A/N OKAY BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING, NO THIS ISN'T AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE AND YES I AM ALIVE!!!! I've been SUUUUUPER busy with classes and assignments, BUT ALSO!!! THIS CHAPTER GOT FREAKING DELETED!!!! AND IT WAS HARD TRYING TO REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE DETAIL I WROTE!!! So yeah, I kinda got a bit of burnout rewriting this chapter BUT IT'S DONE AND I'M DOUBLE SAVING EVERY CHAPTER I WRITE FROM HERE ON OUT BECAUSE OH MY GOD THIS TOOK FREAKING FOREVER!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway... enjoy!!! 😊💖
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"Okay, okay. We can argue about this later." Candace said, cutting him off. "Right now, we need to make sure Mitch is okay. I still need to ask him a question that could tell us why he passed out."
Mitch felt unease bubbling in his stomach as Candace sat down in the chair next to him again.
"You ready? It's just one question." Mitch took a deep breath and nodded. She gave him a patient, friendly smile before asking, "When was the last time you ate something?"
Mitch thought about it for a few seconds before answering.
"Umm, I think I had some chips... uh-"
"No, no. Let me rephrase." Candace said, butting in. "When was the last time you had a proper meal? You know, all food groups, good proportion sizes, and you ate all of it."
Mitch went quiet, trying to remember when that was. After staying silent for a good minute and a half, Kevin spoke up.
"Seriously?!"
"Shut up, I'm thinking!" He snapped. Mitch was quiet for a few moments before finally remembering. "Oh, um... It was when we went to go help out at that egg breakfast thing. They gave us a free lunch for helping them."
"Didn't we have dinner after that?"
"Yeah, but I didn't eat all of it. It's still in the fridge." Mitch explained, and Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So you're telling me, that the last time you actually ate a proper meal, was when we helped out at the all you can eat egg breakfast?"
"Yeah?"
"MITCH, THAT WAS ALMOST A WEEK AGO!!!" Kevin shouted.
"WELL I'VE BEEN BUSY!!!!"
"WITH WHAT?!?"
"OH MEU DEUS... Okay, so, after the whole egg breakfast thing, Kirstin and I went walking and we found my boots," He paused to explain to Candace. "By the way, I found some absolutely gorgeous boots that were perfect and wonderful and I loved them so much. So, I had to get an outfit for the fabulous footwear, which I did, and I looked amazing, obviously. So-" Mitch cut himself off and looked at Candace suspiciously.
"What?" She asked.
"You're not gonna tell the police about any of this, are you?"
"No? Why would I? I already told you my main priority as a doctor is to make sure the patient stays safe."
"Okay good, because my outfit consisted of several stolen items and I'm not dressed to go to jail for petty theft right now." Candace opened her mouth, but Mitch kept talking. "Alright, so then I needed to show the world my new outfit and boots and these idiots wanted to come with me looking like... basically that."
Candace looked at what the group was wearing and nodded in agreement.
"Mhm, you can't go with a group of people and be the only one that looks good. It either lowers the effect of your outfit or makes the people around you look even worse."
"FINALLY!!! SOMEONE WHO GETS ME!!!"
"What's wrong with our outfits?" Avi asked, confused.
"Nothing... if you're about to go to the movies. But from what I'm hearing about these boots and outfit he was wearing, the movies seem like the last place he would be." Candace explained, and Mitch grabbed her wrist.
"You're like, my third favorite person right now." He said, and she chuckled. "Anyway, I finally had them dressed decent enough to be seen with me, and we went to the mall. We were there for a little bit when this PORRA DESGRAÇADO ran into me and spilled my smoothie all over my new clothes and boots!!!"
"No!"
"YES!!! So naturally, I had to fuck him up a bit and broke his nose as well as a few of his teeth before leaving the mall."
"Dang."
"I know right? But unfortunately, by the time we got to the car, my boots, which were leather by the way, with these super cute straps and buckles, had already started forming... the white spots of death."
"Oh no!" Candace gasped, and Mitch whined.
"Yeah! And I had to throw them away! My beautiful boots..." He wiped a genuine tear from his eye and sighed before glaring at Kevin again. "So, excuse me Kevin, but I had to have a little depression episode after losing my boots, okay?"
"That doesn't explain why you didn't eat anything after that!"
"Yeah-huh! After I threw away my boots, I guess I slept the whole next day, and I woke up late the day after to use the bathroom and went back to sleep, then you guys wanted to get in an argument with me so we went to a gym for some reason? I guess so I could kick your asses in public, I don't know. But anyway, I had a headache and left to come back here so I could sleep, and when I woke up I went to get my Starbucks, but then the whole running from the cops thing happened. So yeah... I've been a bit busy."
"Mitch, you can't just not eat, your body needs nutrients!"
"Look, I don't know why it's such a big deal! I've gone without eating plenty of times."
"Mitch, you passed out!" Kevin argued, and Mitch went quiet for a second.
"Yeah okay, I'll admit that was weird. I've never passed out before."
"I think I might be able to explain." Candace piped up. "But first, Mitch, I have one more question."
"Go ahead?"
"You wouldn't happen to know when the last time you had a proper meal was before the free lunch, would you?" Mitch went silent again, much longer this time. After a solid three minutes, Candace spoke up again. "I thought so. Listen, what Kevin said was true. Your body needs the proper energy and nutrients to function, and it gets that by consuming food."
"Well, I get some of my energy from drinking Starbucks."
"How often do you get Starbucks?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Honestly, it all depends. I always get some in the morning to help me wake up, but I might get more throughout the day just because I like the taste of it."
"So let's round that up to every day, twice a day, you're getting energy from a consistent outside source. When was the last time you had Starbucks?"
"I had to sacrifice it today to get away from the cops, so the last time I had some was when we went to the mall. That was what, five days ago?"
"Okay, and how much do you exercise on a daily basis?" She asked, and Mitch had to think for a second.
"Not as much as I used to. We used to have an exercise routine we followed every day, but that stopped after..." He trailed off and went quiet for a moment before continuing. "Well, it stopped. So instead of the intense training we're used to, it changed to a decent workout every few days."
"Can you give me a more specific time frame?"
"Uhh, about once every three to four days. Sometimes five if we weren't feeling well."
"And when was the last time you had this workout?"
"I don't know... a good three weeks? Look, it's been a busy few weeks for me."
"We only met just over a week ago." Kevin said, confused, and Mitch looked at him.
"You do know I had a life before I met you guys, right? One that I'd very much like to go back to."
"Ah yes, a life of picking pockets and running from the police with no safe place to hide. Who wouldn't want to go back to something like that?"
"Hey! Who's the doctor here? Me, right? So the doctor says not to speak to the patient until I'm finished." Candace told Kevin when Mitch started glaring at him. Kevin crossed his arms but stayed silent, allowing her to continue. "Now, you guys wanted to know why he passed out, and I think I've figured out the reason.
"So, you ate all of your lunch and only a little bit of your dinner before you went to sleep. Then you got Starbucks the next morning and you drank half of a smoothie before engaging in some intense physical activity when you beat up the guy who ruined your boots. Am I right so far?"
"Yeah," Mitch told her, then he sighed. "My beautiful boots."
"Okay, so then you slept for the rest of the day, not eating anything during this time before waking up, eating a bag of chips, and then going to the gym to fight. Correct?"
"Mhm."
"And then the whole sleeping for two days thing happened and your run in with the cops. So, what I'm getting from this is the fact that you weren't giving your body the proper nutrients and calories it needed to function for a few days so it was struggling to keep up. Think of an old phone with a dying battery.
"The fact that you engaged in quite a bit of physical activity also plays a factor. You went to the gym where you fought and used up energy. Even though you slept for basically two days after that, you didn't eat anything, so the little energy you had didn't get replenished. That's like having the old phone on max brightness with all the apps open."
"So he was overworking his body. Like making someone move a big couch by themselves when they just woke up." Todrick commented.
"Exactly, that's another good comparison. Also, the fact that you were able to run from the cops at all is thanks to your adrenaline. You felt you were in danger so your body started pumping that stuff through your system to help you get away, it would be like temporarily plugging up that old phone to a charger. Then, once you felt safe enough, your body stopped making the adrenaline and kept going until it wore off."
"And that's like unplugging the charger and letting the phone run, right?" Mitch asked, and Candace nodded.
"Yep, and just like how a phone shuts down when it runs out of battery, when the adrenaline stopped working, so did you, which is why you passed out. And the only way to help you was to give your body enough nutrients so it'd wake up on its own."
"Huh... bodies are weird."
"Yeah well, that's life. But you only have one body so you need to make sure you're taking care of it, and that means making sure you eat properly."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"And I'm not just saying this for you," Candace paused to look at everyone in the room. "I need all of you to make sure everyone's eating properly. Don't make me have to come back here again or I will be charging you."
"Alright, we get it," Kevin spoke up. "We'll make sure no one skips any meals."
"Good."
"And Mitch, from now on, I'm gonna start calling you Munchie as a reminder."
"Don't." Mitch snapped.
"Nope! If it'll help him remember to make sure you've eaten, then let him call you Munchie. Doctor's orders." Candace smirked.
While Mitch grumbled to himself, Kirstie wanted to make sure everything was alright. "So he's really okay? Do we need to do anything else since he's hooked up to that... stuff?"
"He'll be fine. Since he's hooked up to this "stuff", he doesn't really need to eat anything right now. I'd still recommend giving him something small, like pretzels or a fruit cup or something when it runs out. But make sure he eats dinner tonight." She said, then she turned back to Mitch. "You hear that, Munchie? Make sure you eat dinner tonight."
Mitch rolled his eyes but didn't argue.
"Fine." He muttered under his breath.
"Good! Now, I'll be off. I need to get back to studying." Candace smiled, standing up. "And don't make me have to come back here because you passed out again from not eating."
"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him." Kevin told her.
"Wait, aren't you supposed to charge us for this or something?" Mitch asked, slightly suspicious.
"Normally, yes, but considering the situation, I'm giving you a pass on this one. Besides, this stuff was almost expired anyway. The hospital won't miss it, that's why I was using it to study." She explained.
"YOU PUT EXPIRED STUFF IN MY BODY?!"
"ALMOST expired!!! It was going to expire in the next few days, but it'll already be out of your system by then."
"Why would you give me almost expired stuff?!"
"Because you needed it now and if it wasn't used by next Wednesday, it'd be thrown out, which would've been a waste. Now, will you stop focusing on the expired part of "almost expired", please? Like I said, it's also the reason I'm not charging you for it either."
Mitch crossed his arms and pouted, being wary of the needle still in him. When she didn't hear any more complaints, Candace smiled and stretched a bit.
"Thanks again, for coming to help." Kevin told her, and Candace chuckled.
"It was my pleasure. In fact, it was also a good review for me. I've been so focused on brain stuff that I was starting to forget some of the basics."
"Ooh, we can't let that happen. Fundamentals before fun after all."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So shush." She joked, lightly punching his arm. "See you at church on Sunday, alright?"
"Yeah, I'll see you. Oh! And tell Dad I found his tie! The one with the blue stripes. I was doing some laundry and found it in my coat pocket for some reason?"
"Oh, he's been looking for that one! I'll give him a call on my way back to work!"
"Thanks."
"No prob. And make sure that you," Candace paused to look around the room. "All of you, eat a proper meal tonight. Got it?"
"Yeah, we got it. Now get out of here before you're late." Kevin said, pushing her out of his room.
"Okay, okay, I'm going!"
"Espere um segundo!" Mitch spoke up, stopping the two of them in their tracks. "Don't you have a file or something that shows a list of the things you used and why?"
"Yeah, I have one of those. Why?"
"No you don't."
"Yes I do, it's in my bag."
"No, I'm saying get rid of it," He explained. "I don't want there to be any record of me being in this area anymore."
"It won't have your information, it'll just say I made a house call."
"Well, I still don't trust it. What if one of the cops I was running from goes to wherever you work, finds that file of a house call with no further information that says you had to give someone one of these?" He gestured to the medical stuff he was hooked up to before continuing. "What if they connect the dots and send someone over to see if I'm here? Or drag you into questioning and force you to describe the person you gave this stuff to and explain why there wasn't any more information on it?"
"I doubt all that's gonna happen."
"You can never be too careful."
Candace sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Fine. I'll get rid of it."
"Are you sure?" Kevin asked. "Isn't that illegal? Won't you lose your license if you get caught?"
"Don't worry. I'll figure something out." She looked at her watch and straightened up. "I better get going. I don't want to be too late getting back to work."
"I'll help you get your stuff." Todrick offered, and started following her.
"Thanks, Todd. Oh, and one more thing," She turned and gave everyone the, "I've got my eye on you" hand gesture. "Make sure you're taking care of yourselves. Alright? I'll see you around."
Everyone said their goodbyes, and with a wave, Candace finally left.
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AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe I had to rewrite all of that 😭 I know I missed some stuff because I know I wanted to have Mitch say something and Candace would ask Kevin if he was sure Mitch didn't hit his head when he passed out but I COULDN'T REMEMBER WHAT I MADE MITCH SAY 😭😭😭😭😭 Also HOLY CARP FISH I've been gone for a while!!!! KIRSTIE IS FREAKING PREGNANT????? LIKE... WHAT????? SOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEE!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 SHE'S GONNA BE SUCH A GREAT MOM I CAN'T WAIT AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! 😭💖😭💖😭💖
So yeah, anyway, I'm gonna make sure you guys don't have to wait long for this next chapter. I pinky promise 😊😊😊 Let me know what you thought in the comments!!! I love you guys, and don't forget to boop that little vote button with your nose. BAIII!!!! 💖💖💖