Kristy's not Okay
Chapter Seven
The Elrics found themselves sitting in Doctor Warren's office for what seemed like the hundredth time. Kristina had already been examined and was currently waiting in one of the chairs in front of Warren's desk, alongside her parents.
"Kristina…" Doctor Warren trailed off. "You're a good girl, and you're lucky that there was nothing wrong with your heart this time. If you continue to starve yourself, though, there will be next time."
"I said I wasn't going to starve myself anymore," Kristina protested.
"I know you did," Doctor Warren said. "But sometimes people say things that they have a hard time following through with. That's what we're here; to help you follow through on what you say. You're a good kid, and I want you to open up in therapy more. If you do that instead of being silent or dodging my questions, we can actually get you somewhere."
"I'll do whatever I need to do," Kristy said. "I'll see you in therapy tomorrow night, right?"
"Yes," Doctor Warren answered. "Even though you're out of the woods, though, I'll still need you to wear your heart monitor for a few months. I know it's hard, but I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong with your heart. You're still weak. Why don't you go visit the game room for a few minutes while I speak with your parents?" Doctor Warren suggested. Kristy knew Doctor Warren was just trying to get her away from the conversation. Warren wanted to talk about her behind her back. Despite knowing this, Kristina still nodded and left the room.
"What are we doing wrong, Doctor Warren?" Winry asked. "I can't force feed her, but I can't push her to eat too much. What do I need to do?"
"You're not doing anything wrong," Doctor Warren said. "If you push Kristina too much, she'll just go against you and it will be worse in the long-run. Keep bringing her to therapy and offer her meals. Eventually, she'll take it. I think she's coming around."
"She did promise to eat again," Ed said.
"Did that work for you, Edward?" Doctor Warren asked. The blonde shook his head. "Exactly. We still need to keep an eye on her, but don't let her know that you're watching her closely. If she thinks you trust her to do this on her own, she can come around easier."
"But what if she really just needs to know that we're watching her?" Edward asked. "What if she'll get better if she knows she has support?"
"I'm not saying to stop supporting her," Doctor Warren said. "I'm saying to support her and keep an eye on her without letting her know that you're keeping an eye on her. This will work if we follow through with it like I had the colonel do when you were here."
"What?" Ed asked. "You told him to keep an eye on me?"
"Well, that was when you were leaving our facility for the second time," Doctor Warren said. "I told him and Mister Hughes the first time you left, but they just said you were well enough to leave. Well, Mister Hughes believed you were well enough. The colonel was a bit worried."
"Well, I guess he should have been," Ed said. "I was…I was really good at hiding things from them."
"And us," Doctor Warren agreed. "You used to use your automail as a way of getting out of weight time, and you would always refuse to eat your yogurt or drink your milk."
"I don't like milk," Ed said. "I never have."
"Well, some things never change," Doctor Warren said. "Before you leave, I wanted to ask you about group therapy for Kristina. She'd still come to individual therapy, but she'd also come to group therapy."
"What would group therapy offer her?" Winry asked.
"Well, she'd be able to talk with other girls who have similar issues to her," Doctor Warren said. "The inpatients and outpatients have group therapy together. You remember, Edward."
"Well, I guess it was beneficial," Ed said. "We'll discuss it at home and let you know."
"All right," Doctor Warren said. "You three have a nice day."
"Thanks, Doctor Warren," Edward thanked. He stood with Winry, leaving the room to find Kristy before they returned home.
"I can get back to normal?" Kristy asked when they returned home. "You mean I can finally go back to school and get everything back to the way it was?" During the time that the Elric family had been dealing with Kristina's issues, she hadn't been going to school. First it had been summer break, but she hadn't returned even when school had started. Now, in the month of December, Kristy was finally going to get back to school just before the break.
"Well, I still thought we should keep you out," Winry said. "Until January, at least. There's only a week left of school and everyone is working on finals. Since you haven't been going, you've been excused from taking them."
"But after a discussion, we both decided that you should go back to at least see your friends again," Ed added. "We thought it would be good for you and beneficial for your recovery if you get back into a normal routine."
"But what about the finals?" Kristy asked.
"Well, like I said before, you were excused, but you'll be given a separate activity to do by your teachers while the other students are doing their finals." Winry answered. "Probably just some easy assignments to make sure you're still on track and ready for the next term."
"Thank you, guys!" Kristy said with a grin.
"This looks so uncool," Kristy said as she stared at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a short black skirt with leggings, though only standing in a sports bra on her top half. The heart monitor she had been given was portable, which was better for her going to school, but the wires ran down her stomach and the monitor clipped onto her skirt.
Winry frowned when she saw her daughter standing in front of the mirror. She would have to make a mental note to remove the full length mirror from her daughter's bedroom. When Winry looked at Kristina, she saw a girl who had lost more weight since they had first been to the doctor. She was much thinner now, her legs looked like bones underneath her leggings and ribs were more prominent now.
"I think it looks fine," Winry commented. Kristy quickly turned, seeing her mother staring at her. She hastily pulled on a sweater that hid the majority of her frail body. Winry knew how her daughter had hidden the starvation the whole time. "You're so beautiful."
"You always say that," Kristy said with a frown.
"Because it's true," Winry responded. "Now, come on, we're going to be late to drop you off at school." Winry moved to the dining table and grabbed her keys.
"Hey," Ethan said as he saw Kristy walk out of her bedroom. "You doing okay? I didn't get a lot of details after the doctor appointment, but you're going to school now, and…" Ethan trailed off. For the first time with his little sister, he didn't know what to say.
"I'm doing better now, Ethan," Kristy answered. "I've got a heart monitor and stuff, but it's hidden under my sweater. You can't even tell I have one!" Ethan smiled. He wasn't going to tell his sister that he could clearly see the monitor clipped to her skirt.
"You have a good day," Ethan said. "I'll see you after school."
Winry frowned when it was just her and Kristy in the car. Edward was so much better with her. Winry only had one daughter, and she didn't even really know how to talk to her. Kristy seemed to feel just as uncomfortable as Winry, as she had decided instead of speaking to her mother, she would roll up her sleeve and stare at the stitches that had yet to be removed from her arm. They were scheduled to be removed the next week by Doctor Warren.
"They'll scar," Kristy said quietly, breaking the silence in the car. "The stitches will scar my wrist."
"I know," Winry said. "But if you want, your father and I will get you plastic surgery to get rid of the scar."
"No," Kristy said with a small sigh. "I don't want to cover this up. This is part of me now."
Next Update: Dec. 19th, 2015
Can you believe there's only twelve days until Christmas? Where did the year go?! In all serious, though, I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. I performed a duet with my sister (we played Saria's Song!) and I had finals all week, so I didn't really get to work on the chapter. I had to push a lot out that I meant to get in this chapter just to finish it, but here it is!