Disordered Eating (Skephalo)

Homebound

Darryl's POV

Zak was being released from the hospital today. I was excited, but hoped he was ready. He seemed to be both doing better and worse. I think he felt worse because of the weight gain, but it made me happy to hear he gained some.

I hope he doesn't lose it again.

I decided I'll slowly get him used to food. The poor muffin probably has never been able to enjoy or try certain foods his whole life. Reading his note, it seemed like he never got to enjoy it.

Goodness, I felt so bad for reading that. That wasn't mine to read. I'll pretend I didn't read it, but instead let him tell me when he's ready.

I wonder if he'll like skippy peanut butter? I'll give him a spoonful. That doesn't have too many calories in it so it shouldn't freak him out too much. I bought a jar because it didn't seem like it would be that stressful for him, especially since he doesn't like certain textures. If that's still true.

I bought a few other things for Zak the night before he came home. I went to Walmart at 3 am, but I ended up getting trapped there, again. I bought a bunch of fruit and vegetables. Those were healthy, so I was sure he wouldn't be as scared of that either. I wanted him to feel comfortable eating any food, but this disorder is a stepping stone process.

I bought some sketchbooks and canvases for Zak. He showed me a painting he did while it was in the hospital, and it was really good. It was a scary painting, but I liked his art that he made. It concerned me because it seemed to be a painting of him. I bought some paint brushes and a pack of acrylic paint bottles for him. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed the art classes, but maybe it's a coping skill he'd pick up on. I put it in the extra room with the bed. I had my secondary gaming pc in there that he could use if he wanted. This was his room, if he wanted to sleep in it and not mine.

I wasn't sure where we were at after he kissed me. He didn't speak about it when I visited him. I wasn't sure how I felt either, as I just met the guy. I felt like I had something special with him though. Was he even ready? He was in an abusive relationship. I didn't want to put any strain on him if he isn't ready. Love can be hard to handle if everything before was so toxic.

I had an abusive relationship in high school, of course wasn't as bad as Zak's. It was emotionally and mentally abusive. I wasn't punched or anything, but there was some emotional wounds I had to heal before opening up to dating again, although I haven't really dated anyone. I had a stupid summer fling when I got better.

Zak was supposed to be released in 30 minutes. I was now sitting in the parking lot. Am I supposed to go in? I've never had to pick someone up from the hospital before, nevermind the psych ward. I decided to go in because maybe I could help speed up the process or help Zak get his stuff.

I walk up to the door. It's really hard to get into the psych ward. There's no front desk there to let me in. There is a phone outside the door, and I'm supposed to pick it up and call the front desk inside of the ward. They'll answer and ask me questions about who I am and who I am visiting. I'll go up to the front desk and put all my items in a locker that I'm not allowed to bring in. They usually walk me back to the room, and then I am allowed to sit down and talk to Zak. It's such a weirder process compared to the other parts of the hospital.

It was a little different this time. They wanted me to wait until Zak had his release papers to go back there and help him. Apparently the doctor still had to get him ready. This was really typical for a hospital. I guess one part that stays the same is releases taking forever.

Zak was ready to be released at 2 pm, so I went back into the room to help. I helped bag up his stuff.

"Wow, I'm finally going to be able to see the trees," Zak said.