He Said, She Said: In Sickness and in Health

She Said: Tony and I just can't seem to shake this cold. He got it first, on Christmas Day. I felt so bad for him, sniffling and sneezing as he unwrapped his gifts. Normally when one of us gets sick, we try to avoid kissing each other on the lips. But that was especially difficult on this day, our first Christmas as a married couple. I knew it was just a matter of time before I would start developing his miserable symptoms.

I took care of my poor husband for three days as the cold germs incubated within my body. I cooked, cleaned house and nurtured my patient. He moaned, whined and complained. I wondered, why would he make all that noise when he said his throat hurt so badly?

And then it hit. The raw sensation in my throat, the congestion in my sinuses, the aching in my bones. It was wretched. And it was the holidays. And I had to work. I found myself moaning, whining and complaining, and realized I simply couldn't help it. I felt so awful, I just had to express it out loud, even if no one was listening. Good thing for those around me I eventually developed laryngitis.

Tony was starting to feel better as I hit the peak of my illness. He took care of me as I had taken care of him. We're still trying not to kiss each other, which is an incredible challenge for we newlyweds. But that effort seems to be in vain because we're both feeling like we're getting sick all over again. Who's going to take care of us when we're both down with this cold?