The Painful Beauty Of Spring

Part 11

Josh led me to the car. I had expected him to take me to get medicine, but clearly that was not the case, because he drove to the school I teach music lessons at. Befuddled, I unsuccessfully attempted to stop a sneeze by paying very little attention to it (I tried to pay none whatsoever, but it was too distracting) and wondered what Josh had been talking about.
"Josh, w-hah-what are w-we d-hih-doing?" I asked, ignoring my twitching nose but struggling to stop my breath from hitching. I tightly pinched my nose with my index finger and thumb, my itchy eyes starting to water as Josh parked the car.
"You'll see. Just follow me," he said, pausing with his hand on the car door on the driver's side. He looked at me, noticing my issue with my irritated nose. "Bless you in advance," he added.
"Th-thank y—Hih, hihs'shiew!" I tried to speak but began sneezing into the handkerchief almost instantly and held my breath, which failed to help my case. "Hih, ht'schiew!" I sneezed again and felt Josh pick me up by my legs like before, the bottom of my torso draped over his shoulder and my arms down his back. He had opened the car door and stepped out while I was preoccupied with my own sneezing, so I was not aware of this until now. My breath was quickening as more pollen reached my nose, and I focused the hardest I could on not sneezing, fearful of spraying the back of Josh's shirt because of my position. The tickle would not go away, and I forced myself to speak as quickly as possible through my hitching breaths. "Josh, I need to sn-sneeze!" I said desperately. "I c-c-hih-can't—" As quickly as possible, I clasped the handkerchief around my nose and felt Josh set me down so my shoes touched concrete just as the tickle reached its peak. "Hahs'chiew!" I doubled over violently from the first sneeze and preceded it with three very loud, wet-sounding ones.
"Bless you!" Josh said with surprise as I looked at him, my itchy nose crinkling and twitching, though I was otherwise completely still.
"Hah, htch'shh!" I sneezed wetly and violently once more. "Oh my God..." I said miserably through a yawn, rubbed my nose, sneezed again, and sniffled liquidly. "Excuse me."
"You okay for—?" Josh began asking, approaching me. I interrupted him by holding up the index finger of my left hand to tell him to wait, and he paused. I turned my head to my right and cupped the handkerchief in my right hand around my red nose.
"Huh, ht'schiew! Hih, ihs'tschh!" I sneezed twice into the handkerchief and blew my nose before sniffling a few times and looking back at Josh, who blessed me again. "Thanks," I said awkwardly.
"You okay for me to pick you back up?" Josh finished his question while I looked around awkwardly.
"Uh, y-yeah, a-as long as you're o-okay with me p-probably s-sneezing on you," I stammered, blushing and rubbing the side of my neck in embarrassment. My nose had already begun to itch again, and congestion was quickly showing in my voice as my breath hitched furiously. I swiftly turned to the side and sneezed loudly and violently twice into the handkerchief, my eyes tearing up from the irritation in my nose and force of the sneezes. My throat also ached from the force, and I coughed involuntarily a few times without removing the handkerchief from my face. "Excuse me," I said feebly and blew my nose, my cheeks becoming even redder with humiliation.
"That's okay with me," Josh said calmly. "You can't control it all the time, and it would be a nuisance if I set you down every time you needed to sneeze." He picked me up, draping my torso over his back once more, and within seconds, my entire body convulsed against him when I restrained another sneeze into the handkerchief in my right hand, causing my head to ache. "Bless you, but you don't need to stifle," Josh said as he carried me to the school building. "You shouldn't in the first place."
"S-sorry. I-I—hih, ihs'schiew!" I sneezed again into the handkerchief, sniffed, and continued uncomfortably, "—I just don't want to sn-sneeze on you."
"It's okay," Josh reassured me as he kept walking. "It's not like you're risking getting me sick or anything. It's just your allergies."
"I just don't want to be gross," I said awkwardly. "Hih'schh!" I was caught off-guard and sneezed freely. "Josh, I am so sorry!" I frantically apologized for accidentally sneezing on Josh a little (my nose was just against his shoulder blade), but he assured me it was okay and not to worry about it. However, that wasn't enough to keep me from becoming overwhelmed with embarrassment, feeling like I should cover my face—which was now as red as a beet—and hide from the world, especially Josh.
Josh finally got to the door of the school and was let in with me almost immediately. He placed me down, having me sit on a bench as I sneezed as quietly as I could without necessarily stifling into my handkerchief. He sat down next to me. "Don't be embarrassed. It's fine," he said comfortingly when I set the handkerchief down and covered my red face with my hands, lowering my head in shame. "I won't tell anyone. You're okay."
"Hih, h'schh!" I sneezed into my hands and brought them back down, grabbing the handkerchief and following up with another wet sneeze.
"Bless you," Josh said matter-of-factly, pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him as well and rested my head on his shoulder with my eyes closed.
We stayed in our embrace for a long while until my nose twitched with irritation, and I had to pull back and turn my head to sneeze violently to the side into the handkerchief. "Sorry," I said and kissed Josh on the cheek. "Apparently, my nose thought that was long enough." Josh laughed.
"Yeah, seems so. Either way, that's good, because we better get going now, or we'll be late," he replied, standing up. "Is your nose tame enough to continue?"
"I think so," I said with a shrug. "I can deal with it, though."
"Sounds good! Let's go!" Josh said with a smile and started down the hall.
I hurried after him, "But I still don't know where we are g-going! Hah, haht'tssch! Huh, huht'schiew!" I skidded to a halt to sneeze again.
"Bless you! You'll see," Josh called back as he turned a corner, and I rushed to catch up.