golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter twenty-seven

     ben barged into the emergency room reception area with sky on his heels.
"may i help you?" the receptionist asked.
"i'm looking for eliana dempsey?" he said, out of breath.
she typed on her computer. "you are?"
"ben cook." he said. "her boyfriend."
"alright. she's in room 246."
"thank you, ma'am!" ben ran up the stairs and into her room while sky waited outside. she was still in her team jacket and leotard, an iv sticking out of her hand.
"ellie!" he said. "oh my god, i was so scared." he sat down in the chair next to her bed. she frowned. "i don't even know why i'm here. they've got me hooked up to this stupid iv, and i can't leave."
ben laughed as the nurse, an older woman, came in with a clipboard in hand. "you're here because of malnutrition, baby. that's why you passed out."
"malnutrition?" ben asked. eliana grimaced. the nurse looked over at ben. "are you the boyfriend she's been blabbering about?"
"yeah, that's me." ben confirmed. "but, did you say malnutrition?"
"yes, i did." she said. "miss dempsey, are you aware that you only weigh 86 pounds right now?"
"yes." she said softly. ben's eyes widened in shock.
"and you're aware that that's not at all healthy for you?"
she nodded.
"i suppose there's some sort of explanation, then."
eliana nodded once again. she looked over at ben uneasily. "i-um-i..."
"el, what's going on?" he took her hand.
"he could ruin my career." eliana whispered.
"who?" ben pressed.
"who, baby?" the nurse repeated. "we have a strict non-disclosure policy. this won't leave the room."
eliana looked to the door, scared that someone might be listening. "coach easton." she said. "tanner easton. he's one of team usa's assistant coaches."
"what did he do?" the nurse asked.
"he told me that if i wasn't down to 87 pounds by the time i got here two weeks ago, i would be off the team. and..." she breathed heavily. "i had to stay under 88 for the last two weeks. he threatened to pull me out of the competition."
the nurse nodded as ben fumed.
"what have you eaten in the past week?"
"um...i drink juice in the mornings. maybe some crackers when i get back from practice."
"what meals have you eaten?" she asked again.
"i haven't." eliana said quietly.
"you've been living on crackers and juice, training, what, 6 to 8 hours a day?"
she nodded silently.
"is this how you always eat?"
"i usually eat at least two meals a day. i've never been a huge breakfast person."
the nurse nods. "would you say that coach easton forced you to do this?"
"he-i don't know, i just-"
"yes or no, miss dempsey."
eliana looked down. "yes."
"okay." the nurse nodded. "i'm going to detach your iv and bring some forms up for you to sign, and you'll be good to go."
she left. ben placed a hand on eliana's leg. "ellie, i told you that you could talk to me."
"i know."
"i've been really worried about you."
"i know."
a knock sounded on the doorframe, and she saw the familiar face of coach easton. ben got up. "i guess i'll-"
"stay." eliana grabbed his hand. coach easton slowly walked into the room. he went to sit down at the edge of her bed.
"please don't." she said. he stayed standing. "ellie-"
"eliana."
"eliana. i'm sorry for what i did to you. i didn't think this would-"
"what did you think would happen?" she asked. "i ate only crackers and that awful juice for a month." she whispered, tears springing to her eyes.
"as i was saying, i didn't see this coming. i thought it might give you a competitive edge, and i see that it backfired. though you did do very well."
"i did 'very well' because-." she stopped herself and swallowed. "yeah. i did."
he didn't acknowledge her. "will you go to the press?" he asked.
"go to the press?" she repeated. he nodded. she shook her head. "i won't."
"good answer."
she took a deep breath. "can you please leave me alone for a little bit?"
"now, eliana-"
"she said leave." ben glared at him. eliana dug her nails into his hand.
"oh, is this the boy?" coach easton asked. she nodded.
"i would've thought-"
"please go, coach easton." eliana said as the nurse entered back in. he lingered for a second. the nurse looked at eliana and ben, then turned to him. "sir, i'm going to have to ask you to leave."
he huffed and stalked out of the room. the nurse came over and took out eliana's iv, then handed her some papers. she signed them and gave them back.
"alright, baby. you are good to go."
eliana threw the covers off of her legs and got up, but immediately wobbled and fell back down.
"woah." ben laughed. "easy."
she sighed and pointed to her bag. "can you grab my sweatpants?"
ben threw them to her and she put them  and her sneakers on, then slowly stood up. ben held out his hand, but she waved him off. "i can walk on my own."
"alright, sassy." ben laughed.
"if i did my whole bar routine, i can manage to walk out of the building, thank you very much." she mumbled. ben held up his hands in surrender. sky peeked into the room. "you guys ready? the doctors are giving me weird looks."
she laughed. "yep."
they went down the stairs to the lobby, where eliana checked herself out. as soon as they stepped out into the sunlight, she swayed a little and stumbled backwards.
ben quickly caught her. "okay, that's it." he bent down a little. "get on my back."
"i said i could walk myself."
"and you just fell. come on." he nodded backwards. she sighed and jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his chest. sky snickered at them as they started walking back to the hotel. "you look pissed, el."
"i could totally be walking right now." she said. ben rolled his eyes. "yeah, right."
she grumbled something inaudible, but rested her head on his shoulder. sky headed to the theatre for the show, and to let the stage manager know that ben wouldn't be there.
    
     they got into eliana's hotel room, and ben called a local pizza place.
"what do you want?" he asked her as the number dialed.
"i don't-"
"i know you're hungry. don't lie to me." he gave her a look. she sighed. "get me a salad."
ben nodded. "hey, can i get a cheese pizza and a house salad, please?" he paused. "alright. thank you." he pulled on a jacket. "i'm gonna go pick this up. i'll be right back." he kissed her on the forehead and left. she changed out of her leo and started to take her hair out, when ben came back. she pulled the pins out of her hair and shook it out. ben placed a hand on her shoulder. "let's eat, okay?"
she nodded and went to sit next to him on the bed, her legs crossed under her. ben handed her the salad before opening his pizza box. "you're sure you don't want any?"
she shook her head. "i'm good. it looks so greasy."
he nodded as she picked at her salad.
"you need to eat it, ellie."
"i know."
she finished her salad in the time it took ben to eat three slices of pizza. she set the container aside and leaned her head against the wall behind her.
"ellie, can we talk about this?" ben asked cautiously.
"what is there to talk about?" she mumbled, obviously tired of the subject.
"maybe the fact that you practically starved yourself for over a month?" ben said. she rolled her eyes. "i did what i had to do."
"you didn't have to-"
"yes. i did." she shook her head. "you just don't get it, do you?" she said. "i thought you of all people would understand."
"understand what?"
"sacrifice. giving things up to be able to do what you love."
ben stared at her. "sacrifice doesn't mean starving yourself."
"for me, that's what it is."
"it shouldn't be." ben stopped her and grabbed her hand. "ellie, coach easton was manipulating you."
eliana blinked as tears came to her eyes. "don't you think i know that? what was i supposed to do? what's one girl gonna do against one of the most powerful coaches in the country?"
ben fell silent.
"i'd rather just do what he says instead of risking my career for nothing." she said quietly.
"there has to be something you can do."
she shook her head. "nothing." she felt her stomach start to churn, and darted into the bathroom, barely closing the door before throwing up. ben sighed and softly knocked on the door. "ellie..." he pushed it open to see her sitting on the tiled floor, tears streaming down her face. ben dropped to his knees next to her and held his arms out. she clung his chest and he rested his chin on top of her head as she cried. he pulled away and held her face in his hands. "promise you'll tell me when something like this happens again."
she nodded.
"we'll figure it out."
she nodded again. ben got up and slowly pulled her to her feet. "you need to rest."
she climbed into bed and checked something on her phone as ben put his jacket on, getting ready to go back to his room.
"um, ben?"
"yeah, sweetheart?"
"can you maybe stay here?" she asked, her voice quiet. ben's face broke into a soft smile. "of course." he kicked off his shoes and shed his jacket before getting under the covers next to her. she smiled contentedly and snuggled into his side. ben watched her fluttering eyelashes for a while until he was sure she had fallen asleep, her breathing deep and even. he reached over and turned off the light, then whispered to her. "good night, sweetheart."