Snippet #2478809

Eric vaguely heard people mentioning names; he had spaced out a little bit in the few seconds after his coughing fit. He stood in the back of the room, listening. Chloe, Julie, Parker...they came out one by one. Finally, he let out a quiet "Eric."

"Hey mister. What's the mask for? Are you a germaphobe?" The callousness of the statement is what bothered Eric; even though he was very much the same. Stares he was used to, he even eventually got questions from people, but he always assumed they probably thought he was just scared of germs.

"No. No I am not." The comment came out with twice the callousness that the original statement had. "I happen to have a terminal case of cystic fibrosis, so I cannot *cough* breath easily." He gave her a dirty glare, "And it wouldn't hurt you to develop any sense of tact."