Spoonful of Sugar

This story has been prompted by reallyme and the prompt was Jason being diagnosed with diabetes.

When Jason was eleven years old he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It was a difficult time for the family; the boy's father and Sandy's loving husband Alan Roscoe had died only a few months before and they were still trying to adjust with the gaping hole left in their hearts. It was for this reason that it took so long for Jason to be diagnosed.

He had never liked causing a fuss and when the ten year old boy woke up gasping for water in the middle of the night or when he had to suddenly rush to the toilet to empty his bladder he didn't really think into it. He didn't even notice the weightloss that much either, he had never kept track of his weight and only realised he was a bit skinnier when he had to tighten the belt on his jeans to stop them from falling down.
Sandy, still taken over by the grief had summed up his shrinking waistline to a growth spurt (never mind the fact that Jason wasn't getting much taller) and everyone else agreed with her. Everyone but one person. Robbie had noticed that his twin was acting differently, he was quieter and more withdrawn and couldn't quite put his finger on why.

But the whole family was different now as they tried to deal with their loss, so he didn't say anything, thinking he was just being paranoid and nothing more.

He promised himself that he would watch out for his twin though and see if he went back to his playful self. He didn't. As time went by, Jason only got worse. He sat by himself in the playground, too exhausted to play football with all the other boys, trying desperately to keep his eyes open where he sat and he was always tripping over his own feet in PE, which wasn't like him at all.

He saw that Jason was getting thinner too, one night when they were getting changed into pyjamas his ribs were faintly visible though it confused the young Roscoe. He saw Jason eating all the time, he'd even had two helpings of dinner that night and it had been Mum's disgusting lasagne! Robbie hadn't been able to even eat half of it. So how was his brother getting thinner?

He slept more too. Before, Jason was the one who had to get Robbie up on school days but now it was the other way round. Even on their eleventh birthday Jason was off. The pair had been excited since last year, but on the actual day Jason spent most of his time sleeping (luckily it was a Saturday), only emerging from his room to sluggishly open presents and to gorge on some birthday cake (fortunately it was shop bought and not homemade).

"Oh it's a shame Jason's got the flu," Sandy said at the end of the day as she cleared away wrapping paper. She still hurt from the death of her beloved, still cried herself to sleep, but she was getting better. She was getting herself out of the dark hole she'd been in for the past few months and Robbie was glad that he was getting his mum back. Losing one parent was hard enough, but two? He wouldn't have been able to cope.

"And on his birthday." Joe sighed, licking the chocolate icing off his fingers. The others all agreed though Robbie stayed silent. Jason was sick, he could see that and had seen it for the past few weeks, but he didn't think it was the flu. The flu went away after one or two weeks (he would know, he'd had it earlier that year), but Jason had been acting weird for almost a month now.

He was worried for his twin, but what could he do?

He was only eleven years old, and despite gaining an extra number onto his age, he was no more experienced than he had been the day before. Going against his instinct, he decided to trust the others. After all they were adults, if they said it was the flu it had to be. Right?

It all came to head less than a couple of days later. Jason was only getting worse, his hair laying limp across his head, his skin even more ashen and Sandy was becoming more and more concerned for her youngest's wellbeing. She made a doctor's appointment for the next day, hoping that he'd be able to tell her what she was missing.

It was a warm summers day and the whole family were spending time with one another in the garden. Robbie had managed to convince Jason to go exploring with him, even though the smaller boy wanted nothing more than to lie down and go to sleep. They were hidden well at the back of the yard, climbing through the hedges when Jason collapsed, hitting his head on the ground as he fell. Having heard the crash behind him, Robbie turned and was shocked by what he saw.

Shaking himself out of it, he ran back to the others, calling their names and trying to stay as calm as he could. They followed him at a run when he tried to explain what was going on, all trying to get the frail boy to wake up, though nothing happened.

"Call an ambulance," Sandy yelled, checking over Jason and making sure he hadn't seriously hurt his head when he fell. The ambulance came within minutes, though they only let Sandy come with Jason.

"I want to go," Robbie protested, being held back by Freddie as he watched his twin being loaded into the ambulance. "This is all my fault."

"What?" Freddie asked, shocked at what Robbie was saying. "This is nobodies fault sport, least of all yours."

"But I knew he wasn't well. I knew it wasn't the flu, if I'd said something he'd be okay."

Realising what his younger brother was implying, Freddie pulled him into a tight hug, hoping to dispel any fears and insecurities. "Robbie you are not to blame for this in the slightest. At least you noticed something was wrong with Jase when none of us did. And you were so brave earlier, I know I wouldn't have stayed as calm as you did."
"Yeah?" Robbie asked, looking slightly cheered up, though it was still outweighed by the worry he felt for his brother.

"Yeah." Freddie soothed as he watched the ambulance race down the street before shooting into action with the others. They loaded themselves into the family car and drove as quickly as law would allow to the hospital, grateful when they saw Sandy waiting at the reception desk for them.

"Thank God," she breathed, dragging them through the winding corridors until they reached a quiet hallway.

"Is he okay?" Joe asked, the others all waiting for the answer with baited breath.

Sandy shrugged, looking helpless. "The doctors are doing some tests now. The results will come through soon." Soon seemed to drag on forever, but eventually a doctor made his way down the corridor and stopped when he reached the family.

"As you know, we've taken a blood test and a urine test to make sure we know what's wrong with Jason," he started, his voice slow and soothing, though it did little to calm the anxious family. "There was a large number of ketones in Jason's urine and he's severely dehydrated."

"What's wrong with him?" Freddie snapped, in no mood to listen to the man's ramblings.

"We believe Jason has type 1 diabetes and without the insulin his blood glucose levels have been raising steadily until it got too much for his body, leading to his earlier collapse. He fell into diabetic ketoacidosis because without the necessary insulin, the glucose couldn't enter his cells and provide energy. His body instead began to break down fat, which is why he's lost so much weight recently, and a lot of toxic acids began building up in his bloodstream.

"We've managed to avoid him falling into a coma, but he is resting at the moment and we would like to keep him in overnight to make sure his blood glucose stays at a safe level and that he's hydrated enough."

"Of course doctor," Sandy nodded, paling as she realised just how close to death her baby had been. How had she not noticed how sick Jason really was? Had she been so lost in her grief that she hadn't picked up on her own son's suffering? Cursing herself for being so self absorbed, she vowed to do better in the future, her boys were the most important things in her life and she wouldn't put anything (even herself) over them again.

So lost in thought, Sandy didn't notice when Joe stood and looked through the room's window, staring intently at his little brother. "I think he's waking up," he breathed, nudging Sandy as he spoke. She shot up and entered the room as the others all watched closely.

"Hey sweetie," she smiled as Jason stirred.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking at his surrounding in confusion.

"In the hospital, you gave us quite a fright." Sandy told him gently, before she went to explain the basics of what happened. "I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"What have you got to be sorry for?" Jason asked, sitting up and sounding incredibly confused.

"I should have noticed something was wrong earlier on."

"But I didn't tell you when I was feeling ill." Jason argued, even hours after collapsing he was still the most logical one in the family.

"Well I'm never leaving you out of my sight," Sandy promised, hugging him tightly as the young boy squirmed under her grip. Sandy knew she should have spotted that something was wrong with Jason much earlier on and now she'd failed him for not doing so.

But that was never going to happen again, Sandy promised herself she would never fail her family again, resolving to do anything and everything she could for them in the future.

A rule she stuck with for the rest of her life.

Well that was quite fluffy at end, although I wasn't overly happy with it.

Next Story – Grease is the word – Jason and Holly are cast in their local school production and sparks begin to fly!