The Nutritionist

(Day 26: Thursday Morning)

"Put me down." Evie hits Jay's back, "Put me down."

"Are you going to behave?"

"Yes, yes," Evie gives in, but when Jay sets her down she begins to run.

He grabs her arm and steps out in front of her, "She just wants to talk."

Evie pulls her arm from him, "No. She doesn't want to talk. She's just like everyone else. She's going to trick me into eating something and make me fat."

"She's a nutritionist," Carlos comments from behind her. "All she wants to do is make sure your body is getting all the right nutrients to survive."

Evie glares at him, "All she's going to do is increase my waistline." before she turns back to Jay, grabs onto his jacket, and pleads. "Don't make me go. My beauty is the only thing I have. It's the only good thing people see when they look at me. Please, don't do this to me."

Jay turns her around, grabs hold her shoulders, and pushes her along down the hall, "We're doing this for your own good."

When Jay knocks on the door it is almost immediately answered by the brown haired nutritionist, "Awe. You must be Evie. Why don't you come in and have a seat."

Evie looks over her shoulder, but there's no escape. Jay nudges her forward into the room, "She was very reluctant to come."

"That's because I'm fine," Evie grits her teeth at him, before she turns to the woman. "All of your time and energy is going to be wasted on me. You should just let me go."

The nutritionist looks over her for a second before merely stating, "Take a seat."

Carlos asks, "Can we stay, make sure she's being honest and everything?"

She looks at Evie, "Do you mind?"

Evie scoffs, "Let them stay. They don't know anything."

"Alright, then," the nutritionist replies as she sits down in her wheeled desk chair. Evie sits down in the chair nearest to the woman and peers over at scribbles, before the woman looks up and displays an oddly kind expression. "I'm sure you already know why you're here."

"People think I have a problem." She eyes her in disdain, "I don't have a problem."

"Then you won't mind telling me what you ate this week," the brunette calmly responds as she readies her pen.

Evie looks back over at Carlos and Jay, before she shakes her head and lets out a breath, "I had a couple smoothies. Some celery and carrots."

"And the week before that?" the nutritionist prompts.

"About the same thing," Evie remarks. "And the week before that it was a piece of rock candy. Big deal."

"Is that all you had that week?"

She looks from the guys and then back to the woman, "Yes."

The woman nods before evenly looking up at her, "Is there a reason why you didn't have anything else that week?"

Evie glances at the floor for a second, "Does there have to be a reason?"

"There usually is." The nutritionist explains, "There are people who restrict their food intake when they feel as though they've eaten too much or if they have a 'bad food'." Evie watches as the words are put in finger quotations. "Or maybe there was just a voice telling you that you didn't deserve to eat, that you don't need to, that it's selfish and detrimental to yourself or others in some way."

"I—" She takes a stressed breath before asserting, "I don't hear a voice."

"Then why did you do it?"

When Evie stays silent Carlos answers, "Because her mother told her to."

The woman is quiet as she looks from Carlos to Evie, "Is that true?"

Evie half laughs, "Why does it matter." before she gestures. "What do any of these questions even prove?"

She observes Evie carefully, "I'm just trying to gather information on what your food intake is like and the reasons behind it, so I may help you make a reasonable plan to make you healthy again."

"I knew it," Evie narrows her eyes at her. "You don't want to talk. This was just all some ploy to trap me in here and make me fat."

"You're not trapped," the nutritionist uneasily replies. "And the objective is not to make you fat. The objective is find out what your current diet and exercise looks like so that—"

Evie stands from the chair, "If I'm not trapped here, then I'd like to leave."

The woman is quiet for a moment, "How about just one more question, then?" and Evie glares at her. "What kind of exercise or physical activity do you regularly have?"

She crosses her arms, "Well, sweat isn't very pretty, so even though I've found some great exercises recently, I really do prefer to just go for walks." The nutritionist nods as she jots it down. "Can I leave now?"

The brunette takes a couple business cards and offers one to Evie, "This is a very good psychologist. I'd like you to see her." She doesn't take it. "She's paid to hear you talk about your past, any fears or insecurities you may have, and to help you move past them. It's literally just talking. She won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"I'm not paying to see someone I don't want to see."

"You won't have to," she reassures. "Your health insurance will cover a weekly visit."

Evie shakes her head, "No. I'm not going." before she heads for the door. With a nod from the doctor, Jay and Carlos let her pass.

The nutritionist stands and hands a card to each of them, "Eating disorders are as much a psychological issue as they are a physical issue… maybe even more so. Please. Convince her to go. It really is just talking."

Jay nods, "Don't worry. If we were able to get her here, then we can get her there."

"We'll bribe her if we have to," Carlos adds on. "Maybe then she'd actually stay."

- I'm going to be honest and say that I've never been to a nutritionist before. I did try to do some research, but I can't guarantee the accuracy of what I've written or what I plan to write as far as this is concerned.

- So, weird... My keyboard as inexplicably started to function properly again. I don't know if this is temporary and that in five minutes it will stop working again or if it will actually behave for a couple weeks, but if it does continue to behave, then there's no worry about the writing and editing/posting... although, I will say you're starting to catch up to where I'm currently at in the writing portion of all this. I'm only nine chapters ahead of you, and day 27 has four chapters to post. So, yeah...