Actually, I'm dying

I've posted before about my friend, L, who died when she was 25 from a genetic terminal illness.

One of the things about L's condition is that she used to cough, a lot.

Her coughing was severe. Think pneumonia or bronchitis cough - that chesty, phlegmy cough. Her coughing fits could be so bad that it could cause her to throw up. It wasn't rare to see blood in her phlegm from rupturing small blood vessels due to the violent coughing.

If a fit happened, there was nothing she could do but to ride it out. It was awful to witness. There would be nothing I could do but wait for it to pass. At home (we rented together), I would rub her back, hold back her hair, bring her a cup of honey tea to soothe her throat when she finally finished.

When we were out, there wasn't really anything I could do.

One such coughing fit happened when we were about 20 or 21 and we were at a huge shopping center (mall).

L went into the toilets, locking herself in a cubicle and coughing her guts up. By the sound of it, the coughing fit also caused her to vomit.

I was opposite her cubicle, by the sinks, waiting for her. A woman who looked to be in her 50s approached the sink, smiling slightly as we made eye contact.

She was washing her hands when L's coughing fit turned especially violent.

Paraphrasing (as this was almost 15 years ago), the woman said, extremely loudly;

"She sounds horrendous, what is she even doing out in public? She should think twice before passing on her illness. I'm old you know, what she has could kill me. Young people today, so inconsiderate to those around them, only think about themselves."

I was kind of looking at her with an open mouth, wondering what i should say to defend my friend. Before I had a chance, L's cubicle door slammed open.

She looked very rough, like someone that had been non-stop coughing for the last 5 minutes. Pale, with tears running down her face. She looked the woman square in the eyes and said:

"Don't worry, I was born with this illness, you can't catch it. The only person that will die from this is me."

Then she went to the sink, washed her hands, turned to me and asked if I was ready to get on with shopping.

"Of course!" I responded brightly.

As we left the room, I turned to look at the woman, who was still standing by the sinks in shock; frozen in place, the water running over her hands and with a shocked pikachu expression.