"Doc, I don't know what to do about her. It's been two months and she hasn't improved at all," Zac said into the receiver while on the phone with Dr. Whyte. "She can't get over this and I'm worried about her. I'm worried about the baby. She's almost eight months pregnant but she hasn't been taking care of herself. I can only do so much and as much as I'd like to be, I'm not here all day every day."
"Will she leave the house?"
"I don't know."
"Well if she will, bring her in to see me. If not, call me back and I'll come see her." Zac sighed, looking down the hall to the living room, where Ginger sat, playing with a bit of the blanket on top of her while the television was on to her favorite soap opera.
"All right. Thanks, Dr. Whyte."
"Listen, I know how hard this is. I know how hard it is on Ginger because I've been working with her with such a long time. I think she can get better if she just allows herself. Maybe seeing a therapist will help. This isn't just from Kristina's death, this reflects her parents, her brother, her entire life. I think she just needs some help."
"Yeah, maybe that would be best."
"Don't hesitate to call if something happens."
"I won't. I know." Zac said his goodbye and hung up the phone. He walked into the living room and sat down next to his wife as she played with a string coming off the blanket. She didn't look good. She was clean, but her hair was a mess and her face looked tired. She had dark circles around her eyes and she seemed thinner than normal, despite her large stomach. "You're missing it; that nasty Tony Dimera is back again," Zac said. She didn't respond to him. She hadn't been talking much the past two months, and at first he thought it was just a phase. Kris's death was hard on all of them and especially to her, considering how close they were. After a few weeks went by and her condition only worsened instead of improved, he began to get worried. He decided to give her some more time, trying to talk it out with her himself, but she hadn't said more than a few words to him and now he was at his wit's end.
"You know, babe, I'm worried about you. I didn't expect you to bounce right back from this but it's been two months now and�" Ginger turned away and continued playing with the string. "Fine. I love you, babe. I love you so much but I don't know how to work with you when you're like this." He got up and walked away. When he was nearly out of the room, she straightened herself out.
"I'm sick again, Zac."
He turned around and looked straight at her. She was still looking at her blanket. "Are you sure?" he asked. He felt worry growing inside of him. It seemed he was always worried about her. She nodded. "Do you want me to take you to see Dr. Whyte? I was speaking to him earlier�he'd like to see you anyway."
"No. I don't want to see him."
"Why not?"
"Because this time I don't think I want to get better."
She refused to speak after that and Zac had to settle for leaving the room again. Quickly he went up two flights of stairs to the master bedroom, where he picked up the phone and dialed the number he found himself dialing quite a few times over the past few months.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mom."
"Hello, Zac, how are you doing? It's nice to hear your voice again; I miss you kids and you're the only one that calls home anymore," she said. Zac sighed and put his hand against his forehead, feeling tears in his eyes by this sudden news. "What's wrong?"
"It's Ginger, of course. When is it not Ginger?" He took in a deep breath. "Mom, I don't know what to do about her. She's not getting any better."
"Well, honey, you have to understand that she lost her sister and her best friend. I'm sure you'd be the same way if, God forbid, Taylor or Isaac died. You boys are so close and she was just as close with Kris�"
"I know, I know. But it's different this time. I talked to Dr. Whyte earlier and he said that I should send her to see a therapist to help her get over this. I know she won't go because she's been asked to go before and she says she'll never go. She used to go when she was a little girl and she had a bad experience with it so she's sworn off all psychiatrists forever�and then just a few minutes ago she told me she's sick again."
"Is she really sick, though?"
"I have no idea, but I doubt she'd say it if it weren't true. Ginger knows she's sick before the doctors know. She can always tell and she hasn't been saying anything to me lately, and then she just came out and said it," he said, shifting and dropping his hand between his legs. "She also told me she doesn't know if she wants to get better or not." "She's going to have to."
"Well she doesn't want to. I think she's finally giving up, Ma."
"I don't know what to tell you, Zac. Why don't you go talk to Taylor?"
"Taylor won't talk to me. Taylor hasn't said a word to anyone since the funeral. I don't think he's seen anyone since he moved out of the house. He's taking this just as hard as Ginger, maybe even harder. At least I can see Ginger."
"Maybe I should call him."
"You can try, but he doesn't pick up the phone."
"Well I don't even have his number, I don't have his new one." He gave her the number. Maybe she could help him out a little bit; at this point he was willing to try anything.
"ZAC!!!" Ginger's voice came from downstairs.
"I have to go, Mom. Bye." He hung up the phone without a response and ran down the stairs to the living room where Ginger was. "What's wrong?"
"Can you get me a glass of water?" she asked, sweetly. He gave her a look.
"You mean to tell me I just ran down two flights of stairs and all you wanted was a glass of water?"
"Please?? I'd get it myself, but it's hard to get up and I don't have any energy lately�" She smiled sweetly to him and he shook his head and went into the kitchen to get her some water.
"Well," he said to himself as he got a glass out of the cabinet, "at least she's talking to me."
The doorbell rang a few days later, after Zac had come home from classes. Ginger had stopped going to class once Kristina died, and he wasn't sure if she was ever going to start going back. She'd convinced him to go to school before the year began and he was happy he was doing it. They had enough money to get by for quite some time, but he knew he'd have to work again someday.
"Coming!" he yelled as he ran down the stairs to the front door. He opened it up and Taylor stood on the other side. "Since when do you ring the doorbell?"
"Did you ask Mom to call me?" he asked, not bothering to ask to come inside or even say hello.
"No. I gave her your number because she wanted to call you. It's just because she's worried about you. We're all worried about you."
"Well you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. I'm better off not talking to any of you, not seeing any of you, and not having Mom giving me a fucking guilt trip because you're worried. Excuse me if I take my grievances in private."
"I don't know what you're doing anymore, Taylor! You're secluded and I don't know what the hell you're doing to yourself. For all I know you could be planning suicide and I'll never see you again! I already lost my best friend, I'm losing my wife, and I can't afford to lose a brother along with that!"
"What's wrong with Ginger?" Taylor asked, his entire demeanor changing. His tone had softened and he didn't look angry any longer.
"She's sick again." Zac stepped away from the door and Taylor came inside, closing it behind him. "She's upstairs with the doctor right now, actually. I couldn't convince her to get out of the house and go see him, so he decided to come here and check her out. He knows what he's looking for, she's gone through this so many times, but without a CT scan he can't be certain, and she won't go anywhere."
"Why not?"
"She doesn't want to get better."
"Oh. Zac�"
"No, don't say anything. I don't know her condition and she might not even have to be treated. I don't know anything yet. Until I do, I don't want any pity."
"You're just like her, Zac."
"Listen, Taylor, you're welcome to stay around for a little while, actually I want you to because I don't know when I'll see you again, but I've got to get upstairs and make sure Ginger doesn't kill off the doctor or anything."
"I think I'll hang around." They parted ways, Taylor going towards the living room, and Zac going back up the stairs to the master bedroom. When he went inside, Dr. Whyte was taking a blood sample. Ginger looked over, obviously not happy to be there. She wasn't happy with Zac or with the doctor and her expression made that very, very clear.
"How's she doing? She's not trying to kill you, I hope," Zac asked, sitting down at the desk near the bed.
"She's just fine," Dr. Whyte said, giving a smile to Ginger. She wasn't looking. "I won't be able to tell anything until I get this blood work done, but she's showing all the symptoms. Of course we'll need to do a scan and see what's going on in her head." Ginger shook her head.
"No. I don't want anything done."
"I know you don't, Ginger, but it's for your own good."
"Everything's for my own good. I don't want anything to bother me anymore. I don't want to get pricked with a needle every day and get radiation zapped at me and make me puke for hours. I don't want chemo, I don't want surgery, I don't want anything that'll help. I just want to get away from it all."
"Ginger, we're only doing this because we care about you," Zac said. "I don't want to see you go anywhere. You're still pregnant and after that we're going to have a baby, and don't you want to see that?"
"It's not going to be worth it if I'm sick again."
"That's why you need to get better again."
"Dr. Whyte," Ginger said, finally looking over at the man. "Could you leave us alone for a few minutes?"
"Sure, dear." He patched up her arm and went out of the room. Ginger looked down at the cotton ball and piece of colored tape over her arm and sighed�another day, another needle in the arm.
"Zac, things aren't the same anymore. I'm not as strong as I used to be and I don't know why I'm still here. Kris is gone�"
"Ginger, I loved Kris too, you know. I miss her too. You're not the only one going through this. It was hard for me then and it's still hard for me now. Actually it's even harder now because both you and Taylor aren't getting any better. Neither of you are getting over this and I don't want you to just forget about her! I know you can't do that. I do know that Kris does not want you to be like this. She doesn't want you just giving up because she's not around anymore. She never wanted you to suffer, Ginger. All you have to do is lift your chin up and take it day by day. If you let it, it will get better."
"I don't want it to get better! I want Kristina back!"
"That's not going to happen, Ginger!" She crossed her arms and looked away. "I love you Ginger and I don't know what I'll do without you. I've lost too much; I can't lose anybody else."
"I don't know what to do."
"At least wait it out until the baby's born. Wait until we have Jenny and then we can think about if we want to work at this or not. For all you know you might not be sick again."
"I know I'm sick again."
"Let's not think about it yet, all right?"
She sighed, debating whether or not she should agree with him. He waited patiently for an answer until she finally nodded. "All right. Let's just worry about Jenny for a while."
"Taylor's downstairs, you know. He's worried about you too." She looked over her arm and didn't respond. "If you want to talk to him, when the doc is done here, you can go see him or I can send him up here. I think it'll be good for him to see you again." She still didn't respond. "All right. Well, I'll be downstairs with him." He opened the door and left quickly, sending the doctor back in as he went back downstairs to his brother.