Chapter 37

The Return

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had been sleeping, but had also been crying in her sleep as she usually did. However, tonight was not going to be just another lonely night. Elizabeth woke with a sudden start, an odd feeling coming over her. It was a feeling of sudden nervousness and excitement rousing her inside. Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared, an odd sense of instinct coming in waves over her brain. There was a strange feeling poking at her skin, as if a thousand needles suddenly prodded her. Her breathing quickened, her body feeling hot and cold at the same time. As she looked around her surroundings, she saw the same old grey and white walls of the room, but as she looked at her hand, there was a difference on the paper bracelet that lay around her wrist: the name on it was no longer Jane Doe. With widened eyes, she looked at the new name that had suddenly appeared on it's paper surface:GOLD, ELIZABETH ANNABELLE. Elizabeth…that was her first name, yet it just didn't make sense to her why it had appeared all of the sudden, as if a switch had been turned on in and around her. And then, came the scent: that woodsy, amber, alchemic scent of her father. It filled her nostrils and flooded her longs, making her skin tingle and her heart beat like thunder with instinct. "But….how…" she murmured, confused, tears of bafflement beginning to well in her amber eyes. She dreaded another hallucination or another trick of the mind or heart, which she had feared that this was. It was driving her mad, if insanity had not come already. Her instinct was so strong that it had felt more real than ever before. All she could hear was her beating heart for a moment, the scent and this instinctive pull getting stronger with every second that passed, and Elizabeth could take it no longer. Even if he wasn't real again, she had to try calling out for him again. She had become too lonely, too desperate, and too heartbroken not to. Even if it was only a few seconds of a fleeting vision, she wanted to see him again so badly. It was at this point that she started to cry like a newborn for her father like she used to when she lived at the dark castle. Long, mournful, painful cries did she admit, wailing constantly and not even minding her weak lungs. All the sudden she could hear one of the nurse's voices, probably coming to scold her again for her madness. But this time, the nurse was talking to Doctor Whale in a panicked voice. "Dr..Dr. Whale, we can't hold him back anymore…he just turned over a wheelchair…" Him? There was an ache and also a flicker of hope in her heart. It was a man who was trying to get into her room. Could it really be him? Coming to save her from this cold, dark place at last? At that, she cried even more loudly. "PAPA!" she cried out helplessly, when suddenly someone burst into the room. A man in a suit and long silky brown hair, carrying a cane, his eyes as wide as hers, came into the room. With her teary amber eyes, she looked at him for a moment in confusion. She could now see who he was, and he had become human just like she had. "P….papa?" she asked through her quiet, defeated, weepy voice, looking up at him. Mr. Gold's lip trembled and his eyes filled with tears as soon as he saw her. She seemed even smaller this time around, all this complicated, uncomfortable equipment hooked up to her. Seeing her lying there, looking so lonely, miserable, and defeated broke his heart. He no longer saw that fighting look in her eyes that he used to see before, as if life itself hadn't managed to stay within her heart. He shuddered looking at the tic marks above the bed that she had obviously scratched into the walls herself: twenty eight of them. She had spent twenty eight years in this cold, dark, stinking hospital room, with only a coma patient to accompany her. And all of this was his fault. With an aching heart, he sniffed and tears came into his eyes. "Oh Elizabeth…I'm so sorry love…I…I don't know if you could ever forgive me…but..." He choked out, but to his surprise, before she could say anything else, a smile suddenly came on her face and she began to cry happy, joyful tears and held her arms out to him, her weak bones shaking, not even caring about the constraints of the cords. "Papa…you found me…" she had forgiven him in an instant, not even caring about what led her to be here. All she knew was that he had come back like she always knew he would. All of those years of being alone and waiting, just waiting for him to return had paid off. And without hesitation, Gold rushed forward and disconnected every tube and wire from her body, and then scooped her up in his arms, holding her cradled to his chest. She cried joyful tears into his suit, sobbing with happiness at being held again as she buried her head in him. "Papa…I…I knew you would come back…they…said I was crazy…but I waited…and waited…and you came back for me…just like I knew you would…" He brushed her hair back behind her face and looked into her eyes, tears still threatening to spill over his eyelids. "Oh love…I'm so sorry it took me so long…I…I…thought you were…gone forever…" "It's okay papa…you're back now…." She looked up at him pleadingly. "Can we go…home now?" granted, she had so many questions for him, but right now just wanted to go home and out of this place, no matter where home was nowadays, as long as it was with him. Later, she would ask him about everything, why they both appeared different now, and why this place was so different from home. Gold readily nodded in agreement. "Let me just get you ready and we'll be out of here, darling…" he whispered and shut the door to the room, closing the curtain behind him so that he could make sure all the medical equipment was disconnected for her. The machines had done everything, sadly, and needed to make sure that he could dress her to be out of the hospital at last. Taking her hospital gown off and the equipment underneath. Now it was time for Elizabeth to become a child once more and not just some average sick person. He put a clean diaper on her(which took him at least a few minutes to see how the modern day ones worked) and then chose a pink pair of footie pajamas to dress her in. The entire time he did so, he was cooing over her, speaking soft, soothing words to her as he did so. "There we go, little one….such a good girl…" The voice relieved and soothed her aching heart more than he could possibly imagine. All those years of being in here, she was never spoken to like this….only he could put this fragile, pain stricken child at ease. His soft, Scottish accent was like a melodic lullaby to her ears, calming her in a way that no one ever could. He then grabbed the pink blanket, and she recognized it on an instant. Her eyes started to water once more at the sight of it, and a wide grin sported her face "You…kept it?" He smiled down at her and brushed his hand through her soft brown hair. Even after all this time locked away in this horrible place…it was still as smooth as silk. "Of course darling…I would never dream of getting rid of it…" he grinned as he carefully swaddled her in it's folds of soft pink yarn. After this, Doctor Whale wanted to have one last look, and he reluctantly agreed to that. He sighed as he stood impatiently outside of the student observation window, looking in on the specialized examination area as a new parent would look into the nursery window. He watched her face as he kept mouthing "I love you…" to her and watching her sweet little face as she reacted to him. He sighed as he watched her and then, because she couldn't hear him, started whispering to himself and to her in general as he pressed his nose up against the plexiglass, still looking down into her eyes. "Listen….I really screwed things up for you. But I promise you, from this moment on…I will give you the best life you have ever known. And I will never, ever leave you again…" When he was finally able to bring her out of the hospital, he took her back in his arms and rocked the dizzy, half asleep child in his arms as he hobbled out of the ICU. Carrying her would be only slightly more challenging now since he had to carry a cane as well, but luckily for him, Elizabeth was so tiny that she could fit comfortably in one arm. Besides, once Elizabeth could be brought outside again(which according to the doctor, Elizabeth would have to stay inside the Gold residence for two weeks in order to adjust to being out of the hospital) he would probably buy or even fashion somewhat of a sling or a carrier in order to carry her more effectively. The nurses offered him a wheelchair, but he of course, flat out refused. Elizabeth had been put through enough, and making her go into this cold contraption instead of his warm arms was too cruel for words. He wanted her to have that security of always being close to his chest just like she used to. She needed more love and attention than ever before, and the beating of his heart would soothe her and keep her nice and warm. It had taken him more than a few minutes, though, to put her in the car seat and figure it out. And when he drove away, he took Elizabeth away from the ICU, hopeful that she would have no cause to return to that place ever again. Of course he had to relearn taking care of her again…and it would be a process from this point on…but one thing remained: his baby girl was finally coming home.