Stefan paced silently as they waited for the report from the doctor. He was worried about Andrea; she had been through so much already he worried that this would be just one to many things on her plate to deal with. He went through the possibilities in his mind for any condition that could cause the symptoms the other members of his menagerie told him that she had exhibited, but so far nothing he came up with covered all of the different symptoms she showed. Thirst, hunger, weight loss, exhaustion, tremors, frequent trips to the bathroom all through the day and night. He was really confused by this as the conditions he came up with either were missing some key symptoms or exhibited a major symptom that she didn't have.

Naomi watched as Stefan fidgeted in his seat, she knew he was worried about Andrea, they all were, this was the first time in years that anything remotely like this had occurred in Stefan's home.

After what seemed like hours the Samuel came out of the emergency room his face unreadable.

"Dr. Cornick, how is Andrea?" Stefan asked as he sat up.

"She's not doing well, we're transferring her to intensive care as we speak so her blood sugar can be carefully monitored until she wakes up." Samuel explained "We are giving her insulin and it's looking good for her but this is going to be something she struggling with for the rest of her life as there is no cure for diabetes."

Stefan was shocked, he had yet to have a member of his "flock" have this particular condition, it would be interesting to find out exactly how the blood exchanges would affect her condition if they had any effect at all.

Stefan took a seat his dark eyes focused on a spot on the floor, it wasn't like he didn't ever have to deal with medical conditions within his flock, you have as many humans as he does in his house one is bound to have a health problem at some point in time and this was no exception.

"When she's awake I'll talk with you and her about treatment options." Samuel continued.

"Okay, I would like to go back and see her." Stefan said calmly.

"You are her legal guardian so I can't keep you away from her, no matter what time of day it is." Samuel said doing well to hide the fact that he didn't like the fact that the sixteen year old was in the custody of a vampire. He had noticed that there were no marks on her neck, which only went to prove that he hadn't fed from her in the past twenty-four to forty-eight hours depending on how Stefan handled his flock, faster if he did a blood exchange every time, which if what Mercy had told him was anything to go by he did.

Samuel guided Stefan back to Andrea's room fighting back his instinct that said he wanted to take Andrea away from Stefan. He knew her history and it was clear she was thriving in Stefan's flock even with the symptoms of diabetes she was showing. Stefan had taken good care of her and Mercy told him that Stefan's people lived long, healthy lives while in his care, she had met some that had been with him for ten years or longer which was a shock to hear about humans in the care of a vampire as they rarely lasted 4 years without the vampire killing them whether on accident or purposely.

Stefan stopped at the door and looked at Samuel.

"Thank you for what you have done for her, I know you do not like my kind and I am glad you didn't punish her for that."

"She is innocent," Samuel paused briefly "and not many vampires would have brought her in, most that I have heard of would have either let her die or killed her outright."

"I have tasted too much death already; I would rather see her live as long as possible." Stefan replied then started into the room where Andrea lie with way too many tubes and wires coming from her form. He wondered if pulling blood from her would help the medicines work or just make matters worse. He wasn't sure and he wasn't willing to take the risk with her life on the line and Samuel so close by so he just sat down beside her and took her right hand into his own.

"Do not worry, little lamb, the doctors are taking good care of you, I will make sure you get the best care possible." He promised her "I promised you I would keep you safe and I do not plan to change my mind now.

Samuel couldn't pull himself from the door, he had to hear what Stefan said to Andrea and what was said shocked him. The vampire was promising to take care of her, make her well and give her the best life he could. Most vampires wouldn't have bothered bringing her in; much less would they be sitting by her side. They would have killed her or left her to die and gone to hunt out another to fill her spot in their flock, but not Stefan, he was taking care of her, making sure she got the life he believed she deserved.

Samuel walked away as Stefan fell silent, he knew eavesdropping was wrong but he had to know about the life Andrea had been put into if for no other reason to ease his conscious about leaving a teenager in the care of a vampire.

A few days later Samuel was shocked to learn that Stefan showed up every night about an hour after sunset to sit with Andrea and was often there until as close to sunrise as he could push it and still get home in time to feed and get to bed before sunrise. Stefan was being a father in more ways than Samuel ever dreamed a vampire would be. He knew vampires were evil, but knowing Stefan made it hard for him to keep believing that. Then he remembered what Marcillia had tried to do to Mercy and himself and it was easy to justify just calling Stefan the exception to the rule and going on about his life.

It took 4 days but soon Andrea finally woke up. At first she was a little confused about how she ended up in the hospital.

Samuel watched as Stefan explained that she collapsed and had been in a coma for several days due to her blood sugar being extremely high.

Samuel stepped up as Stefan finished and explained that she had type-one diabetes and that they were ready to discuss types of treatment to get her condition under control and keep it that way.

"Dr. Cornick, I don't know what options I have." Andrea said.

"A specialist will be in here in a few moments to lay out all the options you have and to figure out which one is best for you." Samuel said as a woman stepped in.

"Hello, I'm Danica Morrow, I am a diabetes specialist; I came tonight because I heard that this is the best time to get you and your guardian in the same room because of his schedule." She said.

Samuel excused himself and stepped out leaving them in Danica's hands.

"As I said I am Danica Morrow, I am a doctor and diabetes specialist, I was diagnosed as diabetic myself when I was about your age, Andrea, and I'll admit it was a life changing experience but you can get through it." Danica explained.

"I am Stefano Uccello, most people call me Stefan; I want to know how to take care of Andrea's needs." Stefan said.

"Well with her particular case she will need to take insulin shots and there are three options for that, the vial and syringe, which I'm going to be honest with you is not a fun ordeal, it's a lot of shots and a lot of time, but it's the cheaper of the three options. The second is an auto-injector, which looks like a pen, that eliminates measuring as you just turn a dial to a certain number and inject with the pen. The disadvantage to those is cost and the fact that once the auto injector is empty you have to throw it out so it's wasteful and expensive. The other option is an insulin pump, it's more expensive upfront but it's fewer shots and less measuring overall as the pump measures for you. I will teach her all she needs to know in order to use either set up we think is best for her and her lifestyle. To be honest I use the pump myself there is less to keep up with and it's very easy to handle once you learn how to use it. Though there is something of a learning curve to the pumps, I prefer them myself but that's just me, please don't let my bias color your judgement. What's right for me might not be what is right for Andrea."

Stefan seemed deep in thought.

"Do you have any idea which one you might choose?" Danica asked

To be continued...