Nick and Charlie life after high school one shots

Charlie is really sick

Eating dinner with his family...felt really awkward. He couldn't eat very well, he had trouble keeping it down. Initially, his parents thought he was purging, but after he cried for a while, they got to the point that it wasn't...his fault. Nick was at A&E, they were working on being transparent about his emotions and mental health, and he confessed that he felt very anxious about being in A&E. He squeezed Charlie's hand tight as he teared up, thinking about the last time. He assured him that he was fine, even if he didn't...entirely believe it.

They took him back, and only one of his parents was allowed back. He sat in the room with his dad reading an e-book aloud. It helped, but his stomach hurt so so bad...He couldn't truly focus on what he was saying. But still.

They ended up doing some scans, and they put a camera down his throat and looked into his stomach...it was awful. But they said there was nothing they could 100% confirm until they got the scans back.

So they sent him home with instructions to rest, and eat plain foods. Which...he did. But he just felt so awful all the time. Nick stayed with him after school. Usually, Charlie was the big spoon, but his stomach hurt so...bad. So Nick laid behind him and held a heating pad to his stomach.

When they called to say that they'd seen the scans, they didn't tell them what was wrong. Only that Charlie needed an appointment ASAP.

Nick went to school, and his Mum took him to the doctor. He hadn't been out of his bed for a while...and since he stopped eating (eating just made him feel worse, he asked Geoff and he said his physical health was important. So if it made him feel better to drink water and calories drinks instead, than to do that,) his stomach wasn't in pain anymore. He was doing turns in the waiting room. His mum watched him with a frown.

"Charlie. Sit down."

He stopped and stared down at her. "I'm just...I haven't had energy so now I feel really restless."

"I don't want you to make yourself dizzy, Charlie." She sighed.

"I don't get dizzy when I turn-" He kicked the ground and flopped into the chair. But as soon as he was comfortable, they called his name. Well...they called his old name. But...still.

His mum stood, helping him up. "His name is Charlie. Actually? Could you make sure to put that in his records." They both knew it was already in there. But the nurse nodded either way.

"Charlie..." The doctor was already waiting. He knew then that the news they were getting was...bad. He started to spiral. What if he had cancer or something!? "You have a problem in your stomach that's preventing it from digesting food properly. It's...possible that this was a side effect of your starvation, and your stomach began to think it didn't have to work. And..." He looked up, crossing his legs. "Well, your recovery is impressive and I applaud you. But I believe we need to slowly reintroduce food into your diet until your stomach is capable again."

He swallowed. That...was better than cancer. But it was still scary. He'd thought for some time that it was possible that his anorexia had caused some...physical side effects. But... "How...I can't...survive on calorie drinks."

"So...that's why we called you here so urgently." He cleared his throat, putting gloves on and pulling out a long tube with a strange cap at the end. "What we're going to do, is put this tube in your nose."

He stared. "Pardon?"

He laughed. "It'll be alright. It'll connect to feeding bags that take nutrients that are easy to digest directly into your stomach. We're going to measure this tube, and then we'll start your first feed. If, that's alright with you, Mrs.Spring.

She nodded, and while she asked him to explain more, he texted Nick.

Charlie: my stomach is fucked up because i was sick
Charlie: they're putting a tube in my nose to feed me so we can introduce food slowly and hopefully make me better.
Nick: Oh No!!!!
Nick: ...Nick is typing