Alice woke up and pet Luna. She had learned slowly that Zelena wouldn't be angry if she asked Luna for things. She hadn't dared do it often at first and she'd tried to wait for Zelena most of the time but had quickly realized Zelena wanted her to ask Luna if she couldn't find her nearby quickly. She still didn't like it if anyone saw her moving or if they saw her in a place she hadn't asked Zelena if she could go but she was working on it.
"CanIgotothebathroom?" Luna quickly nodded, as she'd be trained to do then followed as Alice walked to the bathroom. Alice did what she needed to do, washed her hands, then sat down and pet Luna some more. She played with the door for awhile. When Alice decided she was done with that she asked Luna if she could go in the kitchen. Luna told her she could and they both went into the kitchen and sat down in the corner.
Alice was just grabbing her toy rabbit and then she was going to go back to her room and no one would ever know. She picked up the rabbit.
Henry had spent the night, avoiding seeing Ella just before their wedding.
Henry walked into the kitchen. Alice immediatly sat down, panicked. She hadn't asked Zelena. And she'd gotten caught. No. At least it was just Henry? He didn't have any authority over her. He couldn't hurt her. She hoped he hadn't seen her.
"Hey, Luna. Hey, Alice." Henry paused. That was weird. Had Alice slept in the kitchen? He could have sworn she'd gone to bed just before he had. "Alice?"
Alice nodded at him. She wasn't going to talk more than she had to. "Did you sleep in here?" Henry was a little worried for her.
Alice shook her head.
"Ok. Wait...how'd you? How'd you get in here?"
Alice pointed at Luna. "Luna."
Henry wasn't going to question it much further. Alice was handling herself fairly well, she did seem scared. Henry figured it was likely of him at the moment. "Okay, need anything?" Alice shook her head and Henry walked away with his breakfast in tow.
Zelena came in and saw Alice sitting in the corner. Zelena was ready to cheer. She'd done it! Alice had actually left her room on her own! Well, mostly. Zelena was sure Alice had asked Luna which was fine with her.
"Sorry." Alice shot out before Zelena could finish her silent cheer. No. She'd been so close. Did Alice still believe in this dumb rule?
"No, Alice." Alice flinched. No meant she was going to have to deal with pain. Pain she was starting to forget how to handle but still almost missed. It'd made everything clear about what mother had wanted from her. Alice pulled her legs up to her chest even tighter and apologized again before Zelena had a chance to finish her sentance. Luna shoved her face in between Alice's chest and knees forcing her to pay attentin to Luna and not her fear. Zelena held in a sigh. She wished she knew what would and wouldn't scare Alice. It felt like everything she did just pulled Alice further away from understanding that she was safe. "It's okay. Good job moving. Do you want to pick what we eat for breakfast or want me to do it?"
Zelena hoped Alice would take this as a reward but didn't want to force her into doing something she didn't want to do.
Alice didn't want to pick. Did Zelena want her to? And was it really okay to come into the kitchen on her own? Alice didn't understand. Everything had changed so qucikly. And she still missed home. Home had made sense. This place still didn't. She was still scared.
Zelena waited for an answer. Alice was rarely quick with decisions and this was the first one that wasn't clear choices. Zelena thought a moment she hadn't given Alice choices. She waited another minute to see if Alice had something she really wanted.
Alice didn't know if she could eat what she liked for breakfast. So far it seemed they'd only had it as a dinner food. She hoped Zelena didn't get angry. "I."
"Yeah, you can pick. What'd you want? Anything."
"Spaghetti?" Zelena should have known what she was going to pick. It wasn't quite a breakfast food but Zelena didn't bloody care. Alice had made a decision. Hell, if she'd asked for cake Zelena would have obliged. A sudden realization dawned on Zelena. Alice hadn't had cake before. That was it. There was going to be cake after breakfast.
"CanIhelp?" Luna nodded and Zelena immediatly agreed with the dog.
As they were cooking Zelena talked to her telling her about the upcoming wedding and everything going on with that. Alice listened but didn't really know what Zelena was talking about. The food was ready pretty quickly and Zelena thanked Alice for helping her.
They ate their less than conventional breakfast.
"And we have cake as well."
Alice didn't know what cake was. Zelena handed Alice a slice of cake. Alice tried it. It was really sweet. She enjoyed it
"Do you like it?" Alice nodded.
Alice reached over and pet Luna once she was finished.
Zelena got up to clean the kitchen after laying some paper and pencils on the table for Alice to draw with. "I'm going to deal with this mess, you color or do whatever you want to."
Alice was confused. Those three different orders were conflicting. Deal with this mess and color and do whatever you want to. Which did Zelena want from her? How was she supposed to do all three at once? Alice shook a liitle. She couldn't do anything right this time. No matter what she was going to wind up angering Zelena. Alice shut her eyes tight. She could think better if she couldn't see what she was scared of. She opened them again, no she needed to watch Zelena. She was going to anger her no matter what she did. Alice tried to weigh her options. She immediatly dismissed coloring as one. It was fun and if no matter what she did Zelena was going to be angry? She wasn't going to pick the fun one. That would only make everything worse. And Zelena couldn't possibly know what she wanted to do. Alice didn't know what she wanted to do. She knew Zelena had said she was going to deal with this mess but that was wrong. That was Alice's job. The only reason mother kept her around besides her being the key to her freedom. Alice tried to pull her legs up to her chest, but she was sitting on the chair and it didn't hold the way she was sitting. The chair fell along with Alice. Who didn't make a sound. Alice's wrist suddenly hurt but she'd felt that before. She thought she deserved the pain and if she admitted what caused it? It'd only cause more. Mother had hated when she said she was in pain. Why would she tell Zelena exactly where she was already in pain? At best she'd ignore it and at worst she'd use it to punish Alice for ignoring what she'd told her to do. Alice sat up, carefully avoiding putting any weight on the wrist she'd landed on and burried her face in her knees. Or tried to. Luna wouldn't let her. Alice gently pushed Luna out of her way with her noninjured hand and reburried her face in her knees. Couldn't she just hide? She was scared. Luna forced Alice's face out of her lap again and laid down. Alice was still terrafied but Luna wouldn't let her show it. She'd made noise, and kind of moved without asking, and she hadn't done any of the things Zelena wanted.
Zelena heard a crash and looked over to see a knocked over chair and Alice sitting with her face burried in Luna's fur. Oh come on. What had she said? Had she frightened Alice somehow? Zelena scanned through her thoughts. She'd given Alice clear choices. She thought again. No. She hadn't. She'd told her to do those things. Not asked if she wanted to do them. Zelena could have screamed. She needed to be more careful with the words she said around Alice. She knew this.
Zelena didn't know what had caused the chair to fall but Alice seemed physically fine. Just frightened. Zelena would watch to make sure Alice wasn't hurt but she did seem fine.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Alice. I'm sorry if I scared you."
Alice was hoping Zelena wouldn't notice the pain she was in. It hurt but she could handle it. It'd go away on its own. All pain did eventually. This was just like when she'd fallen trying to run. She shook a little. "CanIgotomyroom?" Alice shook more realizing she'd asked Zelena a question. But she'd said that was okay, hadn't she? Alice was frightened but tried to ignore it. Zelena quickly told Alice it was okay and Alice retreated to her room. Alice promptly decided she would stay in her room unless Zelena needed her. And she hoped that she wouldn't. She could hide what had happened if she stayed in her room but the second she needed to do something? The fact she wouldn't use one of her hands as much would be a giveaway that she'd managed to hurt herself by doing something she wasn't supposed to.
Alice stayed in her room for a while. Zelena was used to Alice hiding whenever she'd been frightened.
Alice held her injured wrist, trying to make it hurt less but it only made it worse. She held in a sigh. It was on the side she usually used for everything. She hoped Zelena wouldn't notice. Alice let go of her wrist, holding it wasn't helping.
Robin came over to the fort and offered to play cards with Alice. Alice agreed but avoided using her right hand. Or tried to. She dropped the cards when she tried to point with the hand that was holding them. Alice hoped Robin would just assume she didn't want to play right then.
"Sorry."
"Alice, are you okay?"
Alice nodded.
"Okay. Are you done playing for now?"
Alice nodded and Robin walked away.
Alice went further back into the corner of her room and finally let the tears fall. Her wrist hurt and she'd have to wait it out. She hadn't had this kind of pain in a while. She wished it'd go away. It hurt and she knew it'd take a few days to stop hurting. Alice wondered if Zelena would let her stay in her room for a few days. If she could just hide for a few days then the pain would go away before Zelena found out about it and it wouldn't cause anymore. Alice closed her eyes for a minute trying to think of anything else.
She fell asleep and then woke back up to the sound of a chair being picked up from the floor.
Zelena finsihed cleaning the kitchen just in time for lunch. She made sandwhiches then went and asked Alice if she wanted to eat in the kitchen or in her room.
Alice quickly said she wanted to eat in her room and pointed to the floor. Zelena thought for a moment. Alice was using a different hand then she usually did to point. She assumed it was just a fluke and brought Alice her food. Which she picked up with her nondominant hand. Since when did Alice try to eat with one hand? Was something wrong? Zelena hoped not.
"Are you okay?" Zelena asked.
Alice quickly nodded. She was fine. She didn't want to anger Zelena. "Alright. Do you need anything?"
Alice shook her head. She was fine. She hoped she could stay in here a while longer.
Zelena didn't see Alice again until dinner time. When she again said she wanted to eat in her room. Alice hadn't come out of there since that morning. Surely she needed to use the bathroom?
"Alice, do you need to use the bathroom?"
Alice wished she could avoid it but she couldn't. She needed to pee. Alice dreaded having to wash her hands. Her wrist still really hurt.
"You can go if you need to."
Alice nodded and got up. She walked to the bathroom and did everything as she normally would but used a different hand than normal. She sat down next to the door after washing her hands but didn't touch the door. Her wrist hurt too much.
Alice clutched her injured wrist up until she heard footsteps approaching the bahtroom. She let go. Zelena walked in and saw Alice sitting without anything in her hand. A little odd but she had probably just finished playing with the door.
Zelena coaxed what Alice wanted to do out of her and told her she could. Alice went back to her room and fell asleep.
Zelena worried. Alice had been acting add for the past day or so. She'd been avoidant. Well, more avoidant than usual and she chose to stay in her room even more often. She absolutley didn't want to draw when Henry offered her that option and kept picking things up with a different hand than usual. And only using one hand even when she'd normally use two. Something was wrong. And Zelena had no idea what it was. She thought for a little while. Wait. Had Alice gotten hurt when she'd fallen? She'd looked fine. And she hadn't said anything. Zelena hadn't tried to ask. Zelena held in a sigh. She'd forgotten that Alice might not have the ability to communicate her pain. Or might be scared to for some reason.
Alice was sitting in the corner of the kitchen holding her toy rabbit in her noninjured hand.
"Hey, can we talk?" Zelena asked her. Alice blinked, no. Zelena couldn't know. If she did she'd hurt her for doing something that caused her pain. Or use the pain she was already in against her. She deseperatly tried to think of a way out of this. She hoped Zelena wouldn't notice the fact she wasn't putting any weight on her wrist.
Alice nodded but the fear didn't leave her mind or her eyes. "You're not in trouble." Zelena tried to comfort Alice. This was already not off to a great start. "Are you hurt?"
Zelena hoped that Alice would just admit it. She knew she was hurt somehow.
Alice shook her head. "No." Alice knew this wasn't much better but if she just hid it, it'd go away on its own.
"Alice, where are you hurt?" Alice didn't want to tell Zelena. It'd just be used against her and she'd she'd tried to lie. She was going to be in so much trouble. Alice wanted to hide it. She didn't want to tell her. But Zelena had seen right through the lie.
Zelena didn't have any idea why Alice was so scared of telling her she was hurt. She was now a little scared herself of how she was going to manage to heal any injury. Alice suddenly didn't strike her as the type to allow anyone to heal her.
"Alice, I know it's scary. But, do you want to show me where it hurts or do you want to tell me?" Zelena had learned her lesson about phrasing things carefully.
Alice pointed to her wrist. "Okay your wrist hurts. Thank-you. Can I see your wrist?"
Alice was terrafied and it hurt and she didn't want to put the currently vulnerable part of her body close to Zelena. It'd only cause more pain. Alice reached her noninjured wrist over to Zelena. She'd done what she was told. She hoped this wouldn't anger Zelena.
Zelena took a second to internally be proud of Alice's mild defiance. But she did need to see how bad the injury was. "Alice, yes good. I guess I wasn't clear. But this one is fine. Can I see your other wrist, please?" Zelena was begging. This was exhausting and the quicker she found the injury the less time she'd have to force Alice into being frightened. She didn't like scaring her.
Alice warily reached the wrist that was already in pain to Zelena and shut her eyes tight. She didn't want to watch.
"Alice, I am not going to hurt you." Zelena reminded her. Alice still didn't understand that one. Zelena quickly realized she shouldn't have promised that. "I am going to try to be gentle. If it hurts, please tell me."
Zelena avoided touching Alice's wrist. She could clearly see it had slightly swollen. She must have sprained it when she fell. "Ok, it's just a sprain. I do need to wrap it. I have to touch you for that. Is that okay?"
Alice wanted to say no but knew butter and gave a weak nod. Why was Zelena even bothering to see what was wrong? Couldn't she just get to the part where she hit her? Alice wanted to get this done with. She just wanted to go back to her room and let the pain go away on its own.
"I'll be right back."
Alice nodded. She considered hiding but knew better. Instead she clutched her toy rabbit tighter and started voicing her worries.
"Doyouthinkshe'lldothethingshesaidbeforeoraftershehitsme?"
Zelena walked back just in time to hear that Alice thought she was going to hurt her. Zelena saw red. This teenage child was muttereing her fears to a stuffed animal. Zelena wanted to hunt down whoever had done this to her. But first she needed to splint Alice's wrist.
"Ok, this part might not be very fun. But I'm not going to hit you." Zelena was still livid that she needed to tell her she didn't want to hurt her. Alice didn't feel safe at all, did she? "It may hurt a little while I wrap it. You can stop me at any point if it hurts, okay? Just tell me to stop. I will." Zelena hoped Alice would stop her if anything hurt but highly doubted she would.
Alice nodded. She wasn't going to tell Zelena to stop. No matter how much it wound up hurting. But she wanted to believe that Zelena wasn't going to hit her this time. She didn't, though.
"So, can I see your wrist?" For a second time Alice reached the wrong one over to Zelena. "Alice, I know you don't trust it. And I know you're in pain but I need the other wrist."
Alice warily reached her injured wrist over to Zelena. "Thank-you. Okay see these?" Zelena held up the bandages. "I'm going to use them to wrap your wrist. And this?" Zelena held up a small wooden object. "Is to hold your wrist in place. So you don't hurt it further moving it around."
Alice just wanted this to be over.
"Okay." Zelena very gently laid Alice's wrist down in her own hand. Alice held in the whimper. It'd started to hurt more as she ignored it but she wouldn't show Zelena she was in pain. She could do this.
Zelena tried to talk to Alice the entire time as she bandaged her wrist with the splint inside of it. "Okay, all done. Really good. You did really good." Alice quickly pulled her wrist back to her body. And grabbed it with her other hand, holding them both tightly to her chest. The wooden thing was weird. She wanted it off.
Zelena watched as Alice watched her with fear and decided it was best to walk away.
"Do you need anything?"
Alice shook her head and Zelena walked away. Alice didn't like it. The wood forced her wrist to stay in place. She hadn't intended to move her wrist but she didn't like not being able to. She grabbed the stick and pulled on it. Ow. It hurt when she did that. She grabbed the bandage and loosened it. She pulled the stick out and set it next to her. She couldn't figure out how to completly undo the bandage so she'd leave it alone.
Zelena came back and saw the bandage loosened and the splint gone.
Zelena hadn't told Alice she had to leave it there or really for how long. Zelena sighed. Alice didn't understand the splint was there for a good reason.
Zelena sat down in front of her. Alice glanced over to her.
Alice didn't know if she'd done something wrong or not. "Sorry." Alice erred on the side of caution.
"You didn't do anything wrong, it's okay. But I do need to put the splint back in. Where is it?" Alice stared at Zelena. What was a splint? "The litle wooden thing that was inside your banadage. Where is it?"
Alice picked up the wooden piece. "Can I see it?" Alice nodded and handed it to Zelena then immeidatly pulled away with an apology. She wasn't supposed to touch her. "Thank-you. I have to put this back in. It'll keep your wrist stable. It'll make it so it heals faster. You just have to wear it a few days. That's it. I know it's not fun."
Alice stared at her. She didn't want it on there but if she had to. Alice reached her wrist over. "Ok. Thank-you. I'm going to unwrap this bandage first." Zelena unwrapped the bandage the entire time telling Alice she was doing good. "Great. Alright. Now I'm going to set the splint then rewrap it. I'm setting the splint. it's okay. You've got this. Okay now I'm going to rewrap it." Zelena wrapped Alice's wrist and told her she was done. "Okay, that was good. Do you want cake?"
Alice nodded. "Alright. It's just for a few days. It has to stay in. I know it's not fun." Zelena handed Alice a slice of cake. Alice ate her food but kept glancing at the splint. She wanted it off. It was bothering her. Alice grabbed at it again and pulled. Which didn't work.
Zelena sighed. She didn't want to force Alice to do anything. This was one of the few things Alice seemed able to do on her own and Zelena was going to have to stop it.
"Alice, the splint has to stay in for a few days. Does it hurt?"
Alice shook her head. It just made it hard to do anything. And she already couldn't do much. How was she going to clean with her wrist like this?
"Okay, what's wrong with it?"
Alice thought a minute. "Can'tmoveit."
"You can't move your wrist?"
Alice nodded.
"That's the point of it. It's so you don't hurt yourself. It's just for a few days. Can you handle it for a few days or can you not?" Zelena didn't know what her plan was if Alice wouldn't leave the splint alone but luckily didn't have to think of one.
Alice didn't want to but nodded and agreed she'd leave it alone.
A/N: Thanks to bstormhands for basicaally betaing this chapter. and the ideas for how to write it.
