-Why Don't We Sickfics-

-Jonah- Type 1 Diabetes

"Not again..." Jonah internally sighed to himself as he got up and out of his bed for the 12th time that night to go to the restroom.
This had been growing increasingly irritating since the last couple of months for him. He felt incredibly thirsty all the time and after consuming gallons of water he was always in the need to go to the toilet. It was a struggle, but Jonah always blamed the thirst on the tour messing up his system and the heat of California, where they were currently on a break to write and produce their new album, meet their families and get rest after all these grueling tours year after year.
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After finishing his business and washing his hands he padded back to the comforts of his bed when he caught his reflection in the mirror. He was shocked seeing his face, which was puffy and had massive under-eye bags.
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"I need more sleep," he muttered as he laid down, knowing that it wouldn't be long before his body woke him up to go to the restroom again.
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After a long night, he woke up early the next morning when Zach jumped on him gleefully.
" Hi JoJo !" he happily said.
"H-ii Zach," Jonah replied tiredly with a gruff morning voice, his eyes still shut. " Why are you here ?" he questioned.
" Oh... It's past noon. We were meeting up at your place today, forgot ? Even Jack and Daniel are here." Zach informed him with a hint of disappointment. He felt disappointed that Jonah didn't remember their plans.
" Right. It totally slipped out of my mind," Jonah replied, sitting up and rubbing his eyes open.
"I'll be down in a minute," he told Zach and swung out of bed. It seemed as even sleeping in hadn't boosted his energy levels.
He got dressed for the day in casual jeans and a T-Shirt, not bothering to accessorize. He waved a hand through his hair and decided he was good to go.
He tiredly reached the kitchen, covering his yawning face as he arrived, only to see four faces staring at him in awe.
"What ?" he questioned, failing to comprehend their expressions.
"Well maybe the fact that you went to bed early last night, woke up late and you're still sleepy ?" Corbyn chuckled.
"Wait you're feeling okay right ?" Jack asked, out of concern.
"Of course I am, just wanted extra rest and I think I overslept," Jonah assured him.
" In that case, should we go out today ? Maybe to the mall or something, I'm pretty sick of staying indoors and working in a closed studio. " Daniel suggested, to which they all agreed.
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Jonah made his regular coffee and whilst sipping it, he brought up 8 bottles of water, a few juice cartons, some plastic bags ( since knew that car rides and feeling unwell weren't the greatest combination), some light snacks, and his usual essentials into his room to pack into a backpack he would carry. He made his way back down and they loaded into Daniel's car and set off to the largest mall in Los Angeles, which was quite a bit of a drive from Jonah, Corbyn and Eben's house. Eben, in fact, was going to accompany them until he got called in for a meeting with the record label for his upcoming album.
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On the way, Jonah had already consumed two entire bottles of water and just as he was pulling out a third from his bag, Corbyn questioned him,
"Jo, did you bring the entire Pacific Ocean in your bag today ? How much are you boutta drink bro ?!"
"Why are you staring at me to know this though ?" he replied smartly.
To this, they all laughed causing Corbyn to turn a vibrant shade of a pink.
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They arrived, and Jonah just silently rushed to the bathroom. He then met the boys at the Apple Store where Corbyn wanted to get another pair of custom AirPods. They roamed the mall for a few hours, Jonah consistently chugged fluids and going to the restroom. The boys were getting annoyed, but said nothing.
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Finally, they grew exhausted. By this time, Jonah was practically hobbling with his arm around Daniel for support because he felt so drained.
They stopped for food where Jonah wolfed down three burritos in a matter of minutes. He then proceeded to chug down two Cokes hoping to boost his spirits. No one could help but laugh at how quickly he managed to do this.
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With their bellies full, urge to shop and leave the house fulfilled and the day coming to an end, they headed home to Jonah and Corbyn's house from where they took their own cars and parted ways.
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Jonah was too tired to climb upstairs, so he just lay down on the couch and snuggled into the warmth of the fuzzy blanket and dozed off.
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Over the next week, he grew incredibly irritable and was in a constant feeling of exhaustion. His cycle of water consumption and release had tripled. He also started losing weight even though he was eating as much as he normally did. That's when he decided to google his symptoms. It gave him a mixed result between many possibilities, the top result being a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), being a smart alec he simply went online to the local pharmacy's website and ordered some medications which he started taking as promptly as they arrived.
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They kept going into the studio for work and Corbyn spent majority of his time with Christina. Eben was rarely home, due to the ongoing production of his latest album and Jonah spent his time sleeping, eating and drinking water. He felt lethargic, lazy and guilty for not flying out to Minnesota to his family, but he physically did not feel upto it.
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He decided to go out to the pool and get a bit of sunshine. So he stumbled downstairs fumbling with his hoodie, trying to take it off. He reached there shirtless and just as he was walking to the pool his vision completely blurred out. He felt as if he had just gotten off a tipsy turvy roller coaster and his eyes refused to focus. To say he panicked was an understatement. The boy went ballistic, tears began streaming down his face as he clutched a nearby chair and sat down with his head in his hands, breathing heavily. A few minutes later, his head felt lighter and his vision began clearing up.
"Praise the Lord" he muttered and thinking it was enough for him, made his way back to his bedroom.
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His housemates had not failed to notice this change in behaviour and appearance. They were just afraid of pointing it out and confused how to ask him about it.
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Jonah was deteriorating. He had lost over 25 pounds despite eating more than he did and his mouth began tasting different and his breath became almost fruity. He knew it was something other than a UTI way before and had stopped his un-prescribed drug quite sometime ago.
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Corbyn and Jonah were spending the day watching Netflix together and when Jonah got up for his restroom break again, Corbyn grew frustrated. He was determined to know what was wrong with Jonah even if it meant blackmailing him to get it out. For the next half hour, Corbyn paid more attention to thinking how he would confront Jonah, than he paid to their movie.
When the credits began rolling, Jonah yawned,
"Imma get some food. Want anything, Bean ?"
"Nah. I'm good," was the reply.
Just as Jonah got up to go to the kitchen, his vision blurred again and he stumbled to the ground. Luckily, Corbyn's quick reflexes were able to catch him before he landed and he laid the boy back onto the couch. This was his opportunity.
" Okay Jonah, what's going on buddy ? There's something seriously wrong with you and you have to tell me now." Corbyn asked, his tone laced with concern and desperation.
"Mhm... nothing Bean. I'm fine." Jonah answered dryly. I just stood up too quickly right now, faking a smile.
" Yeah and you expect me to buy that ? Have you seen yourself lately JoJo, all you do is scurry to and from the bathroom and water dispenser half the day and then you're locked up in your room. Might I add, you look like a drugged skeleton these days. We're brothers Jo, I'm worried about you." Corbyn spat out.
"I'm not talking to you until you decide to let me in on what's wrong." was all he said before he plodded off to his room, leaving the elder with an open mouth.
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To be fair even he didn't know what was wrong. But he knew he had to patch up with his best friend and so he tiredly made his way to Corbyn's room, debilitated.
He knocked and made his way in without waiting for a response. And
flopped onto his bed. Corbyn came out of the shower,still drying his hair with a towel and jumped at the sight of the pale Jonah lounged between his pillows and Blawtje.
" So you decided to finally talk to me ?" he chuckled.
" I guess.." the elder slowly replied.
"So....?" Corbyn questioned, "Are you gonna explain or not? "
" Look i'm just thirsty and tired all the time. It's the summer and I hadn't had a single proper break in the last two years, either taking care of you guys at our old home or in the tour bus. I think I'm just recuperating from the exhaustion." Jonah confidently reassured both, himself and his best friend.
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This explanation seemed to pacify Corbyn and he nodded while patting Jonah on the back soothingly.
" Okay but if you feel anything else, or worse than normal you're telling me and we're getting you checked out. Deal ?" He asked.
" Deal " Jonah affirmed.
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The night went by fairly smoothly. Jonah was spending the night in Corbyn's room, because he felt too drained to go back and also because he wanted Corbyn's snuggles.
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At around, 1 am, Jonah woke up, pale and sweaty, feeling incredibly nauseous. He gagged on thin air, awakening the other. Corbyn acted on impulse, and picking up the garbage bin, rushed to shove it under the retching boy's mouth knowing what was to come.
But he was wrong. Jonah's gagging ceased and his wave of nausea passed. It was a false alarm. After assuring Corbyn that he was fine and would not ruin his new bedding, they both laid down again.
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Morning came around and Corbyn decided to cook breakfast for all three of them.
In the kitchen, he cooked up some blueberry pancakes and some smoothies. He covered Eben's plate and left it on the table, placing his smoothie in the fridge and then proceeded to pile both of theirs on a tray to carry upstairs.
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Upstairs he came face to face with Jonah heaving into the trash can, bringing up all what he had consumed prior. Corbyn quickly set the tray aside and went to help him.
He had been clutching onto the bin as if his lifr depended on it but he soon let go and fell backwards once he was done, unable to even keep himself steady.
Corbyn emptied out the trash hurriedly before the stench spread in the entire room and set off Jonah's nausea again.
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" Corbyn. I actually think I'm dying. Please do something, " Jonah pleaded miserably, not even opening his eyes to make contact.
Corbyn knew that when Jonah used his real name, it was serious.
He took one glance at the poorly boy and dialled 9-1-1 for an urgent ambulance.
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The paramedics arrived remarkably quickly. They loaded Jonah into the vehicle, allowing Corbyn to jump in as well. They sped off to the nearest hospital while taking his vitals and asking questions on the way.
One of them, hung up an IV of cold saline, hooking Jonah up to it, because his parched lips indicated dehydration.
Jonah was rushed into the ER promptly, while Corbyn was made to sit in the waiting room. He paced around not knowing what to do before he realized he should make some calls. He called the boys to meet him, Jonah's mother and informed her of their emergency promising to update her as soon as he could, and then he called their manager, also informing him of the situation.
The boys arrived in record time, and helped the berserk Corbyn calm down.
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Inside the room, doctors paced around Jonah who seemed to be losing consciousness with every passing second. He was barely aware of his surroundings. Someone drew his blood, another took his hand and pricked it with something, someone else had cut open his shirt and was doing something on his chest. Just as he began seeing black spots in his vision, his route changed and he started to feel a tad bit better. He finally let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in and let his eyes flutter open.
He scanned his surroundings. He saw three bags attached to the pole onto the tubing that went on this hand, he saw multiple electrodes on his chest which accommodated the beeping of their respective monitors. A doctor stood by typing something into the computer and nurses scurried around busily. One of them smiled as she attached a blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter onto his arm and finger.
After sometime, Jonah felt better enough to doze off. He woke up to someone lightly shaking him. A young doctor walked into the room, while the nurse who had been awakening him, went to bring a small cart of tools.
" Hello Mr Marais, I'm Doctor Martin Houston, Chief of Endocrinology here at Los Angeles Hospital. You can call me Martin," he said brisk and smoothly.
" About why you came in today, you Mr Marais-"
"Please call me Jonah," he tiredly answered.
" Of course. Jonah, as I was saying, you came in today feeling exhausted, nauseous, and irritable, am I correct? You also complained of frequent urination, frequent thirst, lack of energy and vomiting among other things."
"Uhmm." Jonah nodded.
" When you came in today, you were not on the verge of passing out, you were in fact, on the verge of falling into a diabetic coma as a result of ketoacidosis, which is when large ketones and high glucose causes the body to go into overdrive and shut down. This was because, your pancreas has not been producing insulin to break down the sugar in your bloodstream. Therefore, Jonah, I must inform you, that you indeed have Type 1 Diabetes."
" I have diabetes ? Wait no. I don't consume sugar, I'm active as well. Why ? "
" Jonah, you are not suffering from Type 2 diabetes which is caused due to lifestyle choices. The type you have is incurable and not caused due to eating sugar or being unfit. It is due to your body's beta cells dying from an autoimmune response. Your body mistook your pancreas as a foreign body and attacks it, making insulin unavailable. The kidneys work harder to push out this sugar and hence the thirst and frequent need to urinate. Nothing about this condition is your fault. It can be caused by genes, or anything. You may take as much time as you need, before we proceed." he gently spoke, knowing there could be different reactions to such news.
" Will I die ? " Jonah fearfully and tearfully asked.
" I can assure you that you won't die so soon,as long as you understand and manage your condition well." Martin reassured, before his pager went off and he had to leave.
" Angelica here, will explain the rest, I'm afraid i must go." He stated, pointing at the friendly nurse before rushing out.
Angelica quickly took over.
" So dear, what you see in that small bag, is insulin. We artificially deliver insulin in your body to make up for what your body does not produce. So, you can either get an insulin pump, or if you prefer, you can go for insulin shots which you must take 15 - 20 minutes before you eat anything containing carbohydrates. You may experience high or low blood sugars as well, which is normal with diabetes but must be controlled. For a hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, it is preferred to take a fast acting sugar substitute immediately or it could escalate very bad, very fast, a hypo is usually blood sugar below 70. Other times you may face a hyperglycemia, which is high blood sugar which too is the polar opposite but equally dangerous as the kind you came in with, and is usually above 180. To correct this ,you must take another dose of insulin to bring it down, but not to the point of a hypo. "
" Um. That's a lot." Jonah sheepishly admitted.
" Well it is, but it is the key information that will help you in managing life with type 1." Angelica responded in all honesty.
" When you have a hyper, you must check for ketones, which are fatty acid molecules in your bloodstreams that can be toxic." Angelica added.
" We need to keep you here for a few days to make sure you're recovering and for you to attend and understand how to care for yourself. Until then, you will be transferred to a private room and cleared for visitors soon. It was nice knowing you Jonah. You've taken this all like a champ, " the cheery nurse told him as the staff came in to wheel him out of the triage room.
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The boys were allowed to see Jonah after a good ten hours of the wait. They all rushed to his side, careful of his IVs and his frail state.
Corbyn repeatedly apologized for letting him get so worse when Jonah cut him off by saying that there was nothing he could've done about a chronic illness. They all agreed to go to diabetes education with him, to know how to help their fellow bandmate in the future. The management was very considerate of his condition, the boys and his family was very supportive and for Jonah, this drastic change in life was tough but he eventually grew used to it. Always staying on top of his eating and insulin and he was good at managing his mental health along with it. The time he spent in the hospital gave him life lessons and song inspirations some of which made it to their album.
Everyone's beloved Jonah was back to his old self, just revamped and better than before. He wished sometimes that it could've been a flu and he'd be cured after some paracetamol, but he was glad it wasn't worse, that he had control of his life and choices and he emerged as a strong, successful human and artist with four of his best mates always by him.
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- the end.
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Author's Note :
diabetes runs in my family and even though i don't have it, I have had some experience with the condition. I hope I did not mess up on the facts and you enjoyed reading. Please vote if you liked it ! Requested by wdwjmaraislover
Word count : 3200 words
Dated : 26/3/2020
Lots of love. Stay safe, happy & blessed
~H