Invisible bricks

When I woke up this afternoon from a dead sleep, I felt like someone had hit me over the head with a brick.  Actually it felt more like they hit me over the head with a brick and then decided to tightly tie that brick across my face.  Looking over at the clock, I realized that it was 1pm.  As I didn't have to be at work until 5, I blew my nose a few rights, attempted to give my sinuses a massage to loosen up the pressure, rolled over and went back to sleep.  It was approximately 2:30 when I woke up again, exhausted with my nose dripping like a water faucet, and my throat feeling like a cat decided to use it as a scratching post.   Almost immediately upon stepping out of bed, I felt the congestion in my head shift somewhat and temporarily felt light-headed.  

"I feel like hell.  Would I be a horrible person if I called in sick to work tonight?"  I typed to Dave on my instant messenger.  Even as I sat on the couch, the desire to lie back down and die came over me and I knew before receiving his response that I would have to call in sick.  I couldn't breath and even I could hear how completely stuffy I sounded; I doubt that anyone I spoke to over the phone would have been able to understand me.  He sent a response advising that it might be best to call out if I felt that terrible and I picked up the phone and called work.  I always feel super bad whenever I call in sick; like I'm shying away from my responsibilities.  There's that part of me that thinks, "you know, if you wanted to, you could push through this."  As soon as I think that thought, I immediately feel guilty and was almost tempted to call them back and tell them "actually, nevermind.  I'm fine." 

I wasn't fine, of course.  The pressure of the invisible brick only seemed to increase as I sat up.  Slowly, I dragged myself to the kitchen, took another over the counter decongestant, and proceeded to eat approximately eight clementines in an attempt to boost my vitamin C.  Once I finished off the little oranges I put my head back on a pillow and curled up on my tiny couch.  For a couple of hours I drifted into and out of sleep but when I awoke later, I didn't feel any better.  So, I finally decided that it was time to sit on the bathroom floor and let the steam of the shower loosen whatever mucus that was surround my eyes.  A part of me wanted to take a shower but the idea of standing in a hot shower seemed too much.  

Luckily the steam bath I took seemed to alleviate some of my discomfort and when Dave came home, he gave me some liquid blue medicine and I ate some rice and cherry tomatoes.  He had to work remotely this evening which was actually kind of nice as I wasn't in the mood to do any kind of talking and just wanted my space.  As he did his own thing, I decided to continue to research the potential honeymoon and was actually able to make some more progress so the day didn't feel like a entire waste.  Now, though I should probably go back to bed.  I hate being sick but at least it's February and about as good a time as any to be sick, right?