Read Online The Hunger by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch - Free Book Online

Instead, she went to her room, closed the door, and rooted through her top drawer. Stashed in the back was her emergency supply of laxatives. She swallowed a triple dose.
    She then began a frenzied series of sit ups. One calorie per sit up, she figured, and that meal must have had at least 1200 calories.
    Monday, October 26, 114 pounds
    Paula gave her room one last glance, then picked up her overnight bag and walked down the stairs. DoctorTavish had warned her that the hospital did not allow much in the way of personal items. No make-up or stuffed animals. She had packed a couple of novels, sweat pants and shirts, underwear, and shampoo. The bag was not heavy, but to Paula it felt like it held the weight of the world.
    Her parents and brother were already waiting in the car, so Paula didn’t linger as she walked through the front room and out the door to the driveway.
    Because she was still only 15, Doctor Tavish had her admitted onto the pediatric ward. Homewood, a hospital just one hundred kilometres away in Guelph, had a very successful eating disorder treatment program, but it also had a waiting list more than a month long. Doctor Tavish wouldn’t risk waiting any longer. He put her on the waiting list for Homewood, but admitted her to Brantford General immediately.
    As Paula walked through the hospital corridor with her parents on either side and her brother trailing behind, she couldn’t help but notice some of the other children on the ward. Two preschoolers who looked like they had been beaten were now wrapped in gauze and casts in a room to her left. Images of Armenian orphans flashed through her mind. Across the hallway was a boy in traction with a broken leg. Three children ran up and down the hallway, shrieking excitedly. One bumped into Paula and almost knocked her over. “Lady, you’redead skinny!” the young boy said, looking at Paula in disgust. Her father gripped her arm protectively and shook his finger at the boy. “Mind your own business,” he blurted.
    They walked up to the nurses’ station opposite the sun room and Mr. Romaniuk said to a nurse who was writing a note in one of her charts, “Excuse me, could you tell me which room my daughter should go to?”
    The nurse looked up from her work and regarded the family in front of her. When her gaze lighted on Paula, she said, “You’re Doctor Tavish’s patient, Paula Romaniuk, right?”
    She nodded.
    “And I’m Jean Bowley,” replied the nurse. We’ve saved you a private room.” And with that, she stood up and motioned them to follow her down the hallway. As Paula followed, she felt like she was walking to her death, but she obediently did as she was told.
    The room was stark and white. The only homey touch was a row of plants that looked like they hadn’t been watered in decades. The room did, however, have a large picture window. Brilliant midday light streamed through. Paula walked to the window and looked out. A perfect view of the parking lot and not much else.
    Nurse Bowley turned to Paula’s parents, then stated, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Our new patient needs solitude.”

    Mrs. Romaniuk looked up with alarm. “But can’t at least one of us stay here to keep her company?”
    “No,” replied the nurse. “Paula will have to gain some weight before she earns visitor privileges.”
    She gave a small wave as the nurse shooed her parents down the hallway.
    Erik lagged behind, standing at the side of her bed with one eye to the door, waiting for the nurse to come back and shoo him away. “I brought you something,” he said, retrieving a bag from beneath his shirt. “Hide this under your pillow,” he shoved the package into her hands. With that, Erik dashed to the door just as the nurse was opening it in search of him. He turned and winked at his sister as his head disappeared through the doorway. “Get better, Paula,” he called in parting, “I want my old sister back.”
    Paula just had enough time to stash