Princess Charming (gxg)

Part 38

Hallie's POV

The day of the settlement, after we got home, Alina laid down on the bed and told me she was sure she would be better by tomorrow.

But she wasn't.

It had been 3 weeks since the trial ended, it was now April. And she was not getting better.

When she wasn't at work, she was in the bed. Either sleeping, or reading something on her phone. It wasn't like she didn't show me any affection or love. It just wasn't the same. She seemed so tired, so down.

She was depressed.

I have been there myself. I've laid in bed for days, feeling completely hopeless.

I hated seeing Alina like this.

I absolutely hated it.

It was almost like a switch went off inside her after she saw Jocelyn's family at the courthouse, and she hadn't recovered since the panic attack she had in the car.

I missed my girlfriend and how she was. I missed the Alina I know and love. Though at the same time, I completely understand depression. And I wasn't used to having to be the strong one.

Cora and Felix took notice as well.

Like me, they tried to get Alina to do things with them. However, she would say she was tired. Or that she would join in later.

On the first Friday in April, Cora came home from work at 3 PM, as always. Alina had worked the night before, and she was sleeping. I didn't have work that day, and I had been laying in bed with Alina and also periodically playing video games. Even if she was laying down and not talking to me, I still found ways to show her affection, by giving her hugs, gently moving her hair out of her face, and keeping my hand on hers.

I went downstairs to greet Cora.

"Hi, honey." she said to me, "Is Alina sleeping?"

I nodded, "She is."

Cora sighed and then looked at me. "Felix and I are extremely worried. I know you are too. Something is going on, and has been going on since the settlement. I know you told me she got very upset after seeing Jocelyn's family- but she hasn't recovered since."

"I think she's going through some kind of depression. I'm sure she has PTSD as well, and that is all coming back up." I said, leaning my elbows on the kitchen counter. Cora was standing across from me.

Cora's eyes flickered toward the steps and then she said softly, "She never got the help she actually needed after everything happened with Jocelyn's death."

"I know that she only saw an on campus counselor one time." I said, "She said it didn't help her."

"That's not nearly enough." Cora said, "She needed and still needs intensive therapy. The thing is- Felix and Alina's parents, I'm sure you know this, were not good parents and not nice people. They didn't believe in therapy or depression or anything. They instilled that in Alina and Felix- that they have to be strong and deal with everything on their own. I think part of them, while they know mental health issues are a thing for others, feel as though they can deal with anything on their own."

I nodded, "Alina is very much like that. I think she needs to be on medicine though. And talk to someone. I hate seeing her like this, and I don't want her feeling like this."

Cora gave me a soft, sad smile and said, "I know, Hallie. You're such a great girlfriend, Alina is so lucky to have you. I am going to bring up the idea to her of even just going to her family Physician and speaking to them. That may be less scary at first than seeing a Psychiatrist or Psychologist. Unless you wanted to bring it up?"

I nodded, "I can do it. I've tried in the past few weeks asking her if she wanted to make an appointment to talk to someone, but she refuses."

Cora shook her head, "It's that part of her that feels like she can do it all on her own."

"She can't." I said, "As strong as she is, she needs some professional help. If she is up I'm going to talk to her."

"Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Cora said to me.

"Thank you." I said back to Cora, "I'll let you know how it goes."

I went back up to the bedroom. Alina was laying down on the bed, looking at her phone. She had on a hoodie and yoga pants- which is what she usually wore when she didn't wear scrubs.

"Hey." I said, softly, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I'm glad you're up."

Alina put down her phone and sat up against the pillows. "Work was exhausting. I needed some sleep."

"Do you maybe want to go to The Alcove tonight?" I suggested, "We can get some pastries and tea lattes."

Alina's gaze flickered toward me, her big brown eyes full of sadness.

"Maybe another night soon?" she asked me, "I don't think I'm up for it tonight. I'm just really tired."

It's time to tell her she really needs some help.

I knew I had to approach this gently. I looked at Alina and said, "I think next week you should make an appointment with your family doctor."

She looked back at me and said, "Why do I need to do that?"

"I know things have been tough the past few weeks." I said, "You haven't really been yourself...your Doctor could help. Or even point you in the right direction."

Alina sighed. "I know that I've been down the past few weeks. Seeing Jocelyn's family just made me really upset. But I don't need to see a Doctor about it. Or a therapist. I told you, it made me feel worse."

"I know." I said, "I completely get it. But it could be different this time. You could find it to be very helpful, it has been a few years."

"It's really not something I want to do."

I looked at Alina.

I want you to feel better. Stop fighting it.

"So what are we going to do?" I said, feeling a bit nervous to speak up, "Because you can't keep being like this. It's not okay, and you need some kind of help."

Alina's eyes widened a bit and then she said, "Just give me a little bit of time to figure out what I should do, okay?"

I knew that was her way of telling me she didn't want to do it.

"Okay." I said, "Do you mind if I go into the other room and play some of my games?"

"No, of course not." Alina said.

"I'll be back soon." I said, and as I stood up, I could feel tears springing into my eyes.

When I got into the game room, I turned on some music to cover up that I was crying.

All I wanted was for Alina to take the steps in getting help. And I was miserably failing at doing so.