Nightmarish cough

[entelein]

Last night was terrible. I coughed and coughed and coughed and coughed. I drooled excessively on my pillow. I tossed and turned, mashed my pillows into something more comfortable, coughed and coughed, my ears ringing from the effort, staring at the badly-painted wall, orange in the sodium light coming in through the bedroom windows.

I am not as tired as I thought I would be, this afternoon, this morning. I seem to be OK.

I just want to breathe freely, without dry cold air triggering a coughing jag. I want to sing, to laugh, to speak louder than a murmur, all things that cause me immense amounts of pain once the coughing has subsided. My head aches.

Make it stop. Make it stop.