--Bertha Oneshots--

Clumsy Miss McClackerty

-SHORT-

"ATISHOO!" sneezed Ted for possibly the tenth time today. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket whilst balancing his clipboard on his other hand. Everything to him felt like weights. Invisible weights. All of it came tied to his face, tied to his energy and soon became mixed with the stress of work. Why does he have such bad luck when it comes to this sort of thing?  Whenever it comes around, he was always catching it first before everyone else.

Ted thought he should not worry about his warm and cold body distracting him. Nor the constant sniffling he desperately tried to unclog. He can't take a day off. He's done it too many times. They probably got sick themselves from letting him go home so early. The operator sighed between the coughs and covered them with his clipboard. Every minute it got more worse, and the factory floor staff began to notice.

"Ted, I think you should go home." the tea lady suggested to him when afternoon's tea break came around. "You can't run around the factory with a cold. You might spread germs all over and make us all poorly." Ted clasped his hands around the mug, trying to stop the shivering. "..I'm tired of having this sick gag and I've still got loads of catching up to do from the last time I was ill." Ted explained to her with honesty, before sneezing again.

"But I'm really worried about you, Ted and.. it's not your fault you keep getting ill." his apprentice broke in, speed walking toward the pair. Ted rested his back on Bertha, having to use the low energy to speak and stand. "Yes, I know Mr Willmake will understand, Roy, but I can't take any more sick days." he commented, placing a hand over his forehead before removing it when he turned to Roy. "..Why are you so worried about me anyway?" "You would worry about me if I was ill." Roy shrugged. Ted's tired eyes became wide open and he replied back. "Well..that is because you're my assistant and you're much younger than me. I'm a grown adult, so I can take care of myself."

Mrs Tupp shook her head. "Well, regardless of your age, your health always comes first, Ted." she stated. "Now, after you had your tea, you must go home and go straight to bed. Tea nurse's orders."  "ATISHOO!" Ted barked out quickly without a handkerchief. Roy tightly secured his hand onto the operator's shoulder at an instant, almost becoming sick to his own stomach from what he had witnessed. He was sweating too, but Ted seemed too sluggish to care about it at the moment. "...Alright then, I'll go home." he finally spoke, defeated. With arms over his shoulder, his apprentice stabilised his movements and lead him out the big doors. It wasn't really necessary since Ted can still stand on his own (even with the decreasing energy), yet Roy wanted to make sure that he is doing as he was told.

"..You will get better, right Ted?" Roy begged innocently. Ted only smiled at him before going into a coughing fit. He choked out multiple times on his squeezed fist before letting it go to breathe in more air. The other hand moved to where his throat has taken an unpleasant beating, rubbing it furiously to eliminate the sharp jaws at the sides. Maybe he does need a day off. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's nothing serious I don't think; just a bad cold." Ted insisted, blowing his nose onto a handkerchief. "And I'm sure you'll do the job correctly while I'm resting. With the help of everyone else, of course." Roy nodded in agreement, watching him leave the building before going straight back to work. 

A cold is so simple to get rid of..isn't it?

No. Not with all these pesky pathogens around almost every room of the factory.

From the warmth of the interiors and the swarming drops of air, it was almost certain that they will not see the last of the illness. It had only just begun. The following day had proved the suspicion correct and Miss McClackerty found the factory to be rather quiet. Very quiet indeed. It was still early morning yet the phone on her desk kept ringing. Not with customers - what customers would call at this hour? Almost all the calls came from members of the Spottiswood crew, bedridden and overworked from yesterday.