My Sick Fic

[zaiphon]

Yay u updated! !!!

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXX

“Being generous enough to shower her with a bad cold.”

-------------------------

When Violet Holiday was 6 years old her neighbor, who was just a few years older than her mother and probably 30 years old at the time, had come down very sick in the winter. She lived alone in the house across from the Holiday’s. Violet remembered looking out the front window and seeing the woman, Sarah, coming home from work, walking gingerly across the snow and coughing miserably as she went. Her mother, Margaret, had gone gone over with Nyquil and chicken soup that evening and had gone over repeatedly that evening, balancing her time between their sick neighbor and her daughter.

Sarah didn’t go to work the next day and Mrs. Holliday had continued to nurse her sick friend. She was even at Sarah’s home when young Violet had gotten off the school bus that afternoon. Margaret had taken Sarah to the doctor that day and had explained to her young daughter what Sarah was sick with, although the words were too big for her understand. Nevertheless, Violet could tell that if a doctor had diagnosed you a laundry list of hard to pronounce things then you were probably pretty sick.

Mrs. Holiday continued to run across the street taking care of sick-in-bed friend and young daughter. Violet could tell that her mother was very tired that evening when she’d been tucked into bed. Her voice sounded strained and for the last 3 hours she’d been carrying a tissue around with her to dab and blow at her nose.

When Violet heard her mother’s voice calling her to get up the next morning she could hear that stuffiness had made her sound differently.

Violet’s mom caught a cold from taking care of her neighbor. She didn’t get as sick as Sarah but it was what the elder Holiday called her “worst” cold for a long time. Sarah had been kind enough to drop by as she recovered to help with Margaret with Violet. She still had a bad cough and her voice was hoarse but she was recovering now.

Violet herself had nursed several friends, but they’d all had little sniffly headcolds and she’d never caught more than a slight sniffle for her efforts. She was dreaming of the day when a truly sick girl would fall into her life and need some chicken soup and tissues. Of course, all her fantasies ended with her laid up in bed, earning herself a big cold for her caretaking efforts. Where was her sick friend tonight who would help her fulfill her dreams of helping someone so poor in health? And then being generous enough to shower her with a bad cold.

“You took such great care of me while I was so sick that I decided to give you a cold of your own,” Becky would say with a wink, her voice still husky from her recent bought with whatever.

The memory of Sarah walking over the snow, her body convulsing with a cough loud enough for Violet to hear across the street and in her house came to her now as she stood in the snow, waiting for Becky to pick up the phone.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXI

“Could she finally admit that she was sick?”

------------------------

Violet had almost resigned herself to hearing Becky’s voicemail after the second ring. She’d pulled the phone away from her head minutely and shifted on her feet hearing the snow crunch beneath. When the line opened she put the phone back on her ear listening intently. The voice on the other end was strange to her, completely congested and little hoarse even. It was Becky.

“Hello Violet,” came the deepened tone, although all her letters were rounded off due to not being able to breathe out of her nose which she sniffed at making a loud gurgle sound.

“Becky? Is that you?” came Violet’s tentative reply. Becky didn’t sound like herself at all. A flush of excitement came over Violet and he suddenly felt warm all over despite standing in the snow.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Becky confirmed, feeling embarrassment over Violet’s surprised reaction. She knew that she sounded quite unlike her normal self, her head completely blocked up with a tough cold and her throat infested with soreness. The big cough she’d come home from work with made an appearance and and pulled the phone away as she smothered it into a fist.

Violet was having a hard time thinking of what to say. “Becky is sick! I was right when I thought she was getting that way the other day!” she cheered inside. The cough came through the line and drew her back to reality. “Ohh, and a cough! She has a bad cough!”

“Are you ok?” was her timid response when Becky’s fit died down.

<snerk!snerk!> went Becky trying to sniffle on her full nose “Yeah, I’m fine,” she offered a bit breathless from coughing, her voice chirping over ‘fine.’ She cleared her throat painfully.

“You sound like you, umm…” Violet was uncertain of her words, not wanting to put Becky in an uncomfortable situation.

“My throat is a little sore which might be making me sound different on the phone,” Becky offered, heading off the assumption before the next coughing fit hit her. She pulled her phone away and coughed again into a fist.

“Yeah, I hardly recognized you on the phone,” Violet stated, barely able to contain a growing excitement.

“Do I sound that different?” Becky asked, her voice chirping again.

“You sound…” again the uncertainty washed over Violet, “different but lovely,” she rushed out, hoping the commentary was palatable.

Becky pulled the phone away, coughing again and sniffling at her nose.

“I have a little cough, too,” she admitted, voice squeaking on ‘little’ as she tried to catch her breath. She wasn’t able to do so and it led to another coughing fit.

“Yeah, are you feeling ok?” Violet finally ventured since Becky seemed to be opening the door.

Becky froze. Could she finally admit that she was sick? She wanted to, desperately. She wanted Violet to help nurse her back to health. But stubbornness took hold and she refused to express her true feelings.

“Oh, I feel great,” came the hoarse reply interspersed with a telling chirp on ‘feel.’

“You little cold-denier,” thought Violet. Becky was going to be a tough girl about her cold and Violet realized it was time to take matters to another level.

[cool_lissy]

There are not many options left for Becky to hide her cold now, with her sexy big cough, hoarse deep voice, and sneezes, shivering with fever ;-). However, I am sure that she is determined to try her hardest anyway to appear perfectly healthy on her night out with Violet. Her only remaining option to at least look well is wearing very short, sheer, and revealing clothing despite the cold weather, to show off her cold hardiness. Violet is probably aware of Becky's line of argument along with her dwindling options. Hence, to take matters to another level, she could contrive that she would really like to dress to impress and have fun tomorrow night, and hence propose both of them merely wear tiny sleeveless mini-dresses or cropped tops exposing their midriffs, and go bare-legged with open-toed high heel sandals. Maybe that is the kind of challenge that Violet is going to present Becky with? And will Becky rise to it? I think she will be desperate to deny being sick, so she will be pleased to be able to explain away her goosebumps and shivering with her sexy scanty apparel rather than her fever, her frequent sneezes, headache and bad dry cough with the frosty night air drying out her nose and throat and blowing at her uncovered chest and head, along with smoking too many of the cigarettes Violet offered her to stay warm. All these simple logical explanations reinforce Becky's stubborn mind in that she was right not to confess to Violet about being sick, and that it is impossible that a bronchitis could be the reason for her irritated lungs, or an infectious stuffy head cold could be the cause for her runny nose, very sore throat, and hoarse, sultry voice. And since she is in virtually perfect health, there will be no excuse for not pleasing Violet and embracing her dress code tomorrow. On the contrary, Becky will be pleased to show off her healthy, cold-hardy body in next to nothing despite the cold snowy winter night, her largely bare skin getting wet from melting snowflakes, steaming from her fever heat, and covered in goosebumps so much that a very hard pair of something pokes through the thin material of her top ;-). On her way to meet Violet, her blonde hair becomes dripping wet and clings to her shoulders. Her bare feet and sandals get buried in the deep snow with every step she takes. Being wet in the freezing cold wind for the rest of the night, she tries to suppress or at least control her shivering, coughing, and sneezing as long as she can, denying to be cold or sick at all, or even underdressed.

[James (ellamalaka)]

There are not many options left for Becky to hide her cold now, with her sexy big cough, hoarse deep voice, and sneezes, shivering with fever ;-). However, I am sure that she is determined to try her hardest anyway to appear perfectly healthy on her night out with Violet. Her only remaining option to at least look well is wearing very short, sheer, and revealing clothing despite the cold weather, to show off her cold hardiness. Violet is probably aware of Becky's line of argument along with her dwindling options. Hence, to take matters to another level, she could contrive that she would really like to dress to impress and have fun tomorrow night, and hence propose both of them merely wear tiny sleeveless mini-dresses or cropped tops exposing their midriffs, and go bare-legged with open-toed high heel sandals. Maybe that is the kind of challenge that Violet is going to present Becky with? And will Becky rise to it? I think she will be desperate to deny being sick, so she will be pleased to be able to explain away her goosebumps and shivering with her sexy scanty apparel rather than her fever, her frequent sneezes, headache and bad dry cough with the frosty night air drying out her nose and throat and blowing at her uncovered chest and head, along with smoking too many of the cigarettes Violet offered her to stay warm. All these simple logical explanations reinforce Becky's stubborn mind in that she was right not to confess to Violet about being sick, and that it is impossible that a bronchitis could be the reason for her irritated lungs, or an infectious stuffy head cold could be the cause for her runny nose, very sore throat, and hoarse, sultry voice. And since she is in virtually perfect health, there will be no excuse for not pleasing Violet and embracing her dress code tomorrow. On the contrary, Becky will be pleased to show off her healthy, cold-hardy body in next to nothing despite the cold snowy winter night, her largely bare skin getting wet from melting snowflakes, steaming from her fever heat, and covered in goosebumps so much that a very hard pair of something pokes through the thin material of her top ;-). On her way to meet Violet, her blonde hair becomes dripping wet and clings to her shoulders. Her bare feet and sandals get buried in the deep snow with every step she takes. Being wet in the freezing cold wind for the rest of the night, she tries to suppress or at least control her shivering, coughing, and sneezing as long as she can, denying to be cold or sick at all, or even underdressed.

Very vivid and intense. Thanks for posting. I think I can work these elements into a future installment!

[cool_lissy]

Very vivid and intense. Thanks for posting.

I am pleased that you liked it, thank you! Nowhere near your marvelous oeuvre, though :-)

I think I can work these elements into a future installment!

That would be great ;-)

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXII

“She actually wanted to go, to prove her good health”

------------------

Violet Holiday smiled at the end of the phone line. Here was lovely Becky Lawrence, hoarse-voiced and coughing, unable to even breathe out of her nose and denying that she was sick. There was only one way to deal with Ms. Cold-Denier Becky. And Violet realized that she’d called to ask her for help but was too suborn to ask for it. It was time for Violet’s skill in caretaking to present itself.

“Well, if you’re feeling ok and just have a sore throat and a cough why don’t we do something together tonight?” asked Violet, probing the depth of Becky’s denial.

“Like what?” was her hasty response, hoarse and round due to her stopped up nose. And now her nose was acting up as she sniffled at it, unable to get air through the clog. It was starting to tickle which meant a dreaded fit of triple sneezes was on the way. She’d been sneezing that way all day and it always led into a coughing fit.

“We’re down at Normandy, if you want to have a few drinks,” Violet offered.

“Oh, uh…” Becky stopped, rubbing her nose, trying to get the sneeze tickles to go away. She’d been unsuccessful with that maneuver all but but she was sure going to try her best.

“I…” Becky tried to continue but the sneezes were there. She pulled the phone back and Violet heard her

<AHHCHOO!AHHHCHOOO!AHH!AHHH!AHHHHCHHOOOOO!> triplet sneeze, the last getting briefly stuck before exploding harder than the rest. Her cough started up full force as she sniffled from the sneezes.

Violet was moved by the harshness of Becky’s sneezing fit followed by her hacking cough. She’d finally caught a big one. A coughing, sneezing, hoarse voiced kind of cold. And it was just wonderful.

When Becky returned to the phone she was clearing her throat and sniffling but her voice was obviously more hoarse than before at it squeaked at regular intervals.

“I’m not sure, maybe you can call me in an hour and I’ll decide,” was her response after she was able to get past the sneeze-cough fit.

“Oh, I’ll be calling you back all right,” thought Violet with the sort of secret smile that only a caretaker has.

“Sure, no problem,” she reassured her and then sensing an opening continued with, “or we could do something else, maybe watch a movie or something? There’s not much going on out here tonight.”

Becky closed her eyes, hoping Violet would offer something more intimate than the bar. When she got past the cold and sick denial she knew she sounded dreadful. And when she got past that truth she realized that she couldn’t have gone out even if she wanted. Her body was achy all over and just exhausted. She couldn’t move from the chair she was reclining in, let along get dressed and go to the bar. For the first time in her life Becky Lawrence was so sick that she could barely move. She actually wanted to go, to prove her good health, but it was not physically possible.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXIII

“Maybe tonight was a night to show some weakness”

-------------------

Becky finished her shift at work barely clutching to any semblance of reality. She had fallen into the descriptors that she loved to use about other people’s colds. “Coughing her head off,” was one of her favorites and she was doing that now, her hacking fits coming more and more frequently and leaving her clearing her throat and out of breath.

“Ugh, I’m coughing my head off,” she tried the phrase, hearing her hoarse voice amidst the quietness of her apartment.

Another one of her favorite phrases was “full of cold.” She’d known a few sexy ladies who had gotten sick and ended up “full of cold.” For Becky to consider a woman to be full of cold she had to have a completely blocked up nose and head, and she needed to be congested down in her throat and chest. In other words, her cold needed to have spread all around. A woman who was “full of cold” was not able to breathe out of her nose and her chest was also full of mucus. Becky had never known this condition to be absent from a cough, too.

“Burning up with fever,” was one that had proved most bizarre for her. She felt spacy and detached from everything and every muscle in her body ached. Sounds were distant and seemed to come through a tunnel before she heard them. She was constantly shivering. Becky’s temperature was well over 101 now.

“Losing her voice” was harder to admit. This was the symptom that made her illness too undeniable and real. She had in fact been losing her voice today with her cold.

Becky cleared her throat and decided to speak as clearly as possible. She put energy and emphasis into speaking. Even with her best effort her voice came out deep, hoarse, and squeaky about every 3^rd word.

“Am I still losing my voice?” she asked the silence of her apartment. Clearing her throat again she put a fist up for the coughing fit that talking with emphasis provoked. The fit was powerful and long and Becky felt a steak of pain shoot through her chest and throat almost on top of the terrible soreness she already felt there.

Her cough really got going after that, it was deeper and she was beginning to bark a little with it. She could hear the tone of her cough changing from hacky to barking especially as her fits got longer. Her throat felt more and more full and it ached terribly. Her cough was really getting going now and she felt at the mercy of it. “Coughing my head off,” came into her mind repeatedly.

The sound of her sneezes started to get a little barky sounding, too, as they shot past the awfulness in her throat. Becky was in uncharted waters of personal illness. She denied being sick but all her defenses had fallen. She truly felt miserably and needed someone to take care of her. Maybe tonight was a night to show some weakness to Violet?

[The Sneezster]

Maybe tonight was a night to show some weakness to Violet?

Maybe!

::bouncing up and down gleefully::

Violet's next!

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXIV

“She was going to take care of her friend and make sure that she took a cold to school with her on Monday.”

----------

Violet walked back inside, the blood from her face drained and her breath quickened. What an amazing turn of events! From the tiny evidence of Becky sniffling the other day to her coughs and sneezes this evening. The poor girl was sick tonight and Violet had the honor of calling her back in an hour. Surely this was her chance to take care of someone who truly needed her assistance.

With an air of destiny in her stride Violet went back inside the bar and joined her friends. Karen looked over with an expression of curiosity but didn’t say a word.

“That was Becky Lawrence,” Violent commented to her.

“Is she coming out this evening?” Karen replied back.

“I don’t think so. She… She’s sick tonight. She has a cold and everything, I think,” Violet told her.

“My gosh, everyone is getting sick!” exclaimed Karen. “Melissa apparently has something, too, which is why she isn’t here tonight. And did see Professor Fielder last week? Wow!” Karen finished with her eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, Professor Fielder caught it, bad,” Violet lamented.

“So Becky has a cold too, huh?” Karen asked.

“She sounded like it on the phone. She’s got a cough and her voice is kinda deep and hoarse,” Violet explained.

“Ugh, I hate sore throats that make my voice hoarse. Those are the worst!” Karen sympathized.

“I guess I’ve never really had such a thing,” commented Violet.

“Well, then you’re lucky. I can tell I’m getting sick because my throat gets really sore and my voice gets hoarse. About a day or two after that I’m sneezing,” Karen outlined.

“Do you always catch sneezy colds?” Violet asked.

Karen considered a moment, the concentration showing on her face as she tilted her mouth. “Since I’ve been in high school and college I don’t really sneeze, that I can remember, except when I’ve been sick. And I don’t remember catching a cold that didn’t make me sneeze a lot. I don’t sneeze unless I’m sick.”

Violet filed this piece of minutiae about Karen’s colds and sneeze habits into her personal sick folder in her brain. It might come in handy someday to know that if Karen is sneezing then she’s probably sick.

“Well, poor Becky is sneezing, too,” Violet added.

“Awww, she IS sick then,” Karen said with confirmation.

“Yeah, she wasn’t sounding so hot. I’m going to call her back here in a bit.”

The conversation settled into various topics but Violet kept checking the time on her phone, waiting for an hour to elapse so she could call Becky back. She was distracted by thoughts of caretaking and perhaps even the possibility of catching what her friend had. How proud she’d be if her friends from tonight saw her on Monday and she was sneezing and coughing with Becky Lawrence’s cold.

And so her plan was hatched: She was going to take care of her friend and make sure that she took a cold to school with her on Monday. When she called Becky back she was going to make sure she got to see her tonight no matter what.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXV

“I’m losing my voice”

-------

Becky’s chest heaved as another wave of coughs overcame her. She smothered them loosely into her fist, barely covering her mouth. Her cough was getting worse by the minute as it had been all day, longer fits and sounding and feeling deeper in her chest. She’d had a hacking cough since she’d woken, broken up by liquid sneeze fits and honking noseblows but nothing had slowed her cough. It was moving away from the tickly hacking sound and taking on an ominous bark. Her voice, which was ripe with congestion and a cold, had gotten hoarse before she’d been able to cough and sneeze her fevered body home from work. It was declining in volume and squeaking at inopportune moments.

Almost an hour before she’d spoke on the phone with Violet, the high fever she was running making everything seem hazy and distant. Her voice was hoarse on the phone and she’d shown Violet how bad her cough was getting. Becky hoped Violet would call her soon because she was at a very low point and needed a friend. Becky Lawrence had finally caught something awful. She’d sidestepped the colds and coughs and sniffles that her friends and others had suffered from over the years and denied ever getting sick but she’d been knocked flat by something horrible that a girl who worked in a doctor’s office had sneezed in her face a few days before.

That fateful sneeze… The young woman who had sneezed in her face was feeling poorly and had gone out with her cold in the hopes of donating it to others. She’d been running a fever that evening with flushed cheeks and a shivery body. She’d intentionally left her nose and mouth uncovered as the tickle started, her nose blasting a germ-filled sneeze directly into Becky’s face. And the rest was just academic.

Becky caught her cold, through strict denials that she was doing so. Across town that young woman was sick in bed, her cold morphed into a cocktail illness that left her unable to talk in anything above a whisper and a barking cough that didn’t leave her a moments peace.

And here was Becky, having come home from work hoarse and hacking, now losing her voice and developing the same sort of barking cough. It had been hard not to keep talking despite an unbelievably sore throat because she sounded so strange. Still, every time she’d spoken to the stillness of her living room this evening her voice was worse and worse.

“I think I have laryngitis,” her deep voice chirped and broke as she spoke aloud again, her throat inflamed and sore, provoking another fit of incipient barking coughs.

“I’m losing my voice,” she said again, a bit of sadness in her deepened scratchy tones. Poor Becky didn’t want to lose her voice or have a cough as bad as she did. The cough sounded again as talking provoked it. She wanted to be in perfect health with her normal sweet voice. But here she was, coughing feverishly and waiting for Violet to call.

Edited May 16, 2013 by James (ellamalaka)

[sneffnie]

oh my goodness i loveee this story very much but what happened to trish and anna at the beginning?! x

[cool_lissy]

“Yeah, she wasn’t sounding so hot..”

I beg to differ ;-) Becky is sooo hot with her cold - and not only due to her fever ;-) Certainly too hot a girl to stay at home on a Friday night...

[James (ellamalaka)]

oh my goodness i loveee this story very much but what happened to trish and anna at the beginning?! x

The current installment is an offshoot of the 1st story. In part X of the 1st story Trish sneezes on a girl who works in a lingerie store. That girl turned out to be Becky for whom the present 40+ parts are written about

[James (ellamalaka)]

“Yeah, she wasn’t sounding so hot..”

I beg to differ ;-) Becky is sooo hot with her cold - and not only due to her fever ;-) Certainly too hot a girl to stay at home on a Friday night...

Just building the drama

[cool_lissy]

“Yeah, she wasn’t sounding so hot..”

I beg to differ ;-) Becky is sooo hot with her cold - and not only due to her fever ;-) Certainly too hot a girl to stay at home on a Friday night...

Just building the drama

[ichixshiro14]

Love it, can't wait to read more about Becky sharing her cold!

[SneezyReader]

Loved the update! I can't wait to read more.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Updates over the next few days, stay tuned

Part X.XXXXVI

“Should we meet at the drugstore near your place?”

----------------------------

<KOFF!KOFF!BARK!><KOFF!KOFF!BARK!> Becky’s shoulders heaved with the cough. It was getting hard to control the fits. She blew her nose after the next fit realizing that she needed another box of tissues and something for her cough which was bordering on miserable.

Another fit overcame her fevered body just as her phone lit up and began her uplifting ringtone. It read ‘Violet Holiday’ across the front.

Violet exited the bar precisely one hour after her first call with Becky. She tromped back out into the snow, shivering as the temperature had dropped. She was nervous and excited. She finally had a friend who had a cold – an no mere sniffle affair, a full-blown sneeze cough fever sort of thing. Becky’s voice was hoarse, too. She pulled her phone out, hands shaking from cold and anticipation. She pressed the picture of Becky in her phone and waited for the call to connect.

Becky saw the phone but was in the midst of a coughing fit. It rang while she cough-barked, struggling to get the fit under control. She didn’t blow her nose because she was running out of tissues but it needed it. She swallowed and tried to cleared her throat but it hurt and didn’t seem to do anything. Punching the button to receive the call she lifted the phone and have her best sounding “Hey Violet,” putting as much energy and voice into the greeting as she could.

Outside, Violet heard the call connect before she heard Becky’s greeting. “Hey Violet,” came the voice at the end of the line, although it was now broken and hoarse more than before.

Becky started at the sound of her own voice. Sure, she knew she was losing it but revealing this to Violet was more than a little embarrassing. The effort of putting so much emphasis in her voice sent her on another coughing fit. It sounded terrible to Violet but Becky was glad it was a little less out of control compared to the fits she’d been having.

“That’s quite a cough you’re sporting, lady,” was Violet’s careful and considerate response as Becky cleared her throat again to speak.

“I need to go grab a few things, do you want to meet?” asked hoarse Becky, diving into the request.

Violet was surprised at the suddenness. “Sure, what did you need?” she asked back, thinking she may be able to just pick up the items for the sick girl.

Becky needed tissues and something for her cough. She remembered the viol of red cough syrup that Justine had been nursing at work earlier in the week. It sure didn’t seem to work on Justine’s cough but Becky was desperate to try and slow down what was becoming an almost constant exercise. Her already exhausted and feverish body was simply worn out from the coughing and she needed a good night’s rest.

Becky didn’t want to tell Violet that she needed tissues and medicine. “Um, just a few things,” was her evasive response.

Violet knew that Becky probably didn’t want to admit that she needed things for her cold so she honorable backed away from asking again.

“Sure, should we meet at the drugstore near your place?”

[Hedgehog]

I read all parts of this story a while ago (the newest today, of course). And I also was a bit confused when Trish *disappeared*. It's just as a reader - you follow *her* story and suddenly... but that's the way stories go sometimes, right?

Also - I was smirking about your sig. I used to have the same *dream* about boys/men. (But this was before I had a husband who snores really loud when he's got a cold ).

[James (ellamalaka)]

I read all parts of this story a while ago (the newest today, of course). And I also was a bit confused when Trish *disappeared*. It's just as a reader - you follow *her* story and suddenly... but that's the way stories go sometimes, right?

Also - I was smirking about your sig. I used to have the same *dream* about boys/men. (But this was before I had a husband who snores really loud when he's got a cold ).

You're the second person recently to mention the first serial. I had a few more parts but I wasn't very happy with it. I promise to revisit the Trish storyline at intervals. Those first parts seem rather rough. I wrote most of them in a single evening/night back in December 2011.

Did you notice that Trish gave Becky her cold? Or at least, it was implied that she could have been one of ones who got Becky sick. She sneezed in her face in Part X of the Trish story and Part VIII of the Becky one.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXVII

“Don’t catch whatever she has!”

-------------------------

Becky got ready with everything seeming to exist far away from her. Her coughs came in waves, leaving her barking at the end and her chest giving off a wheezy sound. Grabbing the few remaining tissues she stuffed them in her pocket and made her way out the door. She’d worn just a pullover and sweatpants and the “V” of her shirt left the top part of her chest and neck exposed. The immediate blast of cold air sent her into coughs and barks, audible from far away.

Becky’s neighbor, a professional woman in her fifties felt heavy in her heart as she saw Becky doubling over outside with the cough. “Bless her heart,” she said aloud. She knew that her young neighbor was very ill since the sound of her coughs had reached inside her home and now she was going out in this weather with that cough? “Poor girl, you’re going to catch your death of cold out there,” she said again as Becky made her way down the street, still coughing.

Violet had skipped back into the bar and given her regards to the group. “Becky has a bad cold so I’m going to see if I can help,” she said and was rewarded with a chorus of “awwwws.”

“Don’t catch whatever she has!” warned Karen as she left. Violet looked back with a smile and wink.

The wind was beginning to pick up and Violet moved quickly, not only to get to the drugstore as soon as possible but also because she was freezing.

Becky knew she was closer to the drugstore and wanted to purchase her items before Violet arrived. She really didn’t want her friend to know that she needed tissues out of fear she’d conclude that Becky was sick. And cough syrup, gah! There’s no way she could live down the mortification of actually having a cough that needed to be treated with medicine. Although Becky was trying to hurry and it was frigid outside her cough fits slowed her down significantly. She was almost constantly coughing now in the winter wind.

Violet crossed the last block, shoes clacking on the pavement when she heard the coughing up ahead. There was no mistaking what it was from the first faint sound. It was a cough, no doubt, and a bad one at that. It was a deep hack, very congested sounding, and barky at the end of fits. She’d heard Becky’s cough on the phone but the sound outside of the air was much bigger.

Panting outside the drugstore, Becky endured what she hoped would be the last coughing fit before she could go in the store. Terrible pain in her throat had spread deep into her chest during the walk and she coughed over and over. Her head ached and her entire body was weak from running a fever the last two days.

Unfortunately, Becky’s cold had decided it was time for her to sneeze and it didn’t really care that she only had a ball of sodden tissues left to contain the fit.

[zaiphon]

Cant wait for the next part! Maybe becky will sneeze on violet haha

[Hedgehog]

Did you notice that Trish gave Becky her cold? Or at least, it was implied that she could have been one of ones who got Becky sick. She sneezed in her face in Part X of the Trish story and Part VIII of the Becky one.

Of course I noticed that. But somehow... Trish used to be the main protagonist of your story. I don't know if your are a reader yourself... Imagine you would read a book - Harry Potter or whatever. You are all hooked and want to know what happens next. And suddenly the story is not about Harry Potter anymore but about a random person he sneezed on in chapter 16.

But maybe it's just me - other people don't seem to mind at all. So don't be disturbed by little old me. And finally your writing style is so catching - I'll go on reading your story anyway.

[James (ellamalaka)]

Part X.XXXXVIII

“Bless you Becky Lawrence”

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From just a few stores down Violet could see Becky in the light. She had a fist up to her mouth as she continued to cough. Her chest and throat were completely uncovered and out in the wind. Violet did the cold math in her head. “Bad cold plus bad cough plus going out like that means sick in bed tomorrow,” and approached her friend. Becky blew her nose and a ragged ball of tissues. Her nose snarfled and snorted but remained 100% clogged forcing her to continue breathing out of her mouth. The cough was one of the worst she seen on an actual woman in a long time. Becky was clearly sick with something awful. And now out in this weather!

Her alarm increased when Becky straightened from her cough, held the tiny rag of tissues to her nose and proceeded to sneeze 3 dreadful sneezes. Violet loved a girl with a cold sneeze. She loved the little sniffly sneezes that girls get when they’re catching cold and the big, congested ones they ended up with when they had a cold. There were a few points in her history when she’d encountered women who were very sick with bad colds and had sneezes that sounded as bad as they felt. These were the big, loud, and sent lots of snot everywhere. Girls who are just catching cold will spray their sneezes in mist form. When girls with bad colds sneeze they send tons of solid snot flying.

Becky’s sneeze was further compounded by the spread of her cold into her chest. Her voice was hoarse and deep which made her sneezes sound hoarse and deep. Her chest was nearing the complete congested state of her head so when she sneezed it came from her chest.

Violet knew this was a moment she’d remember forever. Sick and nearly barking Becky had just shown off a triple fit of chesty sneezes. It was gorgeous and now the girl was shivering in the light of the drugstore, trying to clean the mucus off her face and hands. She looked rather pathetic which was perfect timing for Violet to arrive with an outstretched hanky.

She’d pulled it from her purse as she walked up, Becky sniffling and dabbing her nose with the useless wad of old tissue. She was a mess. Violet reached out her hand, the simple cotton hanky with a delicate lace fringe with a “V” embroidered on one corner held within. She’d brought the hanky back from Bruges just the summer before.

Becky was hopeless, the sneeze having made a mess of her face, upper chest, and hands. She’d resigned that using her sleeves would have to suffice when she saw the outstretched hand with the white hanky clasped in it. She looked at it and her eyes widened before following the arm to the face. Her friend Violet Holiday was standing before her offering her handkerchief. Violet smiled easily when their eyes finally met and in a low voice said, “bless you Becky Lawrence.”