Castles crumbling (Taylor Swift's little sister)

Chapter 30

Taylor heard you calling her name and as she approached your bedroom said:

- "What's up, Liz?"

She saw you lying on the floor and rushed over. -"Lizzie! Liz! Do you hear me? MOM! MOM come here! It's Elizabeth!"

Your mom came to your bedroom:

- "What is it Taylor?" She saw your collapsed body on the floor and Taylor by your side trying to wake you up -"Oh my god. What happened?"

- "I don't know. I heard Lizzie calling for me a couple of minutes ago and I found her like this" Taylor replied with a broken voice wiping her tears away. Andrea went to her bathroom to get the equipment to take your vitals and quickly came back. You had just opened your eyes but closed them again and Taylor was holding your hand.

- "Her heart rate is at 34bpm. We're going to the hospital. I'll go and grab our bags" Andrea stated. But as soon as you heard the word "hospital" you opened your eyes again panicking and tried to stand up.

-"What? No! I'm fine" you said.

Taylor gently pushed you back. Then helped you to stand up carefully. She half carried you out of your bedroom and when she got to the stairs, Andrea stepped in to help you get downstairs .

- "What happened, Lizzie? What were you doing?" Taylor asked.

- "Nothing. You're overreacting" you answered still dizzy.

- "You collapsed, we are not taking any chances. If we're overreacting, then they'll tell us that in the hospital" Andrea said as she helped you get inside the back passengers seat and sat beside you, Taylor was driving.

She sped up and within 15 minutes she was pulling up at the hospital. You tried to get off from the car on your own, you wanted to prove them that you were okay, but everything went blurry and you fainted again, gratefully Taylor was able to catch you. Andrea ran inside the hospital to get help and a young man came to the car with a wheelchair in which they settled you in to get you inside. Your mom told the ER doctors that they found you unconscious on the floor and that your heart rate was at 34bpm, she also told them that you were currently recovering from anorexia and that you were attending an outpatient program at a treatment center everyday from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. The doctors said you were dehydrated and hooked you up to an IV bag.

- "What does that bag have?" You asked panicking,

- "Relax, it's just saline water to help with the dehydration" the nurse answered.

Taylor and your mom sat beside you all the time, while the doctors did all kinds of tests on you. No one said a word. You just stared at the ceiling trying to ignore Taylor's and Andrea's worried faces. After about half an hour the doctors came back.

- "Elizabeth's ECG show that her heart rate is at 35bpm. Her labs also showed that her potassium is really low. Have you purged recently?" The doctor asked looking straightforward.

You froze. All you heard was that your heart rate was below 40bpm, did that meant that you needed to stay at the hospital?

- "I want to leave. I don't want to be here" You said lifting your hand to take out the needle and cannula that connected you to the IV bag. Taylor quickly held your hands down to avoid you taking out the needle.

- "I don't want to be here. Please. Let me go" you begged to the doctors.

- "I'm afraid we cannot let you leave. Your heart rate is incredibly low and all your labs are not okay. We need to admit you immediately. But it will be easier if you cooperate" the doctor said. Taylor got distracted and you were able to take out the needle, but you started to bleed.

- "I want to go home" you said crying and screaming.

The doctors quickly called a nurse to reinsert the cannula and control the bleeding. The doctor asked your mom and Taylor your hold your hands down.

- "I'm sorry Liz, but we are not going anywhere. If they say that we need to admit you, then that's what we are doing. Please let them help you. Let us help you" your mom said holding her tears back.

You stayed still, crying your eyes out, while the nurse placed the cannula again and you promised to not take it out again. After she inserted it, your mom went out to have a talk with the doctors and Taylor stayed by your side, texting Tree what just had happened. Tree called and you were left with a nurse for about ten minutes while Taylor left to speak with Tree.

- "What happened? What was she doing?" Tree asked across the phone.

- "I have no idea. She just called my name and when I got to her room she had collapsed on the floor. It was really scary, she didn't react at first. My mom took her vitals and her heart rate was so low, it was at 34bpm, she's dehydrated and her potassium levels are low. All these weeks they had said at the treatment center that if her heart rate dropped below 40, she needed to go to hospital. This morning it was 40, I don't know what could've happened" Taylor said crying.

- "I'm so sorry Taylor. What are the doctors saying?" Tree asked.

- "They said that she needs to be admitted. I don't know for how long. My mom agrees with them. Anyway, I'll keep you updated, but I need to go, my mom is speaking with the doctors and Lizzie has already taken out her cannula once. I need to go and be with her before she takes it out again" Taylor answered.

- "Okay. Keep me updated, bye"

Taylor found you sitting down and crying, but still with the cannula in. She approached and tried not to give her concern away, she just held your hand and stroke your hair with her other hand.

- "I'm sorry Tay. I'm so sorry" you said crying.

- "What are you sorry about, baby? It's okay. You will be okay" she replied.

- "It was your night and I tried my best to behave around food. I didn't want to ruin this for you. But I ended up destroying everything in the end" you said crying harder and having trouble to breathe.

- "Hey. You haven't ruined anything, baby. Follow my breathing. Come on. Breathe in, breathe out" she said guiding your breaths.

- "I did. I ruined everything. I couldn't handle what I ate today, I couldn't handle the weight gain. I messed up" you said.

Taylor realized what you meant and said:

- "Lizzie. It's okay. I'm not mad, I'm not disappointed. But I need you to tell me what you did, what happened? what caused you to faint?"

- "I threw up after dinner, right when we got home. And I was secretly working out in my bathroom. Everything went blurry and I felt dizzy. I tried to sit down, but everything was spinning and my chest hurt. I couldn't breathe and I opened the bathroom door because I was scared I was going to pass out alone in the bathroom floor. That's when I called you, I tried to reach my bed to lie down, but everything went black and when I opened my eyes I heard mom saying that we needed to go to hospital. Please don't tell anyone, don't tell mom, she'll be so sad" you told Taylor ashamed.

- "We need to tell them. It's important for them to know everything so they can know how to help you" Taylor said.

- "No! Please don't. I don't want to stay here" you replied.

- "Sorry, baby, I think that it's too far gone. We need to tell them" the blonde said as the doctors and your mom walked inside the room again. As Taylor told everything to the doctors you zoned out. As you feared, your mom started to cry.

- "Okay. There's a couple of things that we need to unpack here: first, we'd like to run other tests to check how your liver and your kidneys are doing, Elizabeth. Second, the dehydration and low potassium levels are consistent with the purging episode Elizabeth had earlier, it should improve with the saline water and a couple of days of resting and eating well. Third, we are really concerned about Elizabeth's heart and weight. We'd definitely like to admit her right now. Initially, it'll be a 3 to 4 days admission while we run the other tests and help her potassium levels and dehydration improve, but her discharge depends on the other results. We can make some arrangements and get her a room right now" one of the doctor said.

You knew that there was no way out, even though you deeply hoped for some miracle to happen.

- "Okay. Let's do it. Admit her" Andrea said.