Bo gently lifted Kenzi into her arms, not believing how light her friend was.
"Lauren, something isn't right. And I can't believe how light she feels. Please, will you help her?" Bo said, panic evident in her voice.
"Yes, I think I can, Bo. Lets get her back to your place. I brought my medical bag with me so I can do tests there," Lauren said. Lauren was beginning to suspect that something really was wrong with Kenzi, she just didn't know what yet.
The 3 women quickly got into Bo's car, Bo still holding Kenzi in her arms. She hadn't come to just yet.
Kenzi knew that something was off the minute she opened her eyes. She was lying in Bo's bed and had no recollection of how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was trying to convince Lauren that she didn't need to go to her lab for testing.
"What's going on?" Kenzi asked Bo, who was standing next to her with a worried look on her face.
"Kenz, you passed out in my arms. Lauren is trying to find out why," Bo said.
"Kenzi, I'm pretty worried about you. Passing out is a sign that your body is telling you that something is wrong. I'm sorry that we have to go about this in the way we are but I think I have to perform some tests now," Lauren said. She had already grabbed the necessary items she would need to draw some blood from Kenzi and was walking over to where Kenzi lay on Bo's bed.
Kenzi was starting to panic inside, hoping that it wasn't obvious to her friends. She wanted to bolt out of the bed and run but she knew she had to at least try to play it cool or they would know something was up with her.
"Look, I probably just passed out from doing too much the past couple of days, after the Migraine I had. Sometimes I try to push myself to get back to normal a lot sooner than I should. Migraines take a lot out of me. I probably just need to take it easy for another day, is all. I really don't think its necessary for you to do any tests on me. I feel just fine. I'm just a little tired," Kenzi said.
She had fully intended to get out of Bo's bed at this point to prove that she was just fine, but as soon as she sat up she felt an incredible wave of dizziness and was forced to lay back down immediately. She closed her eyes, hoping it would pass so she could try again, and hoping that no one had noticed.
"Kenzi, your not well, my dear. I'm going to take some blood from you now and I think its best that you let me. It won't take but a minute and then I can start doing tests and see why you keep feeling dizzy and why you passed out," Lauren said, coming closer to Kenzi and attempting to take Kenzi's arm so she could clean it.
Kenzi let her. She realized that she was trapped now. There was no way she could get out of this part without giving herself away. She had to let Lauren take her blood. The only thing she could do now was wait for Lauren to tell her the results.
"I'm going to ask you some questions while I draw your blood, just to see how you've been feeling lately. I want you to answer me as honestly as you can. Have you been getting dizzy a lot lately?" Lauren asked.
"Its just been going on since I had the Migraine, which is not unusual for me." In reality she hadn't stopped being dizzy for more than an hour at a time.
"Have you had any unusual symptoms lately? Feeling strange, losing track of time, anything like that?" Lauren asked.
What the hell?! Did they think Kenzi had gone crazy or something? What kind of questions were these?
"Um, no, nothing like that," Kenz said. She was a little weirded out by Lauren's questions but realized that maybe they didn't know what she was doing.
"Okay, well, I think i'm going to let you rest for a bit. You look pretty tired," Lauren said, gathering her supplies.
Bo offered to stay with Kenzi to keep an eye on her and Tamsin said she would go downstairs and make some tea while Lauren checked out the results of the blood test.
It took Lauren about an hour to get the results back from Kenzi's testing. She had fully expected to find out that Kenzi had contracted a virus of something. She wouldn't have put it past Inari to have left her with something to remember her by, even after Dyson had killed her. What she did find shocked her. Kenzi appeared to be anemic and her blood sugar levels were very low. Her electrolytes were out of balance as well. Lauren realized that everything was starting to add up. Kenzi's weight loss appearance the other night, Kenzi making an excuse to get out of eating in front of her and Bo at dinner the other night, the dizziness Kenzi had been experiencing, the fact that she had passed out just a little bit ago, and Kenzi's hesitance to let her do any tests on her. That along with the test results made Lauren suspect that Kenzi might have an eating disorder.
Now that she was pretty sure she knew what was going on with Kenzi, Lauren began to realize that she now needed to tell Bo. This part was going to be hard. She didn't want to tell Bo, because Bo was going to blame herself for not having seen this coming. She hated seeing Bo hurt but she knew she had to tell her what was going on with her best friend.
"Bo, Tamsin, can I talk to you both for a few minutes downstairs?" Lauren said quietly, finding both Bo and Tamsin in the room with Kenzi again. Kenzi had fallen asleep.
"Sure," Bo said, following Lauren back downstairs.
"Well, the good news is, Kenzi doesn't have a virus. What I did find came as a bit of a shock to me. Kenzi's iron levels were incredibly low as well as her blood sugar levels. Her electrolytes were also quite a bit out of balance. I believe Kenzi is suffering from Anorexia. At first I wasn't sure what to make of her test results, then it hit me. Kenzi has been very dizzy lately, likely because her blood sugar is so low. Then she passed out earlier when her body couldn't handle her blood sugar being so low. She also acted kind of strange the other night when I was over here for dinner. She didn't want to eat in front of us and I didn't think much of it then but now I can see how she was probably trying to get out of eating. Bo, you have also noticed that she isn't herself and you commented earlier on how light she felt when she passed out in your arms. I think she's trying very hard to hide having an eating disorder," Lauren said.
"Wow, I have to admit I'm rather shocked. I honestly hadn't really thought about that as an option. She's been so distant lately, so that would definitely explain that. Why is she doing this to herself? I'm so worried about her!" Bo said, definitely shocked by what Lauren had just told her.
Tamsin was also in shock after hearing this. She thought she'd noticed Kenzi seemed a bit off lately, but she had never thought that it was because of an eating disorder. Tamsin knew all about Anorexia. Her little sister had been Anorexic for several years in high school and Tamsin had watched her fade away before finally getting help.
"What do we do now? Do we let her know that we know? She doesn't want us to know. She doesn't want me to know. She's like my little sister. Why didn't she tell me?" Bo asked, feeling hurt.
"I know this hurts, Bo, but trust me, I don't think Kenzi was trying to hurt you," Lauren said, gently taking Bo's hand in hers.
"Lauren's right Bo. Anorexia is a very sneaky disease. Believe me, I know. My sister was Anorexic," Tamsin said.
"Thanks you guys," Bo said, smiling at her two friends.
"I think we should confront her. We need her to tell us when the last time was that she ate. Depending on how long its been, that would definitely explain her fainting episode and why she got so dizzy even just sitting up," Lauren said.
"Okay, let's do this," Bo said, confident that they could get Kenzi to tell them the truth and help her.
