Castles crumbling (Taylor Swift's little sister)

Chapter 48

On Tuesday morning Dr. Wilson said that your mom and Taylor were picking you up before lunch, you were finally getting discharged. Thankfully you had packed your stuff the night before, so you were all set to leave. Around 10 am, Taylor's head poked around after knocking on your door.

- "Tay!" You said standing up quickly to hug her.

- "Hi baby. Ready to go? Mom is signing the discharge papers" the blonde said hugging you back.

- "Oh yeah! I'm so ready!" You said picking up one of your bags, but Taylor noticed it was too heavy for you to carry, so she quickly grabbed it to help you. Although you were better physically, you were still underweight and got tired easily.

- "Okay, let's tell them to help us get your belongings into the car, just like when you got here" Taylor said as you handed her the bag.

- "Okay. I just want to say goodbye to some of the staff and to my treatment pals. Can I?" you claimed.

Taylor nodded in acceptance and asked for help to get your belongings to the car. She stayed close by but stood in a corner watching as you said your goodbyes to everyone. It was a very emotional moment. When you got to Dr. Wilson, Taylor saw the scene and her heart filled with so much joy.

- "Thank you so much, for everything Dr. Wilson, you helped me a lot" you said.

- "It was my pleasure, Elizabeth. Thank you too for opening up and letting me know you. You're a wonderful young woman. I hope that one day you'll realize how strong and intelligent you are" the doctor replied.

- "Seriously, thank you for not giving up on me, it's been hard, but I wouldn't have gotten to this point if it weren't for you. Can give you a hug?" You asked the doctor.

- "Sure, you can" she said as you both hugged. - "I hope you continue your recovery and continue getting better. You deserve to be happy, Elizabeth"

Then you walked towards Taylor and went to the front desk to wait for Andrea, who was almost done with all the paperwork. You jumped into the back passenger's seat and said you couldn't wait any longer to be home. Taylor and Andrea looked at each other worriedly, you suddenly realized that your mom was not driving the way home. - "Where are we going?" You asked confused. Andrea spoke up:

- "Darling, we're taking you to the outpatient treatment center"

- "What? Why? It's not fair" you snapped back.

- "We've talked about this, Liz: you were getting discharged as long as you could continue with your treatment. No breaks. You're coming home, just not now, you'll be going there first and we're picking you up right after you finish your afternoon snack" Andrea said looking you through the rear-view mirror. Your eyes started to fill with tears, but you quickly swallowed them back.

- "I just... I thought that I was going back tomorrow. Not like -right after leaving the clinic- "you replied frustrated but knowing they were doing this for your own good.

When you got there, everyone greeted you. Dr. Sach, Dr. Pine and Dr. Maine were delighted to see you again, looking happier and healthier.

- "Alright Elizabeth, since you already know the rules, you can just go and take a seat in the dining room. I'll be the therapist accompanying the meals today" Dr. Maine said pointing to the dining room and waiting for you to walk first so she could go right behind you.

Cassie was not in the program anymore, she had been discharged two weeks ago, but Mary was still attending the center twice a week, since she was doing so much better. At 1:00pm you saw your plate in front of you, you felt overwhelmed, since you felt like it was way more food than in the clinic, but quickly tried to convince yourself that you needed to trust the professionals and it was the amount of food you needed to eat. You slowly made your way through the whole meal, no supplement needed to make up for anything, yet Dr. Maine constantly pointed out that you were using disorders behaviors such as cutting everything into small pieces, smashing the food to clean the "extra oil" and taking too long to eat. Frustration took over you, you were unaware that you were still using many behaviors: back in the clinic they would focus on one behavior for weeks until you were able to stop doing it at all, such as separating the foods in your plate so they will not touch between them, or crumbling into tiny pieces food that was supposed to be eaten with the hands. Before leaving the clinic, you were working on touching foods with your bare hands, but it was still tough for you. You finished everything and went to group therapy, it went well. Then you had an individual appointment with Dr. Maine, your psychiatrist, she told you she noticed you were uncomfortable eating and you decided to be honest with her and tell her that you felt exposed and vulnerable because of the constant pointing of your behaviors.

- "Thank you for telling me, Elizabeth. I understand that they had a different approach in the clinic to deal with this kind of disordered behaviors, but we work differently here. We aim for you to be able to eat without them in a shorter period of time. However, I'll be gentler while doing it" the doctor said.

You still felt frustrated but understood that it was how they worked in the outpatient program, so you were grateful that the doctor actually listened to you and sucked up the rest. Afternoon snack went well too; however, you didn't know why, but the supplement they gave you there made you so bloated. At 5:00pm mom and Taylor picked you up and took and, once again, you were surprised when your mom was not driving home.

- "Where are we going mom? No more surprises please, I really want to go home" you said grunting.

Mom and Taylor laughed at your reaction and looked at each other, then Taylor said: - "Oh, don't worry, Liz. You'll love where we are going, trust me"

- "Fine, I'll trust you, but could you just at least tell me where we are going? Please tell me there isn't food involved. I'm literally about to tear apart my pants, I'm so bloated." You begged.

- "Nope, it's a surprise, we're almost there. Be patient. And you might be bloated but you are not about to tear apart your pants, seriously, that's your body dysmorphia" Taylor replied.

You wiggled your legs anxiously and prayed that Taylor was telling the truth. When you were about getting there, Taylor asked you to close your eyes. You obediently did and waited for thru car to stop moving, then got off the car with Taylor's help, who guided you somewhere. When you opened your eyes, you were confused, it was a waiting room in which you've never been before. You slightly started to panic, thinking it was another appointment for you, but then a woman opened a door and delicately handed you a kitten: it was a vet's office. The cat was white, it had brown ears and green eyes, it was so little and so cute.

- "It's a female baby cat, it's for you honey" Andrea said smiling widely.

- "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. I'm already in love with her" you said petting the cat in her little head.

- "How are you going to name her?" Taylor said trying to touch the baby cat too.

- "I don't know. Maybe...Luna? What do you think about it?"

- "I think it's a beautiful name. Hi Luna" your mom said petting the cat's tail.

You all jumped into the car and went home. On the way home Taylor and your mom looked at you absentminded by the cat. When you opened the front door, Taylor and mom had decorated the living room with a huge banner with the words: 'Welcome home Lizzie' on it. They bought all kind of stuff for Luna: a cat litter box, plates for her food and water and some toys. They also decorated your room with some balloons and left Luna's bed by your closet.

- "You did all of this?" You said almost with tears in your eyes.

- "Yeah, darling, we wanted to surprise you. It was Tay's idea. Are you happy?" Andrea said.

- "I am. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be home again. I love you so much" you said running to hug them.

You all cuddled before it was time for dinner for a while in your bed with Luna jumping and playing in your lap. You felt so grateful to be home, to have Taylor and your mom by your side and to be able to enjoy this little moments in life, surrounded by the people who loved you the most and who didn't give up on you even when you were ready to give up on yourself.