Try a Little Harder, You've Got to Measure Up

It’s a year after the last season of the show they were on, the cast have all dissipated, a couple staying in Los Angeles, some moving away from it all and then Enzo and Evan, both moved to New York hardly 2 months after the ending of it. It had gotten more than enough, those last few years of hiding and sneaking around, trying to fool anyone who wanted to buy it that they had steady and solid relationships going on. But the moment the grasps of Hollywood had lessened after the show that brought them together ended, both Evan and Enzo took the opportunity and finally got out together. They packed up and moved, not even really coming out as a couple but just letting things progress naturally. Not deliberately avoiding to talk about each other, if a reporter happened to ask a question about their statuses, answering that they were in a relationship and all that involves the whole situation. And they were perfectly happy like that, Enzo had his book deals to work on and the releases of his movies, Evan his music contract and shows and the odd acting role in between his performances and tours.
They live in a two bedroom apartment on the upper west side of New York, Enzo’ cat Brian along with them and even though he’s already gotten to a fairly decent age he’s still the life of their home at times.

Evan just got of the phone with his agent, the call lasting for over an hour and he’s practically ready to throw the damn thing out of the window just so he didn’t have to deal with it anymore. He really thought that the pressure on him would lessen a little bit now that he had his own following, his own brand was out there, something that was completely him. But instead of now being pushed into a certain form by his bosses at a studio, it’s now the labels that expect him to act and look the way they want.
Sighing he pushes himself off the desk, walking out of the spare bedroom that’s been redecorated as a music slash writing room for both him and Enzo, to the kitchen and grabs himself a beer. He looks at the clock above the fireplace as he walks into the living room, noticing it’s nearing 7pm and a smile creeps on his face unconsciously, knowing Enzo’ll be home anytime now. Not really in the mood for cooking, he decides that they would just call and order take out, so now he just drops himself on the couch, his head against the backrest as Brian jumps up on the couch next to him and nestles himself against his side.
A little while later, Enzo walks into the apartment and drops his keys in the bowl near the front door as he shrugs off his coat and hangs it in the closet in the hall. As he steps into the living room, he’s greeted with Brian jumping off the couch and as he reaches him, just tangles himself around his legs until Enzo picks him up while he walks towards Evan.
“Hey sleepyhead,” he nudges Evan’s knee as he takes a seat, putting Brian back down, “I’m home, if you might have missed it.”
Evan opens his eyes lazily, a smile on his lips as he reaches out to Enzo and pulls him against his side, immediately capturing the guy’s lips with his own in a sweet and soft kiss. “Hi, how could I ever miss you coming home?” he mumbles against Enzo’ lips. Enzo chuckles softly, kissing him quickly once more before asking, “What’s for dinner?”
“I thought we’d just order something in, I wasn’t really in the mood for cooking tonight.” Evan shrugs taking a sip of his beer.
Enzo cocks an eyebrow, eyeing the beer in Evan’s hand and then rolling his eyes fondly, “You know, with all this take out we order and that beer you’re having right now, that little tummy is going to appear again.” Enzo laughs softly, patting Evan’s stomach playfully before nuzzling into the crook of Evan’s neck, “Remember the comments you used to get on tumblr while we were in the show? On the other hand, your fans loved it and so do I actually.” He kisses the tender skin of Evan’s neck once more before he leans back, saying, “You order, I’m going to go and grab a shower before it arrives, okay? You choose whatever we have, it’s all fine for me.”
Evan can’t help but watch after Enzo as he retreats towards the bathroom, his muscles a bit tensed up at his words as his mind begins to work in overdrive, nearly forgetting to order their dinner and when it finally arrives after a while he barely eats any of it.

Things move on, both of them drowning in their work, Evan swarmed with recording sessions and promo tours in the nearby states and Enzo finishing his latest screenplay as they are working on casting the actors for the project. It leaves them both a bit on edge, bickering between them when they are together at home over silly thing sometimes, but they work it out. At least that’s how it seems, Evan on his part is being put more and more on the spot, working on shooting the promo pictures for his next tour and for his upcoming second album. And the only way he’s able to handle the extra stress of all that, is the running he started a few months ago, along with a drastic change in his diet. He simply doesn’t drink any alcohol anymore, something Enzo raised an eyebrow at a while back but he just waved it away with the explanation of wanting to get a healthier lifestyle and since Enzo hardly really drinks he doesn’t feel the need to either. The take out stopped most of the time, and the time they do order it Evan makes sure to always order something healthy. And it helps, he gets a bit more toned, finally his abs are more pronounced again like they were years ago and the scale goes down, not drastically but enough to make Evan feel good about himself. It’s not enough though, his agent is urging him on to lose an extra few pounds, the argument that pictures and tv always add a few pounds.

That’s how he finds himself now, sitting on his desk behind his laptop, in search for diet pills that have to work quickly, with a headache already building behind his eyelids after an intense recording session the last few days. He’s been looking online for days and finally finds them so he finalizes his purchase with a wry smile on his face. He opens his own personal diary blog, something he started doing a few months back and starts writing down his thoughts and ideas when he hears Enzo entering the apartment as he calls out for him.
“I’m in here!” he yells over his shoulder, wincing at the immediate sting of pain in his head when he does and quickly closes his laptop, after saving his entry.
“Hey babe,” Enzo says in a cheery voice as he steps into the room. He immediately walks over to Evan, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and settling himself on his lover’s lap. But the moment he looks at Evan, Enzo squints his eyes questioningly at his boyfriend, “Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asks as he lets a hand run through his now longer curls. Evan leans into the touch, sighing a bit at the comfort the touch gives him and answers, as he closes his eyes, “I’m fine, just a bit of a headache. Today was long and hard, I think I just need to get some sleep.”
His eyes still on his boyfriend, Enzo lets his fingers trail over his scruffy jawline for a moment before leaning in and kissing him softly. “Did you have dinner already? Or should I make you something?” he asks as he leans back a little. A small smile still on his lips, Evan replies, “No thanks babe, I’m not hungry, I just need to sleep I think.”
“You go do that, baby, I’ll be right here if you need anything, okay?” Enzo says before quickly kissing his temple and standing up from his boyfriend’s lap, who immediately stands up too and as he passes Enzo, lets his fingers brush against Enzo’ fleetingly as he walks towards their bedroom.

It all really started to get worse since then, Enzo’ and his days mostly spent apart, Evan went out running instead of having lunch with his friends or anyone else who he was working with that day. At first it nagged at him pretty hard, being used to eating whatever he wanted to getting to the way it was right now, but he had gotten used to it fairly quickly. The diet pills arrived at their home just a couple of days after he ordered them, but knowing Enzo would give him hell if he ever found out about them, Evan just hid them away in the only place he knew Enzo wouldn’t even think of opening, one of his older guitar cases. He did feel guilty about it though, when Enzo arrived home that particular day he’d gone all out on distracting Enzo as well as himself from his own guilt by practically attacking his boyfriend the moment he walked through the door. He made love to him that night, slow and sweet, trying to ease his own mind and that even made him feel more guilty afterwards.
But that wasn’t enough of a sign to actually make him stop, the more he saw the pills and the exercise helping, the less guilty he started feeling about hiding it, thinking it was actually paying off and promising himself that one of these day he’d come clean to Enzo.
But that day just kept being pushed back, Evan still not really all that comfortable with his image, even if now his agent and other people from the label regularly start to comment on how great he looks now, how his pictures are going to be that more attractive and how he has to keep it up for the filming of his soon to be shot music video.

But even though for that it seems to work, there are other things getting worse and worse every day. They fight, a lot, and it usually starts with a stupid little thing that Enzo said to Evan that made him throw a vicious comment back. And with every bite or remark Evan gives, Enzo gets more annoyed and confused. He tries to talk to him, Evan has to admit that he really does try, but then there’s that nagging feeling of shame and failure inside of him that makes him push the words that are on the tip of his tongue, back and just fix Enzo with a look that says to stop it that instant. Never before did they went to bed angry or feeling hurt with one another, but lately it seems to be all they’re doing.

Those days go by, slower then before, either of them too stubborn to make the first move again. But it keeps nagging in Evan’s mind, until he finds himself in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror with a trembling lower lip and tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He keeps staring at himself until he can’t stand it anymore and he turns to drop on his knees in front of the toilet, trying to lose the content of his stomach until he’s trembling with the force of his retching when nothing comes anymore. His attention is snapped back when Enzo knocks hesitantly on the door, calling softly through it, “Evan, are you okay sweetheart?” That’s what makes him get back to himself, after splashing water over his face and thoroughly brushing his teeth, he’s able to open the door only to find Enzo standing in front of him, his eyes red rimmed and a worried and apologetic expression on his face. And all he can do at that moment is cross that step between them and take Enzo in his arms, holding on to him tightly as he just says that he wasn’t feeling all that well in a hushed voice and leaves it at that.
But soon after, even that isn’t happening anymore, Enzo will still keep coming after him but he just pushes him away with his words, not wanting Enzo to actually see him or touch him the way he is right now. He’s feeling as if Enzo doesn’t even really want to anymore, starting to believe himself when he says to himself that Enzo doesn’t even want him in the way he looks right now. The only time he can let go of his own thoughts is when he falls asleep on the couch, not having to fear that Enzo might accidently come closer and have the rejection that’ll surely come right after.

It’s been months since their first fight like that and a day before Thanksgiving that Enzo’ mom, dad and sister are visiting since a long time. The first moment they lay eye on Evan, his mom’s mouth drops almost open when she notices the change in Evan. But she recovers quickly, her usual warm smile in place for Evan as she hugs him tightly, frowning a little when he only retaliates with a soft squeeze instead of one of his normal exuberant and crushing hugs. Not getting a chance just yet to talk to Enzo alone, she decides to drop it and enjoy their limited time together. With both boys being always so busy at work they hardly really have the time to come to Clovis to visit so when they’re together, time is precious and well used. Enzo has been keeping an eye on Evan the entire time and he can’t help the fear that’s building up inside of him. He can see the weight loss, he can see Evan being stressed out more than he ever was and the fights they keep having are starting to get worse and longer. And now, seeing the sort of coolness Evan’s greeting his parents with, that fear only doubles inside of Enzo.
Dinner itself isn’t much better, they’re all sitting at the table in the living room, Hannah chatting away with Enzo but he can’t seem to keep his attention on her. His eyes automatically keep going back towards Evan next to her. Every other holiday Evan used to be the life of the party, even if it was just them and their parents, he kept entertaining everyone before, during and after dinner to the point where Enzo had to reign him back in to give their company a little breather from the whirlwind that is Evan most of the time.
Eventually though, Hannah just gives up talking with a confused look between Enzo and their parents who, by the look they just shared between each other, also notice everything that seems to be wrong .
The dread inside of Enzo is more enforced when he looks at the way Evan is simply pushing his food around his plate, and he has to stop himself from hitting himself over the head when slowly alarm bells go off in his head as little pieces of the puzzle seem to fit together.
He almost chokes in the bite he just took, doubling over in his chair when his air is cut off for a second before he’s able to straighten up again and take a sip of the proffered water by his mom. As he looks up into Evan’s eyes, he sees his boyfriend staring at him, his eyes shining with unshed tears before he steals his expression again and just pushes himself away from the table and all but flees from the living room. The loud bam of the bathroom door being slammed shut makes everyone at the table jump up in their seats and Enzo simply breaks down.

He drops his head on his folded arms on the table in front of him as tears break free. He doesn’t really know how long he’s been sitting like that, but he startles by a touch on his shoulder and his head snaps back finding his dad looking at him cautiously. “How long has this been going on, Enzo?” he asks, his voice laced with worry and sympathy. Through his sobs and tears, Enzo chokes out, “A while, I don’t even know.” Looking between his mom and dad, he adds, “It all just clicked right now. I can’t understand why it never did before but … Oh god, but how …” Enzo is shaking all over with the notion how severe this could be. He practically leaps from his chair, sprinting towards the bathroom. As soon as he stands in front of the door, he can hear Evan, crying hard interlaced with the sounds of his heavy breathing and chokes. Deciding against knocking he opens the door and what he finds, makes his heart break and he stands nailed to the ground for a few moments. Evan’s leaning over the toilet bowl, one arm propped up on it, hiding half his face and the other clamping around his waist.
“Oh god Evan!” Enzo chokes out as he rushes towards his boyfriend, dropping himself on his knees besides him. “What is going on? Why … Fuck, babe.” he whispers as he runs his hand over Evan’s back, feeling him shiver all over. It’s then that he looks up at Enzo, his eyes wide and pleading, starting to say something but suddenly his eyes roll to the back and he drops sideways into Enzo’ chest with a soft groan.
“Evan!” Enzo shouts, “Evan, come on baby, open your eyes for me. Mom, Dad! Call an ambulance, Evan’s …” he gets cut off by his own sobs as he holds Evan in his arms. Frantically looking around the bathroom as he keeps whispering for Evan to open his eyes, his gaze falls on the toilet, only now seeing the blood splatters against the edge and he doesn’t even dare to look up more, realizing how bad it might actually look what he’ll see then. “Mom, hurry up, please! Dad!” he yells out of the bathroom, burying his face into Evan’s curls and tightening his hold, now even more than before feeling how fragile and thin Evan has actually gotten. He keeps pleading for him to open his eyes, telling him through his own sobs that everything is going to be okay, hoping himself that it really is.
It feels like minutes but it’s more likely to be more seconds since he rushed into the bathroom as his mom runs in and his dad following on her heel with his cellphone in hand, already dialing 911. He can hear his dad talking on the phone in the distance, but the only thing right now on his mind and in his sight is Evan in his arms who still hasn’t really opened his eyes. His mom is crouched besides them, gasping when she sees the same that he did just moments earlier and lays her hand on Enzo’ shoulder. It all doesn’t register with Enzo, he only feels numb except for the feeling of Evan in his arms and suddenly he’s startled out of his state when there’s stumbling right outside the room and two men come in, one holding a large bag with a cross and only now Enzo realizes they are the paramedics that came with the ambulance.
Enzo gets softly coaxed into letting Evan go, and even if it’s reluctantly, he does after a few moments as he takes a few steps back. His mom wraps an arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her and he can’t even let it comfort him. His eyes are only on Evan, now being handled by the two men, laying on the floor of their bathroom.
As they lift him up on the gurney, Enzo sees Evan opening his eyes minutely and he can’t help the small gasp that escapes his mouth in relief that he at least opened them for now. The paramedics strap Evan on the gurney and quickly push him out of the room, Enzo and his mom following behind. Enzo’s dad mumbles something about him staying at the apartment with Hannah who’s by now crying almost uncontrollably on his couch and all Enzo can do is nod numbly before his mom pulls him along with her after grabbing his keys and rushing out the door to follow the ambulance to the hospital.
Time goes by in a blur, Enzo doesn’t even really realize that they’re at the hospital until his mom pulls open the car door and calls out his name. He snaps out of his thoughts and stumbles trying to get out of the car, almost falling face first on the pavement if it wouldn’t be for his mom standing right in front of him and grabbing him by his upper arms. He lets himself be led into the ER and just lets his mom do the talking until they are ushered into the waiting room of the ER for the time being.

‘It should’ve been obvious, he should’ve noticed the signs and now he can smack himself over the head that he just didn’t see how far things have gotten.’ Enzo is sitting down in an uncomfortable chair in the waiting room of the ER, waiting for the doctor who’s handling Evan to come out and let him know what exactly is going to happen now.
His mom is sitting by his side, an arm wrapped around his shoulder, trying to comfort him in the best way possible though she knows it is hardly a comfort at all. Enzo is shaking all over, his fingers trembling while he clenches them into fists against the fabric of his pants, tears welling up in his eyes which he wills not to fall but fails anyway. “What am I going to do mom?” he asks, his voice desperate and pleading, as if she has the answer to it all, “I can’t do all this without him.”
She just holds him a bit tighter, kissing the top of his head trying not to let her own tears fall, doing her best to be brave for her son, but also for Evan who by this time has become a second son to both her and Tim, and a brother for Hannah.
“I know, Enzo. He’ll be alright sweetheart, I’m sure he will. And you two will be alright too.” she tries to sooth him, hoping he doesn’t pick up on the strain in her own voice. She desperately wants to believe her own words, but right now, not knowing exactly what happened to Evan is making herself not completely believe it.
He lifts his head, looking straight at her, his eyes pleading for reassurance and filled with tears, “How do you know that? I don’t even know how I could be so stupid not to see and realize what was happening!” Enzo exclaims suddenly, unwillingly chucking her arm from his shoulder, “I should’ve known what was going on! I’m never gonna forgive myself for not even noticing how far things have gone.” His tears fall back over his cheeks, and they’re only fuelling on his rant , “It was only tonight in the bathroom that I actually felt how thin he is. I should’ve noticed, if I just tried a little bit harder to get through to …” His words are being cut off by his own sobs, bending forward and sitting with his face in his hands.
It breaks Karyn’s heart to see her boy like this, to know the boy he loves so much is laying here in the ER and not sure why exactly. She reaches out again, laying her hand on his back between his shoulderblades and softly starts to run her hand over his back, trying to sooth and calm him down a little bit, “Don’t do this, Enzo. This isn’t your fault, let’s just wait for the doctor to tell us what’s wrong, okay? But no matter what, don’t blame yourself for this too.” Right at that moment a doctor steps into the waiting area, a woman in her early forties by the looks of it, sleek brown hair that falls over her shoulders and a tall figure. With a soft smile she walks up to Enzo and Karyn and holds out her hand to Enzo who just looked up at her when his mom announced her presence, without taking her proffered hand before she drops it to her side again.
“I’m dr. Harrison, I was the on call doctor when your … Boyfriend?” she tentatively asks and after a small nod from Karyn she continues, “When your boyfriend was brought in earlier. Now, he’s stable, let’s start with that. We’ve put him on an IV to get his hydration level up to par and we’ll very soon, within the hour, be able to do a CAT-scan to try to determine where the blood I was told of, was coming from. But I do have some questions, if you’re up to it. Unfortunately, Mr. Lewis hasn’t really been able to give us direct answers. He’s fairly unfocused and confused for the time being but we hope that will start to get better when his fluids are up.” She pauses, looking at Enzo now and waits for him to answer her. He just looks at her dazed for a second, his mind lingering on the words unfocused and confused, until he snaps out of it at the thought that also means that he’s awake, or at least awake enough to be able to determine that. He swallows hard, glancing sideways at his mom for a second who takes his hand in hers and just squeezes.
“Yeah, sure. What questions?” Enzo asks, his voice soft and trembling. Dr. Harrison takes a seat next to Enzo and turns a bit to face him, “Now, did Mr. Lewis ever had any problems with his weight before? I know this might sound blunt, but after what I’ve seen and found this is a very important question to determine what exactly is happening to him.”
He shakes his head, trying to think of a time when Evan really indicated having any problem with his weight but not recalling any except the obvious start of his exercise and jogging. “He’s always been fairly normal when it comes to weight, I’ve never known that he weighed too much or anything.”
The doctor smiles sympathetically at Enzo, “Well, to be fair, it doesn’t always have to be too much. But what I get from your answer is that the opposite hasn’t been an issue either?”
“What? No, he’s never weighed too little either, …” Enzo suddenly takes in a shaky breath, “I never noticed at least.” He looks up at her, an almost ashamed expression in his eyes as he adds in a whisper, “I didn’t even notice it this time.”
“That’s not uncommon Mr. Marks, people close to the patient rarely really see the true damage that’s been done until it gets too far. But we have contacted his physician just before I came out here and we’re going to have to rule out everything to get to the bottom of this. And he did tell me, that a few weeks ago, Mr. Lewis has visited him and he advised Mr. Lewis to get another check up within weeks since his weight had dropped so dramatically and his blood pressure had been much too high. Now from what he’d told me, your boyfriend didn’t really acknowledge anything being wrong to his physician. So I do have to ask this, did you notice any change in his daily routine, his eating habits or even lack of them?”
“He …” Enzo starts, suddenly remembering all these times that Evan had claimed not to be hungry or when he did eat a bit, rushing to the bathroom not long after, always the excuse of not feeling all too well at hand. “He started jogging and exercising earlier this year and that’s also when he stopped drinking alcohol or ordering take out. I never really dwelled on that, he just said he wanted to change our lifestyle a little, try to get healthier again. But yeah, come to think of it, I haven’t really seen him eating all that much anymore after either. Well, our lives are incredibly busy, we usually don’t get home at the same time so the meal times have been something we had to do alone but …” He stops, gazing still straight at the doctor who nods for a few moments as she takes a few notes and then closes the chart in her hands again.
“Okay, we obviously still need to run more tests, and I am not giving any conclusion to what the diagnosis is, but I’m sure by tomorrow we’ll know a lot more.” Dr. Harrison makes a move to stand up but then turns back to Enzo, “Oh, I almost forgot. Did he take any prescription medication? Or even over the counter ones, maybe even diet pills or anything? I don’t want to assume but he’s also been tested for drug abuse, I just wanted to let you know that from the beginning.”
Enzo’ sharp intake of breath sounds harsh in the empty waiting room, and he immediately starts, “He didn’t do any drugs, I’m sure of it. That’s … No, he just wouldn’t.” He glances frantically towards his mom as he keeps shaking his head, “And no, no medication. I think at least … I don’t know.” he ends in a small voice, feeling more and more guilty that he doesn’t even know the answer to that question.
Dr. Harrison does stand up now and nods, “Don’t worry, if there’s anything, we’ll find it. You can come in and see him after he had his CAT-scan. I’ll let a nurse come and get you as soon as it’s over, and then we’ll settle him into a room afterwards for him to get some rest.” And with that she’s gone, leaving Enzo trembling with nerves and fear of what might come after.
He turns to his mom again, asking if he can use her phone for a moment and she hands it to him immediately. He dials his father’s number and without any preamble starts as soon as his dad picks up. “Dad, you gotta search the place for any pills, diet pills or other, I don’t know, everywhere. The ones in the cabinet in the bathroom I know are regular prescription ones for us so there won’t be anything special, but everywhere else, dad. Maybe even the stupidest place where you normally wouldn’t think of looking.” His dad doesn’t respond immediately, a bit taken aback from the outburst of his son through the phone, but quickly regains his composure as he replies shortly and not pressing for any further information, “Okay son, I’ll call as soon as I got anything. Hang in there, Enzo.” His dad has hardly stopped talking and Enzo has already disconnected the call.

Tim looks around the living room for a moment, Hannah has cried herself to sleep on the couch and he quickly throws a blanket over her to keep her warm after he put the phone back on the coffee table. He tries to take in every possible place something can be put away but an uncomfortable feeling creeps up his spine. This is still his son and boyfriend’s place, the feeling that this isn’t his place to be looking through their belongings in the front of his mind but he takes a deep breath before he starts to turn every little thing upside down. It doesn’t really matter at this point, Enzo asked him to do it and he knows his son wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.

An hour has passed and Enzo and his mom are still sitting in the waiting room, Enzo cradling a can of diet Coke in his hand and his mom a cup of coffee. He keeps twitching his leg up and down, not able to stop the nerves coursing through his body and he almost drops the can on the floor when a nurse steps inside, calling for him. At the same time his mom’s phone starts to buzz and she quickly answers as he gets up out of the chair to go to the nurse. It doesn’t take long for his mom to join him and she coughs softly, interrupting what the nurse was just about to say. “I’m sorry but my husband, his dad,” she speaks to the nurse, “has just called to let me know that he found some sort of, what he thinks are, diet pills stashed away. And he just sent me a picture of them. I’m not sure if we should give the info to you or …?”
Quickly nodding the nurse replies, “You’ll see the doctor with Mr.Lewis right away, I think it might be best to let her know to start with. She can determine what should be done with it. Now, if you’d follow me please. We’ve relocated Mr. Lewis to a room.”
They follow closely, through the halls of the hospital, Enzo’ mind not really noticing where they are going, only focussing on the fact he’s getting to Evan finally. Soon the nurse opens a large sliding door, entering a hallway with all closed doors and they stop at the third door to the left. She knocks and opens it, gesturing for them to head in with a nod as she says, “Dr. Harrison is already inside. I’ll just leave you to it then. Have a good night.” And with that she turns and leaves the way they came, leaving them to enter the room fully and find the doctor standing next to the bed, filling in the chart that lays on the bedside table for now.
Enzo can’t help but rush over to the bed, stopping short at the sight of Evan underneath those stark white sheets, looking so small and so much more fragile than he ever has. It’s an immediate trigger for his tears to start again as he reaches out and takes Evan’s hand in his, squeezing his fingers softly and only focussing on his boyfriend’s face.
His mom stays at the end of Evan’s bed for now, her eyes showing the heartbreak she feels at the sight in front of her and she quickly averts her gaze, almost feeling as if she’s intruding into a private moment between her son and Evan.
Dr. Harrison turns to face both of them and sighs softly as she glances at Evan for a moment before she starts to speak. “He’ll probably be sleeping the entire night now, we had to give him a sedative before he went in for the scan cause he started to hyperventilate at some point, but he’s calm right now, so I’m fairly sure he’ll be getting a good night’s rest. As for the tests, we’ve got most of the results already and like you said,” she says looking at Enzo who now is staring up at her without letting go of Evan’s hand, “There were no signs of the regular drugs to be found, so we can rule that out and he’s mostly clear for any other abuse of any substance too. Now there still are some things that need to come through, so we’re still holding out for those to make a proper diagnosis. His CAT-scan came out normal, there’s no more hemorrhaging or any other abnormality in his stomach or his chest either so we assume that came from the force he put behind his vomiting.” Suddenly Karyn speaks up, “Oh, right. My husband found this in their apartment, hidden away. He believes they are some kind of diet pills …” She immediately shows the picture of the bottle he sent to the doctor and she hums softly, nodding as she says, “I think it’s safe to assume this mostly explains what has been going on. He’s very dehydrated and together with the symptoms of the high blood pressure and the severe weight loss ... Well, I think I don’t need to paint a picture as to what has happened. The combination of those together with probably stress along with it, I think will be the main factor why he fainted in the first place. So, we’re going to get his fluids up through an IV and tomorrow I’ll make an appointment with the psychologist here that specifically deals with eating disorders. As soon as I got all the test results, I’ll let you know. Do you have any more questions perhaps?”
Enzo can’t think of a single thing right now, his mind still processing everything the doctor just said, so just shakes his head.
“Okay, if there are any questions however, feel free to ask the nurse and she’ll page me. I’m going to leave you to it now, and trust me, he’s in good hands here.” she adds as she shakes Karyn’s hand and then Enzo’ before she turns and leaves the room. Both Enzo and his mom stay silent for minutes, he has pulled a chair next to the bed and stays right there, holding Evan’s hand all the while mumbling that he loves him, and that he’s going to be okay. At some point during the evening, Enzo’ mom suggests that they should head home and try to get some sleep but Enzo simply refuses, not wanting to leave Evan’s side for one minute. So she checks it with the night nurse, who hasn’t got a problem with Enzo staying there, and after another little while she leaves the room after hugging her son and kissing Evan’s forehead softly.
Enzo is barely noticing it though, he just stays put in the chair next to the bed, holding onto Evan’s hand and his eyes fixated on Evan’s face. It doesn’t take all too long though, until he leans his head on his arm on the bed next to Evan’s side and falls asleep.