Locked and Alone: Chapter 4
The ward was quiet. Dark and quiet. Nothing stirred apart from Rumple. He lay in the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, mulling his thoughts about the day. It seemed his son had cast an immobilizing spell onto him, or was rather going to cast it onto Belle. From the discussion he barely heard earlier, no one had a clue as to what to do. Regina had tried to reverse it and then with the combine power of Regina and Emma, but to no avail. He was stuck. Stuck inside himself.
For a spell to cast onto Belle, it definitely would serve two purposes he thought. It would have forced Rumple into the darkest of places to try and save Belle, and it also would have driven Belle insane. The thought of Belle not being able to read a book made him chuckle inwardly. The silly notions she got from reading books.
Headlights of a car danced across the ceiling and then were gone again. Rumple let his eyes wander over the ceiling. 'It will drive me insane staring at that ceiling', he thought to himself.
There were distance footsteps. A nurse going about her rounds no doubt. Their footsteps came to the doorway to his room. He could not turn his head to see them. He did not want to see anyone. As much as this would have been the ultimate prison for his wife, it was also a perfect pit of despair for Rumple. Locked inside with his thoughts. The dark thoughts that had ruined his life. That he had allowed to ruin his life.
A hand touched Rumple's hand, burning his skin with their touch. "Rumple."
The sweet voice of Belle drew him from the darkness. His eyes strained to see her till she moved closer, so her face was lit by the monitors.
'Oh, sweetheart.' He thought to himself. 'What have I done?'
"Rumple, we're going to fix this. I am going to get you out of there. I promise." Belle promised, her fingers squeezed his fingers. Her touch was like wildfire. Burning up his arm from his fingers. Rumple would have given her his normal speech on how he did not need anyone meddling in his affairs. It was his problem. But, with no use of his mouth, he would have to save that for another time… if there ever was one.
She perched herself beside him on the bed, gently caressing his hand in the safety of her lap. "Everyone is at the library now. They're trying to find a way to reverse this."
'Oh, great. The Charmings are coming to MY rescue.' He rolled his eyes.
"Don't be like that. You have no choice. You have to let us help you." Belle said. Rumple would have frowned at her, if he had use of his facial expressions. Either he was that readable or she knew him too well for her own good.
She swept some hair out of her face and bit her lip. Rumple liked it when she did that. The telltale of her nervousness. He wanted to devour it.
"No one's seen Gideon. I'm so worried for him, Rumple. I hope we can bring him back from whatever dark place he's in." She said. He wished he could pull her into his arms, reassure her that he would sort it for her. That he was here for her.
Belle sheepishly looked at him. "I'm so sorry, Rumple. If I had given you a chance, maybe none of this would have happened. We could be sitting here with our baby boy. Instead we don't know where he is or what he is planning."
Rumple inwardly sighed. Belle was the strongest person he knew. The brightest and most caring woman he had ever had the joy of having in his life. But her love was also her strongest weakness. Her love was able to cloud her mind and draw her into self-deluded thoughts that everything was her own fault. That she was not good enough.
But she did not get it. She was more than enough. She was his everything.
"I'm tired, Rumple, I'm gonna go now. I just wanted to check on you as I knew you wouldn't be asleep. You never sleep." Belle said slipping off the bed to rest his hand back by his side. She looked down at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"I'm not giving up on you, Rumple. I am here for you. Together or not, I will find a way." Belle leaned over and kissed him on his forehead, her hand gently stroking his greying short hair. With that said, she left his dark hospital room and headed out into Storybrooke.