott Podsednik staring at him with a grin.

“Go away, lemme sleep,” Jon moaned. Their flight had been delayed, and they got into their hotel near Boston rather late the bight before. It was way too early to have to get out of bed.

“Its after ten in the morning, get yo ass outta bed!”

Was it really after ten? Jon felt like he hadn’t slept a wink, and the ball game was just a couple of hours away.

“Damn it, Scott, why are you so friggin’ cheerful this morning,” Jon said groggily and sat up. Whoa, big mistake. He got dizzy and had to lie back down.

“I got enough sleep last night, but obviously you didn’t. You okay, man?”

Jon gave Scott the evil eye for asking such a question. He was fine, just tired, that’s all.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, bud. Why don’t you get yourself out of bed, while I run and get you some coffee? I think you might need it today,” Scott said, laughing.

“Whatever,” Jon mumbled, and tried sitting up again.

As soon as Scott left the hotel room, Jon flopped his feet to the floor. Then he stood up and made his way to the bathroom. The minute his bare feet hit the cold tile floor, Jon immediately began to shiver. Then his nose started to tickle, and before he could even try to stop it, he sneezed harshly. He sniffled and moved over to the small rug in front of the mirror, taking a good long look at himself in the mirror. Great, he looked exactly like he felt, like crap.

“Oh man,” he moaned. Hopefully a shower would help improve his looks, even if it didn’t improve the way he felt.

After turning on the shower, he grabbed a towel and shed his briefs. He threw the towel over the shower doors, and decided to hop in right away. But the minute his feet hit the tile floor again, he felt a tingle that crept up all the way up from his toes to his head, and then settled somewhere in the back of his nostrils. Not again, he thought desperately as another huge sneeze welled up inside him.

Since no one else was around, he let it out, completely uncovered.

“He-isshhhhaaa!”

The sneeze left his nose a little runny, so he grabbed a couple of tissues. He blew his nose several times, and when he was sure he’d cleared it all out, he finally got in his shower.

The warmth and steam from the shower relieved his aching muscles. He must’ve slept wrong in addition to hardly getting any sleep at all, because his whole body was sore and drained. He was too young to feel this way after one really tough game against the Yankees at home. Don’t think about it, he told himself, it was only one game.

He needed to look forward to the game tomorrow night, when he’d be pitching again. He would redeem himself and all of the Chicago White Sox that night. They were hungry for a win, and he knew he was just the pitcher to do it.

After his shower, Jon readied himself in front of the mirror. It didn’t take long, and by the time he was done and dressed, Scott was back with a huge cup of Starbuck’s coffee.

“Well, glad you decided to join the living,” he remarked, handing Jon the steaming cup.

“Gee, thanks,” Jon said with a short laugh. He felt marginally better, only his nose was still a little itchy and irritated. Perhaps it was the soap or something from the shower that got to him. For now, he ignored the feeling and started to drink the hot cup of liquid caffeine to jump-start his day.

“Man, I’m really looking forward to kicking Boston’s asses all over the field the next three days,” Scott said excitedly.

Jon laughed softly. Scott’s enthusiasm was one of the things that everyone on the team admired the most about him. Well, that and his ability to steal bases.

“Yeah, me too,” Jon agreed. The coffee tasted really good, but it was so hot it burned his throat. He put the cup down and sat back down on his bed.

“Jon, I’m kind of worried about you this morning. You don’t look so hot.”

Jon rubbed at his temples with his hands.

“I’m fine, just a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Okay. Hey man, I didn’t keep you up with my snoring or anything, did I?”

Jon laughed again.

“No, Scott, it wasn’t you.”

“Good. I’d hate to lose you as a roommate already.”

Jon laughed again, causing his throat to tickle just like his nose. That’s not good, he thought. He muffled a cough into a fist.

Scott raised one eyebrow and looked at Jon out of the corner of his eye.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Scott said, and sat on his own bed. Then he flipped on the TV to watch Sports Center.

Jon sipped his coffee, trying not to cough again. He was sure that Scott was still keeping an eye on him, and he wasn’t about to let Scott think that there was anything wrong with him, although, he was beginning to wonder. He really felt so tired and wiped out. That was highly unusual for him, even after a rough night. He could usually snap out of it after a hot shower and cup of coffee, but that wasn’t happening this particular morning.

Once his coffee was gone, and he’d had his fill of all the latest sporting news, Jon went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He barely got the toothbrush in his mouth when his nose began to twitch with a really persistent tickle. The sneeze snuck up on him so quickly, he didn’t have time to stifle or cover it.

“Heh-issshhhuu!”

Jon sprayed toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror. How embarrassing. He spit and rinsed his mouth out. Then he wiped the mirror off with a towel.

“Bless you, man!” Scott called out.

“Uh, thanks,” he called back meekly. Then he grabbed a couple more tissues, and blew his nose again. He really hated sneezing in front of other people. Normally, he would have been mortified, but since he wasn’t able to hold it back, and it was just Scott in the next room, Jon didn’t really care so much.

He left the bathroom, and Scott turned off the TV.

“You ready to go? I’ll drive,” Scott offered.

That was fine with Jon, since he didn’t feel like driving anyway, and he nodded in agreement.

“Cool, let’s roll,” Scott said.

They headed to the elevators, where they met up with fellow teammates Paul Konerko and A.J Pierzinski. They all chatted about the upcoming series with the Red Sox during the elevator ride, and as they walked through the lobby. Jon remained silent, still feeling like shit.

Even though he had his sunglasses in his hand, and was just about to put them on, as soon as Jon stepped outside into the bright sunlight, he sneezed wetly all over his forearm.

All of the guys blessed him as he sniffled and rubbed his nose with his hand. Scott gave him another questioning glance, but Jon ignored it and threw on his sunglasses.

“We could all just take one car. It’s kind of silly to take two since we’re all going to the same place, right?” Scott suggested. Paul and A.J. said it was fine, and Jon didn’t care either as long as he wasn’t the one driving.

Once they piled into the car, Jon stared out the passenger’s side window. Along with his sore throat and itchy nose, he also had a pounding headache all of a sudden. He would’ve loved to blame it all on the sunlight and his heavy sneeze, but he knew better. He was beginning to think that his sneezing and achy feeling were the start of a pretty nasty cold. He refused to let himself believe that, though. He could not, would not get sick before the following night’s game. No way!

“Jon, you looking forward to pitching tomorrow night?” Paul asked from the back seat.

“Hell yeah,” he said, trying to laugh and then covering up another cough. Scott shot him another worried frown, and Jon again ignored it.

“I think we’re all ready to win again after losing the series to the Yankees,” A.J. piped in.

“Well, let’s just all have a good practice today, and get psyched for the game tonight! Wooo Hooooo!” Scott cheered. The other two in the back joined in. Jon didn’t feel like cheering, so he just smiled at his excited teammates.

They reached Fenway Park, and marched to the locker rooms. Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood, well, everyone except Jon. He avoided talking to anyone as they got into their uniforms. Jon settled his baseball hat low on his forehead, so no one could see how dark the circles were under his eyes. Luckily, he could take it easy during practice, because he wasn’t starting in the afternoon game. During the game, he could sit on the bench and chill out, and that was the only thing keeping him going, since he really wanted to be back at the hotel, sleeping in bed.

Once they were out on the field, Jon gave a half-hearted attempt at pitching. He spent most of his time wiping his nose with either his right hand or his baseball glove instead of actually pitching. Damn, how inconvenient. He wished he’d grabbed the box of tissues from the hotel room, but then that would’ve been like admitting he was getting sick. And he was NOT getting sick. At least, he tried telling himself that.

As if to taunt him for his thoughts, the desperate urge to sneeze bubbled up inside of him. Quickly, he held his glove in front of his face, essentially hiding from everyone.

“Hep-shhhttt! Shit,” he muttered after half-stifling the sneeze. Then he couldn’t breathe because his nostrils had become totally clogged. This is freakin’ ridiculous, he thought as he sprinted off the field and to the clubhouse.

It was totally empty inside the bathroom, and Jon was glad. He grabbed a huge wad of toilet paper and blew his nose so hard it began to hurt. But, he was able to breathe again, his sinuses finally clear, and his nose no longer running.

“Jon? You in here?”

Damn it, what the hell was Scott doing there?

“Yeah, what’s up, bud?” Jon asked casually as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Oh, you ran off so fast, I was trying to get your attention, but then you were gone.”

“I had to use the john,” Jon said, smirking.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Scott said, obviously not buying his story. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

“What?” Jon asked, not really enjoying the way Scott was looking at him.

“Something’s up with you man, and I can’t quite figure it out. You’ve been acting funny all day.”

Jon didn’t think he was acting out of the ordinary. He was always kind of cool and aloof with everyone. The only problem was, he really did feel different today. Again, he refused to admit any sort of weakness to Scott, even if that meant keeping how rotten he was feeling a secret.

“No, I haven’t,” Jon said and brushed past Scott, who followed him. Then his whole body tensed up with that itchy, unmistakable I have to sneeze feeling again, and he froze in his tracks. He sensed Scott stop suddenly right behind him, so they wouldn’t collide. Jon mentally tried to wish the sneeze away, but his nose wasn’t paying any attention. His eyes watered and fluttered as he raised his right hand in a loose fist towards his nose.

“Heh-isshhhhhhhhaa!”

Jon shook himself off and sniffed. Then he glanced over his shoulder at Scott, who eyed him warily.

“Bless you, Jon,” he said, putting a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sneeze so much, bud. Are you sick or something?”

That was just one of many reasons Jon despised sneezing in front of others. Everyone always assumed that sneezing meant you had a cold or something. Although given the way he was feeling…

“Heh-shhhhhuh!” Jon sneezed again, startling both of them. He ran back towards the bathroom in search of more toilet paper.

“Jon, maybe you should skip the game and go back to the hotel,” Scott said loudly.

“Do way, I’b fide!” Jon yelled before he had a chance to blow his nose. He gave several honking blows, since he nose was ten times stuffier than it was earlier that day. When his air passages were finally clear, he cleared his throat and re-joined Scott in the locker room. “I’m fine, man. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Alright, if you say so. Hey, the reason I wanted to talk to you before was because a few of us were going to go out for dinner and a few drinks after the game. You up for it?”

“Maybe, we’ll see after the game, I guess,” Jon said sheepishly. He kind of liked Scott’s idea of going back to the hotel and sleeping, and that frightened him. Being all tired and achy, he wasn’t sure if going out was such a hot idea. He yawned. “Damn, I’m still pretty tired from last night.”

“Sure, yeah,” Scott said with a short laugh.

Jon shook his head and blew off Scott’s attitude and comments. The rest of the team all started to filter in to the locker room for Ozzie’s pep talk before the game. Jon moved himself to the back of the crowd, sniffling and coughing as softly as he could so he wouldn’t interrupt.

After a short but rousing pep talk, they all headed back out to the field. Jon immediately sat on the bench and didn’t move. He tilted his head back towards the wall and shut his eyes. His head pounded a steady rhythm, and every breath he took caused the tickle in his nose and throat to flare up. This sucks, he said to himself. All the mental power in the world probably couldn’t stop the freight train of a cold that had hit him.

Since Scott was the first guy in the line-up to bat, he wasn’t around to hassle Jon. But that didn’t stop everyone else. First Paul wanted to know why Jon looked like he was sleeping. Then A.J. asked if Jon was okay, because he thought Jon was looking a little pale. And then Ozzie even questioned how Jon felt because he didn’t “look so hot.” Jon snuffled and snorted, trying to keep his nose from running, but was steadily losing the battle.

After getting a base run, then stealing two bases, and getting hit in by Paul Konerko, Scott came back to the dugout, giving everyone high-fives. Jon didn’t join in the festivities, but not because he didn’t want to. He was just pouting and feeling sorry for himself, and liked it that way.

“Hey man, how you doin’?” Scott asked, plopping himself next to Jon.

Jon growled softly, unable to keep his irritation from showing.

“I’m fine, Scott. How many times do I have to say it?”

“Take it easy, dude. I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not the only one who’s noticed how crabby you’re being, and how awful you look,” Scott said, giving him a smug smile.

“Well, then why don’t you all just leave me alone, since I’m so crabby and awful to look at?” Jon snapped. He didn’t mean to, and Scott shot him a hurt look.

“Okay, man. Sorry for caring,” he said sadly and walked away.

Jon sighed. He didn’t mean to be so rude to Scott. Scott was just trying to be helpful, and Jon acted like a complete jerk. He choked back an apology, because Scott was already too far away to hear it. Besides that, he needed to sneeze again, and he fought against it for several minutes, not wanting to start sneezing in front of all the guys.

Luckily, the first half of the first inning was over, and several of his teammates went out on to the field, leaving him with only a few witnesses. The first sneeze came out mostly stifled. He’d covered it and held his breath with all his might to effectively make it quiet. But he wasn’t done. He bent over and covered his nose and mouth with both hands, and sneezed three more times in quick succession. Even though they were still kind of muffled, each one was louder than the last. When he was finally through, he settled back with his head against the wall again, sniffling and groaning.

He received quite a few stares from all the guys during the game, but no one would talk to him. He couldn’t blame them. He was awfully crabby, and all the sniffling, sneezing, and coughing he was doing was starting to wear on his patience. He couldn’t wait for the game to be over. He was damn sure he wasn’t going out with the guys later. He’d just ask Scott to drop him off at the hotel.

Except for his constant sniffling, sneezing, and coughing, Jon spent the rest of the ill-fated game completely silent. He watched with a heavy heart as the guys on the team started to wear down under Boston’s heavy hitters. They began to make errors. Even as fired up as Scott had been earlier, he didn’t show any kind of enthusiasm out on the field. Jon felt really guilty about it, and kept taking his hat off and running his hands through his hair in frustration. He also knew that if they lost this game, he would have a hard time pitching the following night with a bunch of guys who were beat up and low on confidence.

Then there was the damn cold he was faced with, too. He absolutely despised being sick. During the last few innings, when he knew there wasn’t a chance in Hell they were going to win, he sat in the dugout, spacing out. He mindlessly rubbed the small, triangular patch of hair on his chin, trying to figure out exactly where he had picked up such a nasty virus. He was always the first one to sign autographs for the kids at the home games. Perhaps one of the little tykes had been sick, and he managed to catch his cold from handling a ball or something they’d touched. Yeah, that had to be it. And then with as worn down and frustrated as he’d been, his immune system must not have been able to fight it off. Great.

In the clubhouse, Jon stifled a few more sneezes, so he wouldn’t draw any more attention to himself.

TBC...

[Dawnie]

Wonderful story. I say let him play! This way the Sox with have a better advantage.

Good job sweetie.

[Sneesee]

Wonderful story. I say let him play! This way the Sox with have a better advantage.

Good job sweetie.

Thanks, honey! Oh he's going to play alright! But let's just say, your little Red Sox still aren't going to win that game!

[Dawnie]

Wonderful story. I say let him play! This way the Sox with have a better advantage.

Good job sweetie.

Thanks, honey! Oh he's going to play alright! But let's just say, your little Red Sox still aren't going to win that game!

Well of course not. Perhaps your boy will have a sneezing fit when he's up at bat.

[KawaiiKitty]

Blissful sigh...

Miserable guys with colds trying their best to soldier on regardless...

I just need to read this again now...just to make sure I didn't miss anything...

[whymilk]

Mmmm VERY cute...please continue, and soon!!

[tma]

Mmmmmm... yummy! And I love all the male commeraderie thing. So realistic and so cute. *grins*

I am *Fine* with either Sox winning- so long as if they played the Yankees, that the Yankees lose.

[mystic-chibi]

This is so wonderful!!! I hope there will be more added soon

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

Oh, how yummy! But WHY can't my pretty Red Sox win? I mean, it's not like I'm rooting for the Yankees! *spits to the side in the traditional Jewish "Don't even say it!" gesture*

Abyssinia,

Barrie

[Sneesee]

This is so wonderful!!! I hope there will be more added soon

I'm working on it. I actually have part 2 written in a spiral notebook, and am trying to type it into my computer. So, hopefully by next week, I'll have more to post! And thanks guys for all of the feedback! I've missed posting fetish fiction!

Oh, how yummy! But WHY can't my pretty Red Sox win? I mean, it's not like I'm rooting for the Yankees! *spits to the side in the traditional Jewish "Don't even say it!" gesture*

Abyssinia,

Barrie

I am truly sorry, but when I'm a HUGE White Sox fan, the Red Sox can't always win. They did actually win the first game in this series. I'm just saying that, despite his horrible cold, Jon's going to help the White Sox rally back to beat the Red Sox. In a perfect world, my White Sox would win every game, but in reality, they don't always deserve it.

[The Sneezster]

*spits to the side in the traditional Jewish "Don't even say it!" gesture*

Kaynehora!

[Sneesee]

Okay, here's Part 2:

After all the players were done showering and changing, Jon approached Scott to apologize.

“Listen, Scott, I’m really sorry I was such an asshole before. I didn’t mean it,” Jon said with as much sincerity as he could muster.

Scott smiled broadly and clapped Jon on the back. “It’s okay, man. I totally understand. You’re not feeling we…I mean, like yourself today.”

Jon cringed, knowing all too well his condition was way too obvious to hide any more.

“Let’s get you back to the hotel, so you can chill out and relax. We need a win tomorrow night, and we need you to deliver it for us. That means you have to get some rest before tomorrow,” Scott said, pushing Jon towards the car.

Jon hated the fact that Scott was right. He certainly didn’t want Ozzie replacing him in the line up because of a stupid head cold. He would rest, and get better. Yeah, sure.

The ride to the hotel was virtually silent, except for some of Jon’s muffled coughing and sniffling. He was glad no one said another word to him about his cold. He was anxious to get back to the hotel and sleep. Although with the stuffy, tingly sensation he had in his nose and throat, he wasn’t exactly sure how much he’d actually be able to sleep.

During the drive, Jon fought off the strong urge he felt to sneeze. He was very self-conscious about doing that in front of the guys again. He held the feeling off for a long time. Right as Scott was pulling into the hotel parking lot, Jon wrinkled his nose and realized that the battle was over. He clasped both hands over his nose and mouth and muffled the sneeze as best as he could.

“Ehpshuuu!”

“Bless you,” Scott muttered.

Jon sniffled and snorted in vain. The sneeze had done a good job of plugging up his nose so badly that he couldn’t even breathe. Thankfully, Scott had pulled up right in front of the hotel.

“All right, man, here we are,” Scott said, giving Jon a sympathetic look. “Go on up and chill for awhile. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Thanks, man,” Jon croaked and exited the car in a hurry.

Even though his nose twitched, indicating the need to sneeze again, Jon managed to hold it off and sprint through the lobby. Inside the elevator, Jon had company, another male passenger, so he held his breath and kept the sneeze at bay. It wasn’t until he was alone in the hallway that he finally let the built up sneeze out.

“HEH-ESSHHHUUUUUU! Crap,” he hissed, wiping at his drippy nose with the back of his hand.

He reached his hotel room, only to realize that he didn’t have his key-card out.

“Fantastic,” he groaned and let his forehead fall against the door. Then he fumbled around in his pockets for the card. He ignored the persistent itch that was niggling at the back of his nostrils, intent on finding his key card. Once he retrieved the card, and had it in his hand, he let his head tip backwards with a deep breath.

“EHSHHHUUUUUUU! Sniff! Ugh.”

“Awww, bless you.”

Jon turned his head in the direction of the feminine voice. A petite brunette that was walking by smiled and waved. Jon smiled and uttered a small “thanks.” He watched her enter her room, and wished he didn’t feel like such shit. Had he felt better, he would’ve attempted to engage her in some more conversation. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for him.

He let himself in to the hotel room and took off his shirt. While he stripped the covers off his bed, he sneezed again, which reminded him of the need to blow his nose. His tired muscles cried out for the bed, but instead he turned and walked to the bathroom.

He grabbed the whole box of tissues and shuffled back to his bed. After getting underneath the covers, he placed the box of tissues on top of his legs. With a sense of urgency, he snatched two tissues and held them a few inches in front of his face. He was just about to blow his nose, but all of a sudden he felt one whopper of a sneeze brewing in there. Good thing he had the tissues.

With the tissues still poised in front of his nose, he took several, short, deep breaths, and then one large one. Just as the sneeze would have come barreling out, he froze. The damn thing was stuck.

“Eh,” he moaned and then took another deep breath to go ahead and blow. That was when the sneeze returned with a vengeance and charged out at full throttle.

“EHSHUUUUUU! HEH-ESSHHHUUUUUU!”

He followed up the heavy double with a long, honking blow. After clearing out his sinuses, he laid his head on the pillow and fell asleep.

# # #

“Yeah, okay babe. I’ll take care of him, I promise. Love you, too. Bye.”

Jon’s eyelids fluttered open at the sound of Scott’s voice. Even though it was pitch black inside the room, Jon’s eyes adjusted quickly and he glanced towards the door. There he saw Scott’s figure juggling his cell phone and some sort of bag or something. Just as Scott shut his cell phone, he mad eye contact with Jon.

Blinking, Scott said softly, “Oh, hey man.”

Jon started to say something, but his throat was pretty sore, so he just nodded.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m all right,” Jon finally whispered, even though it made his throat burned.

“Yeah right. You look and sound like shit, buddy.”

Jon watched Scott walk over to the nightstand and set his bag down. He scooted himself up to a sitting position, which made him cough harshly.

“Easy now, man,” Scott warned gently.

Jon was about to protest, when he suddenly realized he needed a tissue, badly. Frantically, he felt around for the box he’d grabbed form the bathroom. He found it, snatched a couple of tissues out, and covered a huge, wet sneeze.

“HAH-ESSSHHHUUUUU!”

“God bless you, Jon. You aren’t sounding good at all, my friend. But that’s okay, because I have everything you need right here,” Scott said, turning on the light and opening the brown, paper bag.

While still blowing his nose, Jon saw Scott taking all kinds of stuff out of the bag. There seemed to be enough medicine to cure ten people’s colds. There was also two Styrofoam cups with lids, one large and one small. And thankfully, Scott had bought another box of tissues.

Jon threw his used tissue to the side and sighed. “Scott, you really didn’t have to-”

“Of course I did. Don’t’ worry about it,” Scott laughed, shrugging off any kind of responsibility.

Thinking back tot Scott’s phone call when he returned to the hotel room, Jon realized it was probably all Scott’s wife’s idea, anyway. He was pretty sure she’d been the one who told Scott what to get, and Jon appreciated the gesture a lot.

“Thanks.”

“No biggie. Here’s some chicken soup from the restaurant we went to. Our waiter gave it to us after he heard you were under the weather. Turns out he’s a huge White Sox fan, and that you’re his favorite pitcher.”

Jon laughed, which forced another long coughing fit. Even though his lungs and chest hurt like hell, he found the idea of a Bostonian being a White Sox fan really amusing.

“You all right, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Jon replied as soon as his coughing fit subsided.

“Why don’t you eat up some soup, have some tea, and then knock yourself out with some of this night-time cold medicine?”

Jon was in no position to argue.

“Yes, doctor,” he conceded with a half-smile.

“Good boy.”

Jon ate up the soup, although he barely tasted it. The warmth of it soothed his throat, relieving a lot of the scratchiness. Next, he sipped the hot tea, feeling the immediate effect it had on cleaning out his nasal passages. For the first time since earlier that day, he was able to breathe through his nose a little.

“Whew, thanks again, Scott. I feel a lot better already.”

“Good. I promised everyone I’d do my best to get you healthy for tomorrow night’s game.”

“That’s a pretty tall order,” Jon laughed, trying to make light of his cold.

“Well, as long as you keep following doctor’s orders, you’ll be just fine, I think.”

“You don’t mind sharing a room with me and all of my germs?”

“Well, I’m not exactly thrilled about it, but I’m not worried either. I’m pretty good at washing my hands and stuff,” Scot explained. “Plus, I don’t get sick a lot, so your little cold shouldn’t be much of a threat.”

Jon smiled. Maybe to Scott it was just a little cold, but it sure felt pretty huge to Jon.

Jon suddenly set down the cup of tea on the nightstand, after getting a warning prickle in his nose that could’ve led to an awful mess if he’d held on to the cup any longer. Scott must’ve recognized the pained expression that Jon must have had on his face, because he then handed him several tissues.

Jon felt his whole body jerk forward as he turned to his other side, away from Scott, and sneezed roughly into the tissues.

“Bless you,” Scott said.

Only Jon wasn’t quite done.

“Heh-shmfp! Ah-shmp! Uhhhh…ahhhh…”

The last sneeze didn’t quite make it out, and Jon’s eyes stung and watered with the tickly sensation still left in his nostrils. With every breath, he prayed that he would sneeze, just to rid himself of that feeling. Although, he wondered if Scott watching him had anything to do with his inability to sneeze. He was very aware of Scott’s eyes still on him.

“Heh…”

Damn, he was almost too weak to actually sneeze. Perhaps if he took that cold medicine, he’d stop feeling this way, and finally be able to sleep without an itchy, irritated nose.

“Uhhhhh…” Jon was really struggling with that sneeze. He controlled his breathing, tuning everything else out, just so he could concentrate on getting the damn thing out. With his tissues in hand, hovering inches from his face, he felt as though he might actually…

“ESSHHHUUUUUUU! HUH-ISSHHHHHUUUUUU!”

“Bless you, Jon,” Scott said.

Jon glanced over at Scott, and flushed fiercely with the knowledge that he’d witnessed the whole embarrassing episode. Without another word from either player, Jon opened the night-time cold medicine, took two with a swig of his tea, and blew his nose again.

“I think I’ll call it a night,” he said with a groan.

“Good idea, man,” Scott agreed and turned off the light.

Jon snuggled up inside the covers, sneezed once into his pillow, and then drifted off into a deep and restful sleep.

[KawaiiKitty]

...lost for words...

Is baseball always this fun?

...man alive...I just...man...no words...

[tma]

AWWWW!!!! I Love this. It is just TOO cute. And the bonding thing. *grins* I am totally loving this. You are making me even want to forgive baseball for interrupting House for the month of Oct. And that is Huge.

[The Sneezster]

I'm melting! Melting!

[Kitty]

I like this and baseball is not even my favorite sport.. I cannot help but wonder - these boy are sure being very nice to one another... but are they going to play ball?

LOL

Kitty

[Sneesee]

I like this and basbal is not even my favorite sport.. I cannot help but wonder - these boy are sure being very nice to one another... but are they going to play ball?

LOL

Kitty

He he he, hopefully in part three, we'll actually get to see some baseball! Mostly sneezing, but there will be a little bit of a game in between the sneezes!

[ID2006]

I hate baseball, but this is hot. Can't wait for a part 3

[Guest hottchic101]

Great story! I love it!

[Guest shiranui]

This was such a pleasure to read, yummy athlete coming down with a cold... thanks so much Sneesee, I really loved reading this... and maybe there will be more some day?

[quietsucker]

Hi Snesee--

Great story! I love to see the guys interact as you have depicted. So cute! My hubby is a hockey player and I love how they look out for each other. You have really kept this in character. I am soooo impressed. Can't wait for another chapter.

Thanks for sharing,

QS

[stargazer]

I really loved this story. Please continue soon!

[Guest sneezgrrl]

LOVE this story, LOVE the White Sox and Jon Garland! Thank you for this! Hope it continues!

[Geist]

Jon sniffled and snorted in vain...

Oooh, how that PLEASED the hell out of my inner sadist! Seriously rockin' story, babe! I'm not even into sports (unless you count Judo) but my interest is suddenly....peaked.....

~Aku

[Daphine]

Thank you so much sneezgrrl for bring this story back up to the top of the thread list

I really can't believe I missed this story the last time , this was truly wonderful

Thank you so much sneesee for writting this for all of us to enjoy