25

Blue Days

"Let me see him!" Belle ordered, her voice crackling with her old tone of command that she had used on occasion as princess of Avonlea. "Please, move out of the way."

The older children drew back as Belle rushed forward and knelt at Phillip's side. Hard on her heels was her husband, his hands conjuring a flat board with some blankets on it to put Phillip on once Bella had examined initially. He had the boad hover gently to the side, while he watched as his wife put her hand on Phillip's neck, counting the pulse beats there.

"His pulse is steady," Belle informed him. She peeled back his eyelids, revealing the white sclera. "I need a light."

"Here," Rumplestiltskin said, and his finger lit up.

"Move it back and forth before his eyes, so I can see them," Belle instructed.

Rumple obeyed, and Belle examined the boy's eyes, managing to get the pupils to come forward so she could see what size they were.

"Damn! One is a little larger than the other."

"Meaning?" Rumple asked.

"Concussion," she replied, then she gently felt the back of her son's head. "There's a lump here, looks like he hit the ground pretty hard." She continued probing. "And a cut here and here."

She gently felt the little boy's torso, arms, legs, and feet. "He has a broken arm." She placed her hands on his chest and concentrated. Flickers of blue power arced from her hands into Phillip, then she removed her hands. "He's also bruised on his back and bottom, but other than that, he's okay. No internal injuries, thank the gods, except for the concussion."

"Let's get him inside, Belle," Rum said, then gestured, and Phillip's still form was levitated gently onto the board and floated through the gate Bae held open.

Everyone followed it.

"Will he be okay, Mom?" asked Rennie.

"Yes, after I set his arm and give him some medicine to reduce the swelling in his head. He could have a fever as well and will need to stay in bed for several days," Belle answered. "Who found him here?"

"I did," Jack spoke up. "I heard Steady neighing and went to see what was wrong. Then I saw Phil lying there, and Steady and Flicker by him, nosing him a bit."

"He must have been riding Flicker and he spooked," Bae surmised.

"Oh, gods! After all the times you and Rum told him not to!" groaned Belle. "I guess he's more impulsive than I thought."

"He's a little boy, Belle. They all do things they're not supposed to at his age. Or even older, right, Jack?"

"Yes, Papa," his son sighed.

They floated the stretcher into the kitchen and laid it on the table.

"What happened?" Ivy, Kristen, and Jasmine cried.

"Phil was riding Flicker and he fell off and hit his head and broke his arm," Rafe informed them.

"Oh my goodness!" Jasmine gasped.

"Will he be okay?" asked Kristen.

"How badly broken is his arm?" was Ivy's question.

"I'll know in a moment," Belle said. "Someone get me scissors. I need to cut away his sleeve."

Ivy brought her a pair of kitchen shears and Belle carefully slit Phillip's shirt and removed it. Then she did a more thorough examination of his arm. "A simple fracture, here above the elbow," she said. "An easy thing for me to set. But I'll need you to hold him still, Rum. Or Bae or Rafe."

"I'll hold his right shoulder," said Bae, moving to do so.

"I'll get his feet."

"Before I hold anything, let me cast something on him to numb the area," Rumplestiltskin said. "It'll make it easier on all of us." He passed his hand across the injured arm and a purple light encased it for a moment. When it went out, he moved to hold the boy's left shoulder steady.

"I'll get some bandages," Ivy said.

Belle took hold of both parts of Phillip's arm, then counted softly to three before pulling them back into alignment.

Phillip remained asleep through the entire procedure, thanks to Rum's spell.

"All right, boys, you can let go," the Healer said. "Ivy, where are those bandages?"

"Here, Mom," Ivy handed her several strips of linen.

Belle took them and said, "I'll need some splints too."

"I'll get some," Jack said, anxious to be doing something. He ran out to the woodpile outside and got two small lengths of wood.

Belle took the splints and placed them about her son's arm then wrapped it with the bandages. "Damn! I need plaster," she muttered.

"Allow me, dearie," Rumple said, and he whispered something, causing the bandages to grow stiff and firm about the arm. Then he fashioned a sling out of the leftover ones and said, "How's that, Belle?"

"Good. Now let's turn him over so I can see the back of his head."

Rum helped turn the little boy and Belle used a cloth and some hot water with some vinegar in it given to her by Kristen to wash off the blood dried there. One of the cuts was shallow. But the other was deeper. "I'll need to stitch this. Would someone bring me my medical bag?"

"I'll get it!" Jasmine ran to the small closet in the hall where Belle kept it.

"Thank you, Jasmine," Belle said and placed the bag on the table.

Then she went to the sink and scrubbed her hands with some strong soap. She disinfected the needle by passing it through a lit match and then threaded it. Then she began to sew, using neat stitches.

Phillip stirred, groaning.

Rum put his hand on the boy's head. "Easy, lad. Sleep."

Phillip lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Belle made four stitches before she tied off the thread and put some salve over the cuts and wrapped his head with another bandage. "There! Now let's get him upstairs."

"Can I carry him, or should we use this?" asked Bae.

"Since I've set his arm and he's not injured anywhere else, you can pick him up," Belle said.

She ascended the stairs first, arriving at Phillip's room, which he shared with Nick. She cast two spells on the sheets, one to disinfect them and a second that warmed them. She placed a towel down then instructed Bae to put him down.

Once Bae had done so, she removed the rest of Phillip's clothes and put a clean shirt on him and underwear. She covered his feet with socks and gently pulled the blanket up around him. "Rum, do you have a potion for pain and headaches? He'll probably need something stronger than my tea when he wakes at first."

"Yes, I'll get them." The sorcerer made his way to his bedroom and got what was necessary out of his apothecary chest.

He put them on the small nightstand next to Phillip's bed, then said to Belle, "You really should stay here and rest a bit, dearie. The children and I can handle the rest of the chores and supper tonight."

"All right, Rum," the Healer agreed.

Rafe fetched her the rocker from her bedroom and Belle sat in it. Rennie brought her the book from the sitting room and Rumple lit the lamps in the room, then he went downstairs with the children to oversee their chores and inform the rest of them what had happened.

Page~*~*~*~Break

Belle dozed lightly in the rocker beside Phillip's bed. Rennie came and put a small afghan over her while she did so, and checked to see if her brother was awake, but he was still out.

Chores were done, lessons were completed, and supper was eaten with much less than the usual boisterousness. Everyone was concerned over Phillip, this was the first time any of the younger set had been seriously injured before.

Rum carried some stew, bread with butter, and some cold buttermilk up to Belle so she could eat, knowing she wouldn't leave her son alone.

"How is he?" he asked upon entering the room.

"Still asleep," she said. "But then, he would be with what you cast on him. And right now that's a good thing."

"I brought you some supper," he said, putting the food on the little table.

"I'm not very hungry."

"You need to eat something. You're eating for two now, remember?" He sat quietly on Nick's bed and watched both his wife and son.

"Yes, I know," she said, then slowly began to eat. She knew it was nerves that took her appetite away. But once she began to eat, she found she was hungry and ate everything Rum had given her.

Rafe brought them a plate of little strawberry tarts and coffee.

Belle began to sip the coffee, then all at once her hands started shaking as Phillip's accident caught up with her. She just managed to set the cup down before coffee sloshed all over the sides. "Gods, Rum! I . . . I could have lost him today . . . he could have died . . . the horse could have stepped on him or something . . ." She was trembling so hard she felt as if she would fly to pieces.

"Belle, dearie, he's all right," Rumple crooned, coming over to hug her. "You saved him, he'll be fine."

Belle didn't know if it was his touch or his voice that did it, but she found herself clinging to him and crying all over him, just like a spineless whimpering wreck.

Rumple patted her back and murmured to her like he would have one of the children and soon Belle managed to get herself back under control again. He handed her one of his purple handkerchiefs. "Okay now, dearie?"

Belle took it and blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "Sorry. I don't usually fall apart like that. It . . . it must be the hormones or something . . . I hardly ever cry like that."

"Maybe you were overdue for it," her husband said kindly. "Anyone would be upset after seeing that. I am, gods know."

"Then why aren't you crying?" she asked, a bit tartly.

"Because you were," he replied. He continued to hold her until she gently drew away from him.

"I know he'll be fine once he wakes up," Belle said, sniffling slightly into the handkerchief. "But I feel like a wreck."

"You're entitled to feel like that every once in awhile, Belle," Rumple said. "Whenever one of mine—ours now—got sick, I nearly drove myself crazy worrying about them until they got better. Thank all the gods it wasn't that often, otherwise I might have become a nervous wreck."

"If he doesn't wake soon, I want to stay here tonight."

"Of course. You can sleep on Nick's bed and we'll put him in with Rafe and Bae tonight," Rumple said easily. "Now why don't you try one of these tarts? Sugar always makes me feel better."

"You make me feel better," his wife smiled.

"Good, because you're stuck with me," he said, and plucked a tart off the tray and fed it to her.

Page~*~*~*~Break

Phillip woke sometime in the middle of the night, whimpering and calling out for Belle and Rumple.

Both parents woke instantly, and Belle hugged him and asked him a few questions to test his memory before saying, "Oh, Phillip Maurice, you scared me half to death!"

"I fell off Flicker, Mom. I didn't mean to," Phillip said.

"You shouldn't have been riding Flicker, young man."

"I thought I could . . . just a little." He winced. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. I think breaking your arm and knocking yourself silly and having to get stitches is enough of a punishment," Belle said. "But don't ever do anything like that again, understand?"

"Yes, Mom. My head hurts."

Belle went to give him some of the pain potion Rumple had put there.

Phillip took a mouthful and promptly spit it out. "Yuck! I ain't drinking that, Mom."

"Phil, I know it tastes nasty but . . . it'll help you get well," Belle coaxed.

The little boy shook his head stubbornly. "No! I don't want it!"

"Let's make a deal, son. What if you drank some and then you ate a strawberry tart?" Rumple bargained.

"It's gonna make me sick," Phillip cried. "I hate medicine!" He started sniffling.

Rumple thought fast. Jack had always fought taking any kind of medicine too. "Phillip, do you know what happens to little boys who don't take medicine when they're sick?"

"No."

"They have to stay in bed for weeks and don't get to go outside and play or do anything fun," he told the boy. "Is that what you want?"

"No! I hate being stuck in bed."

"Then will you be a brave lad for me and take this potion?"

Phillip considered. "I guess." One thing he didn't want was to be stuck in bed for weeks. He'd go out of his mind.

"All right. On three, dearie," Rumple picked up the vial of potion and put it to the boy's lips. "Ready? One . . . two . . . three . . . swallow."

Phillip managed to get all of the horrid stuff down. After all, he wanted to prove to his new father he was brave.

Before he could start gagging, Rumple got him some water. Then he gave the boy a half a strawberry tart at Belle's nod.

"That was nasty!" the little boy grimaced. "How come you don't make medicine that tastes good?"

"Because then we'd have an epidemic of sick children," Belle smirked. "Finish that and you can take the other one."

"Aww, Mom!"

"Then you can eat another strawberry tart and drink some milk," his mother said.

Phillip sighed. "All right! Can you count again, Papa?"

So Rumple counted, and helped his son drink the last potion. Then they all ate some tarts and drank some milk.

Then Phillip said he was sleepy and asked Belle to read to him.

She started to read one of his adventure stories, but got only through half a chapter before Phillip fell asleep again.

"Go and lie down, dearie," her husband ordered. "I can sit there now."

So Belle did, and soon she was asleep as well.

Rumple kept watch for another twenty minutes before he too was snoozing.

Then the only thing awake in the room was Puss, who had come in and curled up on Phillip's feet. The cat began to purr, and soon the room echoed to the soothing sound, which made all three humans fall into a deeper restful sleep.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Belle insisted that Phillip remain in bed for four days following the accident. For the first two days, the little boy mostly slept, ate, and was taken back and forth to the bathroom. All of his siblings visited for a little while, but soon they left and Phillip was alone, except for Puss, who seemed to like staying with him and purring whenever he stroked her. By the third day, Phillip was fed up with being in bed, and decided to stage a rebellion.

He threw half his breakfast on the floor when Rennie brought it to him and when she asked what happened, he told her it fell. He didn't say he'd shoved it off his lap.

"I want cookies."

"There are none baked. You'll have to wait," Rennie said, sweeping up the mess.

"I don't want to wait! I want 'em now!"

"Well, unless you want to bake them yourself, little brother, you'll wait until Ivy and I make them," Rennie said.

"I'm sick of waiting!" Phillip sulked.

Before Rennie could say anything else, Belle came into the room. "It's time for you to take your medicine," she said.

"No! I'm sick of taking it!" her son wailed. He turned his face into the pillow when Belle held out the spoon.

"If you don't take your medicine, you'll be sick for a long time," she said.

But Phillip wasn't going to be taken in by that tactic again. He remained with his head in the pillow. "No! No!"

"You can have the first cookie if you listen to Mom and take your medicine," persuaded Rennie.

A head shake.

When Belle went to straighten the covers, Phillip kicked them off.

"I'm sick of being in here!"

"If you rest, your head will get better and you can come out," Belle reasoned.

"No! I'm not gonna rest and I'm not gonna take my medicine!"

"Phillip, stop being impossible," Belle said. "You're behaving like a spoiled brat."

"Don't care!"

"Sit up and take your medicine."

"No!"

Belle glared at her recalcitrant son. "If you weren't sick, young man . . ."

"What's going on in here?" asked Rumple. He limped into the room.

"I wanna get out of here, Papa!" Phillip said into the pillow.

"He won't take his medicine for me," Belle sighed. "And he's throwing a tantrum because of it."

"Ah, that's too bad," Rumple sighed, winking at Belle. "Because little brats don't get candy. Instead they get—"

"A good spanking," Rafe put in, walking into the room.

Phillip lifted his head from the pillow. "You can't spank me, Rafe! I've got a broken arm."

"Yeah, and that's the only reason you're allowed to act like this," his brother said. "You're behaving worse than Clary, little brother."

"Am not!"

"Isn't he, Mom?" Rafe asked.

"I'm afraid so," she replied.

Stung, Phillip turned over. "Am not! She's a baby! I'm six!"

"Really? Because only babies throw fits over medicine," Rafe said. "Real men just suck it up and take it."

Phillip's lower lip jutted out. "I'm a real man, Rafe! I ain't a girl!"

"You sure? Because you're acting like a girl now."

Rennie elbowed him in the ribs. "You were worse when you were his age," she hissed.

"Shut up!" he whispered. Then he said to Phillip, "Maybe I ought to start calling you by your new name."

"What name?"

"Philomena," Rafe replied.

"No! That's a girl's name, Rafe!"

"Maybe you've become one since breaking your arm."

"No! I'm not a girl!" Phillip cried.

"Prove it," Rafe said.

"Mom, Rafe's calling me names," Phillip whined.

"Rafe," Belle pretended to scold her eldest son.

"Okay, Philly. I'll go and tell everyone—"

"No! No! I'll take it."

Belle gave him two spoonfuls of her concentrated bone mending syrup.

Phillip forced himself to swallow it. "See? I ain't a girl!"

"Are not," Belle corrected.

"I told you so," Phillip said.

"Maybe I was wrong," Rafe said, then he winked at his mother before he left the room.

"Sometimes he's actually clever," Rennie remarked, before following him downstairs.

"But I'm bored, Mom! I wanna get up," Phillip complained.

"Tomorrow. For now you need to rest," Belle said firmly.

Phillip scowled at her. "I hate resting! It sucks!"

"It does, doesn't it?" Finn said from the doorway. He came into the room carrying his flute. "I felt like that too when I was stuck in bed after those stupid pirates knocked me out."

"You did?"

"Uh huh." Finn sat down on the bottom of the bed. "But because I rested, I got well quicker."

"Can you play your flute for me?"

"I'll do better than that," his brother said. "Watch."

He set the flute to his lips and began to play a stirring martial air.

Immediately all the toy soldiers lined up in the cabinet alongside Nick's bed jumped to attention.

Finn played stanza after stanza, making the soldiers march through the air, and jump off the shelf. Another tune and they lined up and pretended to fight each other.

Phillip watched, wide-eyed.

After one side had won, Finn had the soldiers march back into the cabinet and had Phillip's stuffed animals come out to play. He made them run and jump and dance, all to the time of whatever tune he played.

Phillip grinned and clapped his hands.

One of his stuffed bears cartwheeled onto the bed and gently cuffed the little boy on the ear before it sank down next to him.

Finn lowered his flute. "Don't give Mom a hard time, you hear?"

"Okay, Finn. I'll be good. Can you play some more?"

Smirking, Belle and Rumple left the room, for it seemed Phillip's brother had the situation well in hand.

"Sure." He began to play again, and now Phillip's collection of wooden horses popped out of the toy chest and ran about on the air.

Finn made them jump onto the bed and across Phillip's knees, rearing and stamping and even whinnying. For a finale, he had them all line up at the bottom of the bed and bow to his brother before they ran back into the toy chest.

"That was so cool, Finn!"

"Thanks. And I get to practice my magic at the same time," Finn said. "You aren't bored now, right?"

"Nope. Umm . . . I need the bathroom."

Finn rose. "I'll take you."

"I can walk."

"Not right now, you can't. You could fall."

"But . . ."

"Look, I know it's a pain. But it's for your own good," Finn said. "Least that's what Bae said to me when I complained. Come on, before you have an accident." He carefully picked up his brother. "Put your good arm around my neck."

Phillip did so. Finn walked swiftly down the hall to the nearest bathroom.

Afterwards, he helped the little boy brush his teeth, saying, "You're lucky you broke your left arm, kid. At least you can still hold things with your right hand."

"Next time I won't ride Flicker alone."

"Now you're using your head, kid," his brother said. Then he scooped him up and brought him back to bed.

Ariel stopped by and she and Finn played and sang duets until Phillip yawned and said he was tired. Then they played a lullaby until his eyes shut.

"Okay, now we can have a snack," the little mermaid said.

"Good, because using my magic like that makes me want to eat a cow," Finn said, tucking his flute back into his belt.

"Ivy and Rennie made black and white frosted shortbreads and sugar cookies," Ariel said.

"Quick, let's get some before they're all gone," Finn said, and they ran downstairs.

Page~*~*~*~Break

Just before supper, Jasmine came in and said, "How're you feeling, Phil?"

"A little better. But my head's kind of sore. And scratchy."

Jasmine nodded. "That's cause it's healing. At least that's what my old nurse used to say after I'd gotten scraped up chasing after my tiger."

"Can you tell me about Rajah?"

Jasmine sat in the rocker. "One day when I came back from breakfast, I found a little tiger cub in my room . . ."

She told Phillip several stories of her and her tiger, who grew up to be her friend and fierce protector. Except there was one thing the tiger couldn't protect her against, and that was the evil sorceress who'd enchanted her family and their guests, which had been Elaina and her parents and their servants.

"What happened to the wicked witch?"

"The snow queen? Papa turned her into a statue, like she did to us. And then she melted."

"Good! That's what she gets for doing bad things with her magic," Phillip said. "But it's too bad about your parents, Jasmine. And Rajah."

"I know. Sometimes I still miss them. But at least I live with somebody who understands magic now. My nurse used to yell at me for talking to animals, even the horses."

"How are the horses doing?"

"They're good. Except Steady and Rogue are mad at Flicker for hurting you."

"They are? But it wasn't really his fault I fell off. I just couldn't hold on tight enough."

"Then you're not mad at him for running away like that?"

"No. I just can't ride good enough yet."

"Then maybe I ought to tell Flicker that. He's really sorry you got hurt."

"You should. Then maybe the others will stop blaming him."

"I'll go do that after supper," Jasmine said.

"Bring him a carrot from me."

"Okay. Want to hear another story? This one's from a book my lord father used to read to me. It's my favorite, about a boy that was raised by wolves in the jungle."

"Could he talk to animals too?"

"Yes, because he learned their language. His name was Mowgli, which meant "frog" in wolf speech . . ."

Phillip listened, enraptured, as Jasmine recited a well known tale in her kingdom, and thought that maybe, just maybe, staying in bed and resting wasn't too bad after all.

And afterwards, Belle had some news to share with him that surprised him so much he forgot to be mad that he was stuck in bed for so long.

A/N: Who knows what story Jasmine was telling Phillip there at the end? And what should Rum and Belle's baby be? Boy or girl?