Running on Insulin

Chapter 2

Tyler POV

"Ty, the backyard floodlights just went on," Jenna said to me.

"Probably the rain," I said. I was comfortable on the couch, snuggled with my wife, watching Friends.

"I don't think so. It's been pouring for an hour and the rain hasn't set them off. Go check. Please?"

"But I'm so comfortable," I whined, looking down at my beautiful wife, who was laying against me.

"Tyler Robert Joseph, please go make sure that everything is alright and someone isn't about to try to break into our house, thank you very much," Jenna said, sitting up.

I groaned as I got up.

I went to the back door and opened it to look out into the lit up back yard. I shivered with the chill in the air and the sound of the driving rain. It wasn't fit for anyone to be out in this weather. Let alone the teenager standing in the middle of my back yard, illuminated by one of the floodlights. She, I'm pretty sure it's a girl, was drenched, wearing nothing warmer than a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. No jacket. She was drenched. I could hear something screaming from the woods.

"Hey! Kid!  What are you doing in my backyard?" She didn't move. She was like a deer caught in the headlights.  Her legs were shaking. She was really pale and kept looking over her shoulder towards the woods.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" I asked, starting to slowly approach the girl, who still hadn't moved. She stood stock still, except for her shaking legs.

"You little shit! I'm gonna beat the shit out of you!" I heard from the woods. What the fuck?

"Hey, kid, you okay? You look like you're gonna pass out..." I said as I came within arm's reach of her. And then she did. I caught her in my arms before she landed in the grass. I carried her into the house, calling for Jenna to get some towels and blankets.

"Tyler?!  What the hell? Who is that?" She asked as I ran into the kitchen, dripping water everywhere. I ran over to the couch and tried to pull one of the blankets we kept there down. Jenna ran over and spread the blanket out. I placed the unconscious girl on the blanket.

"Who is that?" Jenna asked again.

"I don't know. But she was standing out in the pouring rain in our backyard, like a deer caught in headlights. Go grab some towels and maybe some warm blankets? She's freezing. And soaked through."

"And unconscious. Tyler, should we call 911?" Jenna asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. Let's just try warming her up some, hey?"

"We should get her out of her wet clothes. Well, I should. You go get the blankets and bring down a pair of my sweatpants and a dry shirt. I'll change her," Jenna said.

I ran upstairs and grabbed towels and blankets from our linen closet, and a sweatshirt and pants from Jenna's closet.

Jenna had taken the girl's sweatshirt off when I got back downstairs and I saw she was in a t-shirt.

"Her breathing is really shallow," Jenna said. I noticed a glint of silver on her wrist. It had a red emblem on it.

"What's that bracelet?" I asked, pointing.

Jenna looked at the girl's thin wrist.

"It's a Medical Alert bracelet," she said, flipping it over.

"Ty, she's diabetic. We should definitely call an ambulance. If she's got a low blood sugar, she could lapse into a coma. She could die."

"Already on it," I said, pulling my phone out.

"Hello? We need an ambulance. Um, we have an unconscious teenager here. I don't know. She ran into our backyard and when I went out to see why she was in my yard, she passed out. She has a medical alert bracelet that says she's a type one diabetic. No. I don't have anything here to test her blood sugar. How would I do that anyway? Okay. Oh. I don't know. Hang on," I covered the mouthpiece of my phone. "Jen, is there a code on that bracelet?"

Jenna looked at the bracelet and read off the code. I relayed it to the operator.

"Okay. Thanks. We'll keep her warm until you arrive," I hung up.

"You get her changed if you still want. They should be here soon," I said.

"I'll just cover her with the blankets," Jenna said. She was holding the girl's hand and sitting on the couch, beside her.

I went to the front door, turned on the front lights for the ambulance, and waited on the porch to help lead them in.

It took less than ten minutes for them to arrive. Two paramedics hopped out of their ambulance and brought a bunch of equipment into the entryway. I led them to the unconscious stranger lying on my couch.

"Do you know her name?" They asked.

"No. She never said anything before she passed out." I said.

"Hey, John, did dispatch get a name from MedicAlert?" The first paramedic asked his partner. The partner, John, checked a tablet he was carrying.

"Samantha Deitz," John said.

The first paramedic sat where Jenna had been just a moment before.

"Samantha? Samantha, my name is Craig. Can you open your eyes for me? John, want to get a blood sugar for me?"

Craig continued trying to get a response from Samantha. He rubbed his fist in the middle of her chest, and pushed a pen against her fingernail. He pressed on the inside of her eye sockets. Samantha didn't respond in any way.

"The monitor can't measure her level. She's too low," John said.

"Alright. Let's get her out of here. Grab the glucagon. Let's give her a shot and get her to the hospital."

They took her temperature as well, as well as her pulse and blood pressure. Everything was low.

"One of you want to come with?"

"I'll go," I shrugged, looking at Jenna. If Samantha woke up, she might remember having seen me in the yard.

"I'll follow you with the car," Jenna said.

"We're going to Nationwide Children's," Craig told Jenna as they loaded Samantha onto the stretcher. They covered her with a blanket and strapped her in. I grabbed a jacket from the front hall and followed the paramedics out to the ambulance. They got her in the back, and I climbed in behind them and sat beside Samantha. Craig sat beside me, John went to the front and drove.

Craig monitored Samantha as we drove into the pouring rain.

I was still bothered by that voice in the woods threatening to beat the shit out of her. But right now I was more concerned about this random teenager who showed up in my backyard, then passed out in my arms.