Isn't She Lovely | Impractical Jokers

12:00

Thank you so much for your patience! This is the final chapter and a lot went into it. Thank you for reading!!

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The hospital discharged Sal two days later after getting some fluids in him and making sure he was mentally stable. They gave him the phone number of the therapist in New York to check in every so often while he was still in town.

For Dylan's birthday, Sal came over and they shared a Whitman's Sampler. Not an eventful 29th, but Dylan felt warm every time Sal put a piece of chocolate in his mouth. He didn't eat much, but he also didn't disappear to the bathroom afterwards.

Sal ate and kept down six chocolates, a third of a sandwich, and lots of water. Progress is progress.

The tour started and The Tenderloins left town. Dylan and Sal had another long goodbye in the airport. Dylan's favorite part of it all was that their arms just barely reached all the way around his waist.

Sal was just about the size he was when they first met. Something about that was really satisfying for the both of them.

Dylan kept up with the shows Twitter, but not super closely. They didn't want to feel like "that groupie." But the next thing they knew, Sal was texting them that he was doing his competitive eating bit on Mid-Evenings.

Dylan watched as Sal boasted about being able to, with ease, eat twenty-one bananas in three minutes. He seemed so pleased with himself as the timer started and he slowly peeled a banana all the way down to the bottom nub and took a nibble off the top.

Sal chewed that one bite for an eternity. The live audience laughed and Dylan joined them. He pretended to choke like all the real competitive eaters seem to do. Sal also added extra effect by spending thirty full seconds sipping all the water out of his water cup.

At a minute left, Sal looked at the host and asked, "Could you please prep another banana?"

Ten seconds left, Sal grabbed the rest of the prepped bananas from the table and shoved them in his mouth. The crowd counted down to one with Sal's cheeks bulging with mashed bananas.

Sal spit the remnants into the empty cup. He wiped his mouth and after a beat said, "Normally, I come closer."

Dylan called him after she show, cracking up and on the verge of tears.

"I can't breathe!" they wheezed. "That was so much funnier than I thought it was gonna be! And you ate on camera, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," Sal said.

"So, how's everything been?" Dylan asked, tummy-down and propped up on their elbows on their bed. "I feel like we haven't really talked in a while."

Sal told them about how he's been eating on the tour bus, in front of the crew, some on camera. The footage wouldn't be released for a while, but it was nice knowing it existed, that his triumphs would be immortalized forever on film. He actually felt like he was really recovering for the first time.

There was a live show three hours away from Dylan's place. Tickets luckily hadn't sold out and it had been so long since they'd seen Sal so Dylan splurged for the Meet-n-Greet.

On March 10th, Dylan sat down in a mostly packed theater and watched Sal and his three best friends walk on stage. The first half of the show was hilarious. About an hour in, Dylan remembered they didn't tell Sal they were coming to the show. So they texted him.

'hey do you have your phone on you?'

Sal's ringtone went off. The audience laughed and the guys gave him grief.