Title: Even When Everything's Down
Author: AnchorRed
Word Count: 2,216
Summary: Luke collapses during band practice.
Notes: This is set before the boys died. Luke has not yet run away from home. Title comes from "Stand Tall".
Warnings: vomiting, diabetic hypoglycemia

"Hey, Luke? Plug my amp in for me, will ya?" Reggie took off his leather jacket and threw it over the arm of the sofa. He looked over at Luke, but he hadn't seemed to hear him. "Luke?" He tried a little louder this time. "Can you plug my amp in?"

Luke finally looked up, but he seemed distracted. "Oh. Right." He leaned his guitar against the wall and reached down for the cord. He plugged it in and turned it on, his movements sluggish. "You're all set."

"Thanks, man," Reggie said with a wide smile. He strummed his bass, causing a deep sound to resonate from the speaker. "Awesome! I wasn't sure it was going to work. I had to work on it last night because it kept sounding all staticky, but it seems to be working now." He strummed a few more notes, satisfied that it sounded okay.

"Sounds good, Reg!" Alex grabbed his sticks and sat on the throne behind his drum set. "Everyone ready to start? We've gotta sound good. Unfortunately, our show last night got cancelled because of the rain, but we've got that gig at the coffee shop this Friday, then that book club the day after."

"Totally. I'm already halfway through the book!" Reggie said proudly.

"That's not. . .never mind." Alex gave up.

"I'm ready," Bobby chimed in, slinging his guitar over his shoulder.

"Affirmative," Reggie answered.

Everyone looked at Luke. He seemed to be staring off into space, not paying attention to anything going on around him.

"Hey, Luke. You good?" Alex asked, brows furrowed.

"Huh? Oh, I'm good. Just have a headache." His features looked pinched.

"Heads up," Bobby said, tossing Luke a water bottle. "This should help."

Luke's reaction was too slow. He missed it and could only watch as it rolled away from him, coming to a stop by Reggie's boot. Reggie gently kicked it, making it roll back to Luke. He stooped down to pick it up and took a few gulps before setting it back to the floor.

"Alright. Let's start with Bright and then go straight into Now or Never." Luke picked up his guitar and settled the strap around his shoulders. He seemed off, but no one said anything. They all knew he'd been arguing more and more with his mom lately and no one wanted to bring it up, least of all Luke.

"On three! One. . .two. . .three!" Alex counted off. They began playing, their music filling the converted garage. They sounded great, at least until Luke missed his cue for the second chorus and went right into the bridge instead. "Cut! Cut!" Alex shouted. "What was that?"

All eyes fell to Luke, who avoided their gazes. His face looked flushed and there was sweat beaded along his brows. "Sorry, I'm just. . . ." his voice trailed off. He shook his head and his balance seemed to waver with it. "So hot," he commented in a low voice.

He pulled off his sleeveless blue jacket and tossed it to the couch, leaving him in only a white tank. Although it was warmer than it'd been the previous day, it still wasn't what most people would consider hot while wearing no sleeves. Alex and Bobby wore short sleeves while Reggie wore his flannel rolled up to his elbows. None of them were sweating.

"Let's try again, starting at the second verse," Alex said, counting them off.

Luke played a few chords before the pick fell from his trembling fingers. He couldn't seem to stop his hands from shaking. He took a wobbly step forward and stopped. He closed his eyes, willing the dizziness to pass.

It didn't.

He opened his eyes, only to see two guitar picks laying on the floor beside his feet. But he'd only dropped one, right? He blinked, but there were still two picks. He bent down to pick up the one on the right, only for his hands to brush nothing but the rough concrete. He shook his head, only making the dizziness worse. He reached for the other guitar pick. He felt the smooth plastic with his fingertips, but a split second later, he felt his body falling. He crashed to the hard ground, his head spinning.

The music came to an abrupt halt. He hadn't even realized they were still playing. He heard raised voices calling his name, but he was too focused on staying conscious to answer. He felt several pairs of gentle hands on his arms and shoulders. He tried to tell them that he was okay, just dizzy, but he couldn't get his mouth to work. His head felt heavy and his vision was swimming.

"Hey, Luke? Can you hear me?" Alex asked worriedly. He was trying hard to remain calm, but that was hard to do after watching one of his best friends collapse right in front of him. He felt his anxiety mounting and had to remind himself to breathe. Luke gave no answer. He didn't seem very coherent.

Reggie patted Alex on the back. "It's okay, man. We'll figure this out."

"He's been off all evening. Was he acting strange at school today?" Bobby looked to Reggie and Alex. He didn't have as many classes with Luke as they did.

"Um. . . ." Alex ran a hand through his hair. "He pretty much slept all through lunch. Said he'd had a big fight with his mom that night and hadn't really slept." Alex shrugged.

"Yeah, he was pretty quiet today," Reggie added.

"Did he seem sick? Did he say anything about not feeling well?" Bobby pushed, trying to jog their memories for anything they could've missed, but both boys shook their heads.

"No, just that he'd argued with his mom as soon as he got home from school. Spent the rest of his evening in his room and had trouble sleeping. That's it," Alex answered.

"Dude, his heart's, like, pounding!" Reggie said, bringing their attention back to Luke. "He's shaking and sweating. . .What do we do?!" His voice went up an octave, clearly worried about their bandmate.

"Wait, wait! He spent all evening in his room? And then slept through lunch?" Bobby questioned, brows furrowed. "When was the last time he ate?"

The three boys locked eyes, worry and fear evident in all of them. Alex scrambled for Luke's backpack that he'd thrown on the couch earlier. They all knew that he had type one diabetes. He received a diagnosis back in middle school. He'd learned to manage it so well over the years that they had all gotten complacent; they didn't keep an eye on him like they should have, figuring that he had a handle on it. They knew they needed to do better and be a better friend. Luke was going through a lot right now with his mom. They needed to have his back and make sure he was taking care of himself.

"Found it!" Alex pulled Luke's meter from the backpack. He stared at it. "Does somebody. . . ."

"I'll do it!" Reggie took the meter from Alex's hand, knowing that he wasn't very good with blood. Using the device, he pricked Luke's finger. Luke didn't even stir. Other than the constant trembling, he didn't move. "Crap!" He showed the device to the others, who each sucked in a breath.

"Man, that's. . .that's way too low!" Alex commented.

Bobby got up and darted to the mini fridge across the room. He grabbed a juice box they kept there for Luke. He ran back and popped the straw into it. He slipped it between Luke's parted lips, but Luke didn't drink it.

"Luke, come on, man!" Reggie encouraged, giving Luke a shake. "You need to drink something."

Luke groaned, but didn't open his eyes. His lips moved, but he still didn't drink. He couldn't get his mouth to work properly.

"He can't do it. And if we squirt it into his mouth, he'll choke. What do we. . . we need to. . .ugh? What do we do, guys?" Alex gripped his hair in frustration.

"Calm down, Alex. We can't afford to lose it right now. Luke needs us," Reggie said calmly, but it was obvious he was just as worried. "Doesn't he have something for emergencies?"

"Glucagon! It should be in his bag!" Alex shouted.

Bobby rummaged through the backpack and pulled out a red plastic case. Alex snatched it and opened it up. Inside was a syringe and a vial. He remembered Luke showing him how to use it years ago. He just hoped he didn't mess up.

Alex squirted the contents of the syringe into the vial and swirled it around until the powder turned into a clear liquid. Satisfied it was ready, he pulled the correct dosage of the liquid into the syringe. Bobby used an alcohol wipe on Luke's arm. Alex held the syringe ready, but his hand was shaking.

"I can do it, if you want. We need to hurry," Bobby offered.

Alex shook his head. "I got this." He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pushed the needle into Luke's arm and pushed down the plunger. The syringe emptied into Luke's arm and Alex pulled it out. "There." He set the syringe back into the case.

"Don't we need to, uh. . . ." Reggie started.

"Oh, yeah." Alex turned Luke onto his side and Reggie ran off to grab a bucket. He placed it beside Luke's head. They'd only witnessed Luke getting a dose of glucagon once, many years ago. He'd reacted by vomiting and they figured this time would be the same.

The wait was agonizing. They knew it could take several minutes for the glucagon to work, and they hated waiting, hoping that Luke would be okay. He still looked pale and sweaty, his long hair plastered to his forehead. He didn't look well at all.

"It's been five minutes," Alex said, glancing at his watch. "Anytime now."

They were silent as they watched their friend. With each passing second, they waited for him to wake. Two minutes later, he stirred.

"Here we go," Reggie said, gripping the bucket.

Luke groaned. He curled tightly into himself, his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"Luke?" Bobby questioned. Luke groaned again, his eyelids fluttering. "How do you feel?"

Luke said nothing, only grimaced while holding his middle. It was obvious he was going to be sick.

"Hey, you're okay. Can you open your eyes?" Reggie said, one hand stroking Luke's back. Luke obliged, but the second he did, he started gagging. "Here you go, dude." Reggie held the bucket out and Luke vomited into it. It was mostly bile and water since he hadn't eaten much for several hours, but it still came out forcefully, making Luke whimper.

After a couple rounds, Luke began breathing heavily, trying to regain his breath. "That's it. Just breathe," Reggie soothed. He pulled the bucket away and pushed it aside. Bobby took it to the bathroom to clean it out. Luke leaned heavily against Reggie, not having the strength to sit up on his own.

"Here. Drink this." Alex held the juice box out for Luke to take. Luke just stared at it. "Oh, come on. You know the drill. I know you feel pukey, but you'll feel better after you get something into your system. Drink all of this and then well get you a sandwich and some crackers, okay?"

Luke stared at him and sighed. Instead of reaching for the juice, he leaned forward and began drinking it while Alex still held it. Alex just shook his head and gave him a lopsided smile. He was glad Luke was going to be okay.

"Should we get you to a doctor or something? I mean, you were pretty out of it," Reggie said, looking from Luke's slumped form to Alex.

Alex opened his mouth to answer, but Luke cut him off.

"No. I just want to eat something and sleep. I'll be fine. This isn't the first time this has happened."

Alex was about to argue, but one look at Luke changed his mind. Other than tired, he seemed fine. No one would want to spend the night in the hospital, anyway. And with the way things had been with his mom. . .she'd likely find a way to blame Luke for what happened, probably by blaming music. She'd say it had made him irresponsible and neglectful. Luke didn't need to go through that. Alex didn't want to cause another argument.

"Okay. We'll have a sleepover tonight. Keep an eye on you," Alex suggested.

"Really, I'm fine. And I don't need you waking me up every hour to check my blood sugar. 'Cause I know you will." Luke knew Alex had a history of being overprotective. He was a worrier, after all.

Alex shrugged. "I could call an ambulance instead. Take your pick."

Luke sighed loudly. "Okay. But hurry up with that sandwich. I need a nap." A small smile spread over his lips. He might try to act annoyed, but he was grateful for the friends he had. Even when the rest of his life sucked, they always had his back.

***

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