Author's Note: I hate how this ends, couldn't find a good spot without rambling for ten years. But anyway.
TEMPERATURES ARE IN CELSIUS. Because Renee is in Canada and that's how they roll in Canada.
And yes, Renee doesn't talk on purpose.
Chapter 2 (Working Title: Railway Departing)
Renee stared at the twin mulch sacks with a look of sour distaste. They were innocent-looking enough; plain burlap with the company’s logo stamped in bright red, but she couldn’t look at them without being disgusted. The bags were twenty pounds apiece, forty total. She couldn’t imagine carrying all that weight on her body all the time. She couldn’t believe she ever had.
“Renee, bring that first sack here, please,” her mother, Anna Lancaster, said. Anna was kneeling in front of a small flowerbed, floppy green hat askew, brow and arms coated with filth and sweat. The flowers in the bed were small, the blooms closed tight. Planted out of season and horribly underfed, the flowers had little chance of surviving the summer.
Renee wrapped her rail-thin arms around the sack and heaved, managing to move the heavy burlap a few inches before her arms gave way and the sack fell to the ground with a soft plop. She stared at it dumbly. Anna sighed.
“That’s alright, dear, I’ll get it myself. Send your brother outside and get back to your room; I know you’re not done packing.”
Renee turned and slid open the glass door – a task in and of itself – and shut it behind her. She turned to where her brother, Marsden, was sitting on the couch, watching television. He turned at the sound of the door closing. As his eyes met hers, Renee said nothing, simply pointing outside.
“Mum wants me?” Marsden guessed. She nodded. He swept his feet off the coffee table – which he had been told a thousand and three times not to do – and pushed Renee aside. She went spinning into the dining table, even though he hadn’t pushed her that hard.
He smirked.
“Have a good time in the loony bin, Railway,” he said before slipping outside. Renee glared at his back through the glass before trekking down the hall and into her tiny bedroom, where a tiny suitcase lay open and half-packed on her tiny bed. Tiny, tiny, tiny. Just the way she wanted it. Just the way she wanted herself.
She checked herself in the mirror. A skeleton with skin stretched taut stared back at her out of gaunt, lifeless eyes. She smiled. To her, she was perfect. Could do with losing a little more weight. That biscuit half that morning… it was ruining her. She felt sick of herself.
She turned to her bed and finished stuffing things into her suitcase. She zipped it shut and sat down on her bed, crossing her bony legs and folding her bony arms. It was cold. She hopped up to check the thermostat across the hall. It was set to a reasonable 24 degrees, but she cranked it up to 27 anyway. Marsden would get mad as usual and yell at her for being so selfish, but she didn’t care. She’d be away from him soon enough.
But she’d also be fat soon enough. Sending her away to fatten her up. Renee felt like a hand-picked hog before it’s sent to the slaughterhouse.
She didn’t know what was worse – putting on weight or dealing with Marsden.
That night, she climbed into her mother’s car and rode in silence to the clinic.
It didn’t look bad from the outside. It was made of logs, like a real rural cabin. The Canadian flag wove proudly from in front of it. The pine trees surrounding it were full of chirping birds. The sky was cloudless, a few early stars peeking out in the fading sunlight. Anna took her daughter by the hand and guided her inside, Renee’s free hand clutching her suitcase. The adults inside exchanged words with her mother. Some papers were rustled and signed. More words. A kindly lady stuck her face in Renee’s and introduced herself as Kathleen.
“Hello Renee. Welcome to Miracle Meadows Rehabilitation Centre. We’re glad to have you.”
Anna gave Renee a pained grin.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart,” she said, kissing her rail-thin daughter’s forehead. “I’ll visit you as often as I can, and I’ll bring Marsden, too. And remember, we’re always a phone call away.”
She gently hugged her before shaking Kathleen’s hand and exiting the cabin doors.
Renee watched them swing shut with an overwhelming urge to follow after.
Kathleen took Renee by the forearm, the older woman’s fingers closing completely around the withered limb. She relieved Renee of her luggage and helped her to her feet.
“Come now, darling, we’ll set you up for the night. You arrived too late in the day for us to start you today, so we’ll introduce you to the group proper tomorrow morning. For now, I’ll just show you to your room and give you a quick tour of the facility. Okay?”
Renee nodded, following like an obedient puppy dog. The centre changed from a quaint, comfy cabin to a less welcoming, manila-walled hallway. The rug changed to tile, and the two women padded along the nearly deserted hallways. Kathleen pointed left and right as they passed.
“These rooms are for individual therapy. That one is for group sessions – those are every morning, and sometimes, emergency meetings are called. Past those big double-doors is the cafeteria. Since you’re an anorexia patient, you’ll be required to sign in and be observed as you eat. The doctor’s office is right across the hall. You’ll get to meet Dr. Nichols soon enough. Those glass doors lead to the recreational room, and out beyond that is the patio.”
They turned down a hallway that boasted chairs, some store-bought prints of famous paintings, and a sparse window or two. Every now and again was a large wooden door, each numbered with name cards posted below.
Kathleen stopped her at the end of the hallway.
“This is your room. Your would-be roommate checked out earlier, so you’re alone for now, but you should have another in a few days. Go on, get settled. I’ll leave you alone for tonight, and you’ll be promptly awoken for the morning meeting. Sleep well, Renee.”
The older woman departed, leaving Renee staring down a homely pair of beds with an oak nightstand between them, and a shelf and closet on the opposite wall. A window hovered above one of the beds, and Renee placed her suitcase on it and sat down next to it.
She held her arms against the cold, even though the thermostat was a reasonable 24 degrees.
She slid under the gloriously warm blankets and stared at the wall until she fell asleep, as numb and bitter as the cold her body felt.
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