Off Ones Rockers II • Lashton

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

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"How are you feeling?" Alex asked as he entered the blondes small hospital room where he had been for the last couple of days.

Luke was sat cross-legged on the bed, a sandwich in front of him untouched. He looked over at his therapist who had entered the room and sat in one of the chairs to the left of the bed. "I'm bored," he admitted. He had been here in the same room for three days and had seen no one but doctors and Alex, and besides the book he had beside him and the sleep he craved, he was beginning to go insane from boredom.

Alex smiled in amusement. He figured the boy would begin to get agitated now that he was getting stronger and not sleeping as much. "Don't worry, you'll be out of here tomorrow," he told the blonde.

"But, I'm fine!" Luke protested with a huff, pushing the table over his bed away and slouching back against the headboard.

"You are doing a lot better," Alex agreed, the doctor telling him that his heart was becoming more stable. "But your heart rate still isn't where we would like it to be so we are going to take further steps to help you with that for now."

"Further steps?" Luke asked anxiously, crossing his arms over his body. He knew that his heart rate had a correlation with gaining weight and he also knew that he had eaten more than he wanted to have these last couple of days.

The therapist sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "I talked to your mother earlier and she has agreed that you can have a feeding tube inserted." Alex watched the blonde for a response, and he saw the sudden fear wash over his face as he hugged his body tighter.

"I don't want it," Luke disagreed, shaking his head. "I get a say in this right? I don't want it."

"I'm afraid you don't Luke," Alex admitted. He could tell the blonde was getting worked up and didn't want it to end in violence again. "Deep breaths Luke. Stay calm."

Luke simply shook his head as he began to push himself off the bed. Alex stood up with him and stared at the blonde who was now stood on the other side of the bed. "It's my body," Luke argued, beginning to tug at a tube that was inserted into his wrist.

His therapist's eyes widened as he darted around the other side of the bed, but was too late when the blonde had already yanked it out with a slight wince and was staring at the small amount of blood that was coming to the surface.

Alex sighed and picked up the tube, placing it on the side. "That was silly Luke, did you really need to do that?" he asked Luke, who was not trying to put his shoes on one-handed so that blonde didn't get over him.

Luke ignored the man, trying to slip his shoe on, Alex quickly grabbing the other shoe so he could not put that one on too. "Look, Luke let's sit and talk about this. And if we can have a reasonable discussion and I think that you are capable of looking after yourself, then maybe I will reconsider."

Luke stared at his for a couple of seconds, thinking if there was any point. Alex wasn't going to take no for an answer, however, and gently moved the boy over to one of the chairs and made him sit down. Alex pulled another one closed and sitting opposite him.

Alex wanted Luke to understand why he couldn't let him make decisions like this. He hoped this would help Luke be more accommodating towards the idea. "Do you know why we can't trust you to make a decision in this Luke?"

Luke looked down at his hand, watching the blood dry up. "Because I'm a child," he said in a mocking tone. Although he believed he was rational enough to make adult decisions, Luke knew that the law meant that fifteen-year-olds didn't have authority over adults in matters like these. Hence he did not get much input when his mother had sent him here.

"Legally yes, but I don't think that's fair. I think a fifteen-year-old is capable of choosing what they think is right and wrong," Alex stated. "Why else?"

"I feel like I'm at school," Luke groaned at all the repetitive questions. "I don't know."

Alex chuckled. "I guess it is a bit like school, but instead of teaching you silly stuff like history, we're teaching you how to overcome your disorder. And because you are yet to understand and control your disorder we can't let you make decisions as big as these."

Luke sighed, pushing his hair back and leaning on his hand that was resting against the arm of the chair. "Will this thing make me gain weight?" Luke asked, still reluctant to have it.

"Inevitably yes," Alex agreed. "But, like I said my main concern is not you gaining weight but making sure your body can keep itself going." He saw Luke have a thoughtful look across his face and was worried he might have no fully understood him. "But, that doesn't mean you can stop eating again. This will help you to more slowly ease yourself back into the routine."

Luke looked down at his lap anxiously. "Do I really need this?" he asked, his brows furrowing. "I think this is all just a waste of time, I really am fine."

Alex took a deep breath and stood up, knowing that Luke had too much time to think these last couple of days and he wasn't going to get anywhere with the blonde today. "You really do Luke." He handed the blonde back his other trainer. "Before we get your tube fitted, I need to take you to get weighed," he stated simply, not wanted to sugarcoat the situation. Luke was still so in denial that he didn't see the point in protecting the feelings that weren't really there.

Luke froze for a couple of seconds before reluctantly slipping his other shoe on, slowly standing and following after his therapist who didn't say anything else. Luke was still dressed in a grey pair of jogging bottoms and a blank jumper, he felt out of place as he passed smartly dressed men and women who were either therapists, doctors or people who did paperwork behind the scenes.

"Do you think I would have gained weight?" Luke asked anxiously, trailing behind the grey-haired man, Alex slowed his pace to let the blonde catch up with him and looked the fifteen-year-old directly in the eyes.

"I don't know," he admitted, it had been a rocky first week, and whilst he knew he had eaten more than the young boy would have outside of here, he knew that it was not that straight forward. "Do you think you have?"

He let his thoughts roam for a while, calculating all he had eaten this week, the thinking process slowing his pace down even more. "I feel fatter," he confirmed. "I think I've at least gained five pounds," he admitted looking down at his body.

"I wish!" Alex laughed to himself, knowing if he could gain that much weight in a week it would make his life a whole lot easier. The fact that the blonde couldn't comprehend how much weight was actually possible to gain in a week was telling. "I think we'll be lucky if you gained three pounds, but I'll be happy if you've even gained one or just maintained your weight. At least it is not going down."

"I'd like it to stay the same, I really hope it has!" Luke agreed. "If it has, maybe I'll eat dinner tonight because I know you all want me to, I suppose I better do something right for once otherwise I'm just being selfish."

Alex reflected upon what the blonde said, concluding that if he did gain weight then he definitely wasn't going to cope well or eat for the next couple of meals without force. Alex decided that he was going to have to lie to the boy.

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Thank you so much for reading!