Page 42 of Gene

“Insurance took care of it. Covered it in full,” Daddy responded.

Sammi breathed out a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about. Hearing that she had coverage was music to her ears. Even if he said it was mostly under her insurance, she would have to figure out a way to pay the rest. She couldn’t go without it, which meant if she had to pay for it, she would just give less money to her brother. Not something she wanted to do but she wasn’t any good to him dead.

“I looked into it while waiting at the pharmacy. If they make you pay anything, direct them to me or call me, and we’ll figure it out. Understand?” Daddy asked.

She nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

It wasn’t not like she was planning on not paying for what she needed. Maybe something cheaper if it came to it. Daddy wanted the best for her. He told the pharmacist that when they were at the front counter.

Sammi also figured that Daddy was going to be keeping a very close eye on her, which meant if she changed anything, he would know and ask questions. There was going to be no hiding anything around him.

Some people might have thought that was a good thing, but Sammi wasn’t so sure. In some instances, it might be, but she didn’t want him to worry about her. How was she supposed to make sure he didn’t wasn’t stressing about anything when she had just got this diagnosis?

She couldn’t do anything. At least not for the first several months.

“Good. Now I’m going to push this and then it’s going to pinch just a bit for a couple of seconds. I want your hand wrapped around my forearm. If it hurts, I want you to squeeze my arm as hard as you can. You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she mumbled.

There was no way she wouldeverbe ready for something like this. Was anyone? And she got to do this for the rest of her life. Would she ever get used to this? She felt like the answer was no, but deep down, she hoped it was yes.

“Okay, I’m going to press, and within the first five seconds it should do its thing. That’s when you’ll feel a little bit of pain,” Daddy explained.

Sammi nodded, moving her hands to his forearm so she could do what he’d said. She heard Daddy press the applicator, making her hold her breath as she waited for the device to prick her.

“Owie!” she yelled as the device did what it was supposed to do.

She didn’t have time to squeeze his forearm before the pain went away. Letting go of him, she looked at her arm to see the CGM on her arm. Daddy leaned forward, kissing around the device before wrapping his arms around her.

“Such a good girl,” Daddy praised. “You were so brave for Daddy. Daddy is so proud of you.”

He continued to hold her, gently rocking them back and forth. Sammi relaxed into his embrace and allowed him to whisper praise to her.

“Let’s get it set up on your phone so you can be on alert.” Daddy pulled back.

With everything she did it was a constant reminder that her life had changed. Long gone were the days of working and not eating and drinking. Long gone were the days of not paying attention and living carefree.

Sammi was now going to have to make so many decisions daily, and she didn’t know how she felt about it. Part of her wanted to switch bodies with someone else who could take this mentally and physically. But she knew nobody could ever do that. And honestly, she wouldn’t either because then it would change their lives drastically and she didn’t want that.

Daddy grabbed her phone and downloaded the app before setting it up for her. Sammi tried to pay attention to what he was doing, but she was at a loss.

“All right, it’s ready to go. This will beep when your blood sugar is too high or low. When it’s too low you need to eat some candy to bring it back up. After you eat the candy or have juice, you need to also eat something so that your blood sugar doesn’t drop again. If it’s too high, we’ll need to give you some insulin to bring it back down,” Daddy explained.

“H-how do you know all of that?” she whispered.

“The nurse discussed this with us yesterday. I was paying attention, so you didn’t have to in the moment. I know you were overwhelmed so don’t even feel bad.”

Sammi nodded like she was understanding everything he said, but she didn’t. She was not grasping anything he was saying. It was all too much, and she was struggling. How did they expect anyone was able to understand everything and still live their lives?

“I know it’s a lot, and that’s why I’m going to help you. You’re not going through this alone. I would never allow you to do that. I’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure everything is okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. You’ll slowly get the hang of this,” Daddy gently said, cupping her face. “It’s going to be tough the first couple of months, but we’re going to get through this together.”

Tears formed, making her blink to try and get rid of them. Daddy was being incredibly sweet and supportive. She figured he would have run for the hills when he first heard about her diagnosis, but he ranto herinstead. He was learning things about type 1 diabetes so he could help her.

He was the real deal.

How did she get so lucky to have him in her life? How did she get so lucky for him to finally notice her? Sammi didn’t know what she had done, but she wasn’t going to complain. She was going to hold on and not let go.

“It’s okay to cry, Little One. It’s a lot to take in. It’s okay to cry and show emotion,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “Any time you need to cry, let me know. I’ll hold you for however long you need. Crying isn’t weak.”

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