A little less than heroic...

So, what do I do when I'm sending my hero home after the climax of the book? It's a long trek, and while others are wounded, he's emerged with a few minor bruises and batterings, but nothing more. It's freezing cold, as winter is approaching, and he's taken an unceremonious dip in a frigid river.

I do what any self-respecting, sympathetic author would do.

I give him a cold.

I think he's mad at me.