The Painful Beauty Of Spring

Part 2

When I awoke, I felt my boyfriend's arm around me as he slept peacefully with a smile on his face. He looked even more handsome as he slept, if that was even possible. I could now hear his heart beating slowly and calmly in his chest, and though I felt comfortable, I also felt in my nose the much-too-familiar urge to sneeze.
I really didn't want to sneeze, as my boyfriend was asleep and I was comfortable in this position, but I knew by now that there was no way to stop it. I inhaled sharply and brought a tissue to my nose. If I couldn't stop it, I would try to stifle. I pinched my nose and turned.
"Hg'xt!" The sneeze was violent, but I managed to make it just barely audible, though it sent me pitching forward slightly. "Hn'xt! Hih, h'gt!" I stifled two more. I'd completely forgotten that stifling makes me sneeze more. I held my breath as my boyfriend stirred slightly in his sleep, pulling me a bit closer to him. The tickle backed off, and I sighed quietly in relief, settling back down and looking around the room.
I looked out the window from this distance, noticing the grass growing a pure green as the birds continued singing outside. Bees pollinated the beautiful flowers, causing my allergies to act up. I watched closely as a squirrel climbed up a tree and settled at the top branch. I wished I could walk outside and enjoy nature's beauty of spring, but to me it was the painful beauty of spring since it made me constantly miserable. Staying inside was my best bet, or else I'd be sneezing even more.
"Ht'shiew!" I was taken aback by a sudden medium-volume sneeze as I was lost in thought. My whole body pitched forward, and I almost fell off the couch and quickly clasped a tissue around my nose, looking up at my boyfriend, whom I had awoken.
"Bless you," he said drowsily and rubbed my back.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," I said in a congested tone as I blushed with the tissue still up to my nose. "I tried to keep it quiet, but that one surprised me."
"It's fine. I can't sleep forever anyway," he replied and stretched with a yawn as I sat up.
"Josh?" I said quietly.
"Yes?" My boyfriend responded.
"I want to go outside and check out nature," I said, sounding Iike a child and wiping my nose, "but my allergies are acting up even in here, and I can't imagine how bad they would be outside and after we come back inside."
"Well, if you're really up to it, we can change and throw our pollen-covered clothes in the wash when we get inside," he said patiently.
"I am," I replied confidently. "I ran out of allergy medicine the other day, but I really want to do this. I don't see nature often in spring, and I want to this time, no matter what it does to me allergy-wise." I walked across the room and went to grab another few tissues, but Josh stopped me.
"Wait. I just remembered I have a spare handkerchief in my room. Let me go grab it," he stated and ran off to his room, leaving me standing there rubbing my itchy nose every once in while. He came back moments later with a clean white hanky and handed it to me. I thanked him, and we both approached the door. "You sure you want to do this?" He asked.
"I'm sure," I replied and held my breath as he opened the door. I walked out and prepared myself for an allergy attack. My nose burned immediately, and I held the handkerchief to my nose. "Hih, is'shiew! Ht'schh! Hih, ih, hih'shh!" I began to sneeze with the handkerchief cupped around my nose, and Josh watched me sympathetically. My eyes began to itch as my breath continued to hitch. "Hih, ih, iht'schh!" I continued, and Josh gently rubbed my back to comfort me through my fit. I bit my lip and looked around at the beautiful trees and flowers, fighting another sneeze. The sky was a beautiful blue, and the sun shined brightly. The sun... "Hihs'chh!" I sneezed again.
The sun was another part of the problem. I didn't really sneeze from the sunlight itself, but if I really needed to sneeze, it would certainly make the tickle stronger and the sneeze more violent. Well, I guess that would actually make it helpful, because it drives the pollen from my nose quicker, but it truly made it rougher for me than if I were outside at night. Why didn't I think of it? "Ykt'shiew!" I sneezed strongly into the hanky. I sniffed liquidly through my runny nose, sneezed again, folded the hanky over, and blew my nose wetly.
"You're making it hard on yourself," Josh pointed out. "Are you sure you don't want to go in?"
"Yes, I...kt'chh!" I continued sneezing into the hanky. "—Scuse me...hih, hiht'schh! I'm positive I—hyit'shh!—Ugh. What was I saying?" I blew my nose and looked around. I'd just noticed the wind was blowing, and a bird flew overhead, depositing a feather, which just so happened to float through the air and land on the tip of my nose, hanging down and tickling my red-tinted already irritated nostrils. Why does nature hate me? My eyes closed. "Haht'tsschiew!" The sneeze was high-pitched, loud, and uncovered and had me staggering from the force and doubling over at my waist as the feather flew off my nose. "Haht'shiew!" I sneezed again, just as equally high-pitched, but this time covered in the hanky and not as violent.
Josh was now very concerned for me and said as I continued to sneeze, "This is enough. You're going to make yourself even more miserable than you already are." I nodded in assent and pinched my nose.
"H'kxtchiew!" I half-stifled and said, "F-Fine" before being cut off by another sneeze. Josh put his arm around me to support me as the fit continued. Since I couldn't even walk from all this, he picked me up and easily carried me over his back like a fireman, except it was just by my legs with my arms draped down his back as I sneezed into my hanky. If my hair weren't already in my face, it sure would've been now because of all the sneezing.
When we got to the door, Josh kicked off his shoes and adjusted his grip on me to not have to set me down to take mine off as well. He opened the door and carried me inside, bringing me into the bathroom and setting me down there. "Bless you. I think it would be best if you clean up," he said as I stifled some sneezes into the handkerchief, my nose still itching from the pollen that was now on our clothes.
I blew my nose and struggled to speak, "H'kt'chh! Okay, but...t'shh! What a-a—hah'shiew!—What about you, then?" I was starting to feel a little better since we were no longer outside, but the pollen was still on our clothes and making its way into in my nose, and my immune system was desperate to get rid of it.
"Bless. I'll go after you," Josh replied casually. "It's more important for you to clean up since this is affecting you." He then brought a towel in and placed it on the floor.
I undressed, hopped into the shower, pulled the curtain closed, and turned the water on to clean up. My nose had itched the entire time, but when I began to wash my hair, I paused when I noticed some water—and most likely also shampoo—had gotten into my nose. The mixing of the water and shampoo with the pollen as well as the water from the shower head landing on my nose caused my nose to tickle drastically. "Hyit'shiew! Yieh'schiew! Whoa!" I sneezed freely, loudly, and violently. The force caused me to stumble and slip on the water on the floor, making me fall onto my back, though thankfully it didn't hurt much at all.
"Bless you, and is everything okay?" I hear Josh call from the other room.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just—hyih'shh!—Excuse me. I just slipped," I called back, standing back up and continuing to wash my hair and then the rest of my body.
When I was done in the shower, I got out, sneezed as the steam attempted draining my nose, wrapped the towel around me, and went to my room to get dressed. I then brushed my hair and did my little bit of makeup before coming back out and greeting Josh.
"Better?" he asked as he approached me.
"For now, yes, but I doubt it'll last much longer," I said. I knew by now that if I ever get allergy relief without medicine, it doesn't last long. "Did you change out of...of...hih, hiht'schh!" I sneezed into my right fist. "See? I told you," I said and wiped my nose. "Did you change clothes?"
"Yes, I did," Josh replied with a grin. "It looks like you're still sneezing despite that, though."
"Well, there's still pollen outside that makes its way in here," I said, smiling back. As Josh then went to go take his shower, I sat back down on the couch and sneezed into a tissue, because he said he planned to throw the hanky into the wash separately as soon as the clothes were done. I didn't feel like having to give it to him later. I sat there and gazed out the window, sneezing every few minutes but enjoying watching nature from a perspective where I wouldn't be sneezing every few seconds.