This one shot was written for the Rumple Angst Fest on Tumblr for adastra615. Prompt: Gold is running a high fever and is delirious and starts talking about all his insecurities and how he doesn't think he's good enough for his partner. It's up to them to convince him otherwise. Make it as angsty as possible.
This is a canon-divergent AU wherein Rumple is scratched by "bear" Merida in TBatB and develops a staph infection as a result . . . . .
Fever
"It's just a little cut, it's fine," Rumpelstiltskin told her as she bandaged his wound when they arrived home after their ordeal with Merida. She had scratched his left shoulder, and it was now bleeding quite a bit.
"I really think we should call Dr. Whale," Belle begged him.
"I'm not letting that quack anywhere near me. It'll be alright."
It wasn't. For several days, Belle tended to the wound, which didn't seem to be healing at all. By the third day, the scratched area was swollen and the wound was still bleeding intermittently. Rumpelstiltskin was also developing a fever.
Belle entered the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, where Rumpelstiltskin was resting. "Rumple – I've been looking at some medical books – it looks like you have what's called a staph infection, I really think you should see a doctor, you need antibiotics."
"You can take care of me, Belle. I trust you. Only you." Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as Belle sat next to him, pressing a cold cloth against his forehead. Now what should she do? Storybrooke wasn't exactly known for its medical expertise, and given her past experience, she didn't want to be anywhere near that hospital. In addition, she wasn't sure if she trusted anyone to give Rumple the care he needed, not after all he had done. If he still had magic, would he have been able to heal himself? Could magic even heal this sort of thing? Or would it create even more problems? The last thing she wanted to risk was magic entering his blood. What would the price be for that?
Belle thought about what Rumple would do if the situation were reversed. Knowing him, he'd probably take her out of Storybrooke if he wasn't able to heal her on his own. Perhaps that's what she needed to do. At that moment, it occurred to Belle that even if she asked for help, which she hadn't – would anyone even bother? They didn't seem all that interested in helping him a few days earlier. Maybe Rumple had been right in the first place.
She went to the shop to search for more anti-transformation powder; knowing Rumple, that little bag he had wasn't the whole of his stash. Belle was the only one Rumple had trusted with the combination to his safe, and sure enough, there was another bag there. Belle took the bag, as well as several items in the shop that looked to be quite valuable, and headed back home.
"Rumple?" Belle said as she sat down next to him on the bed and touched his forehead. She could already feel that his fever had gone up a bit since she last checked on him. "We're gonna go on a little trip, alright?" Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"See the world. What you always wanted," he whispered weakly.
"Well, maybe we'll do that in time. I need to get you somewhere that we can get help, and I'm not sure that's here."
"Don't deserve help. It's better this way."
"That's not true. Don't you say that, that's not true. I gathered up all of the money I could find, and I took some of your things from the shop to sell in case we need more. I packed a bag for us; I don't know how long we'll be."
"I'm not worth saving."
"Yes you are. Now come on, we just need to get you down the stairs and to the car, alright? You think you can make it there?" Belle helped him sit up. Gold winced in pain as he moved his arm. "It's alright – you'll be okay. You trust me, don't you?"
"Always."
"Come on – the car is all ready."
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know yet. But I'll know when we get there." Belle helped him out of bed and carefully led him down the stairs and out of the house.
Belle drove for what seemed like hours, with Rumple dozing on and off and often mumbling in his fevered sleep in the seat next to her. She wasn't headed toward any particular place; just somewhere with a hospital and somewhere that no one knew who they were. Which was anywhere, really. When she reached what appeared to be a large city – a town called Portland, Maine – there were signs directing her toward a hospital, and Belle followed them. No one asked any questions when she pulled up to the emergency drop-off area. They simply got Rumple out of the car, helped him onto a gurney, and took him inside. Belle was a bit overwhelmed at all of the paperwork she needed to fill out, and was grateful that she brought along a fair amount of cash, as she had no idea about insurance or anything like that.
What about his name? She couldn't put 'Rumpelstiltskin Gold' down, they'd think she was insane. She had to think of something else. Then she thought about her favorite book. Gideon – the hero in the story. That could work. Gideon Gold. Liking the sound of that, she wrote it down on the form, then asked to see her husband once she was done.
She had been correct in her guessed diagnosis; it was a staph infection, and it was far worse than she had thought. They tried treating him with antibiotics, but after a day passed the doctors realized that this infection was resistant to such treatment. They asked her permission to perform a procedure on the wound to drain it, and then inject a cocktail of several strong medications into his IV in order to try and stave off the infection.
The worst part of the treatment was the fact that they had to put him under an isolation tent. He was too vulnerable to even the smallest of germs that might be in the air, and he needed to be protected from that. Belle had never seen him look so small and defenseless before, and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't even touch him without wearing gloves.
Rumpelstiltskin was, thankfully, asleep during most of this ordeal. He was weak and fevered and Belle was certain he didn't even know what was going on around him. Two days passed, and his condition didn't seem to be changing. It was almost as if he were giving up. Belle remembered him telling her that it was her words to him during the coma that motivated him to hold on, so even though she couldn't touch him, or hold him, she could talk to him.
One particular afternoon, Rumple began to feverishly toss and turn. "Bae," he called out faintly. Belle fought back tears. He wanted his son; the one thing that she couldn't give him.
"Hey – it's okay, Rumple. Bae wants you to get well." She didn't know what else to say. Belle opened a fresh package of sanitized gloves, put them on, and reached under the tent to take his hand. Upon squeezing his hand tightly, Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes and looked up at Belle. "Hey," she whispered, smiling at him. It was the first time he had made eye contact with her since they arrived at the hospital.
"Belle. I'm afraid." His voice was quiet and strained, and all Belle could hear in her mind was him saying those exact words to her at the town line.
"You don't need to be afraid, Rumple. I'm here. I'm right here."
"You'll leave. Everyone I love leaves me. Why?" Belle could see the pearls of sweat on his forehead, and she knew he was still in the throes of a high fever. He probably didn't even know what he was saying. Or did he?
"I won't leave. Not this time."
"You will. Everyone always does."
"No. I will not leave you, Rumpelstiltskin. We will work things out, and we will do it together. But I can't fight this for you, Rumple, you have to fight for yourself. You have to fight for US."
"You deserve better than me. I can't fight anymore, Belle. I'm tired."
"Yes you can. You fought that bear. You pulled the sword out of the stone. You're a brave man, Rumple. You can fight this. Don't you dare give up on yourself. Don't you dare give up on US."
"There's no us anymore."
"There can be. Rumple, there can be, PLEASE. I told you it's never too late, I don't want you to leave me. I love you, Rumple. Please don't leave me." Belle started to cry, and Rumpelstiltskin looked at her through his glazed over eyes, and a single tear fell down his cheek.
"Okay," he whispered, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep once again.
Curled up on the cot that was brought in so that she could remain at his side, Belle awoke to find a nurse removing the isolation tent from around Rumpelstiltskin's bed. "What – what's going on?" Belle asked as she sat up.
"His fever broke overnight. The doctor said he's doing much better. He'll be weak for a bit, but the medicines finally worked."
"I – I can touch him?"
"Of course. He may still be a bit weak when he wakes up; give him time. He'll probably be pretty confused too; might not know where he is or what happened to him. Just do your best to reassure him. He's doing well, we don't want him to relapse." The nurse left the room, and Belle moved to the edge of Rumple's bed.
"Rumple? Rumple, please open your eyes, love, please wake up." Belle ran her hand across his forehead, then tousled his hair a bit. It was dry and stringy and badly in need of being washed. Rumpelstiltskin moaned a bit, then slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Belle. "Hi," she whispered. "You came back to me."
"Where are we?" he asked, his voice strained.
"We – we're in a city called Portland. They're very nice here."
"We're not in Storybrooke?"
"I – I had to get you out of there, I didn't know if you'd be safe there. I didn't know if anyone would be able to help you." Rumpelstiltskin moved to sit up, and Belle forced him back down. "No, don't try to get up, you're not strong enough."
"You said you didn't want to leave."
"I didn't. But I didn't want to lose you, either. I did what I had to do."
"Brave Belle. Always brave."
"You were brave. Just like I knew you could be."
"What happened?"
"You had a staph infection, it was really bad. Do you remember anything about it?"
"I – I don't know. It's just - all confused in my head."
"Well, you'll be alright now. You just need to get a bit stronger and then we can leave here."
"And go where?"
"We'll figure that out later." Belle took his hand, and he squeezed her hand tightly.
"Do you like it? It was the nicest one I could find nearby," Belle told him as they entered the hotel room. He had been released from the hospital that morning, and the night before Belle secured a hotel for them to stay at while he finished his recovery, not sure where else to go.
"Nicer than Granny's hovel, I suppose," he commented.
"Come on – you need to lie down, the doctor wants you to rest for a few days." Belle pulled back the covers on the bed and helped him get settled, then sat down next to him on the bed.
"And then what?" he asked.
"I – I haven't thought that far ahead, I suppose."
"You want to go back, don't you? To Storybrooke."
"I – I did bring the incantation with me, yes." Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "Rumple – the sword chose you. You have to stop Emma."
"How? She doesn't want to be stopped, Belle. I know that more than anyone."
"What about Henry? He's your grandson, you can't just leave him there. He needs to get to know you."
"He doesn't want to know me. Nobody does. They probably don't even know we're gone, Belle, did you even think about that? No one is looking for you, or for me. They won't even bother. Why should we?"
"Because that's what heroes do."
"What if I don't want to be a hero?"
"You're already a hero, Rumple. That's been decided." Belle touched his cheek. "It's okay to be afraid. There's nothing wrong with it. You can't be brave if you're not afraid."
"Did you mean what you said?
"When?"
"The hospital. You said we could be together. You said you loved me."
"I – I thought you didn't remember any of that."
"I thought it might have been a dream at first, but – it wasn't, was it? It was real." Belle nodded her head yes. "Was it? Or did you just say that so that I'd have something to fight for?"
"Maybe both," Belle admitted. "I have missed you."
"What if I fail?"
"You always ask that. And you never do. Not when we work together." Rumpelstiltskin reached up and touched her face, and they shared a soft, gentle kiss. "You should rest. We'll talk more when you get some of your strength back."
"We can still see the world, right? After we've gone back and helped everyone."
"If that's what you want."
"Isn't that what you want?" he asked.
"I only ever wanted you. I wanted US." Belle laid down and snuggled up with him.
"Why Gideon?" he asked as he played with her hair.
"Why Gideon what?"
"The name you gave me when you took me to the hospital. I understand why you couldn't give my real name, but – what made you choose that name?"
"My book – the one my mother gave me. The one I was always reading in the castle that you used to tease me about. That was the name of the hero."
"Gideon Gold. I like that."
"So do I," Belle agreed, and she sighed as she closed her eyes and smiled.