Cassie sat on the edge of the bed in shock. Jon and Nick walked in at the perfect time. The nurse explained what they just learned then she made a discrete exit giving them alone time to talk about this.
Jon sat on the bed next to Cassie and put his arm around her shoulder. "It's just a number Cassie, we can fix it."
She was still looking at the floor, "How could I have let it get this bad?" She turned to look at Jon "I really thought I had only lost about 20 or 30 pounds."
"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't see it until yesterday either."
Jon helped Cassie get back into bed just as another nurse walked in with another shake. "What's this? I already had dinner."
"I heard you're having meals between meals to help you get your weight back up, you can expect a bedtime snack as well." The nurse smiled before she left.
Cassie had spent so many months avoiding food and now she was being surrounded by it, she was having difficulty adjusting to this. She picked up the bottle and took a small sip, she wasn't sure if the gravol would still be effective or if she'd start feeling nauseous again. So far so good.
Nick decided to distract them by telling them stories and if 5 minutes passed with Cassie ignoring her drink Jon would pick it up and hand it to her. Cassie glared at him the first few times but always took it and took a sip, she would try to beat Jon to the punch by remembering herself to take a sip. The distraction worked, Cassie even laughed at some of the funny stories. She still couldn't finish an entire bottle though and being full made her even more tired.
She adjusted her head scarf then laid down for a nap and Nick left to check on some of his patients while he was there. Jon sat quietly pondering the last 48 hours and all the new things he has learned. His dinner with Nick went well he learned a lot about how to help someone with an eating disorder, of course a lot of things didn't pertain to Cassie's case as this wasn't really self-inflicted intentionally. Tonight, proved that point as Cassie was more than willing to drink that second drink.
Ponch peeked his head in the doorway. Jon saw the movement and looked over "Hey partner, come on in." Jon whispered to Ponch.
Ponch tiptoed in, did a quick stop at the bed to see Cassie sleeping peacefully, then thought to himself 'when did she start wearing headscarves?'
He brought over to Jon a paper bag "Hi Jon sorry I'm late, I stopped at Cassie's favourite bakery and picked up a banana pecan muffin."
Jon peeked in the bag and saw two "How did you know that's her favourite?" he was surprised.
"The Cassie I remember really liked food and really showed enjoyment for these muffins."
Two hours later when Cassie was being woken up to eat yet again. She was a little grumpy "I sure hope you don't plan to wake me up through the night like this." All she wanted to do was sleep and they kept interfering with her rem sleep, she adjusted her head scarf again then looked at what they brought her.
This time she had been given a cup with a spoon, she looked at the label, rice pudding. Jon had gotten permission from the nurses that Cassie could choose between what they gave her or the muffin Ponch brought her.
"Cassie, while you were sleeping Ponch stopped by and brought you this." Jon brought the bag out from behind his back and she peered inside, her eyes almost sparkled. "You can choose either the rice pudding or the muffin, which would you like?" She didn't hesitate for a second, she put the spoon down and dove her hand into the bag for the muffin. Jon watched as she carefully took off the paper wrapping and broke small pieces off and ate them.
When Cassie settled in for the night Nick talked Jon into going home to sleep while he takes the graveyard shift. She was going to need a change of clothes to go home in and at least one more head scarf anyway. Jon was exhausted so it didn't take much convincing.
The night was pretty quiet, the nurses occasionally came in to change IV's, check temperature and blood pressure. At 5am they woke Cassie with her first meal of the day. Another protein shake and another shot of gravol. "Seriously?" Cassie was exasperated "It's still the middle of the night." With Nick encouraging then eventually pushing, Cassie finished the entire bottle. "I think I've earned this nap." She said grouchily then turned onto her side and fell asleep.
Jon came in a few hours later with a bag full of belongings. He placed his stuff down and walked over to Cassie, brushing her hair from her face gently so as not to wake her he quietly asked Nick how the night went.
Nick shared the good news that she finished an entire bottle this morning. Jon was equally surprised with 1. They started so early and 2. That she actually finished an entire bottle. Nick explained it took some pretty aggressive pushing. "She certainly wasn't too happy with me." he chuckled.
Nick left to take a nap and Jon sat quietly watching Cassie sleep. At 9am a nurse walked in with a tray of food. Uh oh, Jon thought, now the real challenge begins. She woke Cassie up and told her to eat up before it gets cold. "I just ate!" Cassie said exasperated.
Jon came over to give her a good morning kiss and to peek under the lid to see what was for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast and bacon. "Look honey, your favourites."
Cassie picked up a piece of bacon and took the tiniest nibble off of the end. "Well I guess there's no point in fighting it." She took a bigger bite and with her other hand picked up the toast for a bite. This pleased Jon to no end, had they both known gravol was an option they would have done this a lot sooner. Cassie was ready to give up way too soon and Jon started to push to get her to keep eating. He kept in the back of his mind how Nick had said he had to get a little aggressive. He didn't like it but he was prepared to piss Cassie off if that kept her eating. She kept readjusting her headscarf and Jon thought this would be a good time to switch to a newer cleaner one. He helped her take that one off and Cassie pushed him to be quick and get the next one settled in place before anyone came walking in.
Not an hour later who would come walking in but Ponch, in full uniform carrying another paper bag. Cassie was happy to see Ponch and opened her arms for a hug. "I understand I have you to thank for that wonderful muffin last night."
This was the first time Cassie was awake since Ponch started visiting and he could have used one arm around her entire body she was so thin. "Cassie, it's good to see you awake, you've lost a few pounds I see."
"Haw haw, I thought Grossie was the comedian. What's in the bag? More muffins?"
"Well actually, donuts." Ponch chuckled to himself.
Cassie peered inside and saw a honey dip, honey crueler and a boston cream. "How did you know these were my favourites?"
Ponch was proud of himself for guessing right. "I wasn't sure which was your favourite so I brought the three I saw you eat most often."
She picked out a honey dipped and took a small bite. "Thanks Ponch, this is perfect."
That morning they found out that since she couldn't be released before her next chemo treatment they would be delaying the treatment by one day. Cassie also pleaded with the doctor that so many full meals were just too much for her. She begged that the in-between meals please be smaller. He made no promises but said he'd think about it.
It suddenly dawned on Cassie that if she lost half of her body weight her clothes weren't going to fit, she mentioned this to her husband "I might have to go home in a hospital gown." Jon said not to worry he had already thought of that and when she went home she would be in clothes that fit.
As requested the doctor had made the in-between meals smaller and Cassie proved she was improving by not only eating everything she was given but also drinking a sufficient amount of water. She was released to go home before dinner the next day.
When Jon brought out the clothes for her to wear home Cassie looked at the clothes skeptically "I think these are too small."
"Try it on honey, you might be surprised."
"Why do these look so familiar? Where have I seen this before?"
Jon didn't want to say exactly who, so he was a little vague instead, "I borrowed them from one of our neighbours."
Cassie put on the pants and was surprised at how easily she slipped into them, not only did they fit but they were just a tiny bit big. She pulled the t-shirt over her head then the memory came crashing down in her head. "Oh my God! These are Penny's aren't they?"
