We Band Together

Chapter 7

Flashback- General POV

"Hi Emma, I'm Nurse Jackson." The older woman sits next to the patient as she opens her eyes. The girl's arms were like sticks, her fingers even skinner. She had been diagnosed with Anorexia and would start treatment soon, but the hospital needed to finish treating her injuries from the abuse situation she was in.

The girl's chocolate eyes looks into the nurse's.

"Where am I?" she asks.

"Well sweetheart, you're at Ocean Parks Hospital. We found you in your basement. Do you know how you got there?" she asks.

Emma shakes her head hastily like she was hiding something.

"Can I ask you something?" Emma asks. The eleven year old yawns, she was having a hard time staying awake.

"Of course, you can ask me anything."

"Do you have kids?" she asks. Nurse Jackson's eyes soften.

"Uh, no. I have not been blessed with any kids." She says quietly.

"I'm a kid. But y mom wasn't a mom. Does that make sense?" she asks.

Nurse Jackson nods. "I think so. Is that why you were in your basement? Did your mom lock you down there?" she asks again.

Emma looks away, she didn't want to talk about it.

End Flashback-

"You've come so far since then Emma. Don't let this guy mess it up for you, okay?" Jackson asks; but I ignore her. My dad cannot be back.

Monday Morning-

Emma POV

I sit in the front passenger seat in Thomas' car. We sit in silence, listening to the soft humming of the radio. We pull into Panera Bread's parking lot. It was the same as always, Thomas came at eleven, and told Nurse Jackson he was taking me for our 'lunch date', my friends said goodbye and I got in the car, looking out the window to the passing highway. Also, we always ate in the same place. Since on Panera's menu it listed the amount of calories per serving, Thomas felt that it was beneficial. It is the exact opposite actually, and I have told him that. So has Nurse Jackson, and Dr. McAndrew, and Dr. Samuels. He refuses to listen.

"Are you ready Emma?" he asks me, unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing my manila folder from the glove compartment that listed everything social services thought they knew about me.

I ignore him, and unbuckle my seatbelt, opening the car door and walking out towards the restaurant, not even bothering to wait for him. I hear his door open and close, and then the sound of his shining shoes run across the pavement after me. Let me get this straight, I don't necessarily hate Thomas, I just don't exactly like him. For one, he always seems to think he knows what's best for me. He doesn't. Not even a little. I know he cares but it's hard to except sometimes. We open the door and walk up to the counter.

"Hi! Welcome to Panera, what can I get for you?" Thomas and I glance up at the menu, I ty to focus on the actual meals, but all I see are numbers. 430, 560, 251, 345 all calories. It makes me sick.

"What do you want Emma?" he asks me.

"I'm not really hungry." I say.

The cashier speaks up, "We have smaller sized portions, if you're looking for something that's smaller in size I suggest the Fontina Grilled Cheese, it's my favorite meal!" I glance up again at the menu and find the sandwich- 850 calories. I almost throw up.