The Headturner

Moving On

Chapter Thirty-Six - Moving On

Anne was woken up by a kiss on her forehead. She opened her eyes to see Adam smiling sympathetically at her.

"Time to eat." He said as her adjusted the hospital bed to make Anne upright for eating.

"I can sit up myself, you know?" She pointed out. She didn't like being treated like a patient.

"Today is your last day so might as well enjoy the features of the bed." He grinned as he handed her breakfast.

"The doctor said you can eat anything you liked. So, I brought you pancakes and orange juice." He said as he sat down on the bed, facing her.

Anne made a face which made Adam frown.

"Would you prefer anything else?" He asked with unmasked concern.

"Well, actually, crackers would be fine."

"But it is too dry."

"Also has less calories." Anne mumbled.

"What?" Adam had heard her but challenged her to repeat.

"I said okay. Just get yourself something as well." She hoped to buy some time.

"No. I have to make sure you eat first." He was adamant.

"I can only eat one."

"Go ahead. I won't force you. Baby steps, remember?"

Anne got a forkful of pancake and stared at it.

"Adam is watching. Just eat it. Just eat one and you'll be done." She said to herself, but could not will herself to swallow.

"Here, let me." Adam took the fork from her and fed her. As she chewed, she thought about throwing up.

He got another forkful and kissed the food before feeding her. Tears welled up in her eyes. She could not contain in anymore.

"I'm sick, Adam. Disgusting." She sobbed into his chest."You're feeding me with love and all I can think about is calories it has."

"Shhh it's okay. Don't worry about it. I'll help you finish it this time." He winked and ate himself.

Anne let out a smile and they took turns eating and they finished the breakfast together.

"If you want, you can sleep. I'll just go get your discharge done." He kissed her and left.

As she was alone, she thought about throwing up the contents in her stomach. She felt bloated and fat. She couldn't wait to empty her stomach. She got off the bed and dragged the saline drip. That is when she realized why the drip was there in the first place. She felt ashamed at what she was going to do, after all Adam had been through. Would she make him go through that again? Was she that weak? She had willed herself to abstain from eating. She could make herself eat normally again.

She wiped the tear which had dropped unwillingly. She remembered about Tanya and decided to call her as a distraction.

"Finally. Where were you?" Tanya complained.

"I had a dinner meeting last night and then it was too late to call you."

"Okay, okay. Anyways, how crazy is it? I actually got into Berkeley."

"Of course you did. You deserve it." 

"I hardly do, but because of you, I got it."

"Stop giving me credit for tutoring you years ago."