Chapter Text
Ace moved down to the kitchen when dinner was, Marco and Thatch having made some food, and he took some on a plate, before he looked at Pops. “Can I eat in my room?” Pops nodded. “Okay. You've done that a lot lately.” Ace nodded. “A lot of homework, both to do and to listen to.” They had a lot of videos to watch, and he liked to eat while he watched the videos. When he got to his room, he ate until he felt full, and then he threw the rest away in his trash bin he had in his room. He didn't know why, but lately, he had been taking a lot of food compared to what he ate. He also didn't want to gain more weight. Not that he had looked at the scale, he just felt like he was gaining a lot fast. So, he tried to wear roomy clothes to hide his body.
It has been like this for half a year now. He was just slowly gaining weight, so he did his best to eat until he was full and nothing more, before he took an hour on the treadmill, or more if he had the time, he could also watch videos while he was on the treadmill, so he didn't miss anything. Pops had once commented on the fact he was a lot on the treadmill, but he wasn't. He was just when he could. He had originally gotten limits to it, on how much he could run. But it was probably so he wouldn't miss out on school, but he wasn't.
Then, a week later, when he was at school and walking between classes, he suddenly felt dizzy, and before he could lean on a wall or sit down, he fell down, which had his friends worried, and even though he didn't want to, he was taken to the nurse’s office. And she did some small tests, even taking his blood pressure and weight. And when he was weighted, he said he didn't want to know the number and looked away, not wanting to see the high number. But the nurse frowned when she saw the number, before she noted something, and then looked at him. “When did you last eat?” Ace blinked. He had skipped breakfast today, so he last ate dinner yesterday, but he didn't want to say that. “I ate an apple for breakfast.” The nurse hummed. “Don't believe that. You're underweight, by a lot.” No, he wasn't, he was overweight. Not that he said that.
Then, as he refuses to say more, he was sent home for the day, the nurse calling Pops to get him, and told what she had found, and Pops took him to their doctor, who took more tests, and also took his weight, him not wanting to see it. And when the doctor had taken a lot of tests, he looked at him. “Why aren't you eating?” Ace shrugged. “I am.” The doctor shook his head. “Your blood sugar is low. Your body weight is too low.” No, it wasn't. He was too high if anything. He had mirrors he could look in. As he didn't say too much, their doctor sighed. “I am sending you to Westside Bulwark Unit, to get more weight. This looks like an early eating disorder, and I don't want it to get worse.” Ace frowned. “I don't have an eating disorder.” Their doctor shook his head. “No, you are going anyhow, You weigh so little. You need to eat more and be monitored on how much you eat. You can’t be eating based on your weight.” Why did everyone say that? He didn't! He was too heavy! But no one would listen to him! He was also told he didn't have much to say, he was 17, underage, so Pops decided, and he said he needed to be admitted.
He didn't say anything else, and then Pops drove him to the unit, and Pops tried to ask why he wasn't eating, and he had no answer. He did eat! He ate a lot! He ate until he was full. When they got there, they met a new doctor, who asked some questions about him eating, he said he ate, but no, everyone disagreed. When he needed to take his blood pressure, he took his sweater off, and it had Pops blink. “You look so skinny, Ace.” Ace blinked, and looked down on himself. He didn't.
The doctor looked at him when his sweater was back on. “Excessive training?” Ace shook his head, he didn't do that. Whitebeard gave a breath. “Yes. He is almost always on that treadmill.” Ace blinked and looked at Pops. “I am not.” Pops nodded. “You are son, be honest. We had to give you limits, and still, you train when you should not. You're always running on it.” Maybe he was. He didn't feel like it, as he had barely tained the last few weeks he felt like. But Pops didn't agree.
Pops moved a hand to his leg. “Ace, son. Why do you think you passed out? You're not eating and always training. I thought you ate, but you don't, this proves that.” Ace didn't feel like that, he felt he ate, he ate a lot. The reason he tried to not eat as much. He looked at the doctor. “Do I need to be here? Can’t I just be at home?” The doctor was on his way to speak when Pops did. “Son, you need this. You need the help. You need to eat. You will be cared for here, and then, when you are a bit better, you can come home again.” Ace sighed, but nodded. Maybe he did need to be here? Pops at least really thought so.
The doctor then held his hand out. “Your phone.” Ace blinked, before he handed it over to the doctor, he might want to check it or something. The doctor then turned it off, before he handed it to Pops. “You can use it when you get home again.” Ace blinked. He wouldn't have his phone? “Why can’t I have it?” The doctor hummed. “It can be a bad influence. So, you won’t have access to it.” He didn't like this and looked at Pops. “Do I really need to stay here?” Pops nodded. “Yes. This is far worse than what I thought.” He couldn't be this bad, could he? But Pops disagreed, same with the doctor.
Then he was admitted, and Pops left him to be here and he felt so… confused. Why did everyone say he ate too little? And exercised too much? He didn't do that. He was told he would be getting food each meal, and needed to at least eat something. And he would, he would prove nothing was wrong. He was told dinner had just passed, as they had used some time getting here, but it would soon be the evening meal. And he ate some crackers he had with him. And they said it was okay. But then the next day came, and a nurse came with breakfast.
And when he saw the plate, he had to blink. It was so much. It was two pieces of bread, an apple, and a hard boiled egg. He looked at the nurse. “I can’t eat all that.” He couldn't, It was too much. The nurse hummed. “You need to at least eat the egg.” Ace looked at the egg, and it looked so big. “But… it is so large.” The nurse shook his head. “No, this is actually what they call a small egg. If you eat that, I will leave you alone.” Ace frowned, he didn't like this at all. But he wanted to be alone. So, with a sigh, he took the egg and ate it slowly, it was so large, it felt so large. When he was done, he felt… really heavy.
But he had eaten it, so he looked at the nurse, who nodded. “Good good. You did it. I will leave you alone, unless you want to talk about something?” Ace shook his head, he didn't. The nurse then left, and when she was gone, he sighed. He didn't like this at all. Being forced to eat and eat so much too. Ace then stayed in his room for a bit, but nothing was happening. And he should probably head out and be with the others here, at least maybe grab some magazines.
After an hour, Ace moved out of his room and headed out to be with the others, there was nothing else to do here. He had no phone either. When he got out, he moved to a couch and sat down, finding a magazine to read. It was something. As he was reading, someone sat down on the other couch on the other side of the table, and he offered a smile, which was returned, before he went back to reading. When he had read the input he was reading, he put it down, and as he did, the other person spoke. “Hey, you're new? Aren't you?” Ace nodded. “I got here yesterday.” The other man nodded. “Cool. And you're not that old. How old are you?” Ace shrugged. “17. You?” The other nodded. “I am also 17. You look younger. You're so small and skinny.” Ace blinked. He was? He didn't feel like that, especially after eating that egg. “I feel normal.” The other person nodded slowly. “I think you look skinny.” He wasn't skinny.
The other person shook his head. “But it is not nice to comment on looks I've heard. What's your name?” Ace was glad he said that as he wasn't sure what to say to him calling Ace him skinny. “I am Ace. You?” The other person hummed. “Nice name. I’m Sabo.” Ace nodded. “Have you been here long?” Maybe Ace could get a number on how many days he would be here.” Sabo made a small sound. “I have been here for a week, and I'm going to stay two more.” Ace blinked. That was 3 weeks. “Is that… normal length?” Sabo hummed. “Depends on why you're here. I once was here for 6 weeks, once 5 weeks. You don't know?” Adce shook his head. “No. They just said until I get better.” Sabo nodded. “You probably will get a time frame later then. My first time, I didn't know either until I had been here for a week.” Made sense and he nodded.
He then sat and spoke with Sabo, which was nice. It was something to do. As they were speaking and Sabo made a motion, he noticed something, and that was that Sabo didn't have any nails on his left hand. Not as in he never had nails, but as if they had all been removed. He did want to ask about it, but he didn't want to either, in case he wouldn't answer or it was a topic he shouldn't ask about. He had just met him too. They spoke for a bit, until Sabo headed back to his room, and Ace did as well. It was almost dinner anyway.
When dinner rolled by, the nurse came back with a plate of food and banana. The plate had two slices of bread, one with cheese and the other wil some kind of jam, and a boiled egg. Did they really expect him to eat all this? That couldn't be normal. He looked at the nurse. “Do I just need to eat the egg again?” The nurse shook her head. “No, you need to eat the banana. It is dinner, not just lunch.” He frowned, that was a lot. “Do I need to?” The nurse nodded. “Yes, you do.” Ace sighed, but took the banana and started to eat it slowly, and when he was halfway, he had to move a hand to his mouth, and he looked at the nurse. “I feel nauseous.” The nurse gave a small sigh. “You need to either eat the rest of the banana, or the whole egg.” Ace frowned and looked at his two options. Maybe the egg then? It looked a bit smaller than the banana, and he put the banana down and took the egg and ate it. When he had, he still felt nauseous, but the nurse did leave.
He then took up a magazine he had, and as he had been reading for a few minutes, he moved a hand to his mouth again, before he ran out into the hall and out to the bathroom and threw up. As he was, the nurse came and stroked his back a little, before he was done and he moved a hand to his mouth, he really hated throwing up. The nurse looked at him. “You okay?” Ace shook his head. “No, I hate throwing up.” He really did, it was so awful. “I think I ate too much.” The nurse sighed. “Ace, you just ate half a banana and an egg.” Ace nodded, that was a lot. The nurse looked at him. “I can go get something to drink, so you can get the taste out.” Ace nodded, that sounded good, and he headed to his room, and the nurse came quickly back with a glass of milk, which he took.
But as he had taken a sip, he frowned. “Is this normal milk?” The nurse nodded. “Normal whole milk.” Ace blinked. “But I like skimmed milk.” The nurse nodded. “And I get that, but you need to eat and drink more, to get some weight back, so, you get whole milk.” Ace sighed, he really didn't like it here. But he had no choice in the matter. He was forced here by Pops. He didn't feel like he needed to be here.
The next day, when it was breakfast, the nurse came into his room and she had no food with her, which was weird, before she smiled. “You need to start eating outside with the others. You need to at least eat one piece of food. If you don't, I will bring you more here.” Ace nodded, he could try, and headed outside to the others, and saw there was a spot beside Sabo, and sat down there, giving a smile to the blond boy, and getting one back. He liked Sabo. He then grabbed a piece of bread, as there wasn't too much to choose from, and he took a small piece of cheese to it, and used some time eating it, speaking to Sabo as he did.
As breakfast was nearing its end, he had managed to eat the bread, and he felt really full. As it was ending, Sabo looked at him. “You're not hungrier? You only ate a piece of bread.” Ace blinked, wasn't that a lot? Ace shrugged. “Not that hungry.” He wasn't. He felt he had eaten more than enough. He also felt a bit nauseous. He then went back to his room, and thankfully the feeling of nausea went away. When it was closing in on dinner, he went out and sat out in the common area, Sabo coming after some minutes, and they started to speak. And then dinner rolled by, and they went to the eating area. And, he expected to get a plate with some bread and maybe a fruit, when a plate with hot food was placed in front of him, looking to be salmon, potatoes, and carrots. It also was a lot. Two potatoes, a large piece of salmon, and maybe a quarter of chopped carrots. Did they expect him to eat all this? They couldn't.
He did start to eat it, starting with the salmon, as he did like that, but it was just so much, when he had eaten half the salmon, he started to feel nauseous again, so he didn't eat more. Sabo hummed when he noticed him not eating. “You're not hungry? There isn't any food until evening after this.” That was good, he didn't want to eat for a while after this, and nodded. “Not that hungry.” Sabo nodded, but did have a small frown. Ace then looked a bit around, and saw everyone had eaten all the food. How did they manage that? It was so much. He then went back to his room after it, and after a small bit, a nurse came, and she had an egg with her, which made him sigh. Did he really need to eat more?
The nurse smiled. “You did well, but you need a bit more.” Ace nodded and took the egg, he knew the drill now. He then ate it in 3 bites, before he was done, and the nurse smiled, which was good. And before she could leave, Ace spoke. “How… did everyone manage to eat all that food?” The nurse smiled. “Because it was a normal amount of food. We want you to eat that amount as well.” Ace blinked, they did? All that food? The nurse sighed. “It might look a lot to you, but it is not. A regular meal.” Ace nodded, it did seem a lot. The nurse then left, and when she was gone, he moved to the mirror he had in his room and took his shirt off, and he already felt like he had gained a lot of weight. He didn't like this. He then put his shirt on, before he stayed in his room a bit, before he went out to the others, and he had to stare a bit at everyone. Everyone looked… normal. As in normal weight.
How did they do that when they ate so much? He didn't get this at all. Why did he gain so much so fast? He already felt so heavy after being here for these few days. How was it possible that he gained so much more than the others? Something had to be wrong here.