MAJOR EDIT NOTE: BECAUSE I WAS SERIOUSLY CONFUSED ABOUT THE COMPASS AND ITS ACTUAL WORKINGS, I'VE HAD TO REWORK THE WHOLE STORY. NOW WITH DMC COMING OUT AND THE COMPASS'S TRUE NATURE IS FINALLY CONFIRMED, COME BACK TO HAUNT ME IS AGAIN ACTIVE AND I CAN FINALLY WRITE. ALL I CAN SAY IS DAMN COMPASS. PISSES ME OFF THAT THING. PLEASE RE-READ ALL THE CHAPTERS SINCE EVERYTHING IS TWEAKED IN A MAJOR WAY.
Chapter 06:
Elizabeth arrived into the stone silent mansion, feeling the tension almost immediately. It was long after sunset. The moon had risen high above the ocean and the stars were already out. She had just arrived from her day in the markets and she was well on her way to exhaustion. On her way up, however, she had encountered too many worried glances and stares. She saw the doctors' carriages coming down from the hill and she knew something terrible must have occurred.
"Tricia?" Silence greeted her and her worry increased. "Will?"
Andrew dropped the bags he carried, forcing himself to smile as he thought about what his feet must look like now in the condition he felt them to be in. He quickly ran off to the servants' quarters, ready to get to his room and just rest.
Elizabeth was now alone in the grand hall looking around at the eerie silence around her.
"Miss Swann?"
Elizabeth's head shot around at the strange, new voice. A woman was standing at the top of the stairs, smiling timidly.
"I really must ask you to be quiet. The Turners are taking their rest."
"They're sleeping?"
"Not quite… Just resting really."
"May I ask who you are?"
"Oh.. of course. We haven't been introduced. My name is Lucinda. I'm one of the midwives from town."
Elizabeth's head nodded in acknowledgement. "Midwife? Is Patricia all right?"
"Should be." Lucinda smiled, secretively, and started down the stairs. "I was just finishing cleaning up the glass. You should go up to the nursery. They're in there."
Elizabeth put down the silks after briefly thanking her. She hurried up the stairs and opened the door to the nursery without hesitation. Then, halted…
"Oh…" Elizabeth remarked, her eyes widening. "I knew that I was in the queues in the market for what seemed like half my life… But… wow… I didn't know I've been gone THIS long…"
Will looked up from the rocking chair, holding Aidan in his arms. His smile was tired but Elizabeth could see that there was genuine happiness in his eyes. Had she been there earlier, she would have probably seen it at its most hyperactive but now it was retired.
"Will…" Elizabeth strode down to Will and knelt beside him, brushing the dark fuzz on top of the child's head. "Will… He's beautiful."
"I would like to think my son is near perfect…" Will quipped.
"His name?"
"Aidan," Will smiled proudly. "Aidan William Turner." Will's eyes smiled at the baby's gentle nuzzling into the soft, worn cotton of a blanket, Aidan's eyes opening slightly and then closing again.
"Will… My goodness, Aidan, you're such an adorable little boy." Her glance turned to Will's. "His hair is darker than yours, I think. So are his eyes… Those are definitely Tricia's… But I think otherwise he looks like you."
"I would hope so…"
Suddenly, Elizabeth frowned. "Where's Patricia?"
This caused a darker change in mood. Will slumped back into his chair, seeming to age with past worry. "You missed quite a day, Elizabeth."
"Is she all right?"
"yes… yes, she is now."
"What happened?"
Will sighed and just shook his head. "Too much in too little time… All I know is that I could have lost them… I seriously could have lost them both."
Elizabeth saw the gentle and subtle way that Will tightened his hold on Aidan and smiled, sympathetically though she knew nothing about what went on.
"What happened?" Elizabeth repeated.
"Nothing, nothing important anymore… I don't care for it… And forgive me if I don't want to repeat and relive it anytime soon…" Will tilted his head to the moon's glow and the candle's light. Elizabeth wanted to reach out and just hold Will. He looked like he needed a friend just then. Just someone to hold him as he cried. It looked like he was hanging on by a string being pulled so taut that it was near snapping.
"Of course… Will, you should be with Patricia then. You should sleep…" Elizabeth murmured, squeezing Will's hand as he turned his gaze towards her again.
"I want to stay with Aidan…"
"Aidan won't do well if his father is dead on his arse… And from what I can surmise, Patricia isn't in a state to care for a child at the moment, so go… I'll get to know Aidan a little," Elizabeth coerced, reaching out to hold Aidan herself.
"If you're sure, Elizabeth…"
"I am." Will smiled at her and kissed Aidan softly on his forehead, then half-heartedly gave his son to Elizabeth.
"Call me if you need me… And Lucinda should be downstairs if there's anything else you might need help with…"
"Of course… Now get some rest."
Will nodded and had one last look at Aidan before heading down the hall towards his own room. The bloody blankets were cleaned and disposed of. The mattress was changed, having been spoiled beyond further use. Patricia was under the covers, her eyes half-closed as she stared at the doorway, waiting for Will to enter.
"You're awake," Will murmured, sitting on his side of the bed.
"I've been waiting for you to return… I was hoping with Aidan…"
"He's with Elizabeth. She said I needed to rest… So do you in fact."
"It hurts too much to sleep," Patricia said truthfully, referring to the incision on her lower belly, now wrapped in white bandages. "I'll just lie here for awhile, until exhaustion overrides the pain." Her hand reached out for his and he immediately held her fingers in his palm, and lay down beside her, his head buried at her shoulder. "Will?"
"I can't believe I almost lost you… again."
"Yes, well… Can't get rid of me that easily…" she joked, her other hand stroking his hair.
"You know what was the hardest part in this whole day?"
"What?"
"After the surgery… I came in to see you… Everything… everywhere… there was just so much blood and you were out cold and all I could see was you lying in the dirt… Remember?"
"All too well…"
"That was all I saw, love…"
"But both ended well, don't you think?"
"Don't you think it's time to stop trying to make light of things?" Will snapped.
"I'm sorry," Patricia sighed. "But I merely don't want to dwell on it…" She yawned and leaned her head against her husband's. "Don't be mad. I'm just… I want to look at the bright side of things… Otherwise, I'd just fall into my own madness and that wouldn't be very nice."
"I'm not mad. I'm just tired. And a little depressed…"
"Which is bad," Patricia smiled. "Don't you think?"
"Yes. It's bad."
Will watched as Patricia closed her eyes and wondered briefly how she was saved from certain death yet again.
"You most definitely have a guardian angel, my love. You shouldn't be alive right now, otherwise."
"You're my guardian angel, silly monkey," Patricia giggled.
"I love you…"
"Love you too…"
"Good night…"
"Good night, Will… Now quiet. I think I can finally ignore the pain…"
"Sorry…"
"Shh.."
AN: As always! Please review! If you find some discrepancies from the current plot, please don't hesitate to tell me. If something is left from the old plot PLEASE tell me. lol.