Down For The Count

Sympathy Casserole

Lin's POV

The past few days have been...tough, to say the least.

Paisley barely comes out of her room anymore, and it's really hard to see her so sad.

But I just...don't know what to do. I don't want to push her too much, but she still needs to eat. And she seems so lonely, doesn't she want human interaction?

"Your turn tonight." Vanessa said as she began to set the table for dinner.

I frowned a little, knowing the battle that was ahead of me.

"Going in there always makes me so sad. Can you do it...please."

Vanessa looked baffled as she looked over at me. "You don't think it makes me sad to see her like that? I did it last night. It's your turn."

Right. That's the trade off we have, every other night.

It's just...a struggle.

I sighed, watching Vanessa put out the same dish we've been having for dinner for the past five nights in hopes that Paisley will eat it, because pasta is Paisley's favorite.

But each night has been a failure so far, always ending with Paisley having a huge breakdown about Alex, and Vanessa and I caving and letting her go to bed without eating.

Thus leaving us with pasta every night.

But...I don't know how much more pasta I can take.

I sighed as I stood up, making my way down the hall towards Paisley's bedroom. I softly knocked on the door before I opened it, immediately met with darkness considering the kid has been hibernating. Her bedroom was basically a cave at this point.

"Paisley?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed and reaching over to the nightstand. I turned the small lamp on, shedding light over the girl who was face down on her bed, her blankets up to her shoulders and her face buried in her pillows. "Are you asleep, kiddo?"

"No." Her voice came out muffled by the pillows.

"Well good, because it's dinner time."

Paisley looked up at me, frowning and looking visibly confused, her sense of time obviously gone at this point. "It was just lunch time."

"A few hours ago, but now it's dinner time."

Paisley groaned, burying herself back in her pillows as she pulled the blanket over her head.

"Please. You've skipped dinner for five nights, that's so unhealthy. You're not missing tonight." I said firmly. Paisley looked up at me with the saddest eyes, and this is when I usually break.

"Please...I can't." Her voice was quiet.

And while I wanted her to not hate me, I wanted her to be healthy more.

"No. Come on." I said as I stood up, holding out my hand to help her. Paisley only looked up at me, her face sad and tired. "I won't hesitate to carry you out of bed again, I'm so serious."

Which was the only way I could get her to the dinner table the other night, something she was not happy about.

Paisley looked up at me, giving me the saddest look again. But I only shook my head, not wavering.