holy fuck

Karma wakes up to a knock on her door. She looks over at it and practically throws herself out of bed, scrambling to pick up the crumpled chip bags, dropping them into the once-empty trash bin just as Caine swings the door open.

Caine looks at her and then at the small bin full of chip bags next to her, his expression going from chipper to a mix of disappointment and annoyance. He sighs, "Karma, did you get hungry last night?"

Karma fidgets with her gown, avoiding eye contact with him. "..yeah. I did." She crosses her arms, looking down at him. "Is that a problem?"

Caine shakes his head. "No, it's not exactly a problem, but you need more than chips, my dear. You could've found me; I would've gotten you a proper meal!"

Karma lets out an exaggerated gasp at what he said. "WOW, so I can't be independent? At all? I was hungry, and I did something about it." She put her hands on her hips, leaning down to his level. "I thought you said, 'Any amount of food is enough as long as you eat!' that one time?"

Caine doesn't back down. "You know that's not what I'm saying! And when I had said that, you were doing better at the time. But you aren't eating properly again, so that doesn't apply anymore."

"What, so you just changed your mind?!" She started to raise her voice. "That can't be fair!"

"It's not about what's 'fair'; it's for your health! You can't go on only eating once a day!" He paused before continuing. "You need to follow the schedule. Then you can have snacks."

Karma could feel the frustration building as the conversation had gone on. She knew he would say that, but she was hoping that, by some chance, he wouldn't.

"I've told you before, I can't [%$!#]ing remember the schedule! You know my memory isn't good!" She was yelling at him now. "You know you can't just tell me to eat at certain times! It CLEARLY doesn't work! You say I'm not eating enough? Well, that's your fault!"

It was about 9pm, and the fact that Karma hadn't eaten anything all day was becoming clearer by the moment. Her legs felt weak and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She kept scratching her stomach, standing in the middle of her room while debating whether or not to go get food.

Lately, she'd been going a bit unnoticed by the staff since she was causing less trouble. Unfortunately, that resulted in her not eating much again since nobody was reminding her, not even her own body.

Karma wanted some chips. She knew she probably needed more of a meal, but it would at least be enough so she could get to sleep. And chips were good! She'd be hungry enough by breakfast to remember to eat then.

She opens her door and looks up and down the hall, leaving it open behind her while she slowly makes her way to the nearest vending machine. Karma stares at the options, eventually picking a few bags.

As soon as she closes her door behind her, she starts tearing open the bags, scarfing down the chips as fast as she can. She leans back against the door when she's finished, leaving small crumpled chip bags scattered on the floor around her.