Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 15

"And, she's still getting bullied."

"People think all my issues can be 'fixed,' and they have all these opinions of what I need to do. They treat me like a walking disease."

"Same here. I was abused growing up, so I turned to food for comfort. I would eat constantly, and it became an addiction called Binge Eating Disorder. I gained a lot of weight, and I was heavily bullied in school. Then, when I was about thirteen years old, I developed Bulimia, which is where you binge and purge your food. One day, I ate so much food that I literally couldn't breathe from being so full, so... I threw it up. That became an immediate addiction. I also dabbled in Anorexia from time to time, which is where you starve yourself. But, Bulimia was my main eating disorder. It got to a point where I would binge and purge ten to twenty times a day. On top of that, I was also addicted to self-harming, cutting and punching myself, and I was very suicidal. But, I was convinced that nothing bad would happen to me, that I was a 'safe' purger, and my body would be fine. I was too far into my eating disorder to even think of stopping. It was my comfort. But, I became too sick to even stand for more than ten minutes, or I would pass out. There were days when I was too sick to even get out of bed. Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with Gastroparesis, which means my body doesn't digest food properly, and I can't poop on my own anymore. I was also told that I might not live past forty or fifty, because of the damage I had done to my body. Then, I was told I couldn't have children." Bri's eyes filled with tears. "And, that destroyed me, because ever since I was little, all I ever wanted was to be a wife and a mom."

Sméagol began to get a little emotional himself.

"And..." Bri reached in her mouth, and took out her dentures. "I lost my teeth, too, from throwing up so much acid. These are dentures." She put them back in her mouth. "Then, one day, I was in the bathroom, purging again, and I was using a toothbrush to gag myself. I was holding the end with the bristles, so I could grip the toothbrush, because you know, I was a 'safe' purger, blah blah blah. But... somehow, my throat closed, and grabbed a hold of the toothbrush."

Sméagol's jaw dropped.

"I started to pass out, and I just knew I was gonna die. I already knew I was gonna die young, so I figured this was how I was gonna go. I don't remember how long it lasted, maybe twenty seconds, but for the first ten seconds, I accepted that I was gonna die. I was okay with it. Then, my life flashed before my eyes. All the abuse, my eating disorder, how it started, why it started, everything. My whole life flashed before my eyes. Then, the last few seconds, I had a very clear vision that I still remember like it was yesterday, of Damian walking in, and finding me dead on the bathroom floor with a toothbrush in my throat and puke everywhere." Tears poured out of Bri's eyes. "And, I decided I wanted to live, so I prayed to God, 'please, Heavenly Father, let me live." So, by some miracle, I was able to stick my entire hand down my throat, and grab the toothbrush."

Sméagol was speechless.

"What we're trying to say to you, Sméagol... and Gollum... to both of you," Bri said as she put her hand on Sméagol's shoulder, "we get it. Granted, neither of us have it as bad as you, and neither of us went through all the shit you did. I didn't choose to have an eating disorder, but I chose to purge that first time. That was all it took for me to become addicted. You, on the other hand, didn't have a choice. The ring sucked you in the minute it popped out of the water."

"And, my Autism never made me do the things the ring made you do," Lea added.

"The point is, we are not gonna turn on you. We both love you, and we don't think any less of you. In our eyes, you are still the sweet angel we met the other night, the angel that was so sweet to Lea when she broke down, and the beautiful angel that sang that beautiful, heartbreaking song. You are still our friend."

Sméagol smiled with tears in his eyes. "Thank you."

"Come here, Sweetie." Bri pulled Sméagol into a big hug, and Lea joined in.

"Thank you so much," Sméagol sniffled.

"And, Gollum, I wanna tell you something, too," said Bri. "Are you listening?"

"Yes," Gollum replied.

Bri pulled him close, and spoke into his ear in a cute, loving, sweet voice. "We want you to know that you are just as sweet and special and beautiful and worth it as Sméagol, and you deserve love and happiness and all the good things, and we love you so much, and you will never, ever, ever lose us, because you're so wonderful and special and amazing and strong and talented and adorable and precious, and you're our best friend forever, too, along with Sméagol, and we love you both so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so freaking much, because you're both awesome and beautiful and amazing and so worth it, and we know you can fight your addiction to the ring, because you are the real precious, not the ring, and we will fight anyone who tries to hurt you or be mean to you, because we love you so freaking much, and we will always love you forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever..." She jokingly hesitated. Then, she hugged him again, and kissed his cheek. "We love you, Sméagol, and we love you, Gollum. You're both awesome."

Lea grinned. "Bri does this a lot. I love her long-winded rambles. But in all seriousness, she said everything I was thinking. We really love you, both of you, a lot."

Tears poured out of Gollum's eyes. "We loves you, too, Precious!" he cried.

"Yes, we does," Sméagol agreed. "We loves you very much."

They all cuddled up into one big group hug.