chapter 20

It was mince and dumplings for tea, with mash and carrots and lots of gravy. It slid down her throats quickly and easily. She didn't particularly want seconds, but everyone else was having more and she did not want to stand out as the person who wouldn't eat because she was planning her escape. No one was to know what she was up to. No one.
Then they brought out the apple pie. It would have to be apple pie wouldn't it! She loved the crisp pastry with the crunch from the sprinkle of sugar on the top and the contrasting soft tartness of the fruit inside. One portion was double the portion you would receive anywhere else and it was accompanied by a large dollop of custard, cream or ice cream. Today she opted for ice cream. She liked the contrast between the hot pie and the cold ice cream.
'Does anyone want any more?' Asked the kitchen helper.
Madeleine's hand shot up. Of course she wanted more!
She knew she'd eaten too much when she finished. Well, it was still all right. She would make up for having such a big dinner by skipping supper. She didn't need a meal before bedtime after all. By them the food in her belly would be half digested, so by midnight, she'd have no problem heading down into the lane without getting too exhausted.
She planned to pretend to go to sleep, then when the house was in darkness, about 2am, she'd sneak out of the side door to freedom.
But when supper was announced, it looked so tasty she could not pass it up. By the time she got to bed she felt bloated and lethargic. Getting up at 2am seemed like to most ridiculous thing to do. She decided to sleep tonight, but tomorrow she was definitely going to do it!

Tim was not aware of much going on around him these days. He was fed directly through a tube in his nose directly to his stomach. The tube was attached to a device that pumped him full of thick creamy feed 24 hours a day every day.
This was supplemented every now and again with other food was well, but the enteral feed gave him everything he needed.
He had a tv near the bottom of his bed, which he could watch from any angle. That kept his brain occupied. Everything else was taken care of by his carers or someone else. He didn't have a care in the world, even though he weighed over fifty stones.

Madeleine put off her escape for another 24 hours. She was full and lethargic. She couldn't be bothered to put the effort in
The next day, she put it off for another 24 hours. She was like a dieter who was determined to start again every Monday, but by Wednesday they had given up.

The trouble was, no matter how much Madeleine wanted to be slim and lithe again, she loved her food and she loved the full satisfied feeling she got from it when she'd eaten too much.
She continued to put weight on at an accelerated rate. She was doing so well that her employers gave her every weekend off and two extra weekdays off every week.
She knew what she was supposed to do in her time off. She should be going for an invigorating walk through the woods and up to the common. She should be visiting the dusty gym in the basement, but her colleagues told her she needed to relax. Working so close to other humans could be so stressful. The best way to deal with stress what to put your feet up in front of the telly with a glass of wine by your side, they told her. Running up hills and exercising only got you hot and sweaty and muddy.
So Madeleine chilled out on a spare patient bed, bent into the shape of a reclining chair. She had the telly on in front of her and a glass of wine and some tasty snacks beside her.
Her colleagues made sure her glass was replenished often and kept her snacks topped up between her four large meals.
After she'd drank a bottle of wine, she lost all her inhibitions and her appetite became voracious. Her colleagues then encouraged her to eat the most calorific, fattening foods that they could find.
She ate fast and messily. All that mattered was to eat until she was totally stuffed full. Eat until she could eat no more, until she was euphoric and lethargic.
She piled the weight on. Her uniforms became insanely tight again. On working days, her flabby belly got in the way, she tired more easily. On non- working days her belly extended out in front of her in a big dome. Yet all she wanted to do was eat even more!
Her weight gain accelerated. She passed twenty stones, twenty five stones and reached thirty stones. As soon as she got a new uniform, she would outgrow it.
She knew this was insane! It had to stop! She had to get out of here! NOW! Or she'd never get out. Sadly, she never made that move. Her fat belly covered her genitals and hung down between her legs. Her breasts hung pendulously and rested on her giant belly.
Yet, strangely, she wanted more! And she wanted it now!
Working was becoming so increasingly difficult that her employer reduced her hours even more. The less she worked, the more time she spent in the feeding chair. The more time she spent in the feeding chair, the more weight she gained.
By the time she reached fourty stones, she was incapable of working efficiently any more. She progressed from employee to patient.
She promised herself that she would escape. Yet this prison had no bars on the windows or locks on the doors. All she had to do was walk out of here, she told herself as they introduced her to her feeding tube for the first time.
The thought of having fattening nutrition in her twenty four hours a day turned her on. The fact that she could supplement with more during the day made her even happier. She was getting through 20,000 calories a day and still wanted more!
The fifty stones mark came and went with as much celebration as she could muster from her bed-chair.
All she wanted now was food and more calories. Nothing else mattered. She didn't care about diabetes. She didn't care that her fat was overflowing the sides of the bed. Heart disease, hypertension, fatty liver and the possibility of thrombosis, stroke, lymphoedema and pressure sores were a reality. She did not care. Tim was eating himself into an early grave and she would willingly follow.