Title: Poisoned
Author: nicksmom3612
Rating: K+
Summary: Rumplestiltskin has been poisoned and Belle is the only one who can help him.
Authors note: I plan to make this 2 chapters and will update ASAP! Reviews are always appreciated.
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money with this piece. I just do it for fun.
POISONED!
Belle was anxious. He had been gone for almost five days now, longer then he had ever stayed away since she had come to stay at the Dark Castle. What was it now six months? No seven months she thought, and in all that time he had never stayed away this long, at least not without telling her. When he had left he said he would be gone at most a day or two, and now the sun was setting on the fifth day, with no word from him. Belle was very worried.
Her mind was whirling with thoughts of him hurt, or sick, or … or … she didn't want to think about it. She wouldn't think about it… After all he was the most powerful magical being in all the land. He could take care of himself. Of course he could…. couldn't he? Belle felt tears coming to her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again.
She had admitted to herself some time ago that she had fallen quite deeply in love with the aggravating, exasperating, smug, lovable, absolutely adorable imp. She couldn't help smiling every time he let loose one of his ridiculous giggles, often at his own joke, and how he was forever teasing her about her penchant for reading romantic novels. But she knew that he felt the same way, even if he couldn't admit it. Actions speak louder than words, especially when one was dealing with the one and only Rumplestiltskin.
She vividly remembered the day when she had been trying to open the curtains in the main dining room. She had tugged, and tugged at them with no success until he had taken notice, walking to the bottom of the ladder that she was on. "What are you doing?" he had inquired. She explained that it was almost spring and they should let in some sun, and then tugging on the seemingly immovable draperies, looked down at him and said exasperatedly "what did you do, nail them down?" "Yes" he replied looking up at her with such an innocent face that she had to smile. Of course, nailing them down was such a normal man thing to do. She then had reached out grabbing the material with both hands and pulled with all her strength. Down came the drapes and so did she, right into Rumplestiltskin's waiting arms.
It had been so unexpected, and now here she was, with her arm around his neck and him holding her in his arms tight to his chest. She looked up at him to try to gauge how much trouble she was in, and was surprised to see a look of utter confusion on his face, and something else, maybe… fear? They stood that way for what seemed liked eternity, but was actually only a few seconds, and finally she managed to get out "thank you". He seemed to break out of the trancelike state that he had been in and quickly put her on her feet, stepping back a little, waving his hands nervously at his sides he said "no matter", and turned to walk away. She had smiled and wiping her dusty hands on her skirt said "I'll put the curtains back up." And then he had done the most surprising thing, he turned, eyes squinting from the sunlight streaming through the window and waved his hands at her "no need" he murmured "I'll get used to it", and then he turned his back to her, but not before she saw once again that confused look on his face, and walked back to his spinning wheel.
'WHERE WAS HE!' her mind screamed, as she felt panic begin to rise in her. She was scared. What would she do if he never came back? She couldn't go back to her former life, she had been with Rumplestiltskin for too long, and even though nothing physical had happened between them, she knew no one would believe that. She could here it now "so you expect us to believe that you spent seven months with that beast and he never once bedded you?
Tell us another one, ha, ha, ha"
She would be an outcast, shunned by her village and most likely even her own father. Even though she knew that he loved her, he was a proud man, and she doubted even he would believe her that nothing had happened between her and 'that beast'.
Just as she thought that she would run mad, Rumplestiltskin was standing in front of her, half scaring her out of her wits with the suddenness of his arrival. "You scared the life out of me!" she yelled at him, but he didn't respond. He didn't seem to notice her at all. He stood there for a moment looking through her as though she weren't even there, and then he slowly collapsed to the floor without a sound.
"Rumple!" she screamed, rushing to him, she fell to her knees at his side, near sobbing. He made no sound, and was so still that Belle felt her blood go cold as fear gripped her heart and squeezed so tight breathing became painful, 'no,… please, no!' her fevered mind screamed. She knew without a doubt that if he were dead, she would not be far behind him, grief would surely take her life. She had not known that it was possible to love anyone as much as she loved this impossible man, and she suddenly realized that the thought of living without him was more than she could bear.
She leaned down and placed her ear to his chest. Relief flooded through her as she heard his heartbeat, and felt his breath on her cheek, but his heartbeat was weak and his breathing slow and shallow. "Rumple" she called to him, "Rumplestiltskin! Wake up!" She shook his shoulders, and he moaned weakly rolling his head side to side. "Rumplestiltskin!" she screamed. At that he opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Why on earth are you yelling at me?" he croaked weakly. Belle couldn't help it, she smiled, "I'm trying to rouse you enough to get you off of the floor dearie" she shot back, using his own trademark phrase. "Floor?" he whispered "what am I doing on the floor?" His head rolled back, and Belle just caught him before it hit the hard stone floor.
He was out cold again, and she realized that she was going to have to devise a way to get him up off of the icy floor. She ran quickly to the closest bedroom and pulled the coverlet off of the bed. When she returned to him she spread it on the floor beside him, and with some effort rolled him onto it. Her heart was in her throat as she grasped it and began dragging him towards the bedroom. He never made a sound.
Once in the bedroom she struggled to raise him to a sitting position, almost sobbing when he stirred and moaned in her arms. "Rumple?" she cried as she tried to lift him (for a slight man, he was solidly built), "Rumple, can you stand?" "Belle?" he barley whispered, "what are you doing?" he looked around as she continued to try to pull him up, standing behind him with her arms under his and wrapped around his waist. Taking a deep breath she straightened her legs and managed to hoist him up into a standing position. Once on his feet with her holding him from behind, he tried to pull away but managed only to lose his footing, falling backwards onto the bed taking Belle with him.
Belle found herself in the unenviable position of laying sprawled out on the bed with an unconscious Rumplestiltskin laying on top of her, crushing her with his weight. 'Well' she thought to herself 'this certainly is not the way I would have thought I would end up in bed with Rumplestiltskin.' She would have laughed if she had not been so terrified, not to mention that she couldn't take a deep breath right now. She finally managed to push him off of her enough to scramble out from under, and then she knelt on the bed beside him.
She placed her hand on his forehead, and Belle felt true fear grip her, he was on fire. She had seen so many in her village succumb to fevers over the years that she lived in fear of them. She jumped off of the bed and ran to her bedroom, grabbing the washbasin which still had the water she had used that morning in it, and ran back to Rumplestiltskin. She quickly grabbed a sheet from the linen closet and began tearing it into strips, which she dipped in the cold water. She began wiping him down with cool water, her hands quickly undoing the buttons on his shirt, and opening it to expose his chest and abdomen. She worked like a madwoman, knowing that if his fever climbed much higher he would likely die, burned up from within.
He began to rouse as soon as the cold water hit his feverish skin, and he struggled weakly with Belle, trying to push her hands away in his delirium.
"Rumple, listen to me" Belle said as she pushed his hands away "you have a fever, I've got to cool you off." He seemed not to register her words as he flailed with his arms trying to fend off the cold rags. "Rumplestiltskin, listen to me!" she yelled trying to reach him through the fever induced fog which clouded his brain. He opened his eyes at her raised voice, and seemed to clear a little. "Belle" his voice was weak and raspy, but when she looked in his eyes she saw recognition. "Rumple" she couldn't hold back her sob as he smiled his lopsided smile at her, and whispered "hi." "Hi" she was smiling and crying at the same time, and he looked at her confused. "Where am I?" he queried. "You're home love, you're home" she said as she continued to wipe his face with the cool cloth, and her tears fell on his cheek unbidden. She didn't even realize that she had called him love, but it had not escaped his notice.
"What happened to you? You were supposed to be home days ago." Belle tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the fear out of her voice as she looked into his eyes. Rumplestiltskin was struggling to stay conscious, and lucid. He grabbed Belle's hand and said urgently "I've been poisoned, Belle." Her eyes flew wide at his statement and she grasped his hand even harder, the fear squeezing her heart unrelenting. "Who? Why?" she managed to get out before he interrupted her. Speaking quickly, as if he was not sure how much time he had before the fever took his mind again, he instructed her "go quickly to the tower, get the bottle labeled 'moon flower root', it is in the cabinet in the center of the room. Use it to make a hot tea and bring me a cup as quickly as you can." His head fell back onto the pillow, and he finished "it will slow the progress of the poison" Belle looked at him and squeezed his hand "I'll be right back" she reassured him, and with a smile bent to kiss him gently on the forehead, before running out the bedroom as fast as she could go, heading for the tower room.
She found the bottle just where he had said it would be, and quickly ran to the kitchen, and put the kettle on to boil. It seemed an eternity before it started to whistle, and she grabbed it pouring it into the waiting cup with the 'moon flower root' in a tea ball. Carrying the cup carefully so as not to spill it she made it back to the bedroom only to find Rumplestiltskin out cold again.
She sat the teacup on the bedside table, and began wiping him with the cold clothes again to rouse him. He came around slower this time and Belle feared for a moment that she would have to pour the tea down his throat while he was still unconscious, but he finally woke and she quickly brought him the tea, supporting his head while he drank. When he finished he directed her to make another cup and bring it to him. She flew out of the room and was back in minutes with another cup, which he drank down.
He lay back and closed his eyes as Belle watched anxiously for some sign of strength returning to him. Finally he opened his eyes and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Belle reached out and placed her hand on his forehead, relief causing her knees to weaken as she realized that his fever had come down significantly. "It worked" she breathed, betraying her fear.
"Belle", he spoke quietly, "this is not a cure, it will only slow the poison, do you understand?" Everything seemed to overwhelm her at once as she heard his words and she collapsed on the bed beside him sobbing franticly. "No… please no…" he made out as she cried. He was at quite a loss. No one had ever cried for him before, not even his own mother. He finally placed a hand on her head and began stroking her hair, softly whispering "Belle, please stop crying… please love stop crying." She looked up at him hiccupping as she tried to hold back her sobs. "I didn't say that there was nothing that could be done" he said catching her attention. She sat up and like a child wiped her eyes on her dress sleeve, making him smile. She had to take a deep breath and compose herself for a moment before asking "what can be done to cure you?"