The last time I was at the hospital wasn't pleasant so I would rather stay away.
"We aren't here for you. Just come on this way you might believe what you see instead of assuming so much." He grabbed my hand and lead me towards the Intensive Care Unit.
For a few minutes holding his hand was natural, like breathing, then I realized what I was doing and I snatched my hand away and stuck it in my pocket. I looked at him and he looked hurt but recovered quickly and continued down the long hall.
"So who's in ICU?" I asked trying to lighten the tension some.
"Jennifer." He said glumily.
I felt my blood boil and was about to do a one-eighty when he stopped in front of room 2B. I read the name on the door, 'Matthews, Jennifer' I quickly felt guilty for all the earlier assumptions and I guess he knew because he gave me an "it's ok" look and opened the door.
"Oh Justin, good you're here. She's been asking for you. I told her school started back today and you would be here when you could." said a very tired brown-haired woman.
"Hey Jen. You look good today. I got here as soon as I could. I know how boring mom is. I'll be staying with you tonight to make it better ." Justin said quietly.
"It's ok baby brother. I had my ipod and laptop to keep my occupied." The beautiful blue eyed girl replied.
"Baby brother?" I mumbled to myself. She looks like the baby.
"Oh I'm being rude. Jen, Mom this is my new friend from school Belle, uh Izzy." he said introducing us to each other. "Belle, this is my mom Gina and my twin sister Jennifer." he continued.
Then he waited for my response after i slowly put the pieces together.
"Twin sister?" I replied as my brain finally caught up.
"Yes, twin, so much for assuming huh?" he asked, his sea blue eyes twinkled.
"Nice to meet you both." I said, "I'm a twin as well. I have a sister though. We are mirror twins. Her name is Annabell, Anna for short."
"Belle, would you mind keeping my sister company? I need to speak with my mom for a moment." Justin asked.
"Not at all. She can explain to me why you think you are all that." I said giving him a smirk.
Justin and his mom Gina stepped outside while I lingered by the door.
"My brother isn't arrogant. If you got to know him you would see he's a nice guy. He doesn't think he's all that. In fact, you are the first girl I have ever seen him befriend first." Jennifer chided.
"huh? Oh no I was kidding. I know he's not arrogant. He's the only person who spoke to me today." I replied quickly.
I could still feel her anger readiating in waves so I excused myself to the restroom. I locked the door, turned on the sink and bathtub water and waited for it to come. Fat!, nothing, just dry heaving. I brushed my teeth anyway, turned everything off and walked out.
"Bulemic, huh?" said a very fragile, Jennifer. "It's ok. I won't tell Justin. I just want to know if I'm right."
I quickly glanced up and back down nodding my head to confirm her suspicions.
"I thought so." she said trying to sit up straighter in the bed, " You are just very skinny for a girl your height, your clothes are two sizes to big and you can tell you used to have some kind of muscle tone.... and I heard you dry heaving." she admitted sheepishly, " I used to do it too when I first got into high school."
"Seriously?" I asked.
"I doubt my brother told you why I was here, knowing Justin he didn't. I have stage 4 malenoma, its the worst skin cancer you can get. I found out in grade seven I had stage 2. They immediately started chemo and radiation and almost immediately I began to lose my hair. My mom bought me a wig and Justin shaved his head like mine. Slowly, but surely the weight started coming on. At first, I wasn't bothered by it but ten pounds went to thirty which escalated from there. By my freshman year I had gained seventy five pounds. That put me at two hundred pounds!" she shivered a little.
"Two hundred pounds? That's a little hard to believe, you are so tiny. How long did you 'spill'?" I asked with huge eyes.
"Three years. That's the reason I ended up back here in the hospital. I had gotten so small and it became so hard to control that the smallest task like drinking water had me running to the bathroom. That's when I finally told my mom. She rushed me to the ER here and they began pumping me with fluids. She then called Justin and he left camp early to come keep watch on me to make sure I didn't do it again. I was expecting to leave a few days ago. I'm able to hold down solids now and I'm back to one hundred and ten pounds." she said quite pleased with herself.
"Is this why he brought me here?! Because he knows!! Talk about making a girl feel completely worthless!" I hissed through my teeth, my stomach curdled and it took all I had not to run back to the bathroom.
"On the contrary Sweet Belle-"
"Its Izzy!" I snapped, still upset with Justin.
"Izzy, he took a liking to you that's why he brought you here. I just hope mom let's him know easy," she stammered off and went to sleep closing those intoxicating sea blue eyes. Just then Justin and his mom, Gina walked back through the door. HE had removed his hat and if I'm not mistaken it appeared as if he had been crying.
"Are you ready to go? I'm sure Anna is getting worried." he said with a smile but it wasn't convincing.
"Sure," I said, "whenever you're ready."
"Well it was nice meeting you, Izzy." Gina said and then she gave me a hug and then we walked out the door.
When we got to the elevators I decided to break the silence, seems I'm doing that a lot lately.
"So, your sister is really beautiful." I whispered.
"Yeah, she is. She's my rock." he said almost robtic.
"I can understand that. Anna is that way to me. She's my rock even though I'm the older one." I said in sort of a chuckle.
After that he pulled me to a nerby bench and began to hug me. I shifted uncomfortably a little but quickly retaliated with a hug as well. I kept feeling tiny little trickles like a leafy roof so I pulled away.
"Are you crying?" I asked sort of surprised.
I had never seen a man cry before. Not even my father would shed a tear for my mother in front of us. He raised his head slowly and it seemed like those sea blue eyes had turned the color of a midnight sky.
"I just dont' know what to do. How am I gonna go on withouth her?" Then his silent tears seemed to flow faster and more frequently. "She is so strong lying in the bed with all those machines and here I am so weak and crying like a little girl."
"Justin, she will be ok she said she is back up to one hundred and ten pounds and eating solids again. She will probably come home tomorrow." I said while rubbing his back to console him.
"No Izzabelle, shes refusing treatment and giving up. She's tired of fighting, she's tired of being in and out of hospitals. She told my mother she was ready to go to glory to see my father. And what do you mean eating solids and picking up weight?" he raised up and looked confused.
"You know with her bulemia. She was telling me how she used to be on steroids and it caused her to gain a ton of weight and she wanted to help me before I got as bad as her....and judging by the way you are looking at me it was all a lie." I said almost panicing as I had just openly admitted to being bulemic to a very cute guy I just met.
"Wait a minute! You mean that's why you look sick? It's because you think you are fat so you throw up? You are gorgeous and perfect. I'm instantly attracted to you even if it looks like you raided your fathers closet." he smiled sheepishly burying his head in his hands again.
"You really think I'm skinny? and pretty? and perfect?" I asked and then grabbed his face to study his eyes for a hint of a lie, but nothing was there but admiration.
"Of course Belle, you are breath taking." He smiled, stood up and reached for my hand.
This time I took it willingly.