Cough by Jacqueline Druga Page A

think they know.”
    After taking, taking a look at the monitors that all showed people in distress, Wally raced from the office, down the hall and to the elevator.
    It arrived quickly, and Wally pressed the ground floor.
    It arrived in a few seconds, the bell dinged, the door opened and Wally flew out. He only made it a few feet when a woman lunged for him.
    “Help …” She coughed and choked. “Help.” She gripped him.
    Her body jolted as she violently hacked. It was deep and struggling. Manners were out the windows, she coughed so horrible she didn’t have time to cover her mouth.
    “Ma’am, let me get you …” Wall wanted to pull back. Something was wrong, seriously, wrong. Her face was pale except the dark under eye circles and her eyes didn’t water, they dripped bloody tears.
    One more hack, her body convulsed forward and she spat a bloody discharge at Wally just before she collapsed to the floor.
    He crouched down by her, trying to hold her still with one hand. Her body shook and she continued to choke. A thick bloody substance pooled in her mouth and seeped from her nostrils running down her cheek.
    He grabbed his radio, brought it to his mouth. “Lobby tower two. We have a code four. Woman down. Call 911. Over.”
    Static.
    Wally listened and waited for a response, instead he heard nothing but calls for help.
    ‘Someone send a med team to Roulette three. We have a Code four.’
    ‘Section A9, two men are down.’
    ‘Oh my God, someone help we have three woman on the floor at the Pit Stop Shop.’
    Code four. Code four there.
    Every voice on the radio was calling for help and no one responded.
    Screams carried from the casino, drowning out the usual bells and dings of video slot machines.
    Wally didn’t know what to do. How could he? He hadn’t a clue what was happening.
     
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Airnamics Flight 473 to Washington DC
     
    Depending on the situation, no one really pays attention to a cough. People cough. Unless it is in a quiet place, like a church or funeral home, a cough fades to the background like elevator music. People don’t think about them or give them a second thought. Usually the cougher is more self-conscious about it than those around them.
    With the exception of an airplane. Even then, someone coughing didn’t register to Sharon. She probably wouldn’t have given much thought to the woman in 2B had she herself not had that bout with a cold that triggered asthma.
    She paused in reaching for coffee cups.
    “You okay?” Todd asked.
    “Yeah, just that woman coughing. Made me think about me being sick this past week.”
    “Better than thinking about London,” said Todd.
    Sharon smiled. “What?”
    “Haven’t you heard? I thought everyone did. Some sort of …”
    Even Todd stopped talking when the woman’s cough sounded terribly deep.
    “That doesn’t sound good,” Sharon grabbed a bottle of water. “I’ll be right back.” She left the attendant station and walked into first class.
    The woman in 2b, jerked in her seat. Her hand was to her mouth.
    “Ma’am, here’s some water for you.” Sharon extended the bottle.
    The woman couldn’t stop coughing enough to respond.
    “Ma’am, are you all right?”
    The woman’s face was red and she held out her hand for the water, when she did, Sharon saw it, the blood that laced her fingertips.
    Trembling, the woman brought her fingers to her mouth to feel, blood oozed from the corner and the woman began to cough again.
    The passenger in 2A, jumped up. “Oh my God, get me out of here.”
    “Sir, calm down.” Sharon urged.
    “Are you serious? You want me to …”
    He froze.
    Cough.
    Cough-Cough.
    Sharon turned around. Not only was the woman in 2B coughing, but so was the man in the next row, within seconds, the person next to him flew into a coughing frenzy.
    2A grabbed a pillow and covered his mouth.
    “Go.” Sharon instructed him “Up front.”
    He jumped over the coughing woman and no sooner did he make it to the