Anne and Gilbert: A Love Story
Author's Note: Anne and Gilbert are the creation of L.M. Montgomery. The rest is from my mind. Enjoy and read and review!
Presently, Gilbert had been loaded into the back of the sleigh, swaddled in blankets. Anne opted to sit in the back with him rather than up front with Mr. Burns. As they drove, Anne clung to Gilbert's hand and constantly was brushing his hair off of his sweaty and feverish face. The cool air made it reckless to bathe Gilbert's face and cool him, so they had to settle for the natural chill of the winter's day.
Mr. Burns looked back and saw the loving air with which Miss Shirley took care of Mr. Blythe. To him, it looked less like friendship and more like she was caring for her true love. He was a man who was constantly curious about the lives and happiness of others. So, instead of just watching them and hearing Anne's whispered assurances that "Gil" would be okay, he decided to ask what the story would be.
"Well, Miss Shirley. Tell me the story of how you know Mr. Blythe there. I'm a curious man and it will help pass the time."
Anne blushed but began telling her story to this stranger who was most definitely a kindred spirit. She told of how they met when she first came to Avonlea, how she had smashed a slate over his head when he called her carrots, and the tumultuous relationship that followed. She told of them Gilbert's rescuing her from a botched re-enactment of The Lady of Shallot, their going off to college together, and Gilbert giving her Avonlea school after college so that she could stay with Marilla. She told of their subsequent friendship and, in Gilbert's case, love. She told of how she had rejected Gilbert's proposal and how now she wished she hadn't because, oh, she new now and, depending on how sick Gilbert was, it might be too late.
Gilbert had been drifting in and out of wakefulness, but he was lucky enough to be awake to hear the end of Anne's story. He felt a thrill when he heard her admit her true feelings. He would have been happier if he could have talked to her and held her, of course, but he was far too achy and too tired. So, for the moment, he would have to settle for just hearing her declaration of love.
The next thing he knew, the sleigh had come to a stop and he was being jostled as he was loaded out of the sleigh and into the hospital. Anne clung to his hand the whole way, until he heard Anne talking and a new voice, presumably that of a doctor. The last think he heard before being wheeled into another room was Anne's voice. "I'm...his fiancée."