Chapter 4: The Emergency

Sarah went running over to Lucy and Kevin's house at the sound of the horrible scream. She knew that it couldn't be good. She ran up the stairs two at a time with Matt right at her heals as she went to the boys' room. Lucy was holding on to Brett with tears in her eyes. Matt knew by the looks of his nephew that he needed sugar in his system and fast. While his wife was attending to Brett, Matt ran to the fridge to see if he could find some liquid with sugar. Bingo. Orange juice concentrate. That would do the trick.

Meanwhile, Sarah was taking Brett's blood sugar. It was only 43. She knew that if she didn't act fast, she would be dealing with diabetic shock. All of a sudden Matt burst through the door with orange juice concentrate and a turkey baster. Sarah quickly took both from Matt and gave some of it to her nephew that lay almost helpless in his mother's sobbing arms.

During the commotion, David slipped over to his sister's house and gathered up a sleepy Zachary. He signaled to let Kevin know where his son was going and Kevin slipped out of the room.

"David, I don't know when we will be able to pick him up from your house. Brett is very sick. Before you do anything, please have your mother, father, or Ruthie check Zach's new blood sugar. If he is all set tell Mom that he has had his snack and should be all set for bed. I'll update the family as soon as I can."

With that, David grabbed Zach's medical bag for the house and half dragged his sleeping nephew next door. Ruthie was in the yard with Savannah and carried in Zach as Savannah was lured into the kitchen with the promise of sleeping over at Nana's that night. She really didn't know what was going on, but was happy that she could be here with everyone. That would mean she would get to share a room with Molly seeing as her parents were tying up Matt and Sarah.

Sam, who had been listening to music in his room during this whole time and didn't know what was going on was surprised to see an ambulance drive next door to Lucy and Kevin's house. He figured that he better go and investigate. He snuck down the stairs half way and tried to listen in.

"Hi Uncle Sam! Guess what?! I get to sleep here tonight." Savannah screeched with excitement. Uh oh Sam thought. He was now busted and had to take over babysitting. Obviously his parents were going to go wherever they were needed.

"Sam. Is that you? You need to help David with the twins and Molly. Ruthie is going to be here. She is going to take care of Zach first. All of you had better listen to Ruthie while we're gone." Annie said as she walked to the stairs.

Sam shrugged his shoulders and went to help David get Lucas and Anthony upstairs to David's room. Now that the rest of the family had moved out, the twins had gotten their own rooms. "So David, what happened to Lucy and Kevin? Wait, where is Brett?"

"Brett was having a low blood sugar. Sarah and Matt were with Brett and are taking good care of him. Don't worry."

Ruthie watched her brother David comfort Sam from outside of their room where she held a sleeping Zach. He was doing fine and was all set to go to bed. David was a great and compassionate brother. He acted much older than Sam. Once the twins got their own rooms when Ruthie had gone off to college, they stopped acting as a unit and really started to act as individuals. "Hey boys, I hope you don't mind staying together tonight. I want to bunk in Sam's room so that I can be in the adjoining room with Molly and Savannah in case they need something. I'll just open up the door. Then, I can have Zach sleep in the same room with me in case he needs something as well in the middle of the night. Would you two be ok while I just run to the garage apartment to grab my night clothes and some stuff for school tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure Ruthie. Um…Sam, I was wondering if I could talk to Ruthie alone for a minute please." David asked his brother. Sam nodded and Ruthie led David out of the room and shut the door.

"Ruthie, what is going to happen if mom and dad don't get back tomorrow morning? Who is going to watch Zach and Molly?"

"Well, I guess I could always ask Nick. He can work from home if he ever needs to and I think he would enjoy doing that. I think I will give him a call and ask him."

David nodded his head and went back in the room to help Sam get the boys ready for bed. Ruthie realized that she really needed Nick for this job just in case it was needed. She would have to call him some time tonight. Ruthie went to her room in the apartment and dialed Nick's number.

"Hello" came the husky voice of Nick.

"Hey Nick. It's Ruthie"

"You sound a little upset. What's wrong baby?"

"Um…Brett had to be taken to the hospital. I am in charge of Sam, David, Anthony, Lucas, Zach, and Molly. If mom and dad don't get back by tomorrow morning, I need someone to watch Zach and Molly."

"Hey that is no problem. I'll be right over to help."

Ruthie couldn't believe that he just offered such a thing. "No Nick, it's alright."

"No Ruthie. You have your hands full. I'll be right over. They are soon to be my nieces and nephews too. They already call me Uncle Nick."

Ruthie reluctantly agreed and hung up the phone. She broke down in tears. This act of kindness out of her fiancé showed her that he really was one of a kind. He was an only child and so he didn't have the opportunity to have nieces and nephews. Nick truly accepted her family as his own.

Ruthie grabbed the stuff she would need for the night and tomorrow and went back over to the main house. She went about preparing the guest bed in the attic for Nick and making the bed for herself. She went and peeked in to Molly and Savannah's room. Savannah was sleeping with one of Ruthie's old Hello Kitty pillows. Molly was down at least for the time being. She then went to see Sam reading a book on the pullout bed with Anthony sleeping next to him. David was reading quietly to Lucas who was scared about sleeping without his mom and dad with him. Ruthie went in and kissed each of the kids goodnight and went in to her room. She was emotionally exhausted. After making sure Zach was all set for the night, Ruthie changed and climbed in to bed and started to read book on the perfect wedding vows.

A knock at her bedroom door alarmed Ruthie until Nick came in with a cup of tea for the both of them. "I figured you were going to need this. How are you? Is there any news yet?"

Ruthie just shook her head when the phone started ringing. Nick was the closest to the phone and grabbed it for Ruthie. "Hello."

"Hi Ruthie. It's mom. I just wanted to give you an update. First, how are all of the kids?"

"Well, David is having Sam, Anthony, and Lucas stay in his room. I am in David's room with the baby guest room door open so that it is just one big room. Zach is sleeping on the pullout cot on the floor next to me, and Savannah and Molly are asleep in the other end of the guest room."

"It looks like Brett had a really low blood sugar. He and Zach had asked Lucy if they could give themselves the shot tonight since they had been practicing with the doctor. Lucy said they could once she got back and could be there to watch. She went to go and make a snack for the boys in case they needed one in the middle of the night. It looks as if Brett was playing around with his insulin pen and cranked it up and injected himself with quite a bit."

"Oh my goodness. I hope he is okay." Ruthie said as she was starting to cry. Nick sat on the bed with Ruthie and held her tight.

"Right now it is touch and go. Sarah and Matt were smart to give Brett something with a lot of sugar. He is still rather sick right now. Lucy is a wreck. I'll come home tomorrow morning with your father if you need me to."

"No, don't worry. Nick is here. I called him to ask if he could watch the kids tomorrow and he came over tonight. He is sleeping in the attic bedroom. I figured you all would want to be with Brett right now. Nick already has gone through the training to take care of type one diabetic children. He should be okay with Zach and he has my cell number in case he needs me at school."

"Oh, that's so wonderful. That way we can stay here until we hear more. Kevin and Lucy need someone with them right now and your father needs to go to work for a while tomorrow. Look, I'll be home as soon as things get better here. I love you Ruthie."

"I love you too mom. No rush. David, Nick, and I have everything under control here. Bye"

Ruthie hung up the phone and was surprised to see Sam and David standing in the doorway. They at least had heard the conversation from one side. Now it was Ruthie's turn to tell the boys that everything was okay for now and to go to bed. It wasn't her place to tell them that Brett wasn't out of the woods yet. Especially since Zach slept peacefully on the floor right in the room. She would tell Nick though Ruthie thought. He was going to be her husband very shortly and should know these things. She decided to show him where he was to be staying and tell him the news upstairs away from little ears once the boys fell asleep.

A/N: Sorry. I keep coming up with short chapters. So what do you think will happen to Brett? Was it too late?

Please give me ideas. Review please.