AH-CHOO!
Johnny was torn from a sound sleep by a violent sneeze. It was followed in quick succession by another three. Ouch! Man, those actually hurt! He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. Sure hope I'm not catchin' a cold.
AH-CHOO!
"Johnny, you okay over there?" whispered his concerned partner.
"Yeah. Don't know why I'm sneezing though."
"Maybe you should take something."
"I hear ya. Sounds like a good idea."
Johnny slid out of bed and into his turnouts and started out of the room.
"OW!"
"Now what?"
"Nothing. I think I just stubbed my toe," he grumbled.
Johnny limped into the kitchen, poured a glass of milk, and took a long drink nearly draining the glass. He was about to search out some cold medicine when the strange tickle disappeared, as did the pain in his toe. Huh. That's weird.
Deciding to forego the medicine now, Gage padded back to his bunk. The soft snores from the rest of the crew eventually lulled him back to sleep and the remaining hours of the night were quiet.
The wake up tones summoned them from all from sleep the next morning. The men scrambled for their lockers more than ready to see the end of the shift. While Roy was outlining his plans for his two days off, Johnny reached into his locker for his shirt. As he did so, he felt two sharp jabs in his arm.
"Ouch. Hey! Quit poking me, will ya!"
An indignant Johnny turned to glare at his partner.
"What the heck are you talking about? I didn't poke you!"
Johnny's indignant expression turned to one of puzzlement.
"Oh. Well, it felt like you did. Maybe it was just a cramp or something."
Roy gave his partner an odd look and went back to dressing. Still contemplating Johnny's actions, Roy left to go prepare breakfast.
Not long after the meal, the paramedics from B-shift arrived, leaving Roy and Johnny free to leave.
E!--E!--E!
Johnny sighed deeply and went back to staring blankly at the inside of his locker. His two days off had been plagued with odd bouts of vicious sneezing, mostly in the middle of the night interrupting any chance of getting a solid night's sleep. It had been so bad that he now felt exhausted and out of sorts. And, every once in awhile, he would swear someone was poking him—in the arm, in the shoulder, in the back. Yet, he'd been alone each and every time. That has to be my imagination. It just has to be. Can't tell Roy either. He'll think I'm goofy.
As if thought conjured, Roy ambled into the room.
"Hey, partner."
"Hi, Roy."
"You're here early. For a change," Roy smiled as he said this to let Johnny know he was only teasing.
Not up to his usual snappy comeback, Johnny muttered a quick "yeah" and scooted out of the room.
E!--E!--E!
With a small smile, Cherry thought back over the last three days and the fun she'd had tormenting the dark-haired man. Granny Beulah, I'm paying him back for you. I just wish I was as powerful a priestess as you were. Cherry picked up the doll and slowly wrapped a rubber band around its head. There! Let him deal with a headache all day, too. She pulled her feather and her pin from her secret box, just to have them handy.
E!--E!--E!
