Always

Mother Freaking Nature

♤ A Few Hours Later ♤

"Izzy... time to get up," her brother spoke softly, gently shaking her awake.

"Noo," she whined.

"What's wrong?" he asked knowing something was going on.

"It hurts."

"What does?"

She just held her stomach, curling into a ball hoping he would get the hint. Her monthly visitor never failed to let her know it was there.

"You okay?"he asked quietly, to which she responded with another whine of pain.

"I'll take that as a no," he spoke before leaving the room to ask Nacy, their grandmother, about what to do.

"Grandma!"

"What?! I'm not deaf yet, but if you keep that up I will be!"she scolded him.

"Sorry. I just don't know what to do about Izzy. I'm worried."

"Well did you try talking to her?"

"I went up to her room to go do that, I was not prepared for what I saw."

"She didn't fake being upset and have a boy up there did she? Your mother used to do that all the time...," she spoke frustration laced through her tone.

"What? No. What? I wish. Actually I don't. But anything's better than what I just witnessed."

"Well then... not getting any younger here Mickey," she spoke growing impatient.

"Right. Well I went to go talk to her and walked in on her hurting herself."

"In what way?" Nacy asked growing concerned.

"Cutting."

"Where?"she asked scared.

"Wrists, but something tells me it doesn't stop there. She's pretty smart and stubborn, she's probably hiding more than what I saw."

"Oh dear. Just like Katie. I was afraid of this."

"How did you see this coming?"

"I didn't. But when she was little and Katie was struggling with it, she would notice I could tell. I tried my best to ensure she wouldn't get any ideas, but I was mistaken."

"But Grandma, we don't know if she learned from Katie. Maybe she found out at school or from a friend."

"She learned from Katie."

"How do you know?"

"Because one day when she was little, she drew little red lines on her wrists. When I asked her about it, she said she wanted to be like her sister, that's how I found out about Katie's situation. She really did look up to your sister when it came to picking up habits and such, she even tried starving herself. I remember it so clearly. She must uave been around five and Katie had just gone off to Europe and your parents had her stay with me for a while because... you know, her and planes."

"Yup."

"Anyway, the first night she stayed she said she wasn't hungry. I figured she was just missing your parents so I didn't think much of it. A fre days later, she continued the behavior. When I asked her, she said she wanted to be thin and pretty like Katie. She told how Katie once told her that food makes you fat when she caught her purging."

"Wow. I always thought we were close."

"She was a child. She didn't even know what she saw. You can't hold that against her."

"I guess not."

"So you found her cutting, then what? You were up there awhile."

"I took the blade away and cleaned her up before calming her down. She seemed pretty upset so I let her cry it out. Eventually, she wore herself out and slept, and I stayed because she didn't want me to leave."

"Oh my poor baby. Why'd you leave her then?"

"Oh, I woke her up so she'll sleep at night,but she just curled into fetal position about to cry again so I came here since I don't know what to do."

"Oh you fool she's on her period."

"I figured. But what do I do?"

"First make sure she changes her pad. She gets in so much pain and doesn't do it till it leaks through. Then just give her a couple pain killers and keep an eye on her. She loves to cuddle."

"Okay. But shouldn't someone address her ditching school?"

"No. She left clearly because she couldn't handle it today. Leave her be. I'm all for women's education but right now all she needs is a little love, and she won't let anyone but you in."

"Okay."

With that, he went up to her room to find her in the same position. He carefully picked her up, carrying her to the bathroom before closing the door between them, telling her to change her pad. After she took care of her business, she opened the door and walked straight into her brother's arms. He held her in his arms, carrying her to the bed. After giving her the pain killers and making sure she was as okay as she could be, he stayed with her as long as she wanted. Their grandma was right, the girl loved to cuddle, didn't matter how long it had been.