Daniel is allowed to return home late at night. While I finish the paperwork, Jeremy leaves to get Hazel from his mom and drop her home. Daniel insists that he is healthy enough to drive but I refuse to let him and drive us home.
When we get home, Jeremy and Hazel aren't there yet. Daniel slumps onto the living room sofa as I walk to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. Once I've fixed myself a mug, I take it with me to the living room where Daniel is on his phone.
"I hate being ill." He sounds exasperated.
"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting down next to him.
"I miss one day at the office, scratch that! Half a day and there's already work piled up!" He exclaims and lets him phone drop on the sofa between us. I fold my legs under me and wrap a hand around the coffee mug.
We sit in silence for a few moments before Daniel asks, "How was Hazel's first day? I completely ruined it."
He must have realized his outburst and I smile at him for understanding and he replies with a smile of his own.
"She made some friends. Plus, he likes her class and swimming teacher." I tell him.
Before I can say more the doorbell rings letting us know that Jeremy and Hazel are here. I get up from the sofa and head off to answer the door with Daniel on my heels. When I open the door, we find Jeremy standing there with Hazel asleep in his arms.
"Thank you for driving her back." I say to him as he hands her to Daniel who gently holds her in his arms.
"No worries. Mom was happy to have some company." He tells us.
"Thank you for everything you did today." Daniel says, holding out a hand to Jeremy.
Jeremy bypasses the hand and sweeps Daniel along with sleeping Hazel into a hug. I laugh softly as they embrace and then part. We say goodbye to Jeremy and then take Hazel upstairs to her room. I wake her up just enough to change her out of her school uniform, into pajamas and then let her go back to sleep. It's past midnight by the time I get back to our bedroom.
Daniel is in bed but awake waiting for me.
"Do you want anything to eat?" I ask him, remembering the doctor's instructions for him to eat at regular intervals.
He sighs and shakes his head. I go to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth before joining him in bed. My bedside lamp is the only light on, so I switch it off and get myself comfortable under the covers when Daniel's soft voice reaches my hears in the dark.
"Emma?"
"Yes?" I ask, sitting back up and turning the lamp on again.
He sits up with his back against the headboard. There's a vacant expression on his face that I can't quite place in my head.
"What's wrong, Daniel?" I ask.
"This wasn't the first time that my sugar level dropped so low." He answers, looking at the room's door, across from him.
I frown, "What do you mean?"
He takes a deep breath and finally looks at me, a pained expression in his eyes.
"When I was six, I fainted like I did today. That was nearly twenty four years ago." He laughs lightly at his own words. "But that was also the last time I was told I may not survive."
I shake my head as tears blur my eyes, refusing to believe what he's saying. "Daniel, you're not talking sense."
"Emma, I know it's hard to hear but this is what the doctors will tell us tomorrow too. You deserve to know." He says and by now tears are streaming down my cheeks and I'm shaking my head vigorously.
"You're lying." I choke and my silent tears turn into ugly sobs.
"Emma, please." Daniel silently urges me to listen.
I gain enough control over myself to hear his words but the tears are beyond my control. When Daniel senses that I'm ready to hear the rest, he starts talking.
"At six, my body failed to produce enough Glucagon to meet a growing boy's demands and so, my body kept, malfunctioning, I guess you could say. The doctors tried so many different medicines but there were no results. The doctors diagnosed that my body was literally on its own. There was nothing they could do. However, miraculously after six months, the Glucagon production in my body increased on its own and here I am nearly thirty years old now."
I don't realize that my tears have stopped until Daniel finishes speaking.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" I whisper, staring at the wall on the other side of the room.
"Because I thought it was in the past. But obviously it is not." He sighs, "The glucose drips revive me enough to help me function. But just barely."
Unable to keep my emotions in check any longer, I lunge forward and wrap my arms around Daniel's waist, my face buried into his shoulder as I cry. I cry for so long that by the time I pull away, I can feel the dampness on Daniel's shirt, under my hands where they clutch it.
"You could fight this again." I say out loud, more so to comfort myself than anything else.
Daniel just smiles at me. A sad smile.