Page 105 of Turn the Tide
Marco handed Sarah her bag, and she took out her test kit. “Besides the nausea, how are you feeling, Mama T?”
The older woman’s breath came out in little puffs. “Right as rain, child. Right as rain.”
Sarah knew that wasn’t true, but she kept her voice calm. “I’m going to check your blood sugar, all right?” She kept up a steady stream of conversation as she worked. “I’ve been living in San Francisco, so I’d forgotten how quickly the weather changes out here. Is Donny home from school yet?”
“He’s here somewhere, complaining about the electricity being out. They let the kids go home early on account of the storm.”
Which meant Josh missed him at school. Marco and Sarah exchanged a worried look before he spun toward the bedrooms at the back of the cottage. “I’ll go say hi.”
Mama T leaned her head against the back of the chair. “He’s been bugging me about getting a computer. I told that boy, if we can’t even keep the lights on when it storms, what we going to do with a computer?”
Sarah read the test strip and hid her alarm. The older woman’s blood sugar was way up. If they hadn’t arrived when they did, this could have gone very badly.
Mama T glanced up. “Sugar’s high, ain’t it?”
“It is.” Sarah prepared the syringe. “But we’ll take care of that real quick, okay?”
Mama T sighed. “Thank you, child.”
Sarah gave her the injection, then asked, “Did you run out of insulin?”
“Almost. Donny got in trouble at school yesterday, so I had to go get him. By the time we was done there, the clinic was already closed. Then today, I told Patty to take the car, what with the weather and all. I took half a dose. Figured I’d be okay for a couple days.”
A common misbelief that could turn deadly. Sarah smiled to take the sting from her words. “You know that’s dangerous, right?”
Marco suddenly appeared in the doorway, tension rolling off him in waves. “I can’t find him. Mama T, does Donny have a favorite hiding place?”
He hadn’t taken more than two steps into the room when they heard the unmistakable sound of an ATV starting up. He took off running.
