make her a drink that will calm the cough and hydrate her at the same time and tell her that is what it is. who in their right mind wants a cough? make sure it is palatable. she is probably dehydrated.
i was sitting waiting for my car to be serviced the other day and a lady sat down and was hacking every two minutes or so. soon she got up(this was mid afternoon) and went to the a half pot of old burnt coffee on the burner and poured a cup and sat back down, looking much like a toad, and commenced hacking and sipping. this woman was dehydrated beyond belief and an all day coffee drinker, which kept her in this state. she already looked like a cancerous blob, so i cant imagine what her insides look like. if i had any kind of segway into it, i would have talked to her, but the moment was too brief and she did not seem in a good mood. who would be living like that?