Sugar Crash (14 page)

There was silence for a moment; no doubt while Monica tried to figure out why Darci wasn't freaking out. Finally, Monica said. "Thanks."
 

Darci pushed the cash drawer shut and turned around.
 

"Hey, thanks," Monica said. She sounded sincere, more like the Monica she remembered. "I didn't even ask. How's Taylor?"
 

Darci looked very carefully at Monica. All signs of the bitter, resentful woman who seemed to have taken over, was gone and the woman Darci once considered her friend, was back. At least for a moment. It was exhausting trying to keep up with Monica's shifts but she had always cared about Taylor. Or at least, it had appeared that way.

Darci sighed, and said, "She had a low blood sugar at a sleep over party. It caused a seizure and she had to be rushed to the hospital. She's okay now, but it's really been a tough road." Once she started talking, Darci realized how badly she needed to talk about everything. As she let the words fly out of her mouth, she realized that Monica probably wasn't the best choice to unload on, but at that exact moment, it didn't matter. Monica was listening, and she was talking. And it felt good. "I don't know how to explain to her that she'll be okay and that her friends aren't going to care about what happened. But she's almost a teenager now, and all of a sudden she's so worried about what others think. The worst part is, she's barely talking about it. I need to know about her blood sugar levels, but I don't want her to feel like I don't trust her and that I'm nagging her." Darci took a breath. Monica had hopped up on the counter and was watching her with an unreadable expression on her face. "What?" Darci asked.

"You know they found a cure for diabetes, right?"
 

The air rushed from Darci's lungs. "Pardon me?" She barely trusted herself to speak.
 

"The drug companies," Monica twirled a pen in her hands, an action that had always driven Darci crazy. "They've totally cured it, it's just a ploy to keep people buying medicine. It's not like they can announce that they have the cure, or anything. They'd go out of business. So instead they hide it. It's a huge cover-up, but there's totally a cure for diabetes. Everyone knows that."

"No," Darci said through gritted teeth. "Not everyone knows that."

"Just Google it, Darci. Don't be so naive."

Darci took a deep breath and planted her hands on the counter. "If I really believed there was a cure for this terrible disease, how do you think I could face my child everyday as she injects herself with insulin? No, Monica. There isn't a cure."

Monica's pen stopped mid-swirl and she glared at Darci. "Whatever. You could probably just control Taylor's case with a healthier diet, anyway."

Darci had to force herself to turn away.

"I have work to do," she said. Darci pulled the delivery folder out once again, determined to distract herself. With any luck, if she ignored Monica long enough, she'd leave.
 

Monica did leave, but not before making a point to tell Darci all the things she should be doing to cure Taylor's diabetes. Darci didn't speak or so much as acknowledge her presence, but when the door finally closed behind her, she slumped against the counter and put her head in her hands to muffle her frustrated screams.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"I think I should go," Taylor announced, as soon as Darci came home.
 

"Go where?" Darci filled a glass with water and shook two Aspirin from the bottle.
 

"Mom." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I have a game tonight."

Darci opened her mouth to object, but before she could get a word out, Taylor launched into what was obviously a prepared speech. "You said yourself that I couldn't feel sorry for myself and I had to get on with things."

"I said that?"

"Well, not exactly like that, but I got the general idea." Taylor slid into her chair at the kitchen table and started fiddling with the napkin holder. "Anyway, I think that's the best way to deal with this whole seizure thing."

Seizure thing? Darci didn't speak aloud, but she had to wonder what had happened while she was at work for Taylor to undergo such a huge metamorphosis.
 

"I need to show my friends that I'm okay and it's not a big deal. I think the best way to do that is by playing tonight, don't you?"

Darci sat back in her chair and assessed her daughter. A smile worked across her face. "I do actually. I think it's an excellent idea and a very mature decision. I know it couldn't have been an easy one for you." She took a sip of water and almost spat it out with what Taylor said next.
 

"It was actually Coach Cam's idea. But it's a good one, don't you think?"

Darci swallowed hard, only choking a little. She managed a nod. It was a good idea for Tay to go the game, she couldn't deny that. But she hadn't thought about seeing Cam again so soon after the way she'd behaved.

"Earth to Mom." Taylor waved a hand in front of Darci's face. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course I am," Darci said quickly. "You were saying that you wanted to go to the game."

"And?"
 

Darci smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry."

Taylor sighed with as much drama as she could muster. "I said, wasn't it nice of Coach Cam to call and check up on me?"

Darci nodded, and she swallowed her disappointment along with the rest of her water. She couldn't help but wish that Cam had called to talk to her, but why would he after the way she'd spoken to him. Besides, she still thought it wasn't a good idea for her to get involved in a relationship. That hadn't changed over night. Had it?

"Yes," Darci said after a moment. "It was very nice of him to call. Except-"

"Except what?" Taylor crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair.

"Except, at the hospital they said you were probably going to feel terrible for a few days."

"But I don't."

"Joelle did mention something about it taking a little bit, but you're body could be pretty sore."

"I'm fine, Mom. And if I feel fine then shouldn't I be the one to decide if I can play or not? Doctor Wilson said all my tests came back clear."

Darci looked at her little girl, who with her arms crossed tight and a pout on her face, suddenly didn't look so little any more. "You're right," she said after a moment.

Taylor's arms fell to her sides and her mouth dropped. "I am?"
 

"You are," Darci said. "You're not a baby anymore and you know your body better than anyone. So if you feel like you can play...play."

"Yes!" Taylor jumped up from the table. "I have to get ready," she said. "Could you pretty please make me a peanut butter sandwich? I need my energy for the game."

Darci nodded and rubbed her temple.
 

"Oh, and Mom?"

"Yes?" Darci looked up again.
 

"I really am sorry that I ruined your date. I still think you should try again."

Taylor didn't give her a chance to respond before skipping out of the room. Darci couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see Taylor happy again after seeing her so upset only a few hours earlier. And all because of a call from Cam. As she got up from the table to make Taylor's sandwich, she couldn't help but wonder if a call from Cam would've had the same effect on her.
 

###

Before Darci had even gathered her things from the back seat, Taylor had already grabbed her bag and was running towards the player's bench.
 

"I have to hurry, Mom. I want to talk to Abby before warm up," she called over her shoulder.

Darci waved her ahead, locked up the car and headed over to the bleachers. Barb saw her before she had a chance to sneak by.

"Darci," she called. "Saved you a seat."

Darci turned and did her best to match Barb's bright smile. No doubt she'd have spoken to her brother and knowing Barb, Darci was going to hear all about it.
 

Careful not to step on anyone, Darci picked her way up the bleachers, occasionally exchanging greetings with some of the other parents. She didn't miss the pitying looks that a few of them gave her, or the furtive glances they exchanged. Darci knew without asking that news of Taylor's seizure would have travelled throughout the team, and therefore the parents as well.
 

"Hi, Barb." Darci sat down. She wouldn't meet the other woman's gaze. She didn't want to know if Barb felt sorry for her too.
 

"So, what's the deal?"
 

"Pardon me?" Whatever she thought Barb was going to say, it hadn't been that.
 

"Cam won't tell me anything, so I thought maybe you'd give it up," Barb said. When Darci turned to look at her, she couldn't help but smile in response to the other woman's mischievous expression. But then she remembered what she'd said to her brother, and the smile melted.
 

"We had a pretty nice night," Darci said. She turned her attention to the field where the girls were beginning their warm up by doing jumping jacks.
 

"Pretty nice?" Barb mocked. "You have got to be kidding me"

"Lower your voice," Darci hissed. She glanced around hoping no one had overheard. So far, they hadn't attracted any attention and everyone seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversations.
 

"The two of you have been dancing around each other for years," Barb said, her voice, mercifully quieter. "Finally you go out on a date and all you'll tell me is, 'we had a pretty nice night'? I don't think so." Barb grabbed her arm, and Darci spun around to face her. "Spill."

Barb's eyes were so similar to Cam's, it took her aback. She replayed the look of confusion on his face when she told him to leave her alone. She cringed with the memory. "There's nothing to spill," she said after a moment.
 

"Bullshit."
 

Heads turned and glared at them. If the other parents weren't listening before, they were after that.
 

"There isn't." Darci lowered her voice hoping Barb would do the same. "We're just friends."

"Friends? Oh for goodness sake. Why aren't you two dating?"
 

"I can't, Barb," Darci said. She turned her head and looked away. "I wish I could. But I can't. Not now, not with everything going on with Taylor. It's just not a good time." Just speaking the words, made her want to cry, and not for the first time, Darci wished it could be different.
 

"I know things are hard right now," Barb said, her voice softening a level. "But you can't use Taylor as an excuse forever. You deserve happiness too."
 

Darci looked at her. "It's not an excuse," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
 

"Really? How is Taylor doing?" Barb's eyes flashed with the challenge. "Is she playing tonight?"

"You know she is." Darci knew exactly what Barb was trying to do, but she smiled along anyway. "She couldn't wait to get out there. You know Taylor."

Barb nodded and grabbed Darci's shoulder in support. "I do."
 

They sat in silence for a few moments watching the girls jogging around the field. "She's doing really good," Darci said, more to herself than to anyone else. "She's going to be fine."

"Yes she is, Darci," Barb said. She put her hand over Darci's and squeezed. "Now it's your turn."
 

CHAPTER TWENTY

The girls played well, and despite the fact that Darci held her breath whenever she saw Taylor run past, there were no signs that she was feeling less then her best. Taylor was playing as well as she always did, and judging from the smile on her face, she was having a good time. Darci knew that despite her daughter's tears and concerns earlier, Taylor would have handled the situation surrounding her seizure like a pro. She always knew how to handle herself in a tough spot.

Darci couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Cam, but he never looked up towards the bleachers. His focus was on the game, and his clipboard, which Darci thought he consulted more frequently than usual. He wasn't smiling either. Even when the girls scored another goal, securing a solid lead going into half time, he yelled out his appreciation, but his face didn't betray any emotion.
 

"What's the deal with Cam?" Tim, Barb's husband asked. He turned to the women, and Darci ducked her head, pretending to be absorbed in the hem of her sweater. "He should be thrilled. Taylor's back and they've all really pulled together. They're playing awesome, which is a freakin' miracle given what they've been through."

"He's just having a bad day," Barb said. Darci looked up and shot her a look that hopefully she understood as gratitude. Only Barb knew she'd been out with Cam, and even if she didn't know the details, which Darci suspected she did, she knew enough to keep it from everyone else.
 

"Bad day or not, he needs to pull it together for the girls," Tim said, getting to his feet. "You ladies want a coffee? I need to stretch my legs."

They nodded and placed their orders, and soon Tim was gone. Barb turned to Darci to say something, but before she could, Susanna slipped into Tim's vacant spot.
 

"Barb, I need to talk to you about the rummage sale."

"Rummage sale?" Darci asked.
 

Susanna flicked her a glance, but turned her back on her so she blocked Darci off from the conversation. "You did say you would help the girls make posters next week, isn't that right?" Susanna asked. "I need to make sure they're all the appropriate size and color."

"And what would that be?" Barb asked. "I was going to make hot pink banners with green lettering. How does that sound?" She rolled her eyes and Darci stifled a giggle.
 

"That's not funny," Susanna said. She pulled a piece of paper out of a folder and slapped it into Barb's hand. "I took the liberty of writing out exactly what we need, as well as some suggested phrases. I trust you'll have them done by Thursday so we can get them hung up?"