Jesse and Becky clutched hands in the hospital waiting room, waiting for the doctor to come and tell them what Sara's test results were. The doctor who examined Sara, Dr. Evans, had asked Jesse and Becky to wait out in the waiting room while they ran some tests. Becky couldn't believe how guilty she felt. Jesse reasoned it was her motherly instinct kicking in, but he also felt worried. He knew Becky was trying to figure out what had happened to Sara, and he found he was also considering the possibilities. Nothing seemed to make sense to him. She couldn't have any medical disabilities; Ms. Morrison would have told them about that. It didn't make sense that she attempted suicide; there wouldn't have been enough time. The only thing that made sense to Jesse was that it must be related to the fact that she wasn't feeling good earlier. How sick was she really feeling? Why didn't she just tell us about it? We could have helped her. He thought, but knew Sara had been nervous. She probably didn't want to talk to anybody. Still, he wished she had because they might not find themselves sitting in the cold waiting room, waiting impatiently for a doctor to come and tell them what was going on.
Finally after what seemed like hours, Dr. Evans walked into the waiting room, holding a clipboard and reading over the notes clipped to it. Jesse and Becky stood up immediately as the doctor approached them. Dr. Evans stopped and looked from Jesse to Becky and sighed.
"You're her parents I assume?" She asked with raised eyebrows. There hadn't been much time to ask all the formal questions when the ambulance had arrived. It was important to get Sara looked after immediately. The questions could come later.
"No, well yes. We're her adopted parents. We just adopted her this afternoon." Jesse explained, still trying to get used to the idea himself. Dr. Evans nodded sympathetically.
"Why don't we sit down?" She offered as she motioned them to sit back in the hard chairs they had just been sitting in for the last hour or so. Dr. Evans sat across from them, looking at her clipboard again. Jesse took Becky's hand in his own for her comfort and for his own.
"Mr. and Mrs. Katsoppolus, we ran some tests on Sara and the results have come in. I didn't like what I saw." Dr. Evans said disapprovingly. Becky felt her heart skip a beat as she felt like she was going to cry again but she waited as Dr. Evans looked up again, ready to explain.
"We took a blood sample from Sara and we found a lot of her proteins and vitamins were down. Her iron is extremely low, as well as her protein and B12 and several other important nutritional supplements. She is also mildly dehydrated. This is a result of starvation. Sara has been starving herself for a period of time. Her body was getting weaker and weaker from the lack of food and so she finally passed out. It was bound to happen, and if she doesn't start eating again, she will continue to pass out on a regular basis." Dr. Evans explained as she shook her head. Becky stared at Jesse with tears in her eyes and then back at Dr. Evans.
"Why on earth was she starving herself?" Becky asked desperately. Dr. Evans raised an eyebrow.
"That's something you two will have to ask her about. My job is to diagnose and test, but if I were you, I'd make sure she begins regularly eating again. I've put her on an I.V. and she can go home in the morning. I'd like her to remain on the I.V. overnight so she has enough nutrients in her to make it out of this hospital without passing out again. She's awake and in room 587, if you'd like to go see her. She didn't seem too thrilled about seeing anybody, but you're the parents, you make these decisions." Dr. Evans stood up to leave, but then turned back to the couple. "Oh and one more thing. If I were you, I'd take that child to see a psychologist or something. Those cuts on her wrist were a little suspicious to me." Dr. Evans walked away with her clipboard. Becky stared at Jesse with frightened eyes.
"Cuts on her wrist? Why on earth didn't we see them?" She cried out. Jesse thought for a moment and then remembered.
"The bracelets. Don't you remember how many bracelets she had on? She was probably covering them. The doctor probably removed them when she was putting in her I.V." Jesse replied, as he stood up, pulling Becky up with him.
"Where are you going Jess?" She asked through her tears.
"Don't you want to go see her?" Jesse asked, puckering his brow. Becky sighed.
"Yes Jesse I do, but I don't think she wants to see us." She replied.
"We have to start somewhere honey. She may not want to see us, but which is worse? Feeling alone through this or having someone with her? She may not like that we're there right now, but one day she'll look back and be glad she wasn't alone. It's important that she knows we care." Jesse explained. Becky nodded.
"I know Jesse." She paused. "Do you think we should call Ms. Morrison and let her know?"
"I guess we should, but let's go see Sara first." Jesse led the way to room 587, holding Becky close. He was frightened. He didn't know how Sara would react when she found out they knew about what she was doing to herself now. Little did they know that Sara was already awake in her hospital room, arms crossed, crying quietly. She felt so angry with herself for fainting, and she was angry with Jesse and Becky for making her go to the hospital. Now they would know she hadn't been eating, Dr. Evans would have told them by now. Dr. Evans also saw the cuts on Sara's wrist, what if she told Jesse and Becky about those too? She put her arm with the shallow cuts under her blanket, just in case anybody came in. She wished so badly she could just go home. Not to Jesse and Becky's house, but back with Britney. How she wished Britney were there with her, talking to her, giggling with her. She felt so alone, and just as she shed another tear, there was a small knock on the door. Sara quickly wiped away her tears; embarrassed she had shed them, and leaned back against the headboard of the hospital bed. Jesse and Becky entered the bedroom, faint smiles on their faces. Sara could tell by their expressions, especially Becky's, that they were upset. Becky even looked like she had been crying. She wasn't crying for me. She couldn't have been. Sara thought. Jesse and Becky walked in further and sat on the two chairs that were next to Sara's bed. Sara didn't look up; she just continued to stare at the ugly bed sheets and made sure her cut up arm was still under the blanket.
"Sara, are you okay?" Becky asked. Sara nodded, still not looking up. There was silence for a moment, before Becky spoke again.
"We know that you haven't been eating Sara. That's why you passed out, and that's probably why you haven't been feeling good. The stress of the adoption on top of the lack of nutrition was too much for your body to handle." Becky explained. Sara secretly rolled her eyes. Great, here comes a lecture. She thought. She didn't move. She just stared fixatedly at the wall in front of her.
"We told you earlier that we don't want to hurt you, and it's true, we don't. But we don't want you to hurt yourself either. It can be dangerous to starve yourself. I know you've probably been nervous about this; we have been too, but you can't do this to yourself." Jesse added. Becky nodded.
"And Sara, we need to know. Do you always starve yourself, or is this just something that's been happening just recently?" She asked, not sure she would get an answer. Sara felt angry. Of course it's not always like this. This is what stress does to you! Great! Now they think I'm anorexic or something. Out of defense, she spoke up.
"No, I don't always starve myself!" She snapped, not evening meaning to. She didn't want them, or anybody else to think she was unhealthy. I'm fine!
"I'm glad Sara. So this has just been a recent thing. How long have you gone without eating?" Becky asked, prying for information. Sara was feeling more and more uncomfortable as the minutes passed. She had only moved in with these strangers a few hours ago and now she was lying in a hospital bed being questioned about her health and habits.
"A week." Sara muttered, feeling ashamed. She was waiting for Jesse and Becky to react harshly, a reaction she was used to from her biological parents, but was surprised when they just nodded.
"Well, I hope from this, you'll realize you need to start eating again. I'm sure you don't want to end up here again." Jesse said, and was surprised when Sara nodded without a doubt.
Jesse and Becky sat with Sara for about an hour and not much was said. Sara didn't look at them once, and a few times, Becky asked if she was okay, but Jesse and Becky both got the impression Sara didn't want them there. Besides, visiting hours would be over in 15 minutes, as Becky checked the time. So Becky explained to Sara she would have to spend the night, which Sara was not happy about, but Becky promised they'd be back to pick her up in the morning.
"And then I think the three of us need to sit down and talk about some stuff." Jesse said, as he was thinking about the cuts on Sara's wrist that were hidden under the blanket. Sara sighed heavily as Jesse and Becky said goodbye and left the hospital room. Sara began to cry again. She didn't want to talk to Jesse and Becky. She didn't want to stay alone in the hospital. She felt frightened. As her tears ran down her face, she buried her face into her pillow and cried herself to sleep.