but you'll feel better when you wake up | imallexx

пять

Alex was up earlier than he had been since his high school years. As he was set to be admitted to a section of a hospital specifically for eating disorders at 12 PM, he wanted to make the most out of his day before having to go. He still wasn't really on board with going, in fact every time he thought about it his heart began racing and his mind began to viciously protest. That's why he was doing everything in his power to just repress that knowledge for the time being.

Alex spent the morning playing a few rounds of FIFA, strewn in oversized onesie that felt several sizes larger than when he last put it on. George joined him in playing FIFA at roughly 10 AM, and James arrived at half past 11 to take him to the hospital. George tagged along and they all took the tube there. Alex was incredibly anxious, having already had two consecutive panic attacks all while James and George continued to try out tactics that might help distract him, including giving him headphones with a playlist of his favorite songs to block out other senses, carrying his luggage so he wouldn't have to, and even resorting to tic tac toe at one point.

The three of them arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 12, Alex going into a trembling, cold sweat immediately when he walked through the hospital doors. A woman greeted them upon entering and James took it upon himself to fill out a few pages of paperwork seeing as Alex was far too shaky to even hold a pen and George was occupied with trying to calm him down in the slightest.

It wasn't long before Alex was being swept away by a gentle nurse that bared a striking resemblance to an old german shepard. He left James and George with a simple wave, which he turned around too quickly to know whether or not was returned.

The same nurse from before showed him to his room which was a lot nicer than he expected. There was soft carpet on the floor, a singular bed in the corner right below a small window with white curtains drawn over it, a desk and chair in a corner and a dresser against another wall. Alex set his items down on the bed and listened while the nurse relayed information to him, most of which was too fast for him to understand but she gave him a little paper that said essentially the same thing so for that he was grateful.

The nurse left him to his own devices moments later. Upon her closing the door his breath picked up and his chest was squeezed full of anxiety. He shut his eyes and laid back on the plain mattress until the panic attack washed over.

Alex unpacked his things, laying out a duvet on his bed, messily shoving his clothes into a dresser, sticking two new notebooks and a few writing utensils in his desk. He didn't bring much as he didn't want to be reminded of this in the future when he looked back at the belongings he had in this room in the future.

Alex spent the following hour or so lounging around the room. He'd reread the paper the nurse, Nurse Diane, had given to him well over five times. In fact, he could probably list his whole schedule and the rules off the top of his head. 08:00 breakfast, 15:00 lunch, 19:00 supper, 22:00 sleep. Limited exercise, no bathroom for an hour after meals, disobeying nurses will result in consequences, etc. Alex thought it was all incredibly stupid; the overly specific rules and tight schedule.

The rest of he the day went as well as it possible could have for Alex. When lunch came around Nurse Diane gave Alex a pass since he'd just gotten here and it was going to be nearly impossible to convince him to eat anyways. Dinner was a bit more rough, though, as another nurse, that was probably three times his size, had attempted to get him to eat with gentle coaxes that turned into passive aggressive threats. He'd managed to resist long enough for the nurse to just let him go back to his room. He dreaded the day that the nurse would no longer hold her patience with him.

.

Alex had been in the hospital for three months when James received a call. It was around midday and he was out having a drink with Fraser when his phone rang with the cell number. He wasn't too worried as he assumed it was just the hospital calling him to notify him that Alex's leave had been cancelled again and that his visitation hours were either restricted or were removed for the weekend. James excused himself from the bar, quickly making his way into an empty bathroom and sitting down on the closed seat of a toilet.