At the end of the third week of Harry's recovery, Tom flew back to America to finish filming Cherry.
Three months in, and Tom was thinner than he had ever been before. They had just one more week of filming to go then it would all be over.
Between takes one day, he called Zendaya's number and waited for her to pick up. It rang and rang, and tears formed in Tom's eyes. He couldn't tell his family how bad he was because they would come over and pull him out of the film. He needed Zendaya. He just needed...
"Hey Tom," Came Zendaya's voice on the other end of the phone but Tom just sniffled and coughed for a few seconds. "Tom? Are you there?"
"Yeah. I'm here," Tom whispered.
"How's it going? Are they taking care of you?"
"Not really," Tom said before he started to cry.
"They're not?" Zendaya asked before her voice softened. "Talk to me Tom."
"I'm sick. I'm really sick."
"Have they put you back on that diet?"
"Yeah."
"Oh Tom," Zendaya said before she heard Tom crying on the other end of the phone. "I think that you need to go home."
"No... I need to finish this..."
"No you don't Tom. I'm scared that you're going to hurt yourself. How thin are you?"
"Very..." Tom choked out before he kept crying with the phone against his ear.
"I'm going to call your parents."
"Don't..." Tom croaked after a moment. "Can't... Can't you... come over? Please..."
"I'm in the middle of filming Euphoria. I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Please," Tom begged her.
"You need help. I'm going to tell your family to come and get you ok? You just need to hold on until then. Can you do that for me?" Zendaya asked, but Tom kept crying. "Tom?"
"Tom! We need you on set."
"Coming," Tom called before he wiped his tears away.
"You don't have to do this Tom."
"I do. I love you," Tom said before he hung up and went back onto the set. He had to hold on. He had to finish filming.
"Ok Tom, we're going to do that again," Anthony called after the take, and Tom just stared at the ground.
"Are you alright Tom?" Joseph asked and he looked up at them before nodding.
"Yeah. Yeah, let's go again."
"Ok. Get the camera in position, back to your mark Tom," Anthony called and Tom staggered back inside the house. He was thinner than ever, paler than ever, and he felt like he was dying.
~
As Tom got inside and closed the door, he saw a drop of blood come out of his nose and he brushed it away. One more week. Just one.
"Action!" Joseph called and Tom remained frozen in position. Outside, there was silence as everyone was waiting for Tom to open the door and start the scene. Inside the walls, Tom heard birdsong and it drowned everything else out.
He looked out of his skeletal eyes and walked slowly towards the window. Something had changed and he didn't want to be here anymore. He wanted to be back home, with his family, like he had been three months ago.
Harry was awake now and he was doing very well. He still had to shower with help from Sam, but his burns were healing and he was improving. Tom however had kept just how bad he had become from his family, knowing that they would freak out if they knew.
"We need the doctor in here now," Joseph said as he opened the door and saw a trail of blood leading to the window with Tom staring out of it. Tom barely heard him, but his body had. It collapsed like a rag doll onto the ground, leaving everyone to erupt into total panic. The Russo's rushed inside, along with the doctor and half the crew. Tom was a shell of what he once had been, his body had been pushed too far and the doctor immediately started trying to save his life.
An ambulance, flight, and three electric shocks later: Robert threw the doors to the hospital wide open in anger and he demanded to see his son.
"The filming's over, and I'm holding you two personally responsible for this," Robert told the Russo's sternly as he sat beside Tom and took his hand. "Now, get out!" He screamed at them and they left.
Robert had a bad temper, but Tom's heart had stopped three times. He was unconscious in an American hospital, connected to more machines that Robert could count, and he kept running through in his mind why he and Scarlett hadn't pulled him out of doing the film earlier.
"Dad's here Tom. I'm never going to let this happen to you ever again," Robert said before he kissed Tom and he let tears form in his eyes. "Never again. I'm so sorry."
