Having had the weekend to herself and her friends, Jen decided to hit the mall, despite her little coughs. Her friends didn't let it go unnoticed though. "Guys, relax...I already went to the doc's and got something for it, should be gone in a couple days." With a couple skeptical looks, the cheer squad went around the mall for the day.
Occasionally, Jen reached a hand up to her neck and gave a little scratch, a feeling not unlike getting bit by a mosquito persisting for a few hours. It actually got worse by the time she got home for the day, the skin feeling raw...but at the same time soft and a little loose. Deciding she wasn't going to get much relief, she made a small icepack and held it there until it was time for bed.
The next morning, Jen woke to a strange taste in her mouth and only a slightly itchy neck. Getting up to take care of her morning routine, she idly noticed a small dark mark where she'd been scratching. "Huh...must be where that mosquito got me....hate those things." She gave it a light scratch and groggily went back to her room, absently scratching a new spot on the underside of her left breast.
For the rest of her Sunday morning, she spent most of her time checking social media and rubbing her neck, the spot feeling a little strange....almost too soft. It was there she saw another of those news bulletins about the weird cough. They found someone who was a bit further along, but corroborated the earlier symptoms. They were talking to the camera, but there was a little bit of a clear fluid coming out of the corner of their mouth, almost like drool. They excused themself for a moment, and gave a large cough away from the camera, a large, wet....something coming away in a napkin. What got Jen's attention though, was how his neck skin seemed to be folding on itself...along with a few hairs that were far too thick, and way out of place for that particular location of the body.
She turned off the video and started rubbing her own neck again in worry....before she confidently dismissed what her body was telling her, and went about her day.