Desperate Lies

Chapter 14 (Trigger Warning)

Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorder.

Two weeks later.

Chris got an early flight home, so he arrived back in Scranton a day before he originally planned to. Chris walks into the house to find it empty. Since it was still morning, Eve was probably at the gym, which made Chris worry. He walks into the bedroom and begins unpacking, wondering what the rest of the day would look like.

Would this work?

Would ambushing her make it worse?

But what other choice was there?

Chris had done some research while on tour. He'd found therapists and treatment facilities in the Wilkes-Barre area that specialized in eating disorders, but could he convince Eve to get help? Chris had read that a lot of people who have eating disorders deny having anything wrong with them; would he be able to get through to Eve?

Chris's phone then begins to ring. He snaps out of his thoughts, then pulls it out to answer.

"Hello?...Yeah, that's me...Yeah...What?...Okay, I'm on my way."

Chris hangs up the phone, then runs his hands over his face, tiredly, "Oh my Goooooood..." He groans.

Chris goes into his phone again and dials a different number. He sighs, then puts his phone to his ear and waits for an answer.

"Hey, it's me...I just got a phone call that Eve passed out at the gym...She's okay, I'm gonna go get her, but do you think we could have our little 'meeting' a bit earlier than originally planned?...Okay...Okay, I'll text you when we're on our way back."

Chris hangs up the phone, then sets out to get Eve.

X

Eve sat in the waiting area at the gym, an ice pack on her left knee. Her heart was pounding fast and her head was throbbing. She felt out of breath and shaky.

But as she looked at herself in the gym mirrors, she told herself that it still wasn't enough.

Chris walks in and Eve doesn't notice him at first; she was clearly zoned out, here physically, but somewhere else entirely mentally. The amount of weight that she'd appeared to have lost in just the two weeks that Chris had been gone was alarming. Chris takes a deep breath, then walks over to Eve.

Eve turns her head to face him and her sunken eyes widen.

"Chris?" She asks, "What are you doing here?"

"They didn't tell you I was coming?"

"They said they'd called my emergency contact, but I figured they'd gotten a hold of someone else on my list. I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow."

"I got an early flight home, and it's a good thing too. Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Chris takes both of Eve's hands and she slowly stands. She blinks a couple of times, trying to focus.

"Phew, still a little light headed." She balances on to Chris.

"What happened?" Chris asks.

"I don't know. One minute I was on the treadmill; the next, I was on the floor. I was probably just dehydrated."

"Have you eaten today?"

For half a second, Eve looks alarmed at the question, but she quickly regains her composure.

"Yeah, I had some fruit for breakfast this morning."

Chris was almost certain that she was lying, but rather than argue with her in the middle of the gym, Chris knew that he needed to get Eve home.