It took me a moment to realize that I had also spoken the words aloud.
Gavin looked at me in confusion. “Um yeah,” Gavin cleared his throat his eyebrows furrowed. “We brought you to the campus hospital.” Gavin pushed my hair off my face. “You gave us a scare. You were running over a 104 temp. They,” he cleared his throat clearly struggling for his next words. “say you only weigh 93 pounds, you were severely dehydrated, and they think you may have an eating disorder.”
I barked out a laugh in surprise, but then I frowned as I looked down at myself. I couldn’t believe I was under 100 pounds. I knew I had lost a lot of my appetite and I had been pushing myself physically. I ran every day and lifted three times a week. I knew my pants had become loose on me and my shirts weren’t as form fitting. I shifted so that my sheet was covering my lower half and I could lift my gown. I looked down at my now prominent ribs and concaved stomach.
I grimaced. “I eat, I just work out…a lot,” I looked up at him, hoping he believed me.
“I know that,” he quickly reassured me. “I see you eat, just sparingly and you run like three miles a day.”
“Five,” I muttered in embarrassment. “I guess I may have been over-doing it. What’s wrong with me, other than being underweight and having a fever?” I reached up with one of my hands to touch my warm skin. It was still warm, just not burning as it had been.
“You might have caught a virus, and in your weakened state, your body was unable to fight it,” Will said brusquely as he re-entered the room.
I blushed once more as I realized Noah was steps behind him and I still had my stomach and ribs on display.
I quickly pushed my hospital gown back down. “I don’t have an eating disorder,” I quickly blurted out. “I may have been going overboard with my work outs lately, but I eat. I’m comfortable in my skin.”
Noah came to my side, although I noticed he seemed slightly aloof. He picked up my hand, and I tried to grab his attention to no avail. I looked up in confusion, only to see Stacey leaning in the doorway, her eyes narrowed on me.
“Why were you screaming?” Will asked as he looked at Noah, then Stacey, then me. It was clear his eyes were assessing.
I looked over at Gavin and he shook his head. I knew he was trying to tell me he hadn’t told him anything yet.
I smiled up at him in relief as I felt the warmth in my hand. I could feel the pain recede in my hand—the wound had closed itself. “I have, nightmares,” I explained quietly.
“How often?” Will asked immediately.
I could see Stacey’s avid interest as she leaned into the room. Her eyes watchful and calculating.
“Not very,” I said off handedly as I looked over at Noah once more.
Our eyes met, and I saw the concern in his eyes. I sighed as I leaned back. He wasn’t trying to push me away. He was keeping me at arm’s length due to Stacey’s presence. I could only assume he didn’t want her to realize that he had already moved on.
“Is she okay to talk, now?” Will asked Noah with determination.
He looked between his adopted father and me, his brows knit. “She really needs her rest, but it’s entirely up to her,” he said hesitantly.
“The mental health therapist is on her way in,” Stacey said almost smugly. At my confused look, she gave me an exasperated look. “Anytime we feel a patient is a danger to themselves, we are required to call the proper authorities. You suffer from an eating disorder; your scream was loud enough to hear down at the nurse’s station, and it’s clear from the scarring on your body that you may have had a cutting issue at one time.”
I looked over at Gavin in shock.
“She had to change you when you were admitted,” he explained quietly.
I stiffened and looked over at Will. “I’m ready to talk, can you kindly send the therapist away?”
I shuddered at the memories I had of the therapist I was forced to see when I was institutionalized at 10 years-old. I was caught talking to Jaxson after my father died and they tried to diagnose me with a split personality disorder believed to be triggered by the death of my father.
“With your history of mental disorders, I strongly suggest they talk to her,” Stacey said coldly as she crossed her arms across her chest and haughtily turned to Will. “I did a search on our databases and found out Blake Thomas was admitted to a hospital over seven years ago and diagnosed with possibly having schizophrenia.” her red-haired pony tail nearly smacked her in the face as she turned to look at me. “Does Collin even know that you’re psycho?”
“My father had just died,” I sat up in anger, ignoring the shooting pain in my limbs and body. “My stepmother hated me and thought if she told the hospital she saw me talking to nobody, they would put me away, while she continued to collect the money from my father’s trust.” I lied with an ease—that surprised even me. “Have you ever given your dolls voices? Did you have them talk to one another? Did you give them different voices?”
“Stacey,” Noah snapped, his jaw clenching in anger. “She is a patient and she is recovering.”
Will stood up and brushed a hand over his pristine suit. “I’m going to call the therapist right now.” He stopped by Stacey and gave her a pointed look. “In the future I would appreciate it if you go through the proper procedures. You only volunteer your hours here until you graduate, and we offer you a position. Was a supervisor notified of your decision to call for the therapist?”
She gave him a sheepish expression and turned looked down shaking her head. “No. I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Will left the room and headed down the hallway.
I could see Stacey was just as shocked at my revelations and embarrassed by her actions until she turned her gaze on Noah. “Where were you last night, while she was upstairs in your room taking a shower?” she asked coldly.
I could see the war behind his eyes, before he clenched his jaw. “I don’t see how that is any of your business. We broke up. I felt we were mature enough to continue as friends since we will continue seeing each other in passing.”
“Just as I thought,” Stacey said bitingly as tears shimmered in her eyes. She let out a cold laugh. “Tamara and Bridgette said you disappeared for quite some time and both of you came down with wet hair. How convenient for you to be defending her, when you screwed the slut. She’s the reason you broke up with me!”
“Stacey!” he snapped with a deadly quietness. “I will not discuss this with you. It is highly unprofessional of you to even attack a patient verbally or discuss a relationship that is over. You’re spying on me, and I thought you were better than that.”
It was Stacey’s turn to open and close her mouth before she turned on her heel and stormed out, but not before I saw her remove a cell phone from her scrubs.
Noah looked over at me. I felt both embarrassed at the unexpected turn of events and warmth because it was clear he wasn’t straddling the fence any longer.