Author's Note:
Dont worry, this isn't the end, but I think it's the end of Scarlett's sickness.
I'm considering a few things that should happen next but I'd love to hear you ideas!
Comment please!
XOXO
When Rhett woke up he was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. It took a minute to remember what he was doing here. But when he did he felt the air rush out of him. Scarlett. He tried to stand up but felt a stabbing pain in his head. What time was it? How long had he been asleep? The realization that he wouldn't be able to get up and find out not only frustrated him but the feeling of being trapped once again returned to him.
It seemed like an eternity until a small nurse came in to check on him.
"Oh!" She said when he turned his head to look at her. "I'm sorry, I hadn't realized you were awake. Do you need anything?"
"Can I go now?" He asked anxiously.
She looked at him sadly, "I'm afraid not, Dr. Meade has given me instructions to make sure you don't leave for at least another day."
Another day. Would he have to wait that long to find out what was wrong with Scarlett? Dread filled his body, was there anything to find out about her? Was she already gone? He couldn't just sit here not knowing, what if he missed being with her for her last minutes.
What felt like hours passed before he heard a knock on the door. In stepped Dr. Meade, looking just as sadly at him as he had earlier.
Rhett sat bolt upright so quickly the rush of blood to his head almost made him loose consciousness again. "Is she okay?" He asked.
"We think so." He said. Rhett waited for more details.
"What happened?" He pursued the doctor.
"She, well, she had another drink." He nodded, he already knew that. "But she, had an accident. She jumped out the window.
Was it the terrible headache he had or had the doctor just told him she had jumped out the window? Jumped? Then it hit him, she had jumped. She had tried to kill herself.
"The second floor window?" He asked urgently, there was no way she could have survived the fall.
"Yes, but Captain Butler, before you start to worry, she fell in the bushes," He took a deep breath. "But she's still in bad condition."
"Why?" He asked.
"Well her ribs, most of them are broken, and her legs, them too. Her head has had some damage done to it but we think it will heal." He stopped a moment before continuing.
She had tried to kill herself. Guilt washed over Rhett like a wave. It was a cold feeling, the realization that this was his fault. If he had just thought about Scarlett instead of his need for happiness. If he had just realized that as hard as it was for him it was harder for her.
He could tell that the doctor wanted to tell him something else also. "She's depressed Captain Butler, she had been ever since you left her." So Ashley had been right, everyone knew. "Be nice to her, support her, try to make her happy." And then he left. Closing the door softly behind him as it was apparent Rhett was deep in thought.
Relief was an entirely different emotion than guilt, it sent waves of warmth all the way down to his toes. She was alright. She was going to live. Still, if he had just stayed in Atlanta all of this could have been avoided.
The next morning his clothes were returned to him by the shy nurse and he strolled down the hall as fast as his sore head would allow him. The door to Scarlett's room was half open and he could see Mammy's dark form sleeping in the chair next to the bed. Scarlett's eyes were open below the bandages that were wrapped around her head. "Scarlett," he whispered as to not wake Mammy up.
She looked over at him and a sigh of relief escaped her torn lips.
"I thought you had left me," she cried, real tears sliding down her face.
"No, no, I'll never leave you again," he said, crouching down so he could be at eye level with her.
"I just, I thought you would never come back again," she admitted.
"I'm sorry I ever left, I realized that as soon as I got to Charleston."
"But you said you didn't love me anymore," she asked, and he knew she was secretly hoping he would say that he did.
"But I do love you, why else would I have stayed in Atlanta so long? I just needed to think about it for a little while, but I do love you," he said honestly.
"You do?" Happiness glimmered in her half closed eyes.
"Yes." He said boldly, he hoped she believed him.
She smiled up at him with the same smile she had when she told him she would marry him. Happily, with determination in her eyes. He wished he could kiss her but her lips had several stitched in them and he had no desire to put her through any more pain than he was sure she was already in.
It was almost two weeks before Scarlett could leave the hospital. Rhett ordered the grandest carriage he knew Scarlett had ever seen to take her home. Rhett couldn't wait to spoil her as much as he could, and since his stocks in cotton had gone up, he could.
The carriage ride home from the hospital was an awkward one. He knew Scarlett hadn't and wouldn't want to talk about what had happened. While he had been home , though, he had thrown out their entire collection of alcohol and finally realized he would have to be the one to talk to Scarlett about it.
"Scarlett," he said slowly. She looked up at him but didn't say anything. "I threw away all of the alcohol." She nodded slowly. "Why though Scarlett?"
"Because, it was the only thing I could find comfort in," she said guiltily. Of course, she hadn't been able to find comfort in him so she had gone to the alcohol.
"You can't drink anymore Scarlett," he said. She nodded again. Before he could continue they were home.
