The Ride Home
"Looks like you have a bad cold," the secretary noted as they exchanged paperwork.
'Bad would be putting it mildly,' she quipped, but kept the comment to herself as she flashed the other woman a smile, took back her medical insurance card, and left her doctor's office. She hated the place with a passion, but she'd practically been ordered to go, so she'd gone. And now she was leaving with the predicted 'get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids.' He'd given her a few aspirin and a prescription for one of those nose sprays that always made her nose itch and tickle. Though she did have to admit that a day or two off from work wouldn't be too bad an idea.
Now she set out on the task of getting back home. It was nearly noon, which meant lunch traffic in the city; it would be nearly impossible to catch a cab now, especially having just caught a cold. She knew make-up only went so far, and with the amount of rubbing and blowing of her nose, she was sure most of it was gone by now anyway. She had managed to put her brown curls up before leaving, but aside from that, she knew she must look relatively dreadful. Her nose was tender to the touch, and red at the bottom, as chapped as the spot beneath her nose and even parts of her cheeks from so many runs and blows since the cold hit her yesterday. As for her complexion, pale was the perfect word for it, her face drained of color, her beautiful brown eyes a little fogged over. And now she stood sniffling and shivering in the winter cold; no taxicab would ever bother to stop for her in this condition.
She pulled on tight leather gloves to keep her hands a little warmer, and when she sniffed and wiped her nose on her wrist, the smoothness of the glove helped a little. She had grown up on tissues, and used them constantly now. Her sneeze had set her back a box in just the first day, and she had learned quickly that if she could possibly get away with sniffling to delay an embarrassingly wet blow or sneeze, that's what she'd have to do. Still, the prospect of walking the fifteen blocks home in the cold with the sniffles and sneezes was not a pleasant one, with or without gloves.
In the end, she chose the subway. In part, because it was darker than the bus and surface routes. In part, because it was faster and thus less time she'd have to endure the stares of suspicious eyes. So she headed down, rubbing her wrist and part of her sleeve beneath her runny nose as she turned; she thought she was being inconspicuous…
She inserted her card into the turnstiles at her turn and made her way to the proper platform to wait for the green train. The time blared down at her from a clock at the top of one of the station posts. But her glasses were in her purse and she'd felt too sick and lazy to bother with contacts that morning, so she could just barely make out the times of the trains by squinting. So intense was her concentration, that she neglected to notice that the cold winds of the underground subway tunnel was making her otherwise runny nose run even more. It wasn't until she finally read the welcoming ETA 00:35 that she took notice. By that time, her usual wet sniff would do more harm than good, and her nose was running too terribly and visibly to simply rub it away. So into her purse she quickly went, fingers digging into the pack of tissues she'd made sure to include. Two came back out, embracing her nose as she rubbed the bulk of the mess away single-handedly. Shifting her balance to her other foot, she brought her other hand up, as well, folding the two tissues exactly in half, covering her nose, taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes before letting go with a mighty blow. The sound startled her a bit, simply for its pure wetness, gurgling into the hefty tissues. She was careful when she repeated the step, to wipe the tip of her nose as she took the tissues away so that nothing too visibly messy was left in its place. She refolded the tissues, not sure they could sustain another blow with the amount she'd bestowed upon them with just one blow, but she'd only brought a few tissues and she wasn't too keen on wasting a bit of any. So she carefully brought the tissues back up, feeling colder against her nose from the fullness soaking into them. She tired to make it quick, and judging by the feeling in her nose she did so by only emptying the right nostril. Fingers on her left hand carefully pressed against her left nostril, and she closed her eyes, and took another deep breath. Out came an even wetter blow, desiring much more than the quickness she'd been hoping for. It nearly poured out of her, filling the tissues so completely that her fingers suffered a little, too. With a bit of self-disgust, she folded the tissue in as much as she could and dropped it into the trash bin beside her. She sniffed powerfully, wetly, and ran her wrist under her nose to catch the last of the mess. Her nose still felt as full as before, but she knew she would have to pace herself with such a limited supply of tissues.
The lights on the floor by the track blinked, and she stepped up to the safety line, sniffing another few times, as the subway train whizzed by, pulling to a halt. The dings sounded, and she boarded with the rest of the passengers, stashing a sideways seat close to the doors. Her car didn't seem as full as usual, which she was happy about, thinking forward to the home just five stops away. The dings sounded once again, and the doors closed. She looked about her, glad no one was to her right or left, though there was one gentleman sitting forward to face her sideways seat. There were two women directly across from her, as well, but they seemed rather caught up in their own business.
The train began to move, heading quickly from slow to whizzing, and she gained a bit more comfort in the fact that her home wasn't far away at all. In fact, the rocking of the speeding train and warm temperatures in the cabin were rather conducive to sleep. She slipped out of her coat, scarf, and pulled her tight black gloves off for the ride. She sat back and got comfortable. All together, it probably would have made her doze a bit, too, if it hadn't been for the sneezes.
"ahhhIHHshh! aahhhEHChshhh!" with her hand up to catch both, just in time. She pulled another tissue from the pack with intentions of blowing, but she still felt sneezey and in a moment, more came at her. "ahhCHIshmmmph! ahhEHHshummm! aaahhhTISHmmphh!" she sneezed, muffled beautifully into the tissue. Her face was still long, frozen in a pre-sneeze expression, tissue already up against her nose. "aaahhh…" her breaths were shallow, fast, panicked. "ahhh… aahhhh…aahhhIHshummm! Shumphh! Ugh!" she groaned, rubbing at her sore nose, then giving it a blow into the used tissue, sounding something between a wet unloading and a dry honking. She was perfectly miserable.
The train came to a halt to let people off and on, and she sat back, hoping no one would sit near her, and hoping the people around her would leave. But her car remained virtually the same. The same man facing her, the same two women across from her, still busy talking to each other. She sighed, and the train started back up again.
As if synchronized, her nose started back up, too. It ran again, enough for her to tuck the used tissues into her pocket and pull out new ones to fend blow after blow of her sore read nose. At least the sneezing had died down for a while, though now her nose itched rather terribly. She rubbed at it a little, trying again to be discrete. But it did little to help, and after pulling out the second to last of her tissue supply, she set to work on it. She blew until the blows went from wet to dry, with one hand on each side of her nose. Then her fingers invaded her nostrils through the tissue, scratching a bit, finishing up the work. It helped immensely, and she sighed and sat back as the subway made another stop. This one was an aboveground station, and with the opening of the doors came a cold burst of wind that made her nose run slightly more. She pushed her arms back through the sleeves of her coat, shivering, and pulled the gloves back on, rubbing her hands together for warmth until the dings sounded and the doors closed.
She made it to the next stop on sniffles alone, trying her best to get by without having to use her one last tissue. There were still several stops to go, and she knew she would need it eventually. In fact, her nose was already beginning to tickle. All at once, the sneezey feeling rushed over her, filling her whole body, going straight to her face and breaths. She did her best to hold it back, but the feeling was so sudden and so strong, that it was all she could do to raise her gloved hand in time. "aaeehhCHIIshhh! ahhhITCHhhhh!" With one hand cupping her nose and mouth as best she could, her other pulled the last tissue out of the package. She made a quick switch, blowing her nose with two hands, alternating nostrils, and rubbing the insides of her nostrils once or twice through the tissue. Then she folded it, and repeated the pattern until the tissue was very much used and she was forced to shove it into her pocket with the rest.
But all the blowing had irritated her already sensitive snout, and it tickled madly. For a while, she tried ignoring it, hoping it would die down. Then she tried mentally guiding it down. But once again, the cold took charge and the urge to sneeze passed over her. The feeling was so irresistible that her sniffs did nothing to appease its power. Two stops left—she wasn't going to make it. This cold was simply too wild. "Ahhhhh… ahhhhh…" she quivered, planting two fingers under her nose. But that move, her usual last resort, did nothing at all to help. "Ahhh… eehhTCHAHH!" she sneezed wetly into her gloved hands once more, placed against her nose in praying style. "ahhhIHTCHH! ahhTISHhhmm! ahhhTCHuhhh!" Now she had a real problem. No more tissues, and a desperate situation. She make the mistake of sniffing to control it and instead it set off more tickles. "eehhTISHH! ahhhTSHummm! ahhTUSHuuhhh! aaahh… ahhhhEHHshummph!" She sat there, wondering what to do. Her gloves and sleeve were an option, but being so callous right there in public? Her sneezing was embarrassing enough! She still had the used tissues, but in their soggy states in her pocket, she wasn't sure she wanted to go that route either. So she sat there, hands still up, frozen in place, and thinking.
"Bless you," came a kind voice and a generous hand with a proper white square of cloth in it.
Hesitantly, she lowered one hand, fingers wiggling out of the glove, and accepted it from the man. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so she simple wiped it against her nose, realizing as soon as she did how badly she'd needed it. Her nose pleaded with her to blow, but she wouldn't dream of doing so into a stranger's hanky. The great level of congestion made her cough a few times, and she nodded her thanks to him as she handed the handkerchief back. She rubbed her bare fingers against her nostrils, trying to calm her nose, and feeling immediately the wetness that was already beginning to run out.
The man held his hand up, refusing to take it back. "You look as though you might sneeze again. Perhaps you should keep it?"
She shook her head. "Do, id's jusd dis code id by dose is bakig id rud. Bud I'b albosd do by sdob." She hoped he could follow her, even with her overwhelming congestion.
The kind man smiled, shaking his hand. "You poor thing. Go ahead and give your nose a blow or two. You can hardly talk."
It was true, it had taken all her strength to manage those words, spitting them out while trying not to force air in or out to keep her nose from running over. He was certainly very understanding. But she wasn't quite sure she wanted to soil this nice man's hanky to the point that her nose desired. She coughed again, feeling her head begin to swim with congestion, and feeling her nose start to run freely, visibly toward her upper lip. So in a last resort, she unfolded the white cotton handkerchief and lifted it to her nose. The soft, pristine, gentle fabric embraced her sore red nose, absorbing some pain and wetness. She felt the need to sneeze again, but headed it off with a blow. "ahhChsssxxghhhhshhh!" she blew, using a handkerchief really for the first time in her life. It was gentle against her nose, and when she went to rub her nostrils, she found it soft and soothing. She blew again, and again, until she honked. Then she folded it up, and blew again for another series.
The train began to slow, and she looked up from the folds of the handkerchief to see that it was indeed her stop. She gave her nose one last rubbing and handed it back to him. "Thag you so budch."
He smiled, accepting it like a gentleman and nodded to her. "Feel better."
She smiled back, stood, and exited the subway car at the ding. It was another block to her apartment, but she'd already made up her mind to stop by the drug store on the way home. She had to pick up her prescription, after all. She also figured she'd invest in a package of handkerchiefs, if only to soothe her nose a bit more during her cold. And of course, another badly needed box of tissues couldn't hurt. After all, she'd survived the ride home. What was left was to survive this cold.