The Art of Drowning

Chapter Four

Song for this chapter - Trying by Cavetown

When we entered Dr. Briden's office, immediately I was met with the harsh cold that his office usually presents. Obviously, since this was a hospital and we were on the tenth floor, the lack of heat wasn't caused by an open window. No, not only did he make sure that no radiators were ever switched on in his office, Dr. Briden had not one, but two fans that were always on full power pointing directly at him. Given that he was a doctor who primarily treated patients with anorexia, who were far from accustomed to the cold, it seemed like an odd choice to say the least. Also, the fans are incredibly loud, and so from the second you enter the room you have to raise your voice to the point where you're practically yelling in order for anyone to understand you.

Fortunately for Karen and dad, they were left outside in the warm, leaving just me and mum to deal with Dr. Briden and his antics.

"Enya, Melissa! Great to see you both again!" he greeted us with a smile, but once he focused on me his smile faltered. It was only for a second and so my mother missed it, but I didn't.

"No, Tom," mum teased, "it's great to see you again!"

"Ah ah ah!" Dr. Briden shook his finger at my mother, as if he were scolding a child. "That's Dr. Briden to you!" he said laughing at twice the volume of both of the fans in his dark, little office. I sat in silence waiting for their little exchange to be over, and watching the peach fuzz on my arm begin to stand up in reaction to the freezing temperature.

This jovial fallacy was a usual thing with my mother and Tom. They were particularly friendly with each other for some reason. I'm not sure why as I know my mum didn't exactly like Dr. Briden. In fact she talked about him quite distastefully, often calling him 'boring' and 'smug'. I don't know Dr. Briden very well, but I find it hard to believe that he would like my mum at all, let alone enough to justify the way he spoke with her.

To be honest it made me feel slightly at ease seeing as nothing was different than usual, but that only lasted for around a minute before Dr. Briden started with the Interrogation. Most of his questions were pretty basic in the beginning;

Did you have breakfast this morning?

When was the last time you used to toilet?

Do you feel ill?

These were all pretty easy to answer, I just told the truth. of course my mum jumped in and told him about the breakfast incident this morning, but Dr. Briden said it was 'nothing to worry about', and brushed it off as a 'hiccup'. But then he got into the more tricky questions - the questions I knew he wouldn't like my answers for.

What's your calorie intake per day?

When was the last time you had your period?

What's your current weight?

For these questions, I lied. Instead of 'seven-hundred on a bad day', I said, "roughly fifteen-hundred."

Instead of, 'I don't remember the last time I had a period', I said, "two weeks ago."

Instead of '92.6lbs', I said, "100lbs."

Dr. Briden sat at his desk diligently writing down all my answers. I wished he wouldn't make me prove it but I knew that's what it would come down to, it had to after all. And eventually he did.

"Ok, this is all sounding fantastic so far, Enya," he said to me, "I'm just going to take your blood pressure really quickly. Could you hold out your arm for me, please?" I obliged and watched my blood pressure stats appear on his computer screen. I couldn't decipher what any of the numbers meant, but there was no mistaking the look of doubt that flashed across his face.