The Broken Mirror

Chapter 9: Maddy

I've had my work cut out for me these past few days. I knew a little bit about the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, the illness I'm certain Alynne has, like enough to be able to identify it in a person, but I knew next to nothing about treatment programs and tests that can be administered that would confirm that Alynne was indeed anorexic. In my research, I discovered that all of the tests that would help lead to this conclusion would require active participation by the patient, and I knew Alynne well enough to know that she wouldn't agree to it, so I called around in attempts to find a doctor that still made house calls. I didn't have much luck with finding one, but in my question of finding a doctor, I remembered an old friend of Alynne's who I had associated with on a few occassions, but this was almost forever ago. Alynne's old friend Maddy had been persuaded by someone to go to college so, if I remember correctly, she decided to major in medicine so she could become a doctor. If she hasn't changed her number I'm definitely going to give her a ring and see if she'd be able to come in. I need someone and Maddy knows Alynne so I think that will give her some kind of an edge that other doctors wouldn't have.

Weeding through my contacts in attempts to find one single number is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Looking back now, I regret inputting all the local pizza and sandwich joint numbers into my contacts. Unlike any of the new phones, or almost any phone for that matter, I wasn't fortunate enough to have one where I could search a name, but about half an hour of scrolling the screen and taking a quick glance at the names, I came across Maddy and saw the picture I had associated with her name and knew that I had found what, or who, I was looking for. I tapped the number on the screen then the call button. Afraid that Alynne might possibly hear my conversation with her old friend now doctor, I made my way from the kitchen to the front door then stepped outside.

"May I ask who this is?" Maddy asked, or at least who I assumed to be Maddy. There is the possibility that Maddy got a new number and her old number was recycled and I was talking to a complete stranger right now, but I won't know until I ask who it is.

"Am I by any chance speaking to Maddy Kenny?" I returned.

"Yes, this is Maddy Kenny speaking," She answered.

"Hello Maddy, this is Benjamin. Benjamin, Benji, King," I informed

"Hi Benji!" She greeted quite politely, going from sounding professional to friendly and casual in the blink of an eye. "It's been awhile since we've talked. How are things?"

"Not very well, sadly," I answered. "This leading into why I called you."

"What's the problem?" She questioned.

"Alynne hasn't been doing very well lately, or at all and it's been quite steady for over two months now. She's been outright refusing to eat, almost constantly exercising, withdrawing herself from social activity, and is just not her regular self," I replied, saddened that the first time I talk to Maddy in forever is because of something negative that I need her help with and not because I wanted to catch up with an old friend. No matter how much I'd like to do that, there are other more important things and I must keep my priorities straight. "I think she has anorexia nervosa."

"Are you certain?" She questioned, wanting to know if I had any wavering doubt in my conclusion. "Have any tests that can lead to that been administered?"

"No, no tests have been taken but that's because I've done research and that would require her, you know, actually coming out of her bedroom and agreeing to it, which in the state of mind she is currently in, would never do," I answered. "But I'm not coming into this without any knowledge. I've been doing a lot of research on this to be sure of myself and everything is lining up."

"How so?" Maddy continued to question.

"Her skin is dry and has the yellow blotchiness that is considered a symptom," I started off, attempting to pace myself with listing my observations off. "She's sensitive to the cold, constantly wearing layer upon later upon layer of clothes to try to stay warm. Her hair is brittle instead of full like it usually is," I continued to list off. "And you know Alynne just as well as I do, or at least enough to know that she is obsessed with keeping her hair fluffy and in top notch condition."