The Painful Beauty Of Spring

Part 10

I stood up from the couch and sneezed violently into my fist when I went to speak. I excused myself, pushed my hair back behind me, and stood up straight, feeling my nose and throat itching like crazy. In an attempt to stop the next sneeze, I pressed my index finger beneath my nose so I could talk again. "John, I r-really can't have you d-dusting r-right now," I said quickly, my nostrils twitching against my finger, showing I was unsuccessful stopping the sneeze. John paused and looked at me, dust visibly flying all over the place.
I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breath, which had begun hitching furiously. With little success, I tried to steady it as I continued, "I need your h-help. I don't h-hah-have—" The tickle was too much, and despite my strong efforts to stop the sneeze, my eyebrows furrowed in the middle of my sentence, and my nose crinkled with irritation. Finally, I closed my eyes tightly and pitched forward violently, succumbing to a small fit of sneezes, which I covered in the crook of my elbow, "Hah, haht'schiew! Hih, huht'shiew! Hih'tschh!"
I continued to sneeze a few more times after the first three and sniffled thickly after the last. I looked at Josh, who looked over at John and said, "Please just stop dusting" in a calm tone. John's cheeks flushed crimson in embarrassment, and he jumped down from his chair he had been standing on to reach the ceiling, his eyes darting frantically around the room as if he now didn't know what to do.
"Sorry," John said nervously, looking downward and turning the duster around in his hands. "This cleaning is long overdue, so I thought I'd get it done now and help you out. I didn't think it would affect you so much. I expected just a little bit at most." He looked up at me and blushed a little more. "You said you need help, and I sure want to be a good brother and help my big sister as much as I can. I just don't know how.
"I know I make mistakes at times. Everyone does. I just don't know what you want me to do to help, because if I try, it doesn't usually work and just worsens something or another." He paused his miniature speech and glanced around the room once more. "That was a little more in-depth than I expected it to be," he stated with a nervous laugh.
"You're fine," I said simply in response, rubbing my runny nose with my hand and wondering where I had placed my handkerchief. I sniffled once again and looked into John's eyes. "You're such a great little brother. Don't be thinking you're messing things up. You're just learning," I reassured him. Suddenly, I laughed slightly as I continued, "And if your learning process makes me sneeze, so be it. That's my sensitive nose's problem." I subconsciously rubbed my red nose, which was becoming more irritated as I spoke. "It's not your f-fault. Ht'schiew! Sorry," I quickly apologized after sneezing freely to the side. I felt another tickle in my sinuses and covered my nose with the side of my hand when I sneezed again. "Excuse me!" I exclaimed in surprise. "See? This is what I'm talking about. My nose is just sensitive. You even admitted it earlier."
"I just unintentionally made it even worse," John said with a shrug, "so I needed to say sorry."
I clapped my left hand onto his shoulder and looked up at him. Even though he's younger than me, he's still slightly taller. "You're fine, John," I said calmly. "It's not like I'm—hihs'shiew!" I paused, turned, and suddenly sneezed into my right fist. I sniffled a little, chuckled, and continued, "Excuse me. It's not like I'm being tortured. My nose just needs a bit of a break. It's been real stressed out today with all the pollen."
"Why can't your nose handle things as well as your brain?" Josh called from the couch. I'd almost forgotten he was there.
"I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or sarcastic 'insult'," I responded, laughing.
"Compliment," Josh clarified, standing up, walking over to me, and giving me a light kiss on my cheek. "You know I wouldn't insult you in any way, Jess," he continued, pulling me close and placing my head against his chest. He was tall enough compared to me to do that without bringing my head down too much at all.
"Yuck! I know you two are boyfriend and girlfriend, but can you please lower the signs of it when I'm near you?" John said, backing up slightly in disgust.
"John, it's just a little kiss, for goodness sake!" Josh said without tearing his eyes from mine. He winked and kissed me again, causing John to cringe.
"Yeugh! Save it for later!" John exclaimed, covering his eyes. Josh and I rolled our eyes at John's behavior.
"Hih—" After the little scene, my nose seemed to realize once more that it hated spring even though I wanted to enjoy this season. I quickly held my hand beneath my nose when my lips parted slightly and my breath hitched once, barely audibly.
"Jess, are you alright?" Josh asked seriously, turning to me. He paused. "Feeling sneezy?" I nodded quickly, unable to speak in fear of being caught off-guard by the sneeze. I needed to be as aware as possible, which was difficult with Josh and John both staring at me, now expecting the outburst.
I sniffed and felt the sneeze build, slowly spreading from a little irritation in the back of my sinuses and forming into a full itching sensation all throughout my twitching nose, which finally forced my eyes shut. "H'tschh!" I sneezed again into my fist. Even though the sneeze wasn't too violent or wet, I couldn't seem to stop sniffling after and was forced to locate a tissue and blow my nose since I'd lost track of the handkerchief.
John now seemed to be getting tired of saying, "Bless you," but Josh continued saying the same thing kindly and like a gentleman. I thanked both of them, even though I knew John's was now a little half-hearted.
"Here, I'll help you," Josh said, holding out his hand to me. "Come with me, my sweetheart." I placed my hand into his, feeling the warmth of his hand in mine as he led me from the room, passed me a clean handkerchief, and took me outside.
"W-where a-hah-are w-we g—hah, haht'schh! Huh, huht'chh!" I tried unsuccessfully to speak through my sneezing.
"Shh, be quiet. I know what to do," Josh said in a whisper.
"I c-can't be qu-qui—hih'shiew!—quiet w-hih-with my a-allergies. Ht'schh!" My nose was as red as a beet at this point from irritation, and I watched through my itchy, watery eyes as Josh looked at me.
"Bless you. I'm sorry in advance, but this is the only way," he said seriously. "That's why I gave you the handkerchief." I sneezed again. "Bless. Just ignore your nose. Let's go."