top of page

How Ed got the sniffles

Writer's picture: by Eloiseby Eloise

Updated: Oct 26, 2024


One Saturday morning, Ed got the sniffles. He announced it to Karin, then, in their bedroom, he lay down on the bed, piled the covers carefully over himself, and proceeded to be sick. He left the door wide open.


Karin paid little attention to it, because she had cramps and a headache from her period last week, as well as a raised temperature, and she continued to go to work anyway, do the shopping and pick up the kids from school.


Ed observed her lack of interest with displeasure. "I have a cold," he mumbled from the bedroom.


Karin told him matter-of-factly that it was nothing, that she and their kids had colds often, and she went to prepare dinner.


"I have a very bad cold," Ed said emphatically and began to wheeze loudly and roll his eyes in the back of his head.


Karin brushed him off again, saying that this happens sometimes, and continued frying chicken nuggets.


I have a severe, exhausting and major cold, the likes of which no one has ever had. It's a dangerous, critical cold and I'm dying of it, Ed repeated so emphatically this time that Karin understood she was supposed to report to the bedroom for a check-up.


"I have a cough, too."


"No, you don't. I haven't heard you cough."


He coughed.


"You're faking that!"


"What? Me? I'm lying here gasping for air, suffocating, and you can't think of anything better to do than downplay the situation?"


"Oh, not at all. I can see that it has completely knocked you down."

"I'm lying down because I don't have the strength to get up anymore.


"And why is that?

"I have a cold!" Ed shouted, getting really irritated now.


"Oh. Take your temperature then," Karin said, handing him the thermometer.


Ed dramatically put it under his arm and sighed. "If I survive this..."


"Do you want me to bring you a priest? I'd like to hear it when you confess your sins," Karin smirked.


"Go on, pick on the helpless, be my guest," Ed lamented.


"Okay, what's your temperature?"


 "Thirty-six point eight!"

"Oh, so you don't have a fever. Not even a raised temperature."


"I do! I have a cold!"


"Well, in that case it's nothing serious and you can get up even," Karin remarked dryly.


Ed tried to adopt a conciliatory tone: "Darling, I understand that you, as a layperson, have no idea what complications can accompany a cold."


"But you do, don't you?"


"Yes, I'm a GP. So I know that I'm potentially seriously ill, and you should be taking care of me until my last breath.

"Until the last what?"


Ed's patience with Karin has worn thin. "So it's okay for me to work hard to support my family, work overtime, but when I get a cold, my family doesn't rally around me."


"Oh, please. As a doctor, you know best that the risk of expiring from a cold is minimal."


"How can you know that? Have you seen my blood work? My sinusogram? My ENT examination results?"


"I haven't seen, because no doctor would ever order them on the basis of you sniffling a little, but I can definitely see that you are a hypochondriac."


"Such ignorance. I'm nearly dying, and you treat me like this? My own wife making light of my cold! I shouldn't have married you!"


"You shouldn't have," Karin confirmed. "You should have married someone in healthcare, because it's much harder to find a hypochondriac in other professions."











Related Posts

See All

留言


Follow to know about hot updates and new posts

Copyright © LovePingPong by Eloise, 2024

Your information is protected by law.
You can view the privacy policy here.

bottom of page