The thick grass crunched with frost under Thea's feet as she hiked her way to Martha's house, Anna tagging slowly behind her. The frigid air wrecked her lungs as she breathed which only rattled her chest more. The cough that had been haunting her for days now was only made worse by the frozen atmosphere that loomed dark and haunting all around them. Martha trotted down from her house to meet the other girls and they greeted each other with a nod, no words were spoken, as the effort was too great and all words could wait until the warmth of the school house. Thea shook with cold, all the shawls and winter coats in her house had not been enough to warm her up, even the warmed potatoes she held in her pockets seemed to do her no good, though she gripped them tightly.

Only when the three girls entered the school house did they dare let out a breath. The first few mornings of winter were always the worst, their blood was still used to the mild autumns. Thea watched as Martha and Anna stripped off their coats and scarves, but she stood stock still wrapped in her cocoon.

"I am still absolutely freezing, I don't know how you can just throw your coats away so easily!" They shrugged and Thea's teeth chattered and she gingerly removed her coat, keeping her mittens, scarf and muffler wrapped tightly. The rush of cool air through the thin fabric of her dress was unwanted and she tensed up.

"Relax, Thea. I'm positive Frau Thoens threw some wood in the fireplace, she would be crazed not to!" Martha linked her arm in Thea's and dragged her to her seat, a few minutes left before class actually begun. Thea coughed, uninterested as she watched Anna and Martha in deep conversation over the awful state of the weather outside and Georg's new haircut. Her cough turned into a hack and she grabbed her hanky from her pocket and held it politely to her mouth. No one else as much as flinched as she drew it away and gasped. Thea's head snapped up, in a panic, just in time to see Frau Thoens rap her knuckles against the chalkboard--ready to begin.

Anna turned and faced forward, every other girl in the class doing the same, eyes locked on the Professor, fingers ready to numbly scribble out any notes. But Thea's eyes were directed downward and they were slowly welling up with tears. Blood. Spots of blood dotted the fabric that she grasped in her fingers, an awful sign. The hacking cough had been plaguing her for weeks, her mother and father blaming it on the changing weather, the frigid air that she breathed while she slept. Thea's mind wandered, as she pushed her hanky into a pocket in her dress.

"Thea!" Thea looked up at the harsh whisper of her name, and the whole class of girls stared back at her. Martha nudged her with her arm, "Frau asked you a question!"

Thea sputtered nervously and sat up straighter in her chair.

"I am sorry, Frau, I was engaged in a previous lesson." She studied the chalkboard, eyes wide, trying to figure out what exactly she had been asked. Latin scribbles filled the boards of the other girls, and Thea could just make out the writing on Anna's in front of her. She rose from her seat, eyes still squinting at Anna's writing board.

"Eram?"

"In the full sentence, please?" The strict professor said through gritted teeth.

"Um…ego eram infirmus."

"Correct." Frau Thoens scraped the chalk across the board to scribble out Thea's answer. "And, Fraulein Thea, I expect your full attention in the current lesson. There will be a test on this later on."

"Yes, Frau Thoens. I apologize." Thea slumped back in her chair, relieved at her quick thinking. Next to her, Martha reached out to get Thea's attention.

"Are you okay? You never drift off in lessons..."

Thea turned to her and nodded gently then jerked her head away quickly as she felt another round of her horrific cough come on. She grabbed her balled up hanky and coughed violently into it, shoulders shaking with each catch of her breath. She felt Martha's hand on her back, rubbing it gently. As the coughing ceased, Thea pulled the fabric away and glanced at it. Clean as a whistle. She closed her eyes and smiled quietly in relief, it was a one-time occurrence, a fluke. It was truly the wintery air, too cold for snow, that caused her throat to be rubbed raw.

She looked back to the front of room, and caught Martha out of the corner of her eye staring at her.

"I'm fine."

Martha nodded convincingly enough, but Thea noted that she wiped her hand on the hems of her dress. The hand that had just been resting on Thea's back.