Whooping Cough

The cough comes in waves — not like a normal cough, but like a seizure that grabs the whole small body and won't let go. The child coughs and coughs, pressed, staccato, until the air runs out. Then that whistling, whooping intake — the body fighting for the next breath as though air itself were an enemy that won't be caught. The face turns red, the eyes tear, sometimes retching follows. And then, when the fit is over, a brief pause — until the next wave comes.