Chapter Twenty
"Rumple! Her breathing is getting worst." Belle cried out clearly frustrated. "I already gave her the second pill Jefferson left with me. Do you have anything else to give her?" Belle rushed on feeling helpless. "Is there something else you can give her? Rumple she is so cold, pale, and her lips are almost completely blue."
Belle looked up from Aurora, to stare across the room at Rumple. She watched as he put down the knife he was using to cut up whichever root it was which was the next ingredient for the antidote. She watched as he made his way over to her and Aurora. Rumple knelt down folding the cover down off of Aurora's chest. He moved Jefferson's coat to the side and placed his hand over Aurora's heart.
Aurora brought up her left hand up to meet the one Rumple had on her chest. "No…" she managed to choke out before she wheezed trying to catch her breath again.
"It's alright Aurora." Rumple tried to calm her down. "Let me help you catch your breath."
Aurora took a deep breath staring into Rumple's eyes. She tried holding the breath too long and she broken into another coughing fit before she let go of Rumple's hand. Rumple pushed with his magic and as he took ahold of her heart he said out loud. "Aurora you are fine. You can breathe."
Almost instantly Aurora stopped gasping for breath and her breathing started to come easier. Aurora brought up her hand again placing it on Rumple's wrist as he pulled back his hand and with great care he moved Jefferson's coat back over Aurora's chest. "Thank you" she whispered.
Rumple gave her a little nod as he moved her hand down beside her, carefully pulling the blankets back into place.
"Why don't you just take her heart and do a preservation spell like how she was able to do to save Jefferson?" Belle asked her voice cracking.
Rumple looked up from Aurora to Belle's face. He had been too busy trying to recreate the antidote to pay attention to Belle. In fact it was the first time he had looked at Belle since she had come up into the room with the blankets almost an hour ago. Belle's face was tear-stained and Rumple knew that if they didn't save Aurora, Belle would forever blame herself for the two of them answering the door and buying the apples.
"That won't work because the poison has already damaged her heart. If I take her heart out of her chest I would not be able to keep it alive. And then preservation spell or not Aurora would be dead." Without another word Rumple stood up and walked back over to the lab table to continue working on the antidote.
"Regina are you insane?" Jefferson asked slowly and carefully pronouncing each word of the question. "Rumple is going to kill you for this, now quit playing games and give me the antidote." Jefferson reached his hand out towards her.
"I would like to see him try." Regina challenged clasping the potion bottle tight to her chest.
"Think about what you have done. It could have just as easy been Belle who ate one of those apples." Jefferson tried to reason with Regina, to get her to realize the errors of her jealous actions.
"I tried to get the little precious Belle to take a bite but she was so concerned there wasn't going to be enough apples for the pie."
"Come on Aurora open your eyes." Belle pleaded as Aurora's breath turned raspy once again. "I said open your eyes." Belle gave Aurora's face a little sharp slap, but neither the slap nor Belle's words were enough to awaken Aurora.
"Don't worry about waking her." Rumple commented as he violently crushed something into a power in a mixing bowl "The important thing is to keep her breathing until she can drink the antidote." He took what he had in the cauldron and poured it into a glass bottle. He took another bottle he had on the table and the mixing bowl and poured them both into the cauldron. "5 minutes." Rumple muttered to himself.
Rumple stood there watching the cauldron as he listened to Aurora's painful breathing. Rumple could hear how much effort it was talking the young princess to inhale each breath and how she was trying to hold on to each one as long as she could, before exhaling and starting the painful process all over again. It has been over five hours since she took a bite of that apple, her magic is the only thing keeping her alive. She is tapping into power she doesn't even know she has just to keep breathing.
Rumple drummed his fingers on the table while he thought. Even if Aurora lives I am going to kill Regina for his. I could use Aurora in her place to make the spell. No, that won't work! It would take several more years and Maleficent cursed Aurora with that damn sleeping spell. Snow and all the rest would be too old for the curse to work…
Aurora's strained breathing worsen and Rumple could hear Belle continuing to talk to her, trying to get her to focus on breathing in and out.
And to get Aurora to the point where Regina is going to have to be to do the curse would change everything Aurora currently stands for. I already created one monster is it worth creating another? Could I ruin Aurora the way I broke Regina? All for a son who doesn't want anything to do with me. I took Jefferson from his horrible father and raised him well enough. Jefferson does all he can do to please me; shouldn't that be more than enough. And Jefferson has grown attached to this version of Aurora he wouldn't be pleased if I turn her into another monster like Regina.
"Rumple, I don't know what to do." Belle cried out breaking Rumple's thoughts. When he turned to face her he saw she had fresh tears on her face.
Rumple quickly crossed the room kneeling down besides Aurora and Belle. He moved the blankets and coat and reached inside Aurora's chest grabbing her heart once again. "Breathe Aurora. Just Breathe." He ordered.
Aurora tried to respond to Rumple's order but her breath was still labored. "Take a breath." Rumple ordered focusing his will on Aurora. "Breathe in the air, now breathe it out."
Without waking up Aurora's body reacted to Rumple's commands and she was able catch her breath. Rumple walked her through three more breaths before giving her the order to do it on her own. Aurora responded by breathing in and out on her own but her breathing still had a slight rasp to it.
Rumple sat there with his hand around her heart for a few moments longer. Only pulling his hand out when he heard the cauldron he had been bring to a boil, over flow. "No!" He cried as he rushed back over to the lab table, but it was too late, that part of the potion was ruined.
"No, No, NO!" Rumple screamed throwing the boiling cauldron against wall. "Now I have to start that part over again it. This sets me back at least another ten minutes."
Rumple closed his eyes and under his breath he repeated his advice he had given to Jefferson not an hour before, "You will not be of any use to Aurora if you are not thinking straight." Feeling more level headed Rumple grabbed some fresh supplies and a clean cauldron. "I am going to make Regina pay for this." He muttered as he went. "Coming into my house. After my…" he stopped just short of saying the word family.
"Regina what if it was Daniel?" Jefferson demanded.
"No, you don't get say his name." Regina hissed opening the bottle.
"I tried to help you when no one else would… It's not my fault Victor wasn't…"
"Do you want the antidote or not Jefferson?" Regina cut him off.
"I don't love you Regina." Jefferson paused seeing the hurt in Regina's eyes. Her expression made him think, At least not anymore; if that was even love I felt for you a year ago. Finding his voice again he told her, "Everything between us was just for fun…. But we do know I love Aurora."
"What a shame your love will cost her, her life." Regina starts to pour the antidote on to the floor.
"She's not breathing!" Belle exclaimed. "Rumple, Aurora stopped breathing!"
Rumple rushed over throwing back the blankets and plunged his hand inside Aurora's chest for the third time in less than 30 minutes. "Listen to me Aurora!" Rumple exclaimed. "You are not supposed to die here today. You have a destiny to fulfill, so breath." Aurora's body didn't respond to his order. "I said breath!"
Aurora let out a gasp and arched her back as Rumple's magic made her body forced air back down into her lungs. Rumple kept his hand in her chest. "Good Princess." He cokes her on. "Now slow your breathing down, in and out." Rumple sat there on the floor of the tower room for about five minutes until Aurora's breathing returned to almost normal.
Once he was satisfied with her breathing rate, he removed his hand and slammed it on the hard castle floor beside Aurora. "Damn Regina! Aurora's heart is badly damaged." Rumple forced himself to look up at Belle. "I am not going to be able to this again. The only thing that has a chance of fixing this is the antidote. And even that may not be strong enough."
"Wait! WAIT! Wait Please." Jefferson pleaded falling to his knees in front of Regina a wild look in his eyes.
Regina tilted the bottle back up stopping the liquid from spilling all over the floor between her and Jefferson.
"Aurora – she's – she's waiting for me. I promised her I'd be home for dinner, but I was late as you knew I would be. And now I promised her I would bring her the antidote…" Jefferson trailed off and then whispered looking up at Regina. "So I agree."
Regina looked down at Jefferson surprised to see the young cocky conman was gone, leaving a scared and broken boy in his place. For a second Regina felt sorry for Jefferson, but she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and with an emotionless tone she demanded. "What's that Jefferson I can barely hear you?"
"If the antidote works then Regina I agree to your deal." Jefferson's volume was normal but his voice had gone flat. Jefferson's eyes moved down in front Regina to the spilled liquid on the floor. "Just don't spill anymore of it on the floor." He pleaded. "Aurora is going to need every drop. The poison been in her system too long as is it." Jefferson voice trailed off as he looked back up at Regina.
"Well then." Regina coldly stated as she corked the bottle. "For both Aurora and my sake I suggest you hurry home." Regina moved forward thrusting the bottle into his hands. "It will be good to have you back in every way."
Jefferson didn't waste time with a reply. He jumped back up to his feet holding the bottle tight with left hand. Then with his right hand he gave his hat a spin and with a cloud of purple smoke he was gone.