Hello Internet: Lucy's Story

Chapter Eleven

*Four weeks later*

This was the week. The week that I would return home. The week that I could go back to everyday life. It was bittersweet.  I was excited to return to the comforts of home, with only a few scars to show my pain, but I was upset to be leaving the routine and friends I'd made in the hospital. I'd still visit once a week for Dr. Brett's support group. I could do this.

*Fast forward to Friday*

Today is the day I go home.  I've gutted my room, so it looks like the blank pallet it was when I entered.  The last few minutes are the hardest.  Dan and Phil leave to discharge me and my friends all come by to say their farewells. Byron and his boyfriend come in last of all.  I'm happy that he finally got himself a boyfriend that he loves, at least he won't be lonely.  He gives me a huge hug and his boyfriend, Ryder, gives me a quick side hug.  "Take care of him," I whisper into his ear.  Dan and Phil walk in a minute later. "Are you ready to go?" Phil asks me. I nod and he grabs my box of things while Dan grabs my suitcase. I grab lion and we walk down to the cab.  When we finally got home, I settled back into my room.  An hour later, Dan decides to call me into the lounge.  When I walk in, he and Phil are sitting on the couch.  "Lucy, we just want to make sure we all are on the same page here. Okay?"

"Yeah"

"The first thing is the rules are back into play. Do you remember them?" Phil asked

"Keep my room tidy, go to bed at a reasonable time, finish my school work before tumblr, don't lie, and self-positivity."

"Good job. We sat down with Dr. Brett and she suggested a few additions to the rules, so we're going to add those too okay?" Dan asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay then," Phil began, "First. you are not to curse, Second, you are not allowed to lie about your feelings. Phil or I at any given time will ask you about your feelings, and you are to give us them. Finally, each meal, Phil and I are going to set a requirement amount of food to eat, and you cannot do anything until you eat all of it."

I nodded. When the meeting was finished, Phil went to prepare dinner and Dan went to edit videos. I got on twitter and saw that Dan and Phil had gotten #WelcomeHomeLucy trending. I scrolled through endless tweets of support for me and my dads.  I see that I have 20 direct messages.  I see three from Byron, and a few from girls in my support group.  One message, however, is from someone I don't know.  Henry Dashiell.  "Lucy, I'm so happy you get to return home.  Your story is inspiring to me. Please DM me back"

I begin to type. "Hello Henry! I'm glad I've inspired you. I'd love to talk to you!"

Dan calls me into the dining room for dinner a few minutes later. "Alright Lucy, I want you to eat a quarter of the soup, half of the sandwich, and a third of the pretzels." He says after I sit down.  I groan. That's a lot of food. At the hospital, Dr. Brett let me have a snacking diet, where I'd eat small portions throughout the day which, when combined, would equal three or four meals.  I ate my quarter of the soup and about a tenth of the sandwich before feeling like I was eating too much.  I got up and began to walk to my room. "Lucy, Dan's requirement was half of the sandwich and a third of the pretzels. Sit back down."  I sat down and attempted to eat half of the sandwich. When I finally finished, I refused to eat the three pretzels.  Phil was doing dishes in the kitchen, so there was no way I could escape to my room without being caught. I pulled out my phone and began to play crossy road.  Just then, Dan walked in.  "Lucy do you wan-" he began looking at my plate as he said so. "Lucy, finish your crackers before you play on your phone."  I set my phone down and nibbled on the first cracker.  Dan sat across from me.  After two crackers, I picked up my phone once again.  "Lucy, finish your final cracker and then you can play on your phone." 

I shook my head.  "Lucy put the phone down, this is ridiculous."  I looked at him for a minute before returning to my phone.  In a matter of seconds, he was standing behind me, snatching my phone from my hands.  I glared up at him.  "Eat the cracker or no phone."  I picked up the cracker and ground it into crumbs with my hand.  Dan left and returned a few moments later with a box of crackers.  He took one out a handed it to me.  "There's plenty more where that came from.  I glared at him as I finished the cracker.  "See, now that wasn't so hard was it?" I continued to glare at him.  "Does the moody teenager want to watch Dr. Who?" I reluctantly followed him and I fell asleep watching rerums with Dan.  At three, I awoke in my bed.  Dan or Phil must have carried me.  I left to go get myself a glass of water, and saw Phil lying next to Dan on the couch.  Phil must have carried me to my room before falling asleep with Dan.  Once I got my water, I turned on my laptop to see that Henry messaged me back two minutes ago.  "I can't believe you've responded to me! I'm a huge fan." I messaged him back and we chatted until four-thirty.  It turns out he's from Manchester.  We decided to Skype the next week.  When Henry got off, I followed him and checked his profile out.  His profile picture was of his eye.  His eye was a beautiful golden hazel color.  I went to sleep reliving our conversation over and over in my head.