It's been a bit, huh? But I'm back!
Suddenly, the air had turned crisp and the breeze was cool. It had dropped about twenty degrees in two days. Autumn had arrived. And the chill in the air had brought with it the annual illnesses, as it always did.
Johanna had spent three days under a blanket on the couch snuggled beside Cricket, a box of tissues and a cup of tea within easy reach. It was a passing case of the sniffles, with a throat that was just barely itchy. She could still eat and sleep and function normally. And it was all out of her system, save for the occasional seasonal cough or runny nose that lasted the whole winter, in a week.
This time though, it had come for Gale with a vengeance.
After Johanna had recovered, Gale had figured it was gone from their house and didn't think twice about it. After all, he was not one to fall sick easily.
He woke up for work one Monday morning with such a stuffed nose, he couldn't breathe. Luckily, it let up some when he sat up, but his head still felt stuffed with cotton. He coughed and he cringed as it sent a ripping feeling down his throat.
"Gross," Jo said, rolling over. "You're not going to work today."
"Of course I am," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "I'm fine."
"You sound horrible. And you look even worse."
"Hey!" He protested, just barely stiffening another cough.
"You're sick."
"I am not sick," he countered, getting out of bed. He immediately sat back down. The world had spun when he was on his feet. Bad idea.
"You're sick," Johanna repeated, pushing herself up to sit. "You are not going to work today."
"I have to go to work,"
"Not when you sound like that. You sound like hell and you look like death warmed over." Jo said, reaching over to put her hand on his forehead. He made a face and pushed her hand off. "You feel like you've been in the sun. Go back to sleep."
"No," Gale argued.
"Then call off work first and after that, come back to bed."
"I'm fine, Jo." Gale argued, trying not to have to cough.
Jo rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I'm a beauty queen. Seriously, Gale, you're staying in bed today."
Gale opened his mouth to argue, but Jo shook her head and pushed him down gently. "Don't make me tie you to this bed."
Gale smirked at that. "Oh yeah?" His voice was raspy and hoarse and he coughed.
Johanna scoffed and shook her head. "Go to bed, you fool. I'm calling your boss."
He huffed and laid back down, knowing it was futile to argue any more. Johanna got out of bed and opened their bedroom door, Cricket ran into the room and jumped onto the bed, she snuggled into Gale, who smiled a bit and started petting her. Cricket's tail was going a hundred miles an hour.
"Don't get too comfy, Cricket, you still have to go out." Johanna warned before going to call Gale's boss. Cricket rolled onto her back and batted at Gale's hand. He chuckled and scratched her chin.
Johanna picked up the phone and looked at the piece of paper they kept with important phone numbers and dialed the number for Gale's work.
The phone rang a few times before someone answered the phone.
"District 12 Law Enforcement, how may I direct your call?" Asked a bored sounding young man.
"Uh, hey, I don't know who to tell that my, uh... um... the person I'm living with won't be coming in to work today." Johanna blushed as she fumbled for the right words.
"Who is it?" The man asked.
"Uh, Gale Hawthorne?" Jo said, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Oh! Gale, hang on I'll transfer you to who you need to tell."
"Thanks,"
The phone clicked and then rang again, answered by a woman this time.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Hey, um Gale Hawthorne isn't going to be able to come into work today, he's sick. He can barely talk and he has a fever."
"This doesn't sound like Gale," said the woman, clearly teasing a little.
Johanna smiled. "No, this is Johanna Mason." Everyone in Gale's department knew about her by this point.
"That's what I figured," said the woman. "Hey, tell Gale to take care of himself and feel better."
"Will do, thanks." Johanna replied, hanging up the phone. She stretched and started the coffee maker before going back to the bedroom to let Cricket out. She stopped on the way to grab tissues for Gale.
"Come on, pup." Johanna said as she rounded the corner into the room. She stopped short when she saw what was in front of her. Gale was fast asleep on the bed with his limbs spread like a starfish and his mouth wide open, snoring lightly. Cricket was on her side with her nose pressed under his chin, also asleep.
Johanna shook her head as she put the tissues down on the bedside table "You two are too much." She mumbled before leaning over to press a kiss to Gale's cheek and scratch Cricket behind the ears.
Johanna walked back to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and grab a muffin as she did so, she felt a surge of happiness. Why was it that little things like this made her heart feel so happy?
She looked out the window to see the little tree growing in the backyard and heard Haymitch's geese call. She caught a whiff of something sweet in the air squeaking in through the walls. Home. That was why. She was home.