Steel Skeleton

Frustrations

 It was only a week. He could make it through a week, and if the symptoms reside; he could go train starting the next Wednesday.

Yet it was Monday morning, and they raged on. He had somehow dropped below 100 pounds even while eating 3700 calories a day. The main event hadn't even started yet.

They promised him it was normal. He found the assurance to help with nothing.

He needed to train. He felt such an itch, and it was burning now. All he was doing was laying down; he had no more energy. It was wasted time, and how awfully wasted. He barely made it through the therapy sessions without falling asleep.

It was almost ridiculous.

He was just so tired, and his hair was coming out in clumps again. If it continued; he'd have no hair left.

He was far worse than when he came in.

He had his first appointment with his own therapist today, and he was just a bit terrified. He never opened up to people. It was so hard to even admit to himself that he was sick; now he had to do it in front of someone else.

In a room.

Alone.

Gavin went and finished up his morning snack, and then walked to the office. His heart was pounding, and not the normal pounding. It seemed to almost jump from his chest. The added movement of walking along with the usual pulse rate seemed to cause a lot of stress on his body.

This wasn't who he was. Is this what eating does to a person? He found it so disheartening. He couldn't do it; not like this.

He knocked on the door of the office. He was so anxious, as well as almost too tired to keep on his own two feet.

"Come in." He heard a female voice say, so he opened the door. The woman pointed at a couch, and Gavin went to sit.

"I'm Ivy, a residential therapist. You're Gavin correct?" She asked. He nodded. He felt the sweat begin to collect again. He felt revolting.

How could anyone sit in the same room as in.

"Yeah, I'm Gavin." He explained. She smiled and sat in the large seat in front of him. A clipboard came out immediately.

"So first off, are you adjusting to the place?" She asked. He shrugged. He couldn't like it; not in this state, but he didn't hate it.

"It's ok. I just... I don't know if this was the right decision. I feel worse now than when I came in." He explained. She gave him a gentle smile.

"It's totally normal, has no one told you yet?" She asked. He shook his head. It seemed so odd; he knew that. No one seemed to tell him anything.

"No, not really." He stated. She wrote something on the clipboard and looked back up.
"It's a thing that happens to mainly anorexics when they come in. It's the body finally getting food and fixing what needs repairs. It causes the body go into a hypermetabolic state. You're just burning a bunch of calories as your body fixes all the damage it's endured. It shouldn't last too much longer." She stated. Gavin sighed a bit of relief. It had a name, but that didn't explain why he was getting it. He ate so much; he swore.

"Then why am I getting the symptoms? I'm so far from anorexic." He stated. The sweat seemed to become far more apparent in the room, as it seemed there was heat. He swore it was heated.

Right.

"You still lost masses of weight; which means that you weren't giving your body enough calories. It'll be the same effect. It needs this time to truly repair everything." She explained, and Gavin felt another panic raise.