A New Playing Field

Megan’s POV

Colin was in the hospital room he could now call his own. He was trying to get some rest while I made phone calls. I called my parents first, but couldn’t get a hold of either of them, which made me nervous. I called Kristen and Mike, and they both said they would come as soon as they could.

Before Mom left, she told me if there was an emergency and she and dad were not answering their phones, I could call her assistant, Lisa. So I called Lisa’s number, because I consider this an emergency.

“Hello?”

“Hey Lisa, it’s Megan. I need to speak with my mom.”

“Hi Megan. I’m sorry, but she’s in the middle of a presentation right now.”

“Lisa, this is an emergency and I really need to talk to her.”

“It can’t wait?”

“No, I have to talk to her right now.”

“Alright, wait a minute. I’ll try to get her.”

I could hear Mom and Lisa talking through the phone.

"Pst, Susan, it’s Megan. She says it’s an emergency and it can’t wait."

"Um, ladies and gentlemen, talk amongst yourselves for a moment, I’ll be right back."

There was some noise. It sounded like the phone was being passed around.

“Megan? Hunny, what’s wrong?” Mom said.

“Finally, Mom! Okay, this morning Colin woke me up and told me he wanted to go to Dr. Morrison’s because he thought he had an overactive bladder or something. So I took him there and Dr. Morrison ran some tests and since his last visit, he lost a significant amount of weight and his blood sugar was 730. Mom, Colin has Type 1 Diabetes.”

“What?! Oh my poor baby, how is he?”

“He’s really shocked, but he’s staying strong. He’s trying to sleep now, but he has to be in the hospital for the next two nights. Mike and Kristen are going to get here as soon as they can, but who knows when that’ll be.”

“Your father and I are going to be on the next possible flight home. I’ll call you with details when we get a flight. Megan, thank you for being with him, I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Now that all the family calls are done, I had to call someone in the Jonas family. I knew Nick was on set right now, so I didn't even bother calling his phone. I decided to call Denise. If Nick is available to talk, she'll be right next to him. If he's not, she'll give him the message for me.

“Hello Megan, how are you?"

“Hey Denise, I'm very flustered. Is Nick available?”

“He’s on set, so he can’t talk right now. You definitely sound flustered. What's wrong?"

“I’m at the hospital. Believe it or not, Colin was just diagnosed with Type 1.”

“Oh my goodness. Wow that is extremely surprising. Nick should be on break in about ten minutes. I’ll have him call you, sweetie.”

“Thank you. Can you tell him it’s urgent?”

“I will do that. And Megan, things are going to be okay.”

“I know. Thank you Denise.”

Colin couldn’t sleep, so I sat with him and held his hand. Mom called and said the earliest flight they could get would put them into L.A. tomorrow night. Kristen was going to pick Mike up at USC and come to the hospital. They would arrive later tonight because Kristen has a late class. I know that Colin won’t feel comfortable until the whole family is back together, but I’ll do what I can until that moment arrives.

Nick’s POV

“And...CUT! Great job guys. We’re gonna take a ten minute break, come back, shoot this last scene, and ya’ll be will be free for the rest of the day,” our director, Tom, said.

Joe, Kevin, and I walked back to the dressing room. As Joe walked into the room, his body clipped the door frame and he fell to the ground. We were laughing hysterically for a minute when Mom walked in with a very serious look on her face.

“Hello Mommy!” Joe said, sounding like a five year old.

“Hello boys. Nicholas?”

“Yeah Mom?” I said, still laughing.

“Megan called looking for you ten minutes ago.” She handed me my phone. “Call her back, it’s urgent.” The word urgent made me immediately stop laughing.

“Urgent? Is she okay?” Mom didn’t answer my question. I nervously dialed Megan's number, still clueless as to what is going on. When Megan answered, she seemed stressed out.

“What's wrong, Meg?" The tone of her voice was making me really concerned. I knew that something was wrong. As I waited for Megan to answer my question, I paced around the room in front of Kevin and Joe, who were sitting and watching me.

“You know how I told you I was taking Colin to the doctor?”

“Oh God. Colin is okay, right?"

“I don't know. Were you okay when you were diagnosed with Diabetes?” I gasped. Kevin and Joe perked up.

“Are you saying that—”

“That Colin was just diagnosed with Type 1? That’s exactly what I’m saying. Since his last visit with the doctor, he has lost quite a bit of weight and his blood sugar was 730.”

“Oh my gosh. This is completely unexpected. How is he taking it?”

“He’s really shocked. He’s playing it on the outside like he’s fine, but I can tell he’s freaking out inside.”

“And how are you? You okay?”

“I’m shocked too. It hurts to see my little brother so taken back and confused.”

"I know baby, I know. Look, I’m gonna go talk to the director. We’re supposed to shoot one more scene today. Maybe I can postpone it."

“No, Nick. Don't do that. Do what you have to do. Just come later."

“No, I want to come now. I want to help him and I know that I can right now. I love you and I’ll call you back.” I hung up and walked to the door.

“What’s up?” Joe asked. I put my hand on the doorknob and turned around.

“Colin was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic like an hour ago.”

“No way. That’s crazy,” Kevin said. I ran out the door and found Tom.

“Hey Tom, can I talk to you a second?”

“Absolutely. What’s up Nick?”

“Could we postpone this next scene and call it a day?”

“I'm not sure that's a great idea. You know that delaying production and not sticking to the schedule causes chaos. Is there a specific reason you want to do this?”

“My girlfriend’s brother was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes an hour ago, so I really want to be there for him because I have it and I know exactly what’s going on.”

“Well that’s a really good reason. Sure, I guess we can postpone.”

“Thanks so much Tom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As I ran back to the dressing room I heard Tom yell, “Change of plans! Today’s a wrap! See you all tomorrow!” To my surprise, I found my whole family sitting and talking, like a family meeting was occurring without me.

“So who is driving me to the hospital right now?”