A/N: One of the first safety rules with pumps is not to prime while connected (Except for one, tiny, approved prime ). Basically, the only way insulin should be delivered is through the "bolus" function, which has several safety catches.
He's thirsty and tired when he finally gets through his classes. He climbs the stairs, slowly. He is out of breath when he reaches the top. He wonders, and reaches into his pocket, only to find it empty. If he were not in the hallway, he might have stuck two fingers under his shirt and felt for the complete little plastic dome on his hip.
He locks the door behind him, and goes to laundry pile. When he pulls out his pajama pants, his pump is clipped to the belt and they stink with insulin. He rips the pump off, and reconnects the tubing before going and testing his blood sugar.
The meter greets him. "HI"
He's about to give himself a dose, but he sees his phone blinking instead. "Two Missed Calls. Two new messages." He checks them. Both his mother and his father have called in an eight-hour period, while he was in class.
His heart beat quickens, and he picks up the two messages.
His father calls to let him know there is a giant box of airheads waiting for him at the front desk.
His mother calls to say that she loves him very much, but that she can't make it to the US during his spring break. He can hear the sadness in her voice, as she quietly says, "I'm sorry, Bastian."
He wants to cry. His mother doesn't even have a week to come see him.
Instead, he bites the inside of his lip and goes downstairs to retrieve his package from the rector.
He lies to the older man, telling him that everything is fine, he's staying out of trouble, he's busy with the Warblers.
He goes back upstairs, and re-locks the heavy hardwood door. He feels… empty. Almost as though he is floating outside himself and needs to anchor himself.
Before he knows what he is doing, he uses a manicured nail to rip through the plastic wrapping and get access to the candy.
He eats one of the chewy, sugary bars.
Then another.
And another.
His bed is littered with wrappers, and he's about to spew in Technicolor. He goes into the bathroom, and finds his manual toothbrush. He tickles the roof of his mouth and the back of his throat until the lurid green, unnatural red, and vibrant blue that once occupied his stomach fill the water. The good thing about vomiting up candy is that it tastes pretty good the second time around.
He's tired, and empty. He wants to sleep. When he wakes up, the day will have been a bad dream. He won't have bombed Latin, or said something stupid in history. But, most importantly, his Mother will love him.
His rational side says he needs to bolus, but he'll be over his total daily dose if he does.
So, he untwists the cartridge from his pump and connects the plunger. He holds the syringe away from his body, and lets the liquid flow through.
It burns a little as he injects himself, but he doesn't care. He watches as 20… 40… 60… 80… 1 ml courses through the tubing. Then, he disconnects and re-primes his pump.
He lies, and lets his exhaustion take control.
A/N 2: So, I'm writing this in a separate document and adding this retroactively to the story. In my mind, I still haven't violated my 600 word rule, so it's okay. But, I think this chapter needs some explanation.
Insulin Pump 101
The pump is this little plastic box somewhere around the size of an iPod. (Common complaint from pump users: No, it's not my MP3 player/Cell phone/Pager/Thing to call a TARDIS!). Sebastian uses one, which, like most pumps, holds a reservoir of insulin connected to a relatively long, thin tube that connects to a site at his body.
Here's a picture:
http:/www. /v/vspfiles/templates/TF0212/images/images_files/insulin%20pump .jpg
(please remove the spaces)
You can't see it, but the tubing is actually between 1 and 3' long (30 – 100 cm), depending on the preference of the user. The insulin gets kept in this short, fat, syringe, which usually holds holds ~3 ml or 300 U. Based on Sebastian's age/size/time as a diabetic/activity level, I'm estimating that his total daily dose (all insulin taken over 24 hours) should be about 50 – 75U. He takes 100, and of the 100, he needs probably between 20U and 40U… meaning he has just taken a full day's dose in 15 minutes. Or, more than enough to cause his blood sugar to drop and cause him to seize/die.