Chapter 7

Roy couldn't sleep that night. He focused on the clock and was disturbed to see it was just after midnight. His mind was still racing over what Mama Lopez said about Jenny's weight. She was right, Jenny was losing weight rapidly. How could he have not seen that himself. She looked as if she lost twenty pounds from her frame. Her oversized shirts that were in style were now even more oversized. She wore belts on all of her pants to keep them up. He kept going through the symptoms she showed. She lost a lot of weight over the matter of a month, yet she had been eating more than usual, at least when he was around. He couldn't believe the amount of food she had for breakfast and at the picnic. She polished off the plateful of goodies Mama Lopez brought over. She seemed to be on edge, too. She seemed pretty irritable with Chris when he took her bacon. And she had several cans of pop at the picnic. More than he's ever seen her drink. Weight loss, large appetite, irritability, thirst...There was only one ailment he could think: diabetes.

This thought ran rampant in his mind. He thought of the children and adults who acted strange when their sugar was up and then those who lost limbs to infection. His mind travel back to the day when Vince, a Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy, had to tackle a guy. The guy tried to punch Vince a couple times while the rolled on the ground. Lucky for Vince, the man missed with his fists. It was the spit on the cheek that got him. When Vince cuffed him to the gurney, the man's temper only got worse. The man only yelled at the two paramedics and called them every name in the book. Roy kept thinking how horrible this man's drug addiction was. After talking with Brackett, he realized his assumption was wrong. It was the spike of blood sugar of the unknown diabetes that had caused all the ruckus.

He created a mental list of what he would have to look out for. He would monitor the food she ate at home, trying to pay attention to her use of the bathroom, and note any character changes. But it would be difficult with her in school and him working two days on and one day off. He did not want to worry his daughter or wife without any proof though. Maybe, hopefully, it was all in his imagination. Because he sure didn't like the thought of Jenny's future if she was one of those diabetics. Constantly checking their sugar, shooting insulin into their system three, four times a day. Worst of all it could cause God know's what kind of complications in the future. And would she be able to become a nurse, which she has been working so hard to become. It was a liability for the hospital if she were to have an episode. Would a hospital even want to hire her with that type of condition?

He was anxious to tell someone with medical knowledge to make sure he wasn't just blowing things out of proportion. He refused to tell his wife yet because he did not want her to worry and she did not know as much as he did on the topic. And he wouldn't have time to see Bracket for the next two days because of work and he didn't want to get anyone involved at the hospital, that way it could be kept from Chris. He had hoped that he was just imagining the whole thing, but his gut was telling him that something was wrong. He decided to see Johnny on Thursday, which was his only day off. Johnny would have probably picked up on something if Jenny was really sick and he did have a good medical background. Johnny was someone Roy could trust and reassure him if he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

#####(5 weeks)####

Jen got up ten minutes earlier than normal. After she finished her normal morning routine, she went to the shed to cut a couple pieces of rope for David and herself. She smiled at the thought of David. He truly kept her sane during the academy. She could not discuss things outside of the academy with her family. Chris was busy working at the hospital and her parents still didn't know about the academy and could not and would not provide emotional support. She was sure of that.

Her wandering mind went back to the rope in her hand. The class was going to go over knots in class and David and her were going to practice after school at his place. He was good with his hands and helped her out a lot when it came with the mechanical side of firefighting. She was gifted when it came to the books. She probably would have flunked out without their after academy study sessions with David and Linda.

She had to admit she was nervous about going to David's house. It was the first time she was going to be alone with an older man in his own place. Linda had another date with Mark and couldn't come by to study. She hung out with boys but she never really dated after Roy embarassed her with her prom date. His name was Billy and when he came to pick her up at her place, the first sight he saw was was Roy sharpening an axe. The boy never came back to the house and was jittery every time he saw Jennifer. Roy saw it as protecting his little girl. Jenny saw at an embarrassment. She exhaled in relief. Roy wouldn't be around to mess this up and she doubted that David could be scared away so easily. He has started to stick up for both Jenny and Linda.

She smiled at the thought that she would get alone time with him and started to daydream about his apartment. She wondered what his place looked like. Was it fixed up nice or if he still had boxes from when he moved in? Once she snapped out of daydreaming about the interior decorating of David's apartment, she cut another piece of rope for David. As she walked back to her car, she thought about David some more. She noticed that he was getting more talkative with the group, especially with her. And the both of them started to grow a backbone. She kept going back to the day he flipped out on Jared after Jared grabbed her ass. She didn't have time to react to the groping because David had already gotten into Jared's face giving him a lecture on respecting women. A blush and a smile crept up on her face from the memory.

She threw the pieces of the rope in her backpack and left to go class. Her day would be fairly easy. The morning dealt with when and what types of rope would be necessary along with the knots that were to be used. Then the groups would be divided so the instructor could see them make the knots. Then lunch, followed by P.E. and a continuation of fire behaving training. Then she would go to David's. He already promised to call out for a pepperoni pizza.

The day was pretty uneventful. She struggled with the knots and remembering all the names, but she knew that 1. David had was great at it. 2. She would get the hang of it eventually-hopefully by Friday's test. Normally, she would have felt defeated for not knowing the knots, but she kept reminding herself that today was Monday and she was on her way to David's.

David lived in a small apartment complex not too far away from her own parent's house. It was a relatively quiet and well maintained complex. She parked her car next to his. He had tried to get the car door for her, but she was too quick to get out. When she realized what he had tried to do, she quickly apologized. She did let him close the door however. "Follow me," he said.

"I live in 117." He pointed to the door in front of him. He reached into his pockets and pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and opened the door. He guided her in by placing his hand on the small of her back. "Here's my place. It's nothing fancy, but I make do." He was right in saying it wasn't fancy. It was a step up from a college student's apartment. There was a well worn floral patterned couch in front of the tv. There were a few pictures hanging on the wall held up by tape. There wasn't a knick knack to be found. He lacked a table but there was a breakfast bar that looked into the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink. Coke, Budweiser, water, glass of tea?"

"I'll take a Coke please." He pulled out two cans of coke and started to get to glasses out of the cupboard. "Don't worry about a glass."

He closed the cupboard door and turned and smiled. "You're easy." Jenny looked at him questioningly. "Um...easy to please. Not...you're not too picky. Nevermind." Jenny laughed at his cute uncomfortableness.

"It's okay. I got you." Jenny let out a chuckle. He came out to the living room carrying two cans and motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. She set her backpack to the side of the couch and started to dig out the rope.

"So, there's too many hitches and figure eights!" And that was how the night was started out. They reviewed the variety of knots and what knots were used to hoist equipment. That way she wouldn't be lost on tomorrow's lecture. She offered to pay for the pizza since he was offering his apartment and his time to help her, but he wouldn't have none of it. He was a perfect gentleman. When the pizza arrived, they were done studying. It was time to talk about dreams, aspirations, and families. By the time she left David's, she felt much more confident in her ability to tie knots, what ropes to use, and why. She was ready for what the week would bring.