Chapter one
hundred and nineteen:
Luke was sitting
on one of the beds in the room that Becky and Jen were staying in. Jen was
standing in the bathroom, brushing her hair up into a high pony-tail. Luke
looked around the room. He’d been there before. He had even stayed in that room
himself a couple of times.
Jen’s bed has a
stack of books piled neatly on the bottom corner of the bed, arranged from
largest to smallest sized books from bottom to top.
“How was your
class this morning?” Jen asked from the bathroom.
“It was boring.
It’s just an American history credit I picked up to fit in my schedule.”
“Oh,” She said,
fastening an elastic in her hair. She turned to face
him, the bottom hem of her t-shirt revealing protruding hip bones and her
entire ribcage showed through her white cotton t-shirt. “Do you have another
class today or-“
Luke interrupted
her before she could fully complete her question. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, why?”
She lowered her arms and tugged her shirt down over the waist of her jeans.
“I’m just…
worried about you.”
She laughed. “There’s
nothing to worry about, I’m fine.”
“You’re not
fine.” He protested. “You’re skin and bones. We’re all worried about you.”
“I am not. I’m
fine. Really!”
Luke
sighed. “How much do you weigh?”
“What does that
have to do with anything?” She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“How much do you
weigh?”
“Whatever,
Luke. I think you
should go. I’m done having this conversation.” She turned her back to him.
Luke got up from
the bed quickly and wrapped her arms around her waist, lifting her off her
feet. She kicked hastily, attempting to get away, but he managed to get her
into the bathroom. He pushed her onto the scales and held her there until he
could see the read out.
“Ninety-two!” He asked in disbelief. “Ninety-two pounds?!” He demanded.
“It’s nothing-“ She began.
“You’re sick!”
“I’ll be fine, I
can get better on my own, I-“
“I’m taking you
to the hospital.”
“No!” She backed
against the wall. “You can’t! I can get better on my own, I-“
“Jen, I have no
choice. I can’t live with myself if something happens to you.” He reached for
her hand.
“No!” She cried,
backing further against the wall.
The bedroom door
opened and Luke half turned to face Becky and Zac who had come into the room.
“What’s going
on?” Becky asked.
“I’m taking her
to the hospital.” Luke replied. “She needs help-“ He
began.
“You told! You
swore you wouldn’t!” Jen interrupted, moving towards Becky.
“I had to,
honey! I had no other choice!” Becky protested. “I’m going with you.”
Zac touched her
shoulder. “We’ll follow them in my car.”