Quite a big time jump but hope you enjoy this chapter. I should probably mention that this will be quite a short fanfiction.

By the way, I want to give a shout out to AerisHeartily12! I was having a bad day and reading their review meant a lot, so thank you very much :)


They were approaching graduation. As was the announcement of Roy and Anne's engagement. Well, so was what the rumour mill of Redmond was spreading. He couldn't criticize, they were also spreading rumours of his impending engagement to Christine but he didn't care. He knew she had a fiancée, but what did that matter to Redmond. The day arrived and Gilbert decided that enough was enough. He would have to get over the pain and for old times' sake, he would send Anne some flowers. After all, they had come to Redmond together, and he might as well part ways with her on a friendlier note than they had spent the past years. Granted they had been courteous to each other, but being polite wasn't really the same as what a bond was. A positive result of trying to avoid Anne was that he had thrown himself into his studies. For that, he was thankful for, for he had become top of his class without any competition. Before it had been rather competitive between himself and two other students, but when his friendship with Anne had broken down, through the desperation of not allowing her to stay in his head, he filled his mind with, well, shall we say, more relevant things to his future now. He had carried on with his football and occasionally other social events and groups, but all the rest of the time, his head was in a book, and a pen was in his hand. He was focusing on taking High Honours and the Cooper Prize.

Sitting at his desk was unsure of what to write in the note. He couldn't write what his true thoughts were, so he finally came down to the decision of writing down some reconciling words.
This was the end of an era, he may as well try to fix things before it was too late. They may not be the same as they were before, but it was a start. A painful start, but a new beginning nonetheless. He had decided on lilies-of-the-valley to accompany the note. He distinctly remembered their spring blooming in the Green Gables yard. The flowers would be a peace offering between them.

As everyone sat down for the graduation ceremony, he caught sight of Anne. He could see that she was holding flowers, but he didn't see enough to figure out whose. Obviously, Roy would have given Anne some flowers as well, so most likely it would be his, he thought disappointedly. However, as Anne walked across the stage holding the lilies-of-the-valley, his heart skipped a beat. He looked around for Roy and caught sight of a pained look on his face. He couldn't help but have a little feeling of victory. He had won this time. There was to be a graduation dance later, and for the first time in years, he wasn't dreading the sight of Anne.

Gilbert was a little disappointed, and rather confused when Anne seemed annoyed with him that night. However, he had decided that he would have to brush it off, there was nothing else to do. After all, he never knew what went on in the head of that girl. At least there was still the other girls of Patty's Place to dance and have a laugh with. They weren't the same as Anne, but they were still fun to be around, especially Phil. The strange, and endearing Phil. He would miss her, she was what got him through the visits at Patty's Place. The dance was enjoyable, not as enjoyable as it could have been if Anne had not been so distant, but he was still satisfied with the little win of the flowers. As he left the festivities, he couldn't help but remember that she was still going to marry Roy.

Gilbert left for Avonlea as soon as he could. He was rather looking forward to leaving it all behind, as he found it rather ironic that he used to be excited to leave his hometown behind just a few years earlier, whereas now, he couldn't wait to get back home. He had been feeling a little bit tired as the days had been passing. Each day, he was becoming more fatigued and feeling nauseous every now and then, but he had brushed it off. He was just tired from studying and stress. And everyone feels sick every now and then, there was no point in overreacting. As he got off the boat, he felt someone nearly knock him over and wrap him up in a tight hug.
"Could you please let go a little bit? It's a bit hard to breathe." He laughed as his mother refused.
"Just a few more seconds." She sighed, "Look at you! Have you been eating? You look exhausted!"
Gilbert's father came up to the two, "Let the boy breathe." He laughed and shook Gilbert's hand. He paused before also pulling him into an unexpected hug. He stepped back,
"We'd better get going." He said. Mrs. Blythe was beaming the whole way home,
"My boy's a university graduate! Oh, I'm so proud!"

As soon as they stepped back into the house, Mrs. Blythe headed straight into the kitchen.
"I am going to get some food into you, even if that's the last thing I do." She said determinedly, "Go upstairs and freshen up. Some of the ladies Aid members are coming over."
"Showing me off like a prized possession." Gilbert rolled his eyes. Mr. Blythe patted him on the back,
"She's just proud. And so am I for the fact."
Gilbert walked up into his old room and began unpacking. As he was putting his clothes away, he felt a slight stabbing pain in his stomach. Brushing it off, he carried on and after changing and washing, he came back downstairs to be faced with a plate of food on the table. To tell the truth, he wasn't very hungry. He was still feeling a bit ill. It must have been the way back on the boat, after all, it had been a bit rougher than usual.
"I'm really sorry, but I'm not very hungry right now." He apologised. His mother looked disappointed, she was guilt tripping him and he knew it. And it was working.

He sighed, "Okay, fine. I'll eat a little bit." His mother instantly brightened.

Finally, everyone had left. Gilbert was feeling more drained than ever, and even sicker than usual. His father had mysteriously disappeared as soon as the first visitor had appeared. His mother bustled about, tidying up when she noticed how pale Gilbert was looking.
"Are you well?" she asked concerned. Gilbert decided to tell the truth.
"I haven't been feeling well for quite some time now. Nearly a month ago I started feeling a bit sick." He admitted.
"Darling!" Mrs. Blythe exclaimed, "Why haven't you told me! You sent all of those letters and not once mentioned feeling ill!"
"I didn't want you to worry." Gilbert was feeling rather faint now and his stomach was hurting more than ever, "I think I'll go up to bed now."
As soon as his mother had seen him, she knew something was off.
"How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?"
Gilbert just wanted to sleep, so he got it done and over with, "I've been feeling rather cold, sick, I haven't been hungry, I have a headache and a sore stomach."
His mother knelt down in front of him and put a hand on his forehead. She gasped,
"You're burning up! Straight to bed!"
Mr. Blythe had only just arrived in the room as Gilbert left, seeing the look of worry on his wife's face, it clicked. Something was not good with Gilbert.
"I'll fetch the doctor." He nearly ran out of the room.

The doctor gravely came out of Gilbert's bedroom, "You may want to sit down." He told Mrs. Blythe. She crossed her arms,
"What is wrong with my son?"
The doctor led her to the sofa and sat down next to her, "I'm assuming you saw the drastic weight loss when you picked him up."
Mrs. Blythe nodded, "I thought it was stress. He told me that he was feeling a bit sea sick."
Mr. Blythe came into the room and sat down, "Have you diagnosed him?"
The doctor gravely nodded, "A rash has appeared on his chest and judging by the rest of his symptoms, I believe that-"
Before he could finish, Mrs. Blythe covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Mr. Blythe froze, "H-he can't have typhoid. I can't even remember that last time he was ill with the flu."
The doctor was also struggling to continue, he should be used to breaking bad news, but the Blythes were family friends, and that made even more difficult. He had known Gilbert since he was a baby, he had known even when he still an unborn child.
"He is already in the second week, I'm amazed that he was still managing to function by himself throughout the first week. Stress can lower the immunity system, and university can be very taxing."

"Have you told him yet?" Mr. Blythe demanded. The doctor shook his head,

"I wanted to know if you wanted to tell him yourselves."
"I'll tell him." Mrs. Blythe quickly choked out, "I'm his mother. I've taken care of him with every injury, every illness. I'll take care of him now too. I won't leave him alone. Not one second." She got up and forced herself to walk up the stairs, followed by the doctor, and Mr. Blythe.

She slowly approached the bed where Gilbert was lying asleep. He looked so deathly pale that she would have thought that he was dead if not for his chest slowly rising and falling. She woke him up and tried to hide away any fear and pain from her face.
"Mum," he whispered tiredly, "What's wrong with me?"
"Darling, you are not very well. You are very sick and you will be for quite some time. If I could take all pain and sickness from you, I would do it in a heartbeat." She took a shaky breath, "You have Typhoid Fever."
Gilbert was now half asleep, he didn't even register what was going on, "Oh, okay. I'm just going to sleep now, wake me up later. I need to help Dad." He replied quietly as he drifted off.

The doctor had left a few hours ago, and Gilbert's mother was finally able to release her long held back tears. Her husband held her whilst she sobbed, there was nothing else to be done.
"I'm his mother," Mrs. Blythe cried, "I should have noticed, I should have seen what was wrong. I'm a terrible mother."
"He hid all his symptoms, if he had shown them openly, you would have known. You are not a terrible mother, you are an amazing and strong one. And that is what we must be right now. Strong, for his sake."
Mrs. Blythe nodded mutely and shakily walked back to Gilbert's room. It was a slippery slope from now and she would spend every second of every minute of every day until her son was better.

Mrs. Blythe had not yet left Gilbert's bedside. She had hardly slept, ate or drunk anything. Mr Blythe had to keep the farm running but whenever he was home, he would check on Gilbert as often as possible. Mrs. Blythe was desperately trying keep Gilbert's temperature down and keeping him hydrated, but it was a herculean task. He was becoming delirious, asking for his mum when she was already next to him, assuring him tearfully that she was there, apologising to someone who wasn't there (Mrs. Blythe never caught whose name it was but she had a suspicion of who he was talking to) and for some unknown reason, he spent a day talking about pigs wearing top hats and bowties that were dancing around the room, and a cow wearing a dress hiding behind the curtain. It was nearly the end of the second week when he suddenly held his mother's hand, fully opened his eyes for the first time and urged her to give Anne the book that was still in his suitcase. He was insistent, and she knew that he wasn't aware of what he was saying but she would do anything for Gilbert.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but Anne isn't in Avonlea right now. I can't give her the book." She said sadly, as Gilbert still pleaded with her.
"Please, she needs to know, she needs to read-" he never finished his sentence as he had fallen back into silence and just writhed in his bed. His fingertips were nearly raw from his constant plucking of his blanket.

Mrs. Blythe received the news that Anne was coming back to Avonlea during the third week, the most dangerous week. The week were life threatening complications could occur. The doctor had told the Blythes that this was one of the worst cases that he had seen in a long time. They had to brace themselves for whatever was to come. The nurse had arrived halfway through the second week and both she and Mrs. Blythe were doing their bests, but so far, their bests were perhaps not good enough.
Mrs Blythe sat on a chair next to Gilbert,
"Anne is coming back in Avonlea soon," she hoped that the news would maybe make a difference, but she was clutching at straws, he probably couldn't hear her, "Now, you get better so you can see her, you hear me?" she held back tears. To her surprise, Gilbert replied. If it was by coincidence, or he had understood her.
"Give her the book." He mumbled, "She needs to read…" he trailed off.

As the end of the third week approached, Mrs. Blythe finally brought herself around to leaving the house. Since Gilbert was diagnosed, they had cut themselves off from the rest of the world. People would come to their door only to find no one would answer. They left cards and meals on the doorstep, understanding that 'the poor Blythe family' found it was best to be left alone. Occasionally, they would encounter John Blythe on his way home, but the conversation would be short. There had been no complications so far, but she wouldn't bring herself to celebrate until the whole ordeal was finished and her son was safely back. As it so happened, she arrived at Green Gables the day before Anne had arrived. Nobody was home so Mrs. Blythe left the book, wrapped in an old unread newspaper addressed to Anne.