Christian began to shiver. He turned the water as hot as it would go and still his teeth chattered. The water sluiced over him, scalding, but still not hot enough. The air around him billowed with steam. Christian had an article for the school paper to finish today if he wanted it to be in the next issue. There was no way he was getting sick. He refused to. Christian got out of the shower only when the water would no longer stay warm. His brother Corbin banged on the door, yelling that he had to go the bathroom. He hurried up and dried off with a towel, his body jerking with the force of the convulsions. The light made his eyes sensitive. At first he thought it was the light bulb wattage, but even the pale yellow walls and brighter yellow accessories of the bathroom hurt his eyes. Christian shook his head, and then wished he hadn’t. It began to throb. “Christian! Hurry up,” his brother whined. He braced his hands against the counter and stared at his image in the fogged up mirror above the sink.
