“I think you can,” Lacy said. “And we’re all going to be here to help. We have another girl like you here right now who’s almost ready to go home. You could talk to her if you want to. It might help you not feel so alone.”
“No,” Annie said, shaking her head adamantly. She didn’t want someone else knowing her business.
“Okay,” Lacy said. “Let me know if you change your mind. In the meantime, I want you to write down some of your favorite foods for me. I’ll be back a little later and we can plan your menu for dinner and a snack tonight and for the whole day tomorrow, okay?”
“Whatever,” Annie said, still not looking at her. How had she ever thought Lacy Reynolds was cool? She was just another adult on some kind of power trip. Maybe if she told her folks that, they would get her out of here.
She sighed when she heard the door to her room close. Who was she kidding? Her mom and dad were way too freaked to take her home. And somewhere way down inside was this nagging feeling that she ought to be freaked, too. But if she admitted that, what then? Food was the one thing in her life she’d been able to control. Dieting was the one thing she’d been really good at, though her body still wasn’t as perfect as it could be. Now all these people wanted her to stuff her face and ruin everything.
Terrified by the image of herself as fat and ugly, she buried her face in her pillow and let the tears flow.
* * *
Ronnie was on his way back from the cafeteria when Linda McDaniels stopped him in the hall.
“Annie’s asking for you,” she told him.
He almost bolted past her, but she put out a hand to stop him.
“She knows she has a heart problem and that it was brought on by her eating disorder. The nutritionist met with her, too. Annie’s in denial right now, so don’t push her too hard to accept the truth. She’ll come around to it on her own.”
“You told her?”
“She’d figured out some of it. As I told you at the beginning, sometimes my role is to be the bad guy and lay out the hard truths. It’s best to get everything out in the open, along with the plan for what happens next.”
He ran his hand over his head. “What am I supposed to say to her?”
“If she has questions, answer them if you can. Otherwise leave it up to the doctors, the nutritionist or me to clarify things for her. Really, all she needs for the next couple of days is to know you’re in her corner and that she’s going to be okay. The rest will come in time.”
“Did you tell her about the therapy sessions?”
“Only that there would be some, not how difficult or intensive they’re going to be.”
“How did she react?”
The psychologist grinned. “She told me she didn’t need therapy, of course. Part of my job will be to convince her otherwise.”
“God, how did things get to be such a mess?” Ronnie lamented.
“That’s what we’re going to figure out,” Dr. McDaniels assured him. “We will unravel this, Mr. Sullivan.”
He gave her a weary look. “She’s always been a good kid, you know. Great grades. Lots of friends. A zillion different activities.”
“Sounds like an overachiever,” she said. “Ironically, when that same sort of determination is turned to something like dieting, it can backfire. But let’s not worry about that now. Let’s just get her physically healthy and then we’ll take care of whatever issues brought her to this point. Lacy Reynolds, the nutritionist, has already explained the basics of her food plan, so Annie can begin to see food in a more realistic light—as fuel for the body, not an enemy.”
Ronnie nodded, grateful for the calm, reasonable approach McDaniels was offering. Without it, he had a hunch he’d be punching his fists through walls by now.
“Go to your daughter,” she encouraged. “I’ll see if I can track down your ex-wife and send her in, as well.”
“I think she went home to get some rest,” he said.
“I’ll call the house, then.”
“Try her cell phone,” Ronnie suggested, jotting the number down for her. “She’s more likely to answer that.”
“Will do. Thanks. I’ll be in touch later,” the woman said, then strode off.
Ronnie followed her with his gaze, wishing he were half as confident as she seemed to be that Annie would come through this crisis okay. A part of him wished Dr. McDaniels would come with him to visit Annie. She knew exactly what to say to his daughter, while he didn’t have a clue. The situation probably called for calm diplomacy and tact, neither of which were his strong suits. Now that the shock of Annie’s appearance had worn off, now that the doctors were more certain she would recover, he wanted to blast her for the stupidity of her actions. He had a hunch that would be counterproductive.
Schooling his expression into something he hoped was neutral, he went back to her room. At first glance, Annie appeared to be sleeping again. Relieved, he took his customary place in the chair beside her bed and let his mind wander to the way she’d looked the last time he’d seen her before leaving town.
She’d appeared sad and disappointed, but at least she’d looked like a normal teenager, with color in her cheeks, a hairstyle that framed her pretty face and a body that was just beginning to round out with womanly curves. He’d been scared to death about what would happen when her interest in boys turned serious, how he would cope with the whole dating thing, but as he’d sat in his car on the street that day two years ago, he’d realized that he wouldn’t even be around to play a role in whatever decisions she would soon start
