Ray of Hope

Second Chance

The beeping of the machine was faint and everything was blurry as Raidyn opened her eyes. She turned to look towards the window, she saw her mother and next to her was the doctor, he looked familiar, but she couldn't quite guess why at the moment.

"Raidyn" a voice rang in her ear like an echo. "Raidyn it's mom, you're in the hospital with Dr. Mercy. Remember him?" just as her mother said the name.

She remembered the last time she had seen the older man. He had a gentle voice and was very nice and patient. But she hated that he had placed her under supervision and made her eat when she didn't want to and deprived her of the pills that she DID want.

Holding her hand to her throat she uttered "I do..." wincing at the scraping in her throat with each word, she tried clearing it.

The doctor made his way to the other side of the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder "It's going to hurt for a little while, we had to stick a tube down your throat and pump your stomach. Ray..." the doctor sighed "In three days you had consumed about twenty...diet pills, no food and then you go on an alcohol binge. Not very smart!"

"Honey you don't want to go through all that mess again do you. It was a very unpleasant time for us..." her mother took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

Nick stood against the wall, he couldn't really remember the last time he had been in a hospital, except for the time his younger brother had been rolled into the emergency room with alcohol poisoning. That day had been a very long and scary day, the doctors had taken forever to give them any hope. Luckily good news had come after the long wait.

Snapping back into the moment, he tucked his hands into his pockets, one of his fingers fiddling with his car keys. He didn't even want to breathe hard and make himself noticeable. Somehow he felt guilty, if he wouldn't have done what he did. Maybe they wouldn't have all been crammed into the hospital room. Then again everything he was hearing didn't make sense and seemed to make the trip inevitable.

He looked down, beside him sat Mia chewing whatever nails she had left. A long coat covered her exposing dress and her shoes were in her hand. He thought about how dirty hospitals were, but then again what could be more unsanitary than screwing someone in a club bathroom stall on a toilet.

Next to her was Ernie, sitting on the floor, his knees up to his chest and his arms crossed, with his chin resting on them. Now in the light he could tell that the man was gay. His eyebrows were neatly plucked, he wore lip gloss and he cried softly as his eyes watched Raidyn in the bed.

Nick could tell that this was definitely her best friend, that he would really have to do some kissing up to Ernie if he wanted to be with Raidyn.

Raidyn sat up now, staring at the plain white wall in front of her, as she heard her mother and the doctor rambling on. Remembering the last asshole she had given herself to emotionally as well as physically. Danny was his name, tall and muscular with dark brown eyes and black hair. At first he had been a sweet talker, but as the time passed, she caught him constantly flirting with other girls, sometimes even with Mia. No surprise if she did him too. He had pushed her to diets and obsessive exercise, reminding her everyday that she wasn't the perfect size he wanted her to be.

Trying her best to be what he wanted she took diet pills, laxatives, exercised and even went on a pure orange diet. It only lasted a week, before she had passed out in the middle of a party she was working at. That's where Dr. Mercy had come into the picture, she had been put into a facility, where they tried to help her restore energy and get into normal eating habits, but she resisted. Especially after a visit from Danny, just to let her know that she would never change no matter what she did. In his words she would always be a fat ass.