“Stacey? I’m Michelle, and I’m a paramedic. They called me here because they’re concerned you might be sick.”
Stacey kept her eyes focused on nothing. So they were sending paramedics to look her over? Maybe Calvin would get his way after all.
“Honey, can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. I was just really upset because my boyfriend and I broke up, and I came to talk to him, but I got lost in the woods and then I got really scared.”
“They told me you’re anorexic.”
She twitched, fighting the impulse to look at the woman. “Who told you?”
“The officers here, and I’m assuming they got that information from one of your friends.”
“I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
“Have you had anything to eat today?”
“Yes.”
“Recently?”
“No. I was driving here and I got lost, remember?”
“Have you had anything to drink?”
That was it! That was the reason for her headache and dizziness. She was dehydrated. She’d had a bottle of water in the car, but she only drank a few sips of it and forgot about it when she was searching for the campground.
“Can I have some water, please?”
“Yes, of course you can. Honey, I’d like to do a blood test on you, just to check your electrolytes and potassium levels. Is it okay if I do that?”
“You’re going to stick me with needles? No. I hate needles.”
“I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
“No. I’m fine. All I need is some water, and I’ll wait here for my father.”
And then they’ll call you to pick up my dead body, because Daddy is going to murder me.
The woman stood up straight and spoke over her shoulder to someone. “Can we get her a bottle of water?”
One of the park rangers went to get the water, while Deputy Tucker came to visit. “She okay?”
“She’s belligerent, but lucid. We can’t force her to do a blood test if she’s coherent, unless there’s an obvious health issue.”
Deputy Tucker waved a hand toward her, again talking about her as if she weren’t sitting six feet away. “She was dizzy and falling down at the scene. We actually thought she might’ve been drunk, until we talked to her friends.”
“Did you test her for alcohol? She’s so tiny, it’d only take a little bit to affect her.”
The ranger shook his head. “I couldn’t smell anything on her or in her car. We can do it now, if you think it’s necessary.”
“I don’t drink,” Stacey said through clenched teeth. “And I’m right here. You can ask me questions, you know.”
Deputy Tucker waved her off and went back to his desk. The female paramedic wasn’t so easily offended. “We just want to make sure you’re okay, that we don’t need to transport you to the hospital. We’re here for you, sweetheart.”
“I’m not your sweetheart.”
“Okay. We’re still here for you.”
Stacey thumped back in her chair and spread her arms wide. “I told you. I’m just upset. Can’t you think back to when you were my age and you broke up with someone? It hurts! And right now I just want to get out of here and go home.”
Where was this coming from? She was like a crazy person on one of those cop shows, barking at the police and making things worse. She had a sense suddenly that there were two Staceys, the smart one sitting very quiet inside her while the stupid one took over.
Shut up, stupid. Just shut up.
The woman paramedic nodded and turned to her partner, who stood several feet away. “She’s not going to let us test her.”
“No imminent danger, no signs of trauma, I think we’re good to go.”
Still, the woman, Michelle, remained there. She looked back down at Stacey, and compassion shined in her eyes. “Stacey … Anorexia is very dangerous. It can kill you. Now, you can be as angry at me as you want to, but I’m going to tell you this and hope it sticks. Whatever caused you to believe that you’re fat or that you’ll get fat is a lie. The truth is you’re very thin. Not emaciated yet, but getting there. And if you don’t eat, you’ll become deficient in all the nutrients your body needs to survive, and your organs will stop functioning.”
Stupid Stacey glared at her.
“I do remember what it was like to lose a boyfriend. It hurts bad. But do you think killing yourself by starving is going to bring him back? Do you think maybe he’s worried about you, scared to watch you die? If you love him, don’t you want to be healthy so you can be with him?”
Leave me alone.
Michelle sighed and shook her head. “If you were my daughter … Well, I just hope your parents are aware of what’s going on and will get you some help right away.”
The woman walked away, joined her partner, and left the office. Sitting partway on his desk with his arms crossed, Deputy Tucker stared at her. Another ranger brought her a cold bottle of water. Stacey accepted it, but just held it in her hand until the two men lost interest in her and went about their other business.
When no one was looking at her, Stacey cracked open the bottle cap and sipped the water. It slid down her throat and into her stomach, cooling her insides and helping her nerves to settle down. She drank more, until half the bottle was gone. And as she relaxed, exhaustion overwhelmed her. Stacey capped her bottle, cradled it against her chest, and curled up sideways on the chair in a tight ball. Stupid Stacey fell quiet and allowed her to sleep.
Familiar voices echoed in the room. She willed them to go away and let her sleep. Daddy bellowed her name. Stacey’s eyes felt like they were sealed with glue, though she managed to force them open. Her father stood over her, his form seeming to swallow up all the light in the ranger’s office.
“Before we leave here, I want answers.” He wasn’t yelling, but the low rumble of his voice was just as commanding, maybe worse. “Were you trying to run away with that boy?”
She rubbed some gunk from her eyes. “No, Daddy.”
“Then why the Sam Hill did you drive four hours from home to find him?”
“Stan, can we discuss this after we’ve got her home?” Mom came around Daddy’s side and clasped his arm. “Let’s find a nice hotel for the night and we can all get some sleep.”
“In a minute. Talk to me, young lady.”
Stacey pushed herself up off the arm of the chair. Amazingly calm. Wanting only to go home.
“I’m sorry. I made a stupid mistake. I just wanted to talk to Calvin and I couldn’t get him on the phone. I didn’t realize how far it was to the campground, and when I got lost I freaked out. That’s all that happened. Calvin didn’t do anything wrong, so please don’t blame him.”
“Hmm, we’ll see. Where are your car keys?”
“Umm, I don’t know. I think …”
“We have them here,” Deputy Tucker said. He crossed the room and handed Stacey’s keys to her mother.
“No more car. My mistake was in assuming you were mature enough to handle the responsibility.”
That hurt. That brought the tears again. “No, please don’t take my car. I’m sorry! Please don’t …”
“And her phone? Where is that?”
“No! Daddy, don’t!”
“We didn’t take anything out of the car, so it may be in there,” Deputy Tucker said.
“Fine. Up. We’re going.”
Unable to stop her tears, Stacey gathered her feet under her and made them push her body up. Mom wrapped her arm about Stacey’s shoulder, pulling her close against her side. Showing affection or keeping her from running? She thanked the park rangers for looking after her daughter, then guided Stacey outside.
Stacey immediately shivered in the night air. A fine mist wet her skin and shined on the asphalt. Mom briskly rubbed her arm.
Stacey’s Honda was in the parking lot, but it was Daddy’s police cruiser they walked to. It would have been just perfect if Daddy put her in the backseat
like one of his arrestees, but he opened the front door for her instead. Which meant she’d have to sit beside him and endure his lectures all the way home. Mom walked away, and after Daddy closed the passenger door of his car, Stacey watched her mother cross the small lot to her Honda. The two spoke to each other, coordinating their destination and route, and then Daddy took the wheel of his car.
The clock on his dashboard read 2:18. Maybe he’d be too tired to talk.
With her seat belt secure, Stacey tucked her legs up, trying to curl into a ball again to ward off the cold.
“Feet off the upholstery,” Daddy said.
She plunked her feet down. And stared straight ahead as they left the little town and drove along a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. The whole world was dark for miles and miles. The mist turned to rain. The cruiser’s windshield wipers slapping back and forth ticked off the moments and lured Stacey toward sleep.
But finally Daddy spoke. “I can’t believe you did this. I might have expected something like this from Renee, but not from you.”
She didn’t bother to apologize. It wouldn’t do any good.
“I’m very disappointed.”
He fell silent for a long time. Was that it? No more lectures?
But then, “That boy, Calvin. You’re not to see him again.”
“What? Daddy, he didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Maybe not. But you did. And you involved him. So we’re going to remove all distractions, get to the bottom of whatever is going on with you, and fix it. Including this anorexia garbage.”
Oh … wonderful.
Chapter 30
The air inside the tent was steamy. Staring at the green nylon roof above him, Calvin dragged the heavy air into his lungs and kicked out of his sleeping bag. Tyler was gone. A female voice murmured somewhere in the campsite, and he could hear some rummaging in the distance. Calvin’s throat was raw. He rubbed it and sniffed. Great. All he needed was a cold. He pulled on a pair of flip-flops then unzipped the tent flap and ducked through.
“‘Bout time you got up.” Flannery kept her eyes on a paperback book she held flattened against the picnic table. The only energy she seemed to expend was in jiggling one booted foot.
Answering her would probably hurt his throat. Calvin grunted. Yep. Hurt. He turned his back on Flannery and plodded down the lane to the bathroom. Grit from the moist ground got under his toes. It had rained during the night, so trails would be a mess.
If he had the heart to ride at all.
When he returned, Tyler rose from a canvas chair and gestured for him to sit. Calvin croaked thanks and plopped down, grateful for the remaining heat from the morning campfire near his feet.
Patty came out of the camper. “You missed breakfast. You were snoozing big time, so we didn’t wake you. There’s milk and cereal in the RV if you’re hungry.”
Calvin sniffed and nodded. Maybe he’d even get up in a few minutes to find something to eat. “What time is it?”
“Almost nine. Dad and Nigel have been gone since before dawn.” Flannery closed her book and untangled her legs from the picnic table bench. “Get dressed. Grab an apple. Let’s hit the trails before lunch.”
Calvin cleared his throat. He’d tossed and turned most of the night, unable to get his mind to settle down. He blamed the thunderstorm, croaking frogs, chattering raccoons, lumps from little pebbles or bits of pine bark under his sleeping bag, and Tyler’s snoring. The truth was he just couldn’t stop thinking about Stacey. And now he was paying for it.
Calvin stayed slumped in the chair, staring at a flickering ember amid the ashes.
“Tell me you’re not sick,” Patty said.
“Stupid cold or something,” he mumbled.
Flannery groaned. “That mean you’re not riding? Great. Just great.”
Tyler speared her with a piece of pine straw. “Dude, shut up.”
So, what? They expected him to just go on with their camping trip as if nothing had happened last night? Calvin made eye contact with Flannery, but decided getting angry would take too much energy.
“I’m okay. And I will be riding. Just give me some time to wake up.”
Patty pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “Hmm, no fever. Tell you what, though. Let’s drive in to the store and get you some of those zinc cough drops, just to be safe. Then we can call and see if Stacey made it home okay last night.”
“Thanks.” Calvin sniffed. At least someone understood.
Patty ran her fingers through his hair. “Come on, hon. We’ll take your pickup.”
Calvin sniffled and cleared his throat all the way to the town of Troy. Patty parked the pickup next to a drugstore. With a good signal on Patty’s cell, Calvin dialed Stacey’s phone number. The call went straight to voice mail.
“The number you have reached is not available …”
He waited for the beep and left a message. “Hey. It’s me.” His voice sounded like one of the frogs at the campground last night. “Just wanted to see if you got home okay. Umm, I wish things had gone different last night, but … well, I’m happy that, like, we seemed to get a couple of things settled. Kind of. So … Anyway, we’ll be coming home on Wednesday. I’ll try to call you again before then. I love you. Bye.”
Calvin handed Patty’s phone back to her.
She turned sad eyes to him. “That was pretty intense last night. Want to talk about it?”
He didn’t. At least not with a burning throat. He stared at his feet, hoping she’d take the hint but not be insulted.
Patty sighed. “Is it true, what Tyler said? Stacey is anorexic?”
He wiggled his foot on the floorboard, bouncing slightly in his seat.
“I don’t know what makes girls starve themselves like that. I saw a report on television about it. Horrible, horrible thing. Calvin, let’s take a moment before we go inside to pray for her.”
Calvin raised his eyebrows. Yes, prayer. They could do that. As long as he wasn’t the one that had to speak.
Patty reached across the bench seat to clasp his shoulder. “Father God, we just ask you to watch over that pretty little girl, Stacey, and touch her heart with your love. I don’t know everything she’s dealing with, so I can only ask that you put your healing hand upon her mind and her heart and her body in whatever ways she needs it. See her through her troubles and let her know she’s not alone, that she has people who love her and are pulling for her, and most of all, God, that you love her. Calvin and I are just so worried.”
Calvin couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even get his brain to form words that made any sense. As Patty’s prayer brought unexpected tears, his thoughts could only echo, yes, God, please.
“And Lord, I pray for Calvin. It’s pretty clear to me that he’s just heartbroken over this thing. I pray he’ll find the right words to help Stacey, and that he is able to not only support her in the ways she needs but look after himself as well. Give him the strength to battle this cold, and help him find some peace as he goes riding. Please keep all the kids safe as they ride. And thank you, God, for your presence in our lives. Amen.”
“Amen.” Calvin sniffed. His bowed head and the few tears sent more gunk to the front of his sinuses.
Patty squeezed his shoulder and smiled. “Let’s get you something for those sniffles.”
The old truck’s door hinges squealed and clunked as Patty got out. Calvin lagged behind, but as he walked into the store, a prayer burbled up from somewhere deep within him. Lord, I don’t understand all this. I read lots of stuff, and I tried everything I know how, and I still don’t understand. But please let Stacey get better. Please.
Chapter 31
Stacey lay with the hotel blankets pulled up to her jaw, pretending to be asleep. Her parents probably thought their voices wouldn’t carry beyond the bathroom, where Mom was fixing her hair, but Stacey could hear every word.
“She’s doing this to herself. It’s a phase,” Daddy said, “and it ends now.”
“
I don’t know, Stan. Some things I read said it’s a mental disorder—”
“They call everything disorders these days. Every form of bad behavior gets a name that turns the perp into a victim.”
“This is our daughter we’re talking about. Not some criminal you’ve arrested.”
“It was just an example,” Daddy muttered.
Stacey’s stomach was hollow, but she wanted to puke. Her breakfast, provided by room service, sat on the table by the window, ready for when she rolled out of bed. No doubt Daddy would stand guard over her as she ate each bite.
“What are you doing?” Daddy asked. “Why are you cleaning the sink? They have maids to do that sort of thing.”
“There was hair in it. Stan, we can’t afford to ignore this. What if it damages her heart?”
Mom would stuff her head full of information that would tell her everything she needed to know about how to fix her daughter—Step One, Step Two, Step Three—and make everything all right again. Mom would be on the Internet when they got home, searching, analyzing, judging. Just like Calvin. Worse than Calvin.
Tears slid sideways down Stacey’s face to wet the sheet. She made no effort to sniff or wipe them away. No movement; she wanted to hear more.
“We’re going to have to spend more time with her,” Mom said. “Make sure she eats properly. Keep telling her we love her. Maybe I’ll take off work for the summer.”
“We can’t afford for you to do that.”
“We can’t afford for Stacey to be anorexic, either. What if she gets sick again?”
“That won’t happen. She’s going to eat properly, because we’ll hold her accountable.”
“How will we do that?”
“Rewards and consequences. She’s not too old for it. Don’t you remember when we were kids, when we did things that drove our parents nuts?” Dad paused, and someone turned the water on. The swooshy sound of teeth-brushing ensued. Daddy kept talking, which meant Mom was the one with foam in her mouth. “My father knocked some sense into me a few times, and, boy-howdy, I needed it. What we need to do now is take control of the situation and put Stacey back on the right path. She’s not getting her car back until she’s straightened herself up. And she’s done dating that boy.”
Running Lean Page 27