“Sissy, please, you don’t understand!” she wails, covering her face with her hands to drown out her sobs.
“What? What could you possibly say that will make this right? He’s been controlling you for months now, without anyone noticing. God, when I think back on all those times you blew me off and— Is Eric the reason you haven’t called your brother lately? Gavin is gonna flip when he sees you.”
She cries harder, and I force my temper down in an effort to provide some comfort. Throwing the nurse’s outfit to the floor, I shimmy back into my shorts and tank and lower myself to the bed, taking her into my arms.
“Bee, you can’t spend your life trying to be what Eric wants. I know you love him, but it’s not healthy to let him control everything about your life, and you know it.”
“I don’t understand!” she wails, trembling against her sobs. “He’s been so great since we met in college, and then he gets that new job and all of a sudden I’m too immature for him. He said I dress like a teenager and that I was getting fat and… What should I do, Sis?”
Telling her what to do in her relationship is not a good idea, not when she’s loved the guy for over four years of her life, but I can’t just shrug and tell her to make her own choices. I can clearly see and feel her bones through her skin, so obviously she’s not in a place to make the right ones all on her own right now.
“You call that asshole and dump him, Bee, and then you and I are going to the doctor to get you checked out.”
I spend the next hour listening to her argue and cry as she tells Eric she won’t see him anymore, and then I bundle her up against the chilly weather and grab a cab to the doctor’s offices.
“Well, you’re severely undernourished, Miss Parker and from what your friend tells me I understand that your weight loss has been very rapid. We’ll need to get you on some vitamins and an eating plan. I’d also like you to write down exactly what you have been eating lately, and quantities, if you can remember. Your hair loss isn’t too bad considering, but I’d like to put a stop to that before your hair thins too drastically.”
By the time we’re done at the doctor’s—an hour and a half later and with the number to a shrink—I pull Bee into a cab and get her home as fast as I can.
If—no, when I see Eric Brennan again, I’m going to kick his balls into his throat for this. My best friend is a husk of the bright, bubbly woman she used to be, and I am so mad at him for doing this I can hardly breathe.
“Thanks, Sis,” she mumbles tiredly when I tuck her into bed and lay a kiss to her forehead.
“That shot the doc gave you must be some powerful shit.”
She smiles groggily and closes her eyes with a sigh.
When she’s sleeping I close her bedroom door and answer the four missed calls I have from Vincent.
“What the hell is going on, dove?”
“Sorry, Vin, I put my phone on silent when I went into the doctor’s offices and—”
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Hurt? Patrick, I need a flight back to New York!”
I hear the panic in his voice and smirk. Yeah, this guy is so into me it’s crazy, and right now, knowing he cares enough to rush back for me, I know how seriously bad I have it for him. It’s scary as hell, and weird, to fall so quickly for a man like Vincent, but it’s there, and if this tingly feeling in the pit of my stomach is any indication, it’s not going away any time soon.
“Calm down! I’m fine. I took Bee to the doctor’s,” I rush to say, feeling tears fill my eyes along with the lump in my throat.
I’ve been fighting this need to cry since I’d seen what a wreck she really is right now, and now that she’s sleeping I let it overtake me.
“You should see her, Vin. She’s so thin I don’t know how I could have missed it. Jesus. I am the world’s shittiest friend.”
“Oh, love, no, don’t beat yourself up over this. You’re a good friend to Bianca. She’s just been very good at hiding things.”
“She told me everything this morning when I threatened to call her mom and—”
I tell him everything. How Eric’s been breaking down her confidence and trying to alienate her from everyone, including me. By the time I’m done I’m openly crying, and I practically hear him grinding his teeth at my distress.
“I’ll get a flight out—”
“No. You have another week in China, and…I think I need to spend as much time with Bee as I can right now. You do your thing, and I’ll call you if I need to.”
“Are you sure? I can get Havers to cover the remaining meetings.”