The characters are created by LM Montgomery, and are her property... the original characters & storyline are unique to this story are copyright 2021, by Nell Lime.

Author's Note:

Thanks Astrakelly, BMuse, kyrielslight, Merav, Kushinka, TLWtwl, and Oz Diva for catching the glitch with the last chapter. fanfiction . net has an issue when you upload and copy and paste in the story that it formats weird, and you have to save it then re copy and paste into the document the file. So if you see a chapter from anyone with that - that's what happened. So Enjoy the next chapter - here's Davy again!

— Davy —

Thursday, June 22nd, 4:00pm

Apple Bough, Avonlea, PEI

I'd come in from doing chores first at Green Gables, that I'd do each afternoon coming back with a basket of food I was under strict orders not to touch from Mrs. Lynde, to see Gilbert, and give Anne a break. I'd come in, Anne was dazed, for little sleep, her hair a mess, from the heat of the room. Dr. Spenser had advised we keep it as warm as possible to speed up the fever. She wiped her brow, before going back to Gilbert who was tossing and turning.

He'd sat up suddenly, yelling at her. I stared in shock, glancing at Anne who had tears falling as he accused her. His eyes open but lucid. He seemed to look at nothing at all... Until he saw Anne. Then he grabbed her, shaking her. He was soaked in sweat, and I realized it was time to change him again. His face shaved that morning by Mr. Blythe, so thin. He'd been loosing too much weight. I'd never seen Gilbert so thin. If Diana Wright had gotten too fat this last year, Gilbert had gotten too thin.

"Anne Shirley… You haunt me, you mock me… but no more… Everything is on your terms. Whether you'll distain to call me a friend, love me. You're the one whose dead though. Because you're the one who doesn't know what it means to love. I've loved you since you broke your slate over my head in school. But you've never loved anyone. All you are is a facade. You use your romantic ideals as a facade."

I just stared, glancing towards Anne who stood frozen in his arms. "Anne…" I tried to come forward to her.

Gilbert continued. "But who can hold up to them? Not Royal Gardiner and not me. If you think it's romantic you'll do it. But truth is. You don't know what real love is. Because you can't see what's always been there. Well it's gone. You won. You tore my heart out when you refused me. And you keep me hoping. Well I hope you enjoy your empty life with the prat. I never want to see you again. No more dreams of us. Burn them all. No more dreams of you mocking. Give me death that I might escape you, because the truth is I don't love you anymore…" He'd then shoved her away, grabbed the photo I'd noticed kept under his pillow and began to tear at it, tearing it to shreds.

Anne had held frozen the cloth she'd been using to wipe his brow, clutched in her hand as he held her, she'd tried to return when he'd began to shred, to try to grab him, but he'd punched her right in the lower ribs. She stumbled back, tears glistening on her face. Stepping forward she slapped him hard. "Fine, Gilbert Blythe if that's what you think. I'll leave…"

"Anne…" I rushed after her. The Blythes who had watched it also, rushed to stabilize trying to stop Gilbert.

I glanced and noticed the Dr. Spenser who had arrived.

"You best send for that nurse, I'm leaving." Anne spoke between sobs to Dr. Spenser. "I've tried, Oh I've tried. But you said yourself, the inner thoughts. He doesn't want… What he spoke is true. I've… I've used him." And then she was gone running, and as Gilbert began to thrash more, I'd had to rush with Dr. Spenser to Gilbert.

"Give her space Davy boy." Dr. Spenser spoke kindly. "Give her space. Let's calm Gilbert down.

I then suddenly remembered what Fred Wright had said about men becoming bulls and attacking their women folk to get them growing the babies. Maybe Fred got it wrong about the rabies though. I heard rabies made a man mad, and Gilbert was mad, especially to hurt Anne that way.

Once Dr. Spenser and I'd calmed Gilbert down, giving him something to push him to a deep sleep. I left him with the Blythes while I went running looking for Anne. She didn't go to Green Gables, and I tried all the places I knew of. Finally, in disparation with my stomach growling I headed over to the Wright's farm.

"Davy?" Fred said coming out of the barn as I ran up.

"Gilbert's been out of his mind, and he attacked Anne. Hit her between the ribs, they'd both been yelling and he just said she'd used him."

"Used him?" Mrs. Barry asked stepping off the porch. "Diana I…"

"She's injured and I've got to find her. She ran crying, she even admitted… Oh… Diana, where'd you think she'd gone? I've checked everywhere I could think of."

"Go with him, Fred." Diana said. "I'll make some sandwiches for the two of you while you hitch the horse up."

Fred and I spent hours searching for her, going off a list Diana made us. We were quiet the whole time, riding on the two horses that Fred had for his farm. We found her finally by random luck under an apple tree in the middle of the forest. She'd cried herself to sleep. Fred and I just quietly woke her, and took her to Green Gables. We carried her to her room, left her to Mrs. Lynde and Marilla to tend, and I saw Fred out. "He'll hate himself for it when he hears. A man isn't always in his right mind in a fever. There's nothing he's scared of more then loosing Anne. I should know, because there's nothing that would scare me more than loosing Diana. Tell her to come see Diana tomorrow before Diana makes me hitch up the buggy and bring her over myself."

I nodded. "I will."

I checked on Anne one more time. Told Marilla Fred's message, and she sent me with another basket back to the Blythes to keep an eye on Gilbert. She told me to forgive him but I didn't know if I could. No one hurts my sister. Dora or Anne.

—*—*—*—*—*—

Author's Note: I see Davy as addressing Diana and Fred sometimes as Mr & Mrs Fred Wright and sometimes as Fred & Diana, because they're Anne's friends... though much older then him.