Chapitre 2: Chapter Two: The Diabetic SinEater
"You need to take better care of your diabetes." Dinah stared at the emergency room doctor, dumbfounded. There was a lot she wanted to say, instead, she leaned over the bucket they had given her and threw up again. "Are you taking your insulin?" Again, she was dumbfounded. She opened her mouth to speak, but luckily Jessica took over.
"She's taking her insulin, that's not the issue. The issue is, she got the flu and is now in DKA because of it."
"I see." He turned back to Dinah. "And how do you know you're in DKA?"
Jessica touched Dinah's leg, reminding her to not say anything she wouldn't normally say. Dinah cleared her throat. "Can I have some water?"
"You can have ice chips." He pushed the cup of ice toward her and she glared at it.
"I've been diabetic for 19 years. I know what DKA feels like." The doctor made a condescending 'hm' sound. "My blood sugar is so high my meter won't read it. I'm throwing up. I have moderate ketones. I can't keep down anything, not even diet soda. My chest hurts, it's hard to breathe, and my kidneys hurt."
"I see. Well, we'll run some labs and see what's what."
The doctor left the room and Dinah slowly got up, maneuvering around the iv tubing and cords over to the sink with her cup of ice. She put enough water in it to be able to hide it if the doctor came back. "Get me out of here." She mumbled to Jessica.
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "At least finish off the saline first. Plus, don't they usually throw some magnesium or potassium or something in there? If you had just called your real doctor when you first got sick, you wouldn't be here now."
"Don't wanna bother her." Dinah set the cup down and curled into a fetal position on the bed, wrapping herself in the thin blanket she was given. Jessica sighed.
Dinah awoke, some time later, startled. Her heart was pounding and she was sweating. When she realized someone had begun a breathing treatment in her sleep, she clawed the mask off her face. Breathing treatments always triggered a panic response and hurt her chest. She coughed a few times and looked up to see Damian brooding in the chair across from her, arms crossed.
"You're not a SinReaper." Annoyed as he seemed to be, he was a welcome sight.
"Dinah, that's an Urban Legend. No one reaps the SinEaters. By the time you guys kick the bucket, there isn't enough left to take away." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What happened?"
"Touch of the flu," she wheezed, praying she sounded nonchalant.
"The flu." He glared at her. "No, I think what happened was, it started out as a little cold, something you could have just gone to the doctor for, easily, but you 'didn't have time', 'didn't want to bug the doctor for something so silly', 'didn't have anyone to watch Esther', 'didn't want to miss work', someone 'needed you', and you got worse, and didn't have time to stop and take care of yourself because you were too busy taking care of everyone else. Then your pump kept kicking you out of automode because you were at 'max delivery', because you were sick, and not eating, and your sugar wouldn't come down… and now you're here."
"Yeah, that's… that's exactly what I said. Touch of flu." Dinah looked around.
"Jess ran home to feed the kids. You told the doc you were leaving and he wasn't going to stop you, so the nurse came in and convinced you to stay long enough to finish the iv and they're giving you the potassium drink before you leave."
"I don't remember saying that."
Damian looked amused. "You say a lot of things in your sleep."
Dinah felt her face growing hot. "…well. Um, so, they're letting me leave?"
"Once you drink the shit they're about to give you." He sighed. "As a friend, Dinah, you should take it easy for a while."
"I can't." She shook her head.
He looked her straight in the eye. "Why won't you ask Esther's father for child support?" Her heart nearly stopped. He sat back. "I mean, if you're hurting for money, or something-"
Again, she shook her head, "It isn't the money, Dae." She avoided his gaze. "I still... I have to help-"
"You can take a week off. If you're lying, and it is about the money, I'm happy to give you some." She felt her heart breaking.
There was a knock and a nurse walked into the room. "How do you feel?" She set down a foam cup and a packet, then studied Dinah.
"I could be worse." She replied softly.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone