Chapter Seventeen

Breathing Through A Straw

Kelsey

I'm down at the Reservation, hanging out with Leah down by the beach. I'm leaning back on my elbows, letting the sea air relax me and, hopefully, getting a tan in the process. Leah's playing Animal Crossing, which she's totally addicted to. If you ask her, though, she'll say she's not. Some of the La Push guys, including Paul, are drinking beers and joking around a few yards away.

Now, don't me wrong: I'm not a saint. I've done my fair share of illegal shit: speeding, gambling with a friend, been the cohost of a party busted for a noise complaint. But underage drinking, along with drugs, is something I've never done. It's not that I'm a police chief's daughter, and it's not that I can't because of my diabetes. Diabetics can drink if they are careful to watch for tanking blood sugar. For me, though, it just seems like way too much work. I mean, I'd have to eat periodically while I drank, worry about my sugar more than I already do, and keep an eye out for lows hours after I finished drinking. A diabetic friend of mine once had a seizure after a night of heavy drinking, because her sugar dropped so much so quickly. That scared the shit out me, and I vowed not to drink. And drugs? Also a nope. Weed especially; with my asthma, it would just be a recipe for disaster.

"Earth to Kelsey!" Leah is waving her hand in front of my face.

"Yeah?" I snap back to reality.

"I've been calling your name for the last two minutes, at least! Are you okay? Are you going low?" Leah knows that zoning out is a sign of low blood sugar; all my friends do. Well, except for Paul, who is more a casual friend than a close one.

"No. Sorry, just daydreaming."

"Oh. Well, maybe you should go get something to eat, just in case?" I can tell she doesn't believe me. And she's right not to; I am dropping, just not enough to go low. We'd eaten pizza for lunch, which causes my sugar to drop really quickly when I first bolus and all the insulin hits my system. Then, because the fat in the pizza slows down the carb turning to glucose thing, my sugar spikes dramatically about three hours afterwards. I've experimented with several ways to prevent this, with varying degrees of success. But today, I'd taken half the bolus before I ate, rather than taking one third of my dose. Stupid move on my part, because now I'm going to go low. Just not right now.

I head to the boardwalk, already digging through my wallet to find a dollar. I have no idea what I'm gonna get; when I'm low, I just eat everything within sight. Like, it's a legit problem.

I once went low in the grocery store and ate an entire jar of salsa while standing in the checkout line. The cashier, thankfully, recognized my insulin pump and didn't call security. Oops.

I push my dollar into the slot and grab a bag of Gummi Worms. I then make my way back towards the beach. But I'm stopped by Paul, who has a lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth. The second the smell hits me, I know I'm headed for trouble.

"Hey, Kelsey." he says around his cigarette.

"I don't fucking believe it." I mutter, already mentally calculating how long it would take to get to my inhaler if I ran.

"Believe what?" Paul blows a smoke ring and I start coughing.

"You are just asking to get cancer, aren't you? Lung cancer is one of the most deadly types of cancers. Or are you trying to get asthma? Because if that's the case, I have it, and I can assure you that not being able to breathe sucks!" I have to stop every few seconds to wheeze. This attack is coming on fast.

I turn on my heel and head down to the beach, moving as quickly as I dare. My bag is right where I left it. I grab my regular inhaler and take a puff, then sit down and wait for the "breathing through a straw" feeling to fade. I hate people who smoke.

I use my extra strong inhaler when it becomes apparent that Paul's cigarette has fucked my airway up too much for my regular inhaler. Paul's talking to Leah, asking questions, but I don't care about it right now. I'm too busy taking in air, reveling in the feeling of being able to breathe again. I take my post-attack inhaler, then lean back and sigh with relief. Asthma attacks are so not fun.

"Kelsey? Are you okay?" Paul asks. He's put out his cigarette, thankfully.

"Yeah." A lie; I'm shaky from the adrenaline rush, and my sugar's going to go haywire. But I'm alive, so that's always a plus.

I stand, brushing the sand off. I need to do a blood test, and stupid me, I forgot my meter in the car. My Dexcom transmitter failed, so I'm going old-school with finger pokes for right now until they overnight the new one. And I am an idiot and forgot the meter in the car.

Paul walks with me. We don't say anything; he just walks with me in silence. Until we reach a trash can, that is, and he chucks out the rest of his pack of cigarettes.

"You're right. I don't want to have to deal with the consequences of smoking." he says, giving me a lopsided smile.

I nod. "You really don't."

"I didn't know you had asthma." Paul says, curiosity lacing his voice.

"Yeah. And diabetes. Type 1." I say, opening the bag of Gummi worms. I'm low, the only question is how low. I'm a fucking idiot for leaving my meter in the car.

"Isn't that the bad kind?"

"Is there a good kind of diabetes?" I ask, sliding my keyring off my finger. We're finally at the car. I grab my meter and test. 60. Low. I sigh and pop another handful of Gummi worms, then suspend my insulin until my number comes back up. So is life with diabetes.

A/n: I know, weird place to leave off. Sorry. But, on another note, we got 50 reviews! I blows me away each time I see it! You guys are the best. And, on yet another unrelated note, Aurora's End by Jay Christoff and Aimee Kaufman comes out on Tuesday and I'm so excited! I've literally been counting down the days since May 2020, and if you've read the series, you know exactly why. So if you've read the Aurora Cycle, please review and let me know so I'll have someone to geek out with! If I get to 56 reviews, I'll update on Tuesday. If not, it'll be Thursday. Later!

Lauren.

Replies to Reviews:

Luna MariaSwan: Jake is an idiot throughout this story; you've been warned. LOL. I'm glad the dream scene pulled you in; you'll just have to wait and see what it means. I'm evil, I know. LOL. I hope you liked this chapter too; please review and let me know.

Twilightfanjm: Thanks! That means so much. Oh, and when you punch Jacob, please avoid breaking your hand. Dr. Cullen instructed me to put that here. LOL. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too; please review and let me know.

Rachaelm1991: I don't use the email alert system for that reason; it glitches out a lot. I've sent you a PM with a quick guide to any chapters you missed in case you haven't read them yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too; please review and let me know.