A New Playing Field

Megan’s POV

When I looked at my phone, it was 2 o'clock. “I have practice in an hour!”

“You better go,” Colin said.

“And leave you? Yeah right. Be right back.” I left the room and stood against the wall in the hallway. There is no way I’m leaving my little brother, who was just diagnosed with an illness, in the hospital alone so I can go to a soccer practice. I took out my phone and dialed Coach’s number.

“Hello Megan.”

“Good afternoon Coach, how are you?”

“I’m doing fine, how are you?”

“Not so great, actually. My younger brother was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes an hour ago. My parents are in France and my other siblings are at college. I don't really feel comfortable leaving him in the hospital alone."

“Say no more, Megan. This is a family emergency. Take the day off.”

“Thank you so much, Coach. I will be at practice tomorrow morning.”

“Great, see you then. Wish your brother my best.”

“I will, thank you.”

Nick’s POV

Big Rob drove me to the hospital and I convinced him that I didn’t need him to come with me. I ran inside to the front desk. “Hi, I’m here to see Colin Gibson.”

“Colin is in room 136. Take your first right and it’ll be on your right.”

“Thanks,” I yelled back as I started to slightly jog down the hallway. I turned where the lady told me to and I saw Megan standing against the wall scrolling through her phone.

"Megan!” Her head spun in my direction and a look of relief came over her face. She slipped her phone into her pocket and started to run to me. From then on, it was like a scene from a movie. I held her in my arms as one stray tear rolled down her cheek.

“Meg, I know this is hard, but I know exactly what it’s like. My family knows exactly what it’s like. We’re gonna help every step of the way.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Nick.”

“I know that if something like this happened to my family, you’d do the same thing. To me, that is enough,” I said giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Now, let my comfort and instruction begin.” Megan led me into Colin’s room.

“Colin, look who is here.” Colin looked up from his laptop.

“Yo Nick. How crazy is this?”

“This is very crazy. But Colin, I just want to let you know that I want to help you with this. If you have a question or you’re just having a bad day with your sugar level, call me. It doesn’t matter what time of day. If I’m not with my phone, leave a message and I’ll call you back. Things are gonna be okay. I know from experience.”

“Thanks so much man. That really means a lot to me.” Colin shifted his attention from me to Megan. “Don’t you have practice?”

“I called my coach and told her the situation. She gave me the day off and sends her best wishes to you.” Colin smiled and mouthed ‘thank you’ to Megan.

Megan and I hung out with Colin for the rest of the evening. My brothers and parents came to visit too. The doctors had been helping Colin earlier in the day with how to test his blood sugar and how to give himself insulin. As it got later in the day, I would test myself next to Colin. It made him more comfortable, which made Megan more comfortable.

My family and I left when visiting hours were over. As we were leaving, Mike and Kristen arrived. I gave Colin a few more encouraging words and said goodnight to Megan. September 13th is definitely a day the Gibson family will never forget.