Hey, I'm finally done the oneshot with Johnny having diabetes. First of all, I want to dedicate this chapter to one of my anonymous review, Iaweina (I'm sorry if I spelt it wrong). She has given me the encouragement that no other reviewer had given me.

This is a message to Iaweina: You should join on Fanfic. That was you could write some stories. If you want, we could even share an account if you don't want a whole one. And Thanks!

Enjoy!

Keep My Life

Johnny Storm had always been a healthy, energetic boy who bloomed into a handsome yet reckless man. Even though he never took anything for granted, even a man like him can have his life taken away from him with a single word or three words in this case. Johnny Storm's life ripped apart and shattered the lives of all around him when he found out that he had diabetes.

Susan, his older sister, took the news the hardest. She felt as if he getting diabetes was her fault. She always thought that she was the one who was supposed to save him from getting hurt and keeping out of trouble, however, this time she couldn't. Even though she was only human, she knew that she had to do something.

She had asked her husband to do anything to find a cure for diabetes, but Reed simply shook his head. He knew that Johnny was important to Susan, but he didn't want her to strain too much pressure especially since their second one was on its way.

Johnny, nonetheless, did take it pretty hard on it himself. He blamed everything on him. He blamed himself for killing his mother even though she died in a car crash. He blamed himself for his father dieing in order to protect his children. He blamed himself for making his sister worry so much. Even though it was unusual for the man, he stayed cooped up in his room almost as long as Susan did. However, he occasionally did get out of the room to get snacks. He had taken his insulin shots, just as his doctor told him to do. He had balanced his meal and what he ate.

Johnny walked out of his room and walked by the elevator door. When the doorbell rang, he rushed back to the elevator and waited to see who it was. When he saw who it was when the elevator door sprung open, he sighed. It was Frankie Raye, his ex-girlfriend. He hadn't kept touch in her ever since they broke up a few months ago.

Silence had befallen them before Frankie muttered, "Hey."

Johnny looked at her, "Hey."

Frankie looked uncomfortable when she said, "How you feeling?"

Johnny wanted to tell her to get a new life but instead he replied, "Great. You?"

Smiling, she said, "Never been better." Another moment of silence had fallen and both of them were very uncomfortable. "So…ummm…how's everyone else?"

"Fine."

Frankie looked at Johnny and hoped that he would say something more but he didn't. She didn't want them to be uncomfortable around each other. In fact, she never even wanted them to split up. When Frankie had yelled that she never wanted to meet him in anger, he took it seriously and dumped her. She wanted him back, even if it meant to start all over again. "So, uh, taking your insulin shots?"

Johnny whipped his head around and was about to walk away when Frankie leaned over and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked around, straight into her eyes.

Frankie unexpectedly put her arms around him and surprisingly started to cry. Johnny looked down at the girl in his arms in surprise. He stroked his hair while she sobbed into his chest. She muttered, "Why did you have to leave me? Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had diabetes? I cried all night when I found out from Reed. I love you, don't you see?"

Johnny looked at the girl in his arm in surprise. Did she say that she loved him? He tilted her chin so he could see right into her eyes, right into her soul. "I love you too." Frankie was about to say something when she felt cold lips against hers. She was shocked by the action, but immediately sunk into it.

What they didn't see was Reed walk by with his coffee mug. He smiled saying, "Figure my call would do the trick. Now only if Sue would come around…"

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Susan watched the door where her husband had just left the room. She was alone in the room as Franklin was with his "Aunt Ali" or Alicia and Ben at Alicia's apartment. Johnny was in his room as usual, probably playing video games. He had recovered slowly and accepted the fact that he had diabetes. However, Susan couldn't. She still blamed herself for everything.

Her husband had always tried to do logics with her, but she knew it wouldn't work. She remembered the last time he had done that when Johnny was asking for bail when he crashed a car.

Reed listened patiently as his fiancée was sobbing and whispering into his chest.

"Reed, you know how hard it has been for me to raise Johnny as a sister. When our mother died, life began spiralling downward for father. After her death," Susan paused and sobbed a bit more, "he became a gambler and a drunk. Because of that, he accidentally killed a loan shark. Ever since our father went into jail, I had to raise Johnny. If only he would understand how much I am struggling for him, maybe then he would know better than to crash cars."

"Inscrutable," whispered Reed when he looked around his room. Unfortunately, Susan heard this, and she immediately looked up at Reed with red, puffy eyes.

"What do you mean inscrutable? Are you saying I am inscrutable? Are you saying that I am…" the Episcopalian focused hard on finding the meaning of the word inscrutable in her mind of vocabulary.

Reed reluctantly rolled his eyes and commented quietly, "Like I said, I really need to get the three of you dictionaries."

"Inscrutable means hard to make out, doesn't it?" Startled by her melodic voice, Reed nodded by means of answering. Scrutinizing him was one of her ultimate goals by the time they were married. However, she still didn't understand him and his rather awkward use of vocabulary. "Why did you call me inscrutable?"

While letting go of her and standing up, he answered, "I called you inscrutable because you are hard to read. No one would have expected that you had such a hard past, Susan. No one would have guessed the responsibilities and burdens laid out on you because of one tragedy in your life."

Susan gawked at Reed and stood up as well. As she was going to leave the room, she whispered, "Johnny is not a burden. I love him way too much to say he's a burden. In fact, he's a gift from God."

Once she left the room, Reed smiled faintly, "That's exactly what I predicted that I would hear from you, Susan."

She shook the memory out of her head and went into the bathroom because she felt another vomit coming up again. She really didn't like handling the fact that her baby brother had diabetes when she was expecting a child in five months.

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Months had passed and Susan still didn't get out of her room even though the baby was due in two months. Everyone wanted to see her like she was before they found out what happened but nothing they said would work. Ben and Alicia were always playing with Franklin, Reed in his lab, and Johnny and Frankie spending as much time together as they could. Everyone knew that if anyone could make Sue change her mind, it was Johnny.

That was the reason why Johnny was in front of her sister's room, knocking on the door. When she opened the door, she looked surprised. She beckoned him to come inside and they began to talk.

"Look, Sue, before you say anything, thank you for all you have done, but you don't need to kill yourself thinking that you are the reason behind my diabetes. Didn't you know the grandma had it?"

Sue looked at her brother in exasperation, "Why did you have to get it though? Why couldn't it be me?"

"Sue, you're being too hard on yourself. See, look at me, I'm happy as a man should be. Frankie is living with us, and I am going to become an uncle again in two months. Shouldn't I be happy? I'm taking my insulin shots. What else do you need?" Johnny exclaimed.

Susan looked at her brother in shock. Susan really didn't know what was happening in the Baxter Building. She didn't even knew that Frankie and Johnny got back together again. "I want you to forgive me."

Johnny sighed, "For the last time it wasn't your…"

Susan interrupted, "I want you to forgive me for taking this too much to heart. I knew that you would cope just fine but I still can't help but wonder, why this had to happen to you. I love you Johnny, and as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"I love you too. Well, glad that's over. Hey do you want to have some lunch? We better hurry before Benjie burns the steak again." He smiled, which Susan knew what he was thinking.

And for the first time in five months, Susan was laughing.

Like it? I hope you did. Anyways, the chapter for Time To Start Again should be up soon!

Until next time….

Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it.

-Rosefire