November

Rapunzel twirled the hellebore rose in her hands, her fingers slowly gliding over the petals as though she'd soak up the memories just by touching it. Jack was at her side, asleep. He twitched and his hand nearly smacked her in the face. She snorted and scooted over slightly.

"You should be sleeping..." A drowsy voice whispered.

"So should you..." This was the first time he'd slept in days, and she'd had to force him to. He was incredibly reluctant, and Rapunzel found it endearing and slightly annoying.

A knock was heard and the door creaked open. In stepped Tooth, the assistant nurse and also one of her and Jack's best friends. She was currently in dentist school, but had been working part time at the hospital for a few months now. They had worked together since Spring in the children's ward, and she said she switched wards so she could see Rapunzel more often. And it also may have had something to do with Jack, but Rapunzel never mentioned it for fear of embarassing her.

"How's it going?" She asked as she set the vase of flowers on the side table.

Rapunzel smiled at her gratefully. "Great. He's finally sleeping."

"Finally. I'm surprised he didn't pass out sooner. Gotta check the vitals, but I'll try my best not to wake him." She took out the thermometer first, and began to ramble as she waited. "So, I spoke to Doctor North today, and he said you're doing great, and should be released tomorrow. He's also sorry about keeping you an extra three days, but we all just got worried."

Rapunzel smiled and nodded along (getting a scolding from Tooth, who had previously asked her not to move).

Tooth took out the thermometer and wheeled over the blood pressure cart.

"Is it true? What he said?" Rapunzel leaned in so Jack wouldn't hear. "...terminal?"

"What do you mean?"

"My first doctor told Jack it was terminal. That means that treatment won't work, right?"

Tooth bit her lip and wrapped the cuff around Rapunzel's arm. "We're doing the best we can."

They both stayed silent as she worked. When she finished up and began to pack her equipment, Rapunzel grabbed her forearm. "Can you stay? Please?"

She set her bag back down. "Okaaaay." Tooth scooted the chair over to her bed.

"I'm worried."

Tooth smiled warmly and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Don't be."

"Not about me. Him." She pointed to the sleeping form beside her, who had his arms wrapped around her waist and was snoring lightly.

"Jack's a strong boy. He can handle himself."

"Pfft. He's a big kid and you know it."

"Well I did say boy..." The two girls broke out into fits of giggles and Jack stirred, looking annoyed even his sleep.

He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Tooth before closing them again. She leaned over and poked his side. "Hey, when are you coming back? BT has been nagging me for three weeks now."

Jack shrugged. "They're doing just fine without me..." He mumbled.

"Oh come on. They adore you. BT says the subsitute is fine, but they all miss you. Think about it, okay?" She knew it would be to no avail, he wouldn't leave Rapunzel's side, but he needed to get out of the hospital for at least a little bit. A few hours a day with the kids would do him some good.

There was a knock and the door opened to reveal Dr. North. "Everything good, Miss Fay?"

Tooth nodded and stood up, her gold bracelets jingling as she did. "I checked her vitals and everything seems alright. When will she be released?"

"Tomorrow. Maybe today, depend on how she is feeling." He replied, turning to Rapunzel for an answer.

"Today would be great." She said.

"Excellent. Miss Fay, take care of release."

Tooth nodded diligently and left the room.

Rapunzel lightly shook her boyfriend's shoulders, and he blinked twice before opening his eyes. "I'm getting released."

"Just five more minutes..."

She snorted and pushed him off.

Rapunzel crossed her legs and leaned back, wondering how on Earth she ended up like this. Two weeks. He hadn't spoken to her in two weeks. Before he wouldn't even leave her for an hour, and now because of one fight he was going to ignore her for two damn weeks?

She blew a strand of hair out of her face and contemplated dialing his number again. There didn't even seem to be any use. He'd still ignore her. She bit her lip and sent a quick text anyway.

Tooth was sitting at the front desk when Rapunzel arrived, having a heated argument with another nurse.

"You gave her what? I specifially said no- oh. Hey, Punz!" She shot the nurse a cold glare and snapped at her to go fix it.

"That was a bit...harsh..." She noted as the girl walked away.

Tooth shrugged sheepishly. "It's been a long day. Now, let's get your blood pressure checked. You were particularly high last week." She lead her to an empty room and Rapunzel took a seat in the chair by the window. "So...how did you get Jack to come back to school? I noticed he wasn't at your last check up."

Rapunzel awkwardly picked at a loose thread in her sweater dress. Tooth eyed her curiously as she wrapped the cuff around her arm. "We're kind of...broken up right now."

"What?"

"He...he asked me to marry him. And I said no."

Tooth nearly dropped the stethescope. "You said no? And why on Earth would you say no?"

"Because I'm already being selfish enough even making him stay with me. I don't want to make him hurt more."

The brunette placed a comforting hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "You are not selfish. You're the furthest thing from selfish that ever existed."

"I don't know sometimes."

"I do." She checked the monitor and frowned.

Rapunzel immediately panicked. "What?"

"It's just..." Tooth trailed off and pulled out her pager. "North, can you please come to Room 212?"

"I did not eat cookies, if that's what this is about." Came the voice of her doctor on the other end. Rapunzel probably would have laughed if she wasn't scared to death.

"It's not about cookies. I'm with a patient."

"Ah then. Right away."

Tooth smiled nervously at Rapunzel and stared at the door. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"Just a minute, okay? I wanna make sure I'm right before I scare you."

Too late for that.

Dr. North entered and Tooth beckoned him over to look at the monitor. He rubbed his beard, deep in thought, and whispered something to the short brunette. She nodded.

"But she was fine just last week!"

"Things change, Toothiana. We will run some tests. Follow me." Tooth helped Rapunzel up and gave her hand a light squeeze.

A million things were running through her mind as she followed North through the hallway. And all she could do was wish Jack was here. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to stop thinking about him.

There was tension in the air, so thick that you could cut it with a knife. She bit her lip so hard it nearly bled.

They were talking, rather heatedly. Curiosity was buring inside of her and she tried her best to read their lips. But they were talking far too fast. Jack turned his body away and ran a hand through his hair. Rapunzel knew what that meant, he only ever did it when he was nervous, stressed out, or upset.

The door opened and North stepped in, clipboard in his hands.

"Can you please tell me what's happening?"

"Is worse than we thought. Will prescribe different medicine, treatment options is being discussed."

"But what..."

North pulled up a chair and say in front of her with his legs crossed. "You see, arteries get narrow, then there is no blood flow. We had thought that there were few, but is more than we saw before. We do all we can to fix this."

Rapunzel nodded and swallowed hard. North patted her shoulder and left just as Jack entered the room. She couldn't decide whether or not to be happy or annoyed. He shuffled over to her, hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry."

"Forget about it, okay? All that matters right now is you."

She wouldn't forget about it. How could she? But she gave him a grateful smile anyway.

She used to love being here. Helping out, particularly in the children's ward with Tooth. They said she had a magic touch, that she could make any child smile. She would spend long hours there, loving every single moment, even if it did make her sad a lot. Now she wanted nothing more than to leave and never come back.

*casually sips hot chocolate*

pfft no i dont ship toothunzel what are you talking about

on a side note, i am a horrible human being

pls dont read this i will die of embarassment