I am not feeling well once again. I sleep through my sisters leaving for school, I sleep through breakfast, I sleep until 12:30ish in the afternoon. As I try to stand, I am dizzier than ever. My throat is parched so badly I can barely breathe. I am running a fever again, and my head and chest ache. I make my way downstairs carefully so I don't fall or pass out. One hand is gripping the stair railing, and the other arm is around Ana's shoulder as she helps me to the kitchen. She hands me a Triple Chocolate Vitamuffin, and smiles.
"Here, darling." She unwraps the pastry for me as I sink into a chair, feeling very dizzy and nauseated. "You only get 100 calories today, so best eat them halfway through the day."
"But Ana," I question her, "I haven't weighed myself."
"You can weigh yourself while this chocolate thing is cooking, love." She smiles gently and reassuringly. "Here, I'll help you to the bathroom without falling. Just put this in the microwave."
I nod, and stand up slowly and carefully as to not trigger my vertigo. I open the door and put the muffin on a paper towel then inside the microwave and shut the door. I punch in 30 seconds and press start. I turn to Ana, and she holds my arm gently as I walk to my mother's bathroom where the scale is. I strip down and step on to the little, white, plastic square.
"I lost 1 lb." I say to her, still staring down at the red screen. "How predictable."
"Think about it this way sweetie," she look me in the eye as she talks, "If you loose 1lb. everyday you're on the diet, you'll have lost 50 lbs. in 50 days!"
"Well, Ana," I look at her and smile, "I have lost an extra 4 oz. on top of the 1 lb. every day!"
"That's true darling!" She grins and laughs a bit. "Maybe you'll wind up losing 51."
We walk back to the kitchen where the Vitamuffin has finished cooking. As I eat it, I can't help but think that it is too sweet without a drink to go with it. As if she has read my mind, which she basically has, Ana gets a plastic cup from the cabinet and pours me a cup of cold water. Gratefully, I drain it almost immediately and she refills it for me. By the time I have finished eating, I have emptied 3 tall glasses of cold water.
"Sweetheart," Ana looks at me with concern in her eyes, "I think you're dehydrated."
"Yeah." I sigh. "Probably."
She hands me the 4th cup of water and I drink half of it before I look up at her and say, "You know what I want?" I pause only long enough to take a breath and then continue. "Coke Zero. I haven't had it in a while, and its 0 Calories."
She laughs in agreement, and then herds me up the stairs again. "You need your sleep, dear."
I notice again how tired I am. I nod and climb into bed where I sleep for another 4 hours.
When I wake up again, My 2 little sisters want me to watch National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets with them. I agree, because believe it or not, I still haven't seen it. As I walk down stairs again, I notice that I am not quite so dizzy as this morning.
Ana, I complain mentally, I feel hungry. I don't want to break the ABCDiet though! But its so awful!
"Make some popcorn." She replies with a shrug.
But, Ana, I reply in shock, I've already had 100 Calories!
"You're not going to eat it, silly!" She giggles at my apparent foolishness. "You're going to give it to your sisters. You're just going to smell it."
Oh, I think, That's easy enough.
I stumble into the kitchen and grab 2 bags of extra butter popcorn. I cook them 1 at a time, and empty them into the big metal popcorn bowls. I take them into the living room to watch the movie, and give my offerings to my sisters. When the movie, which was very good by the way, is over, I slowly stand up and recollect the bowls from the girls and drop them off at the kitchen sink. I remember what Ana told me earlier, and decide to cook something else for them. I reach into the pantry and pull out a chocolate chip muffin mix and a cocoa chocolate chip muffin mix, each of which only makes 6 muffins. They both only direct you to add a 1/2 cup of water, and soon, I have both in the oven, cooking. They are ready in about 10 minutes, and I take them out and set them on a rack to cool for a bit. My impatience gets the best of me, and I decide to pull them out of the tray without cooling. I give 2 of each kind to my little sisters, and leave one of each for my mom and dad. As I walk into the living room where my sisters are still vegetating on the couch, I hand them the plate of muffins, and my phone begins to rings. Its Mom.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Kerry!" I hear her cheerful voice on the other end of the line. "Your father and I are stopping by Chick-fil-a in the way home. Would you or your sisters like anything?"
I turn to the girls and repeat my mom's question, and then give their orders.
"What about you, Kerrykinz?" My mom says expectantly, "Don't you want anything?"
"Actually," I lie to her, "I just ate some chicken noodle soup and muffins."
"Are you sure?" She questions my resolve. "Do you want french fries or a chicken sandwich?"
Yes! I think to myself, Get me one of everything on the menu! But I say, "No, mom." I laugh. "I'm fine."
"What about your Coke Zero?" Ana whispers in my ear, "Then your mom won't think anything weird is going on."
"What about a Chicken Cesar Salad or a Crunchy Chicken Cool Wrap?" My mom is trying to make sure I don't change my mind when she comes home, and complain about being left out.
"Oh, " I interrupt her as if the thought has just occurred to me, "Could you get me a Coke Zero with mo ice?"
"Sure!" My mom says, clearly relieved that I am at least ordering something. "I'll get you a large."
As soon as they get home, my dad brings the drink to me, and I drink it all in about 2 minutes. I get in the shower and then as I climb into bed, I look at Ana. She is sitting cross-legged at the foot of my bed.
"I think I was right about you being dehydrated." She shakes her head. "You downed that thing like it was nothing."
"Well it didn't have any Calories," I reason with her, "So I'm not worried."
"You should drink some tea." She gives me that look that my elementary school teachers used to give me when I was doing something wrong.
"I didn't want anything hot." I tell her. "And I didn't want to burn my hand again."
"That's understandable." She sighs, and uncrosses her legs, crawling forward. She tucks the 7 layers of blankets around me and kisses my forehead. "Sleep tight." She whispers. I have already fallen asleep before she slides back to the other end.
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