Just Another High School Story!

Leah understood the fact that everyone was and had to be out for themselves only, since, selfishness would mean survival, but honestly, she couldn't understand why it had to be this way. It was a school for God's sake, a school-- which was used as an edifice where people could come to learn the ways of the world-- they'd turned it into a street show, a very gruesome one. Leah kept walking on eggshells around everyone, she wondered if everyone felt the way she did, insecure, unintelligent, ugly, worthless, she couldn't find one good word to describe herself. Did every teenager feel this way? Vulnerable, breakable? They had to, she mused, otherwise, she would really be crazy. Leah was wearing a hoodie these days to hide her face, because her stomach was acting up, her face looked puffy from crying, she was in pain, extreme pain, but she remained calm on the outside, she had a goal-- to change Wilson's High-- she would achieve it no matter what.

She was walking home at the end of the day, her hands pressed tightly against her stomach, she knew she could throw up, that would make the reflux less hurtful, not less damaging, but less hurtful, but she had to swallow it, she couldn't throw up on the street. Could she? She thought about it and then worried about some girl from Mindy's group following her, they would probably post an article, if the news of her being a bulimic got out, the headline would be, "Miss Pop or Miss Flop?" She was convulsing her face in pain, when Ethan popped out of nowhere, literally and she yelled, "Khapchakya!" which means 'You scared me!", in Korean, of course. Ethan had parked his car near where she was walking, and had followed her, she wasn't looking good, he was really worried about her and as expected she passed out. He caught her in time, and swiftly lifted her in his arms and lay her on the backseat of his car, then he got in and drove to a hospital that was far from their town, eh knew what Leah was worried about, he would make sure no one else knew about her condition, as long as that was what she wanted. She needed to get treated, she couldn't possibly survive like this.

Bulimia is a very serious eating disorder, she was killing herself slowly and would die, if she didn't restrain from purging so often, on top of that using laxatives, starving, binging, she was ruined but it wasn't too late, it's never too late.

After an hour, Leah woke up, confused and she immediately started looking around for signs of familiarity. Where was she? The walls and the 'drip-drip' sound reminded her of another hospital she'd stayed in, after she tried you-know-what. Was she finally dead? That was something that she had wished for so much, that she wondered whether her wish came true or not. Ethan had fallen asleep near the bed, his head was on the bed near Leah's arm. She had an IV drip attached to her, and she was about to freak out when she suddenly had the urge to run away, she was too embarrassed to face Ethan like this, she couldn't let him win, he'd been so mean to her, why should he be nice now? The thought that Ethan could help her, it didn't even cross her mind, she had become a completely different person. Her thoughts crowded her mind, not one thought was clear. Her heart was saying different things and her mind was commanding a different person, she felt torn, confused and with all this going on in her head, she suddenly groaned, "Ah!" Then followed bloodcurdling, horrific screams, Ethan woke up and looked at her expression, his heart broke into a million pieces, tears, big tears were flowing from her eyes, as she clutched at her stomach, seeking relief in something, but she could not feel better. Not one bit. She looked distraught, and exhausted, like someone who had given up, like someone who was holding onto a weak branch of a tree, she'd tried to hold on, but the branch had finally given in, she had plummeted to the ground. Her self-esteem was shattered, seeing herself in this pathetic state, E had won, she thought, she tried to stop screaming, she tried to breathe, but all for naught, the pain was too much, she shivered an tossed in her bed, Ethan looked at her helplessly, he wanted to call the doctor for help but his lips betrayed him, they refused to move, he walked over to her side, and hugged her, "It's gonna be okay, it'll pass. Please be strong." as he said these words, she felt his warmth and the pain wasn't less, the desire to stand up to it was more, she clenched her teeth, and obviously, the doctor came running in to the room, "Are you okay?", he asked, worry and anxiety visible on his face, "We might need to do an emergency surgery, your oesophagus is inflamed and you might have gastric distention, also possible throat infection. We need to do more tests, a lot more. Call her parents, they need to be here and sign this." the doctor finished kindly, and handed Ethan a document which looked like a death certificate, it said that any complications during the surgery, and/or the patient's death was in no measure the fault of the doctors or the hospital, it was solely dependant upon the patient's luck, and will, of course, they would do their best, but the document was a prerequisite for the surgery to proceed. The document was much more professional in stating these terms, but I've simplified them for everyone to understand, Ethan was furious, "What the hell do you mean death?" the doctor hadn't said this really loudly, he was basically whispering to Ethan in the corner, so, no the doctor wasn't crazy, he wasn't saying it in front of Leah, but she could still hear him and catch the situation. The doctor had expected this reaction, and he took Ethan's hadn't, "She has bulimia, an eating disorder, the surgeries we're about to do aren't gonna harm her, rather it's the opposite, her cardiovascular system could betray her, and bradycardia, abnormal beating and stopping of her heart, arrhythmia are all possible complications, please understand and call her parents, kid, your girlfriend is in danger."