Part 13 (1/2)

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”Are you okay, Daniel?” Dr. Bent asked with concern.

”Can I use the restroom?” asked Rocky.

”Hang on a minute, Rocky,” Dr. Bent said. ”Daniel, you look pale. Are you feeling okay?”

”I have to use the bathroom, too,” Janine interrupted.

Others started complaining that they needed to use the restroom.

”Hey!” Dr. Bent yelled. ”Let's get in control here! If you all could just wait a minute, I'll call your group leader to come get you. You all will get a break.” She got up and went over to Daniel. She looked down at him. ”Daniel, do you feel all right?”

Daniel looked up and his face was ghostly white. His eyes rolled back to where his pupils seemed to disappear and we could only see white. He tried to nod his head.

”Yes,” he struggled to get out, ”I'm okay, Dr. Bent.”

”I don't think so,” she said as she began dialing on her phone. She spoke with someone on the other end and asked them to come because Daniel needed help. When she hung up, she went back over to Daniel. Everyone stared at him. Tai and Janine asked him if he was all right, and he kept trying to say that he was fine, but he could barely speak.

Less than a minute went by, and Ms. Mosley entered the room with Geoffrey. Dr. Bent told them that Rocky and Janine needed to use the restroom and that Daniel wasn't feeling well. When Dr. Bent said that Rocky and Janine needed to use the restroom, Tai and a few others said that they had to go, too.

I suddenly felt like I was back in school. I sat quietly in my chair, looking over at Daniel, concerned. Daniel looked like he was drifting off into sleep. Ms. Mosley told everyone to come back to the unit with her and Geoffrey. Geoffrey walked over to Daniel and asked him if he was all right. Daniel insisted that he was fine. When Geoffrey grabbed Daniel's arm and tried to help him up, his lack of balance proved otherwise.

”Easy does it, there. Come on, Daniel. I'll help you back to the unit and we will test your blood sugar. It might be low.”

Geoffrey and Daniel headed out the door first. The rest of us lined up behind Ms. Mosley, and we headed out the door, leaving Dr. Bent in the office.

When we were back on the unit, everyone seemed to scramble away to their rooms. Daniel was sitting at one of the tables while he p.r.i.c.ked his finger and let his blood drip onto some kind of small machine that looked like a calculator. I sat down at the table with him.

He looked up at me and said, ”I guess my secret is out.”

”What is that?” I asked, referring to the machine that was sucking the blood from his finger.

”It's a blood glucose testing meter. My blood sugar is low.”

He let his head fall onto the table. I looked down at the small machine and saw that the digital screen on his meter read fifty-eight. I called out to Geoffrey, not knowing what fifty-eight meant. Geoffrey came over and tapped Daniel. Daniel looked up. I sighed with relief. I thought he had pa.s.sed out. Geoffrey gave Daniel half of a chocolate candy bar. Daniel tore into the candy bar immediately.

”Why is your blood sugar low?” I asked him.

He shrugged. ”I'm diabetic, so it happens sometimes. Better it gets low than high.”

”Why?”

”Because that means I can have candy,” he said with a mischievous smile.

”I had no idea you have diabetes,” I told him.

”Since I was twelve. It's called Juvenile Diabetes,” he shared.

The conversation died right there. It was sad to think that Daniel had to suffer with diabetes, starting from such a young age. It was sad that he had to go through it at all. I'd had no clue that he went through that until he'd gotten sick in our group meeting. I had never seen him take a shot or a pill or anything for his diabetes.

I felt strange inside, just sitting there with him in silence. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to feel. I wanted to say something to him, but there weren't any words. All I could do was look at him. His hair was dark and long like John's. I couldn't allow myself to start thinking about John. If I did, I'd get weird right there in front of Daniel. I leaned my head on my hands as my elbows rested on the table.

Instead of ignoring my presence, Daniel began to stare at me. I tried not to look at him. He had a string of caramel hanging from his bottom lip. I debated in silence whether to tell him or not. When I finally made my decision, I looked at him. I didn't intend to say anything, but I couldn't help laughing at the cute expression on his face while he let the caramel hang there. He was clueless.

”What's so funny?” he asked.

”You have some stuff on your mouth. It's just...”

”What?” He was smiling at me.

”The caramel is hanging from your mouth.” I kept laughing at him.

The more I laughed, the more it tickled him. He tried to wipe at the caramel, but that only made it worse. He made me laugh harder.

”What? Did I get it?” he asked.

I had to cover my mouth because I was laughing so hard. Daniel kept trying to wipe the caramel away, but was not having much success. I gave in and reached out to wipe it away for him. He noticed me getting closer to him, and he stopped smiling. My thumb touched his chin, and he flinched, quickly turning his face away from me. I immediately knew it was a mistake. Daniel didn't want me to touch him. I pulled my hand away, feeling stupid.

I didn't notice Tai standing nearby. She and Rocky walked over and sat down at the table with us. She gave me a strange look. She was grinning and twisting her lips at the same time. Cadence giggled at Rocky as she pa.s.sed our table.

”Shut up,” Rocky fussed.

”What were you two talking about?” Tai asked.

”Nothing,” I said.

”Oh, candy!” Janine exclaimed as she suddenly approached our table. She sat down next to Daniel and she made him smile again.

”How come you can have candy and we can't?” Janine asked him.

Daniel held out the last bite of his candy bar to her and asked, ”Do you want it?”

Janine pushed her long hair back and looked into his eyes. It was almost s.e.xy, the way he pushed the last bite of chocolate into her mouth and she chewed it. He watched her enjoy that last piece. Everyone one else watched. We were all shocked that she was eating it.

Interrupting the PG-13 moment between Janine and Daniel, Tai said, ”Don't go throwing that back up, Janine. He sacrificed his last bite of chocolate for you.”

Janine laughed and stuck her tongue out at Tai. They both laughed. Daniel kept his gaze on her. It looked like he had just noticed the beauty mole on the bridge between her neck and shoulder. Then he poked it with his index finger. Janine squealed in a cute way and poked him back.

Tai looked over at me. She said, ”Whew, somebody needs a bath.”

Everyone laughed, including Daniel. Janine was still poking at him, but I knew that he was laughing at what Tai had said. I wasn't laughing because I knew that Tai was talking about me.

”Take a whiff,” Tai kept on.

”Stop it,” Janine kept laughing. ”She can't help it. She has st.i.tches, so she can't shower. She can't get the st.i.tches wet because they will melt or something.”

That made them laugh even harder. I didn't say anything. I felt exactly what I had expected to feel the first day that I arrived here. They were being just like the people at school. I hated being around other kids. I hated being here at Bent Creek. My cramps started kicking in hard.