That Would Be Enough

28

Madeline managed to avoid her parents the next morning. She slept late so had to rush to get ready for school, leaving no time to talk. With everything that had gone on the night before, she hadn't had time to do her homework, but frankly she didn't care. Her math teacher would probably make her serve a lunch detention.

She left the apartment without saying goodbye, ducking out quietly amiss the usual morning chaos. Her mother always made sure she ate breakfast before she left, but Maddie had skipped that today and she was already feeling it. She was done. Done with the arguing amongst her parents and done with her mother telling her she couldn't accept gifts from her father. It was ridiculous, and Maddie felt like she needed to shake things up.

Maddie served her lunch detention and skipped lunch as well. By the afternoon, she could tell her blood sugar was low. She hadn't felt this lousy in a long time. Soon teachers were calling her out, telling her to pay attention and asking if she felt well. She struggled through the end of the day and went home. Lin was home, and he called after her, but she stormed straight off to her room and locked the door.

She curled up on her bed and put in her earbuds, then let herself slip off to sleep. Her body was protesting its lack of food and sugar.

Around dinner time, Lin realized he hadn't seen Maddie since she got home from school. That wasn't out of the ordinary. She was a teenager full of angst, after all, and would usually rather be in her own room than hanging out with her family. At dinner time, he knocked on her door to get her and she didn't answer. He tried the door and found it was locked.

"Madeline?" he called a little louder. "Open the door please?"

There was still nothing from inside. Not even a peep. He called again and then began to become concerned. Her lock wasn't a real lock; it could easily be picked with a paperclip, which he did. He found Madeline curled up on her bed, looking pale. Lin strode over to her bed and shook her, and she was almost unresponsive. He patted her face a little and called her name. She opened her eyes a little, but they rolled back in her head.

"Jesus, Mads," he looked into her face. Her skin felt clammy. "Have you checked your blood sugar lately?"

Lin had been around her enough times when she had low blood sugar that he immediately recognized it. He turned her onto her back and shook her a little more. She looked terrible. Lin raced to the kitchen and found Madeline's emergency kit. Inside, there was glucagon, which could be injected if her blood sugar ever got dangerously low. Lin was pretty sure this qualified. He'd never had to inject her before, and was hoping it would stay that way. Lin himself wasn't a huge fan of needles and thought of pricking his kid with it wasn't at the top of his list of things he wanted to do.

He brought the kit with him, setting it down on her bedside table. He found the little vial of rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs. There was a little cheat-sheet included, thank goodness, because it had been a long time since Lin had learned about what to do. She would need to be injected on the buttocks or the thigh. He decided the thigh would be the least invasive. Lin managed to unbutton and tug down her jeans to her knees and then pressed the swab to the area. Maddie winced at the cold.

"Sorry, Mads," he apologized. "I'm gonna have to give you a shot of glucagon. You're really out of it."

She moaned as Lin grabbed the vial. He inserted the needle and then pulled out the plunger until he had the correct measurement. Then, he pulled it out, took a deep breath, and willed himself to do the task. He pressed the needle into Maddie's thigh and she groaned a little, then he pressed the plunger, giving his daughter her much-needed medication. Once it was in, he pulled out the needle and set it down on the kit. He knew he needed to get Maddie to a doctor.