Chapter 3

Gothel's body was so unused to the common cold after all those years that the virus ravaged her body. Soon after she had fallen asleep, her fever had risen to dangerous temperatures. In the midst of a fever induced dream, she had fallen onto the floor beside her bed. This was how Rapunzel found her when she came in. In all fairness, Gothel had woken up when she hit the floor, she just couldn't find the strength to move.

As Rapunzel approached, Mother Gothel tried to stand, without success. Falling to the floor, she almost swore, until she caught sight of her daughter.

"Flower, come here."

"Yes Mommy?"

"Give me your hand...and pull!"

As Rapunzel pulled, Gothel gripped her bedside table, and together they managed to get her on her feet. Although she swayed slightly, she didn't fall.

"Why aren't you in bed Flower?"

"I heard a noise and got scared so I came in here."

"Well it was nothing, I just fell. Now go back to bed," said Gothel as she got back into bed herself.

"Mommy?"

"What Rapunzel?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Now Rapunzel, you know you're too old to be sleeping with Mommy. Go back to you r own room."

"But Mommy," Rapunzel shivered, "I'm cold."

Gothel sighed, but shivered, just then realizing how cold the tower truly was. She sneezed once, twice, and slid over. Rapunzel quickly scrambled up beside her mother, and cuddled up against her. She soon discovered she liked her mother's new found extra warmth. Soon, mother and daughter were sound asleep, but it was not to last.

Rapunzel was jolted awake. Literally. Her body was shaking horribly. The source of this shaking was her mother, whom she was currently curled up against. Her mother was shivering violently and the vibrations were what woke Rapunzel up. Rapunzel peered at her mother's face, taking in her extremely white appearance but dark red cheeks. There were also beads of sweat trickling down from her temples. Rapunzel couldn't understand. It was warm under the covers, and as far as she could tell, Mommy felt warm, too. So why was Mommy shivering?

Rapunzel decided to wake her mother up just to be sure she was okay. She tapped her lightly on the shoulder because she knew how much her mother hated to be woken up. Finally, she just threw the covers off Gothel, hoping that would cause some sort of reaction. And it did.

Gothel's eyes flew open as the icy air reached her delicate skin. The first thing she noticed was that her body was wracked with violent shivers. The second was two large, lime green orbs staring straight at her. She gave a little, strangled shriek, jumping slightly. Once she realized it was Rapunzel, she calmed down a great deal.

Rapunzel immediately took in the difference in her mother's eyes. While usually such a pretty silver-blue, they were different somehow. She wasn't quite sure how though. They just weren't as shiny, more dull she supposed. Meanwhile, Mother Gothel hadn't stopped shivering. Actually, it had gotten worse. She was currently in the process of wiggling back under the blankets.

"Mommy, your eyes look different. Less shiny somehow."

Gothel knew this was all part of the illness, but she didn't know how to explain this to Rapunzel. So, she opted to stay silent. At least, she had intended to be silent, but wave after wave of deep coughs threw her forward and broke the silence. Mother Gothel realized that the cold had probably settled in her chest, which was not a good thing.

"Rapunzel, Flower, help Mommy sit up please," Gothel said after the coughing fit.

Once Mother Gothel was sitting up, she instructed Rapunzel to push the pillows behind her back. This done, she found it much easier to breathe.

"Good girl, Rapunzel. Now, I need you to get my special quilt and bring it to me. Can you do that for Mommy?"

Rapunzel nodded eagerly and ran to do as her mother said. She loved to help her mother. When she returned, she found Gothel doubled over in bed, coughing. Quickly, she ran toward her mother, throwing the quilt down as she went.

"Mommy! Mommy, what's wrong?!"

Gothel, coughing and wheezing, looked to Rapunzel with pleading eyes. Rapunzel, not knowing what else to do, began to sing.

"Flower, gleam and glow..."

Mother Gothel, in a moment when she had caught her breath, screamed "NO!", startling the poor child so much that not only did she stop singing, she fell backwards as well. And then she began to cry. Mother Gothel, realizing her tone of voice had been too harsh, went and sat beside the child, holding her, trying to soothe her. All the while she was mumbling soft words of love and apologizing.

When Rapunzel had finally calmed down, Mother Gothel was exhausted. She couldn't remember at time when Rapunzel had cried so much. Rapunzel, tired from crying, simply snuggled deeper into her mother's loving embrace. Both, worn out and tired, fell asleep on the floor. Gothel awoke a few hours later, coughing. Fortunately, this did not disturb Rapunzel, who simply shivered and snuggled closer to Gothel. Slowly, Mother Gothel reached over and grabbed the quilt, draping it over them both. Glancing at the window, she noticed the weak rays of early morning sunlight.

Gothel honestly couldn't say she cared, because she knew sh e wouldn't be leaving the tower for a few days. Of course, she acknowledged the beauty of it before rolling over and going back to sleep. Rapunzel judged it to be about eleven in the morning when she next awoke. She was surprised, wondering for a moment why Mommy hadn't woken her up, until she remembered that her mother "didn't feel well." Rapunzel still didn't know what that meant, but she was getting an idea.

Listening intently and sitting very still, Rapunzel could just make out the sound of her mother's heartbeat. Tilting her head, she could now see her mother's face. She was still asleep as far as Rapunzel could tell. She had expected that. She didn't think Mommy had slept well last night.

Rapunzel still couldn't understand why her mother hadn't let her sing to her. It would have made the pain go away. 'Or, ' she thought, 'Maybe my singing won't help her this time.' Through the sun's golden rays, she could just see a speck of silver dotting her mother's hair. Rapunzel knew her mother wouldn't be happy about that, she loved her hair so much. It was second only to her eyes.

She couldn't even count the number of times her mother had said, "Now Rapunzel, don't ever forget that a woman's best feature is her eyes. And if those somehow get ruined, it's her hair. Now you be sure to remember that." And she did. Quite well actually.

So she knew her mother wouldn't be happy with the slight silver streak beginning to show. As she lay there thinking about this, she realized it was always the hair that went first. While Gothel usually never noticed this, Rapunzel did, but she had long ago learned not to say anything. It was usually when the wrinkles started to show that Mother Gothel had Rapunzel sing. Afterward, she was young and beautiful again, just the way she liked it. (Rapunzel liked her better that way, too. She was just afraid to say it aloud.)

Thinking about this, Gothel began to wake. Rapunzel's eyes immediately darted to her mother. She was worried. Mommy had only ever slept on the floor once before. When she had woken up, she had been in a lot of pain and Rapunzel had sung to her without being asked. But she wouldn't be able to do that this time because Gothel forbade her to sing. She wondered what she would do if Mommy woke up in pain this time. She supposed she was going to find out, because her mother was almost completely awake.