Chapter Eighteen:

Sick

Paul

When I get to the beach, Kelsey's there with Leah Clearwater. I don't go over because Jacob is eying me from next to Embri. He's the last thing I want to deal with.

I only run into her as she's heading back from the boardwalk and I'm smoking. Her eyes narrow slightly when she sees the cigarette in my hand.

"Hey, Kelsey."

"I don't fucking believe it." she mutters.

"Believe what?" I blow a smoke ring and Kelsey coughs a couple of times before she can reply.

"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!" She stops every few words to breathe. Well, wheeze more like. And then it hits me; what she'd just said.

She has asthma. Kelsey Swan, who can hit a softball into next century, has asthma. And my cigarette is more than likely a bad mix with asthma. But I can't reconcile the Kelsey I know with a stereotypical asthmatic. Admittedly, the only asthmatics I know are from TV, and they have never been known to portray anything right. But still.

I stop just long enough to stamp out my cigarette and head to check on Kelsey. She's sitting next to her bag, an inhaler in hand. Her breathing sounds awful.

"Is she okay?" I ask Leah.

"She's having an asthma attack." Leah says. Kelsey switches inhalers.

"What does that mean, exactly? I mean, I know it means she can't breathe easily, but what else?"

"Her airways are constricted. That's what the inhalers are for." Leah gives me a look as if I'm stupid.

Kelsey's done with her asthma treatment, and is currently taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah." She's lying; I can see it. She stands, wipes the sand off her jeans, and turns to Leah.

"I gotta do a blood test and I left my meter in the car. I'll be back."

I decide to walk with her. We don't say much until we reach the trash can. I grab my pack of cigarettes, and force myself to throw them out. It'll be better for me to stop smoking, anyway. And I really don't be the cause of another asthma attack. But I know her; she'd say I had to want to quit. And so I do my best to make myself want it.

"You're right." I say with a crooked smile. "I don't want to have to deal with the consequences of smoking."

"You're right." She nods. "You don't."

We walk in silence for a minute before I ask, "I didn't know you had asthma."

"Yeah. And diabetes. Type 1." Kelsey opens her bag of Gumi worms and pops a few handfuls in her mouth.

Type 1 diabetes. I don't much about it, just that you have to give yourself shots. And that you can't have sugar. And that life must suck for a diabetic.

I consider smacking the bag of Gummi Worms out of her hands before she can eat any more and do even more damage to her health, but ultimately decide against it. She really doesn't look good right now, but I don't want her to think that I don't trust her opinion. After all, she lives in her body, not me.

She opens her car door and pulls out a small black case, about the size of her palm. She unzips it to reveal a small device about the size of a flip phone. She grabs a small strip of plastic from a canister which kind of reminds me of a old film canister, and inserts it into the machine. She pulls out an alcohol swab, wipes her finger down with it. She then grabs something that looks similar to a pen, props it against the side of her finger, and presses a button on the side. Snap! She sets the thing down before squeezing a drop of blood from her finger and placing it on the strip. A few seconds later, the machine beeps. She reads the number aloud. "60."

She pops another mouthful of Gummi worms before removing the boxlike object from her pocket and tapping it a few times. It vibrates in her hand and she slips it back into her pocket.

"Is 60 bad?" I ask.

"No. There are no such things as bad numbers. This is simply a low number. I have to try to keep my sugar between 70-130. If it's lower than that, I have to eat. If it's over that, I have to give myself insulin through my pump."

"Insulin pump?" I ask. Kelsey smiles and nods before pulling out her boxlike object.

"This. The tube at the top connects to a small port on my stomach and gives me insulin. I just have to press a few buttons. Beats injections, that's for sure."

"But, wait. If young have an insulin pump, doesn't that mean you're cured?" That's what the media always alluded to, right?

"No. My insulin pump does not cure me of diabetes. I still have to check my blood sugar, calculate carbohydrate counts, and tell the pump how much insulin to give me. It does the insulin dosing math for me, though. I still have to tell it my blood sugar and the amount of carbs I'm eating to get a dose."

I look up type 1 diabetes from the relative safety of my bedroom. I click on a few articles, and by the time I'm finished, I have a new respect for the amount of work that goes into successfully managing diabetes.

That is only enforced when I watch some YouTube videos about various people with type 1. Including Kelsey. I didn't realize she had a vlog, but her videos are very informative and fun. She seems truly passionate behind the camera, as if she's found what she's meant to do in life.

Paige comes down with the stomach bug the next day. And then I get it. We take turns caring for each other, making soup and keeping the other hydrated. The bug damn near kills me; it's been awhile since I've had it and my body is not thrilled. I also read that it's contagious for two weeks and the stomach flu is really tough for diabetics, so it's another two weeks before I see Kelsey again.

A/n: OMG! I'm sorry I'm updating late; I had two tests this week that I forgot about. Also, Aurora's End came out and OMG! It was so freaking good! The series is a ten out of ten for me. And also, OMG! We've reached 57 reviews! I'm so happy! And so here's the deal: if I get to 60, I'll update tomorrow. If not, I'll update Saturday. Later!

Lauren.

Replies to Reviews:

Loves to read books: Thanks! And SPOILERS! Wahahahaha. But for real, though, you'll just have to wait and see. I hope you like this chapter too; please review and let me know.

Twilightfanjm: I'll pass along the thanks to Dr. Cullen. I sometimes go hypoglycemic (low) and it can be a little scary. I'm glad you let hk eat in the store, though. I don't have asthma, but I can't hang around smokers as well because I start coughing and choking. I actually got that line from TFIOS, so credit to John Green for that one. I hope you like this chapter too; please let me knowdd

LuanaMariSwan: Well, here's Paul's POV. Hopefully this is worth the wait.

Twilight Lover: Thanks for your compliment! In this chapter, you see how he reacts to just the knowledge and Kelsey's asthma attack. But I can assure you that knowledge and experience do not always get the same ractions. Hope I did it justice.

FlowerChild23: Thanks! Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it too.

Jingerr: I think he just did. LOL.