Baby cough up that much snot!!

"I woke up this morning sneezing and hacking away like I am 70 years old. I had a mean headache too, and my vision was a bit blurred. I was scared for a moment, I took some aspirin, and it's gone back some, but I'm still full of snot, a yucky smell….." He takes a pause trying to join the dots.

"Maybe we are coming down with it, what that guy Matt died of ". Hendrick spoke, thinking of all the consequences.

Jack looked at Hendrick for a long time as he was about to put forward all the reasons why it couldn't be the same thing. He sneezed again. "Achoo!" 

Jacob looked at both of them and spoke. "You know, it might not be such a bad idea to close the station, Jack. Just for one day, look after yourself."

Jack looked at him, scared, and tried to remember all his reasons, what all his reasons had been. 

'I woke up with a jarring headache too! And my vision was blurred as well. I catch a cold once in a while, but before that guy Matt had shown up, I had been just fine.' His mind was running through all this.

Hendrick's eyes darted nervously between Jack and Jacob. "This ain't good, Jack..…"

"I don't need reminding," Jack snapped, his voice trembling with both fear and frustration.

_____________________________________________________________

The kids of Harrison were 3 years old and 7 years old. They were taking naps, their soft snores filling the quiet of the house.

Lily Norman was in the living room, lounging on the plush couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table.

'I hope Emily doesn't return back once this show ends'. She wished.

The big color TV, a prized possession Alan Harrison had bought when times had been better, was flickering with the vibrant hues of her favorite afternoon stories. 

"I love to watch these shows in color; everything seemed so much prettier and more alive in colored images." She was engrossed in her tv show.

She munched on popcorn, savoring the salty crunch, when suddenly, something seized in her throat. She started hacking violently, popcorn flying from her mouth as she doubled over. 

"Oh gosh , my lungs…coughs… would give up now…" she stuttered out whilst coughing harshly.

A draculine coughing fit wracked her body, making her eyes water. She scrambled to her feet and ran into the kitchen, where she spat a mouthful of foul-tasting phlegm down the drain. 

She had been coughing all day, and it felt like someone was tickling the back of her throat with a feather. 

She tried to calm the irritation with the help of her tongue, moving it around inside her mouth to ease the tickle.

"This is the most annoying feeling ever, I can swear on this…" she says while rubbing her neck.

After a few moments, the coughing subsided, and she took a deep breath, feeling slightly better. 

She peeked out the pantry window to make sure Emily hadn't arrived yet, then returned to the living room. The TV was now showing a commercial for Capri Sun, and Lily let her eyes drift around the room. 

Emily's living room was a testament to her artistic flair, with numerous paintings adorning the walls. 

"I wish my own place would look this nice someday." She wondered herself in a nice cozy house.

They were all vibrant and meticulously framed, some depicting serene landscapes, others portraits of Lord Jesus.

Emily often told her these images took months to finish and were a true labour of art.

Just as Lily's story came back on, a piercing cry shattered the tranquillity. Baby Julian was screaming, a whooping, ugly yell punctuated by bursts of coughing. 

"Oh lord, What happened to him now….." Lily snapped out of her daydream and hurried into the bedroom. 

Mia, the 7-year-old, was fast asleep, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. But baby Julian was lying on his back in his crib, his face turning an alarming shade of purple.

His cries were strangled, each one more desperate than the last.

Panic surged through Lily, but she forced herself to stay calm. She wasn't afraid of the croup; both of her own children had suffered through bouts of it. 

She picked Julian up by the heels, his tiny body feeling frighteningly light, and swatted him firmly on the back. 

"That's alright…baby let it out." She sweetly coed the baby.

She had no idea if this was a doctor-recommended treatment, having never been one to follow medical advice to the letter, but it had always worked on her kids.

Julian emitted a froggy croak, then suddenly expelled a large wad of yellow phlegm onto the floor.

The relief was instantaneous; his cries turned from desperate to merely irritated. 

Lily cradled him in her arms, rocking him gently as he caught his breath. His little chest heaved, and he looked up at her with wide, watery eyes.

"It's okay, baby," she whispered soothingly, her own heart still pounding from the scare. "You're going to be just fine."

"You're feeling better, right? Baby Julian?" Lily spoke in a hushed, cold voice, trying to mask her lingering anxiety. 

Baby Julian, his eyes fluttering shut, managed to croak out a sleepy, "yeeeeh," before drifting back towards sleep.

Lily sighed in relief, but her chest still felt tight with unease. She hurried to the kitchen, grabbed a washcloth, and began cleaning up the mess on the floor. The sheer volume of phlegm had been shocking. 

"I don't think I've ever seen a baby cough up that much snot at once," she muttered to herself, shaking her head.

Returning to the living room, she plopped down in front of the television, but the allure of the colorful screen had diminished. 

She couldn't shake the image of Julian's purple face from her mind. She frowned, her thoughts racing. Suddenly, she sneezed, the force of it making her head pound. 

"Achoo! Achoo!" The sneezes came in quick succession, followed by a bout of harsh coughing.

"The heck is wrong with me today?" she rasped, her voice scratchy and weak.

She tried to refocus on the TV, but the screen blurred as another wave of sneezes overtook her. She grabbed a tissue, wiping her nose and trying to steady her breath.