ALLY:

It had been a week since my surgery. I had definitely had really bad sore throats and coughs, including strep throat, bronchitis, mono, the common cold, croup as a baby, obviously tonsillitis and even once pneumonia, but right now I was so damn healthy. My throat was feeling a lot better, my wet cough was gone, I sounded more like Ally and less like Marge Simpson, I had been washing my hands frequently and using hand sanitizer, I was producing less mucus and phlegm, I got my appetite back, it was easier to swallow and I had no pain while swallowing. My fever had dropped back down to ninety-eight point six. It was all because I had been following Dr. Moon's advice- plenty of bed rest, fluids like water and tea (with honey and lemon), over the counter medications like tylenol, and using hot steam, like breathing into a humidifier or taking a hot shower.

I was feeling one hundred percent better. I had a meeting with Covergirl today to discuss endorcing my new makeup line. It was supposed to be two weeks ago, but I had to reschedule because I was obviously very sick. I dressed in a white blazer, a coral sleeveless dress and a pair of coral high heels and I tied my hair up in a high ponytail for this meeting. I was jamming oranges into the squeezer, and Trish came out. Cosmic Kratom, the medical weed dispensary where she worked, didn't have a uniform, but she did have to wear an apron that they kept for their employees there.

"Well, somebody's back on her feet!"

Trish said to me.

I said,

"Yeah. I feel a lot better."

"You sound and look a lot better, too, Ally. I think Dr. Moon's treatments did you some good."

I said,

"Some good, Trish? Some good? Try a lot of good!"

I felt my phone ringing in the pocket of my blazer. Speak of the devil. It was the South Miami hospital.

I said,

"Hello, this is Allison Dawson."

It was Dr. Moon.

"Good morning, Allison. This is Dr. Moon. How are you doing since your surgery?"

I said,

"I feel a lot better. I appreciate your advice."

He chortled a bit.

"The pleasure is all mine. You sound a lot better. I just called because I wanted to schedule a followup with you, and also to keep you healthy all year, I urge you to get a flu vaccination. It said on your records that you were due for one."

I said,

"About that, I know I'm three and a half months behind, but I got the flu on the day I was supposed to get the flu shot."

I was supposed to get the flu vaccine at the drugstore, but I was really sick with the flu, ironically enough- a cold, chills, sore throat, vertigo, a headache, lethargy, an ear infection and a fever of one hundred and two were my exact symptoms. And they apparently couldn't give you vaccines if you were sick. Trish and Jace both were vaccinated for the flu, and they both constantly washed their hands. Like I said, it was flu season in Miami, and a big percentage of people were sick. And I had caught my tonsillitis from a woman who brought her sick three-year-old son to Tiffany because apparently she was buying her sister a birthday present.

And that's how I got the son of a bitch throat infection known as tonsillitis, that at first I assumed was your typical influenza.

"That makes me encourage you even more to get the flu vaccine. On another note, what time would you like me to check in with you?"

I said,

"How about Friday at three PM?"

He said,

"Alright. Thank you, Allison, for your time. In the meantime, I need to see another patient in a few minutes. I need to go. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Dr. Moon."

I hung up my phone. Jace walked into the kitchen, in a black hoodie, a black Avengers t-shirt with Iron Man, The Hulk and and Captain America, dark blue ripped skinny jeans and black converse. His indoor skatepark didn't have any uniforms, either, and he was the owner after all. He smiled at his girlfriend.

"Good morning, my little sexy churro."

"Good morning, my sexy boyfriend."

He noticed me.

"Hey, Ally!"

"Morning Jace!"

"Someone's back to herself, today!"

I inhaled and exhaled.

"Yeah. I feel one hundred percent again and I feel great!"

"You look like you're feeling better, Ally."

I said,

"It's all in Dr. Moon."

Trish told him,

"Dr. Moon is the doctor she has a crush on. Last week, when she got her tonsils out, she was on anesthesia, and she was hella high and saying she wanted to have sex with Dr. Moon and saying that she wanted to make him hard and how she hoped she gave him erections."

Jace laughed.

"All I know is that you give me erections, Trish."

She giggled.

"Oh stop it! I'm blushing."

I said,

"Can you guys save your talk of boners and getting horny for the bedroom, or any other place where I can't hear it?"

They both said in unison,

"Sorry, Ally."

Trish looked apologetic.

"But you still do have a crush on Dr. Moon."

I said,

"Yeah, I do. He seems like a better boyfriend than Kevin Asshole Harvard."

Jace told me,

"You definitely deserve better than that son of a bitch, Ally. He was like how Matt Prokop was to Sarah Hyland, I don't even know if what he did to her was worse, or what Kevin did to you was worse."

I said,

"Well, at the time, I certainly understood how she felt when she went through that."

Author's note:

Merry christmas everyone hehehehe! Hope y'all got some great presents! I know I certainly did! :)