Saving Kate

7. The Rest Of The Truth

I'm not supposed to brush my teeth because the bile is bad enough for them and the enamel could wear off. I'm not supposed to chew gum because it could suppress any appetite I might have. My breath makes me grossed out and I feel more tired than I have ever been in my whole life.

Breakfast is anywhere between 7:00 to 9:00 and a nurse sits either in my room or in the cafeteria with me.

Therapy and exercise is at 10:00 AM and for the first day, the woman goes over the goals with me. I have to work out once a day for an hour.

After that, I eat a supervised lunch around 11:00 to 12:30 and then go back to my room and sleep for a while.

Eline comes to wake me up at 3:00 to go to support group, which is the last place I want to be. There are six other girls and one boy. By far, I'm the smallest one there, but I'm not the thinnest.

"You must be Katherine," an older woman says from behind the door.

"Kate, actually, but yes," I say, my voice quiet and hoarse.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Hough, but you can call me Dana if you'd like." Her hair is thick and a white-blonde color just passed her shoulders. I'd put her at 5'3", which is just taller than I am, with an hourglass figure.

"Nice to meet you, too," I say, but it comes out as a whisper.

"You can take a seat next to Aiyana," she points to a rather skinny girl who has a very diverse ethnicity. She looks Asian and Native American at the same time. She is very pretty.

I walk over, slowly, and fall into the chair. Just from walking like eight feet alone, breathing is hard. My lungs ache, but not as much as the rest of me.

"Hi, I'm Aiyana," she says, her voice is smooth and reassuring.

"I'm Kate," I say, my voice the total opposite of hers.

"How old are you?" She asks.

"Seventeen," I say, "How old are you?"

"Just turned twenty," she sighs, "when'd you get here?"

"Yesterday. What about you?"

"Last month, I didn't hit rock bottom though. My roommate ratted me out, and I'm glad she did. What happened to-" Dana starts talking.

"Hi everyone, today is a special day. We get to meet Miss Kate Dunn," and she gestures to me.

I just look at her when everyone says their collective hellos. I can't smile, something about smiling just wouldn't be appropriate for the environment.

"Aiyana, why don't you lead the group this afternoon," Dana says, jumping right into it.

"Part of me getting better means gaining back much unwanted weight. Weight that I've worked so long on losing. But I've realized since our last group conversation that my roommate saved my life by calling someone for help. Now that I'm a healthier weight, I just feel much better physically. Mentally is a whole other obstacle, but I'm slowly getting more confident with myself. There are still times when I notice myself skipping out on snacks or in between meals I should be eating, though. To be honest, and I don't mean to be negative or close minded, but I don't think I will ever really be able to completely recover," Aiyana says. She's playing with the small bracelet around her wrist.