"No! I won't!" The taller of the two roommates attempts to flail away from her tiny but strong counterpart. Swim team reunion next week, and Kaitla refuses to eat.
"Honey, please. I love you. Please eat something." Litzy finally relents at the sound of a baby crying from the bassinet in the corner. She crosses the kitchen to pick up her daughter, soothing her with a soft voice and a smile. She returns to the kitchen table where Kaitla remains sitting with her arms crossed, jaw set and hell in her eyes. "Baby, please. I know it's hard. You know I know it's hard. But you can't go on like this."
"Why not? I hate myself. There's really no point in eating. It'll just make me even more fat and gross and ugly." Litzy's heart breaks for her roommate. She knows how it feels; she's been there. The hell in your mind causing you to treat yourself worse than you would treat your worst enemy. Scars litter the bodies of both girls. Both have had times where meal times would result in a shouting match, often ending in tears from one or both of them.
"Angel, you're the most beautiful person I know. It scares me though. You're getting too thin. Remember last year? Right before we found out about Ellie? Remember how awful that was for you to watch me through that? But I had a cause. You're purely against yourself and I don't know what I can do to help you see how incredible you are. I can lay out facts, I can tell you I love you, but I never can know if anything will actually work. This is something you have to do, honey." She pauses, wiping away the tears of the broken beauty across from her.
"But I can't. I'm not strong enough. I'm not worth my own effort." Kat crosses her lithe limbs across her thin chest, collarbones protruding even more than usual. Litzy sighs and puts her free hand on her best friend's shoulder.
"I know how hell feels, honey. I've been there. Multiple times. But you pulled me out of hell. You reminded me what I have to live for, to do more than barely survive. We were hanging on until our dreams. But now we're living in what were our dreams and our minds are still against us. We made it this far. Don't leave me now. You mean everything to me. Without you, neither Ellie nor I would be here. I lost the will to live, and you showed me how to find it again. If I could I would fight this for you. I would do anything for you. Just let me honey. I'll take care of you. We'll be okay." Kaitla looks at her roommate, eyes showing sadness to the depths of her soul.
"I have to go to the bathroom." The tall brunette stands and stalks away from the kitchen table towards the bathroom down the hall. She pauses in the living room, her step faltering. Just as she reaches the bathroom door, the tall beauty collapses.
"No!" The scream comes from the depths of Litzy's soul as she quickly stands and settles Ellie in her bassinet before sprinting to her best friend. She kneels beside her, gathering Kaitla in her arms. She shouldn't be so light. "Baby, please, wake up." Kaitla's shallow, sporadic breaths terrify Litzy. She resituates the younger girl in her arms into a position her she can take her pulse. It's there, but barely, and fading. Tears stream down her face as she fears for the life of her best friend, her lifeline. She carefully lays Kaitla back down, hurrying to strap Ellie in a back child carrier, before returning to her angel and gathering her in her arms once more. Litzy stands, child on her back and a broken beauty in her arms as she travels the three flights of stairs to the apartment parking lot in record time. Se first straps Kaitla into the front seat, hands shaking as she fumbles with the buckle. Kaitla slowly blinks as she watches the tears stream down her best friends face, struggling for consciousness. Litzy buckles her daughter in the safety seat in the back before jumping into the driver's seat. The door barely shuts before the car is thrown into reverse and they take off out of the parking lot and onto the road. Five minutes later they arrive at the nearest hospital. Litzy straps her baby to her back and gathers her precious roommate in her arms again, all but running to the entrance. The elderly desk attendant's eyes widen at the scene coming in.
"Please. I haven't been able to get her to eat. I'm so scared. She collapsed in our apartment and I had no choice. Please help me. I can't lose her." A flurry of commotion begins and Kaitla is taken from Litzy's loving arms and whisked away on a stretcher, headed for needles and tubes trying to save her broken body. The doctors and nurses probe Litzy for every bit of information they can get and she gives it willingly. Anything to save her best friend. Soon they have all they need and the small girl, an adult looking like a child, is left standing alone in the middle of an empty waiting room. She unstraps her baby from the child carrier on her back and cuddles her in her arms. Please don't let it be just us, baby. I'm not strong enough to do this alone. Don't make me have to be. She holds her daughter closer, hoping to high above she won't lose the one person who has meant more than anything to her.