Dominque sat up and posed his legs on the ground. Kaede was sound asleep; the man wondered where she got all her energy from as she seemed to have a lot in reserve. She stood and paced all day, yet Kaede managed to startle him with her behavior. Unleashed, carefree, and insatiable were the words that came to Dominque's mind when he recalled the episode in the boxing club's showers.

The hunger that resulted made the two sex fiends eat like stranded survivors. Dominque felt uncomfortable, his stomach too full growled. Gluttony was effectively a sin.

The digital alarm on the nightstand displayed 1 am in bright red. It was late but early enough for Dominque, for whom it was then or never moment. He needed to take his dose; with everything that happened, it slipped out of his mind.

Kaede's sleep was profound. He looked back on her and caressed her cheek to make sure.

He got up and went to the bathroom. Dominque chose the one in his parent's room, not wanting to risk waking Kaede.

They would spend the next day together, and the man did not wish to stress about glucose levels. Kaede already had a few suspicions about his diet.

Dominque washed his hands and took the plastic cover off the insulin bottle. He then wiped the top of the jar with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.

After that, he pulled back the syringe's plunger, which drew air into the syringe equal to the insulin dose he took. Dominque then proceeded to push the syringe needle through the rubber top of the insulin bottle. The process, which took him half an hour a few months ago, became a five-minute ordeal as he injected air by pushing the syringe plunger forward before turning the bottle upside down to pull the insulin.

Dominque cleaned his arm and was ready for his shot.

In the meantime, Kaede woke up to an empty bed.

She waited, but Dominque wasn't coming back. Kaede climbed the few steps and left the room.

"Dominque?"

There was no sight of him downstairs, Kaede never wondered about, and now the immensity of the place made her uneasy.

"Dominque?"

She stood at the bottom of the staircase.

Was he upstairs?

It was the only possible option; the man wouldn't leave her alone in his house.

"Come on, Kaede, you're not in Parasite," she muttered.

She began to go up. Once at the top, she followed the slight glow emanating from one of the rooms.

Kaede advanced, "Dominque?"

The man focused as he pushed in the last drops; only the sound of a gasp and fleeing steps made him turn his head to the bathroom door.

Kaede?"

Dominque followed the woman who hurried down.

He speeded, "Kaede wait," he caught up with her in the kitchen, where he grasped her by the shoulders before forcing her to turn around, "Kaede, look at me."

It was one of those scenes where playing dumb could save a life, and it wasn't like Kaede had another choice. Logic fled, leaving behind absurdity. "I didn't mean to stare. I didn't see anything, I promise, Dominque."

Her body trembled; the image shocked her. Dominque deduced how things looked from her perspective, "Kaede, it's not drugs, it's insulin, I don't do drugs. I have type 1 diabetes. Please listen to me," the man said, cupping her face in his hands.

Kaede stopped mumbling and stared at him, "I swear, Kaede, it's medicine. It' sㅡ," he sighed, "come with me."

Dominque took her by the hand and went back to his parent's bathroom, "look, it's insulin. You can check the name up on Google if you want."

Kaede was silent while her mind spotted and connected all the elements. The man never drank alcohol, soft drinks, or ate anything sweet. Most of the time, he watched her eat.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Dominque."

Dominque leaned back on the sink; "it's not your fault. It's mine; I should have told you. I just didn't know how to do it; it's something I'm not proud to expose. It's new to me too, and I'm uncomfortable, and I don't expect you to be at ease with this. I'm taking Ultralente (U) insulin. It will start to work in a few hours, and its effect will last twenty-four hours minimum." Dominque sighed, "I'm sorry; I didn't want you to see this."

Suddenly another thought crept into Kaede's mind, "Dominque, are you okay? There isn't anything else you are keeping from me?"

Shaken but no longer stirred, the woman's brains worked with fright in the background. Dominque was afraid of what Kaede would do if she knew about his condition in full.

He sketched a smile and approached her, "I'm fine, Kaede. There are plenty of people who live with diabetes like me. Don't worry, Kaede; I swear I'm fine."

Dominque engulfed her shivering body in a hug, "I'm sorry, Kaede, please forgive me."

Her reaction caused a tidal wave in the man's mind and an explosion in his heart. In her eyes, there was fear, one of losing someone you hold dear. Kaede joined the long list of people. Dominque refused to reveal his illness because the news would shatter them.

The man wasn't ready to face the emotional turmoil or the possibility of death that most would evoke once they knew.

Kaede hid her head in his chest, where she evacuated a few tears of relief on his t-shirt. She didn't know how deep her feelings were until this instant.

If Dominque were an addict, she would have walked out of the relationship without looking back, but he was ill. Diabetes wasn't a fickle disease; Kaede knew it could have grave consequences. Despite the circumstances, she tried to put herself in his shoes.

"I'm sorry, Dominque," she repeated, the guilt of doubting in him weighed on her conscious.

"I'm fine, Kaede."

Dominque lied. It was a small one, which he hoped Karma would let him off the hook with as it was to protect Kaede.

They headed back to the bedroom, where they sat on the bed beside each other. Kaede broke the silence first, "have you always had diabetes?"

"No, I found out nine months ago."

He omitted to add the illness revealed a more prominent issue and that five months after the GIGN discharged him so he could start his dialysis.

"Does your family know?"

"No, not at the moment; they're the worrying type. I don't want that right now."

"But Dominque, what if something happens. They have to be aware. They need to know what to do. I mean, look at me; my mind made three-hundred and sixty degrees turn when I saw you with your needle."

"I know, I know," Dominque said as he turned to face her.

Kaede's expression was now full of concern, and worry replaced the fear. Dominque took her hand in his, "I was going to tell you. I didn't know how or when. My life flipped upside down nine months ago. All of a sudden, half of the food I love got banned from my regime. ㅡ I've never known this; I can get all sluggish and cranky. I have to read nutrition labels on food; I spend so much time looking things up with the app. I can't have fun with friends the way I used to. I was away too long. Life and people have changed. My entourage doesn't relate to me," he looked down at his feet, "ㅡ I feel so, my life seems meaningless, and I feel useless."

Dominque spoke to no one since he found out about his renal dysfunction. Kaede was the first person he opened up to, perhaps because she was a new person in his existence. Somehow he imagined Kaede would be less critical, and also, it was her, even if Dominque didn't dare to reveal everything he desired to give Kaede of all people a semblance of explanation.

Kaede cleared her throat to get rid of the knots of clotted air, "ㅡI have anxiety attacks. I had a burnout over a year ago. I left my job, and I fell into depression.

"Kaedeㅡ."

"Please, Dominque, just listen, you know about my family situation. My aunts boasted about how their niece worked for a big company and made mad money. To everyone, I'm self-sufficient, Kaede. I couldn't turn to them. ㅡAt the time, I was with Marco, but he ㅡwell, I wasn't his priority. He didn't understand; he was all I had. I began to have this crazy possessive behavior, and he left me. I ended up working at Picard frozen food, where Joseph came in one day. She paused before pursuing, "If I'm telling you this, it's because I don't want any secrets. ㅡI don't want us to pretend that we okay when we're not. I want you to know that it's alright not to be okay. There's no superhuman here. We're mere mortals. So it's okay, Dominque. Don't say you are useless. There isn't a single person on earth who is. We all have a purpose, and we all matter to someone."

Kaede reflected a second as she wondered if she mattered to someone.

Dominque observed her profile while she pondered. Her eyes were lazy with sleep; she pursed her lips and turned, "I'm with you, Dominque. You're not alone. I'm with you."