"And how did the dream make you feel?" Doctor Hopper asked. Isobella shook her head. "A little scared. No, not scared, but ... oh I don't know. I felt that I do know him, that if I could see his face and remember his name I'd understand everything" Isobella said. "Understand what?" Asked Dr Hopper. "That's the million dollar question Doctor. I really don't know". The bespectacled Doctor waited for Isobella to continue. "What do you think I should do?" Isobella asked. "The only person who can answer that is you, Isobella. You have the answers, you just have to ask the right questions" Dr Hopper advised. "How often have you had these dreams?" Hopper continued, making further notes. "Every night since I moved out. It's always the same. This...figure, telling me to remember him. Uttering cryptic sentences that I know the meaning of, without knowing the meaning of" Isobella returned to her new favourite habit of twirling her wedding ring around her finger. It had replaced her habit of worrying her lower lip. Isobella couldn't tell him that she enjoyed those dreams, that they felt more real to her than reality itself, and that she really, really looked forward to the thrill of the night to be in the presence of the only thing in her life that gave her any excitement. He'd section me for sure. I'd section me! she thought despondently. She'd confessed all of that to Ruby. Ruby thought that she was just sexually frustrated, but that was Ruby's opinion about everyone.
Dr Hopper changed direction with his questions, Isobella's dreams could wait for now. She was still sleeping well, and although the dreams were unsettling they were not having any adverse effect on her. "And how do you feel about ending your marriage?" He asked. Isobella thought for a moment. "It's not over, just...on hiatus for now, I guess. I need a break from us. I need time to decide whether I want to work on our marriage, whether I still have that left in me and whether I want him to fight for it. I think he would, but ..." Isobella trailed off, unsure of what she was saying and what she wanted. She felt comfortable in talking to Dr Hopper. At the outset she'd made it clear to him she did not want advice; the purpose of her sessions were for her to talk and for someone to just listen and maybe help her understand what she wanted out of life. Isobella continued uncertainly "I want a new life. I want adventure! I really don't think that's compatible with my marriage"
"Have you talked to your husband?" Dr Hopper asked. "Not since I moved out. You know I've tried talking to him before but he never listened. There was always another council meeting, court hearing, important auctions to attend" Isobella replied, twirling her wedding band around her finger again. Gold had been so distant for as long as she could remember and Isobella's heart cracked a little more at the remembrance of all the times he'd abandoned her alone in the house, dismissing her attempts to talk to him in favour of stalking his tenants for rent money, or skulking in the shadows of his shop. Anything to avoid her.
"Do you think he would be willing to talk to you now? It may be that his reluctance to discuss matters with you was because he felt it was not a serious problem" Dr Hopper suggested cautiously. He was reluctant to appear as if he was urging her into a course of action she was not ready for. From their previous discussions he was aware that for most of her life people had been making decisions for her and did not want her to feel that he was doing the same as he knew she would cancel their sessions. Dr Hopper genuinely wanted the best outcomes for his patients, and he knew that their sessions were helping Isobella. They gave her an impartial space to air her thoughts.
"I don't know. Maybe...maybe me moving out was what was needed, a catalyst of sorts" Isobella replied. "But he hasn't contacted me; hell I'm not even sure if he's noticed I've gone!" Isobella snorted uncharacteristically. "I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to make the first move and contact him".
Mr Gold woke up in a sweat fisting his sheets tightly; nails digging into his palms. Belle he thought, the same thought that was on his mind from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to bed, and then all through the night. He'd been dreaming of his Belle. Their night in his castle after she returned to him. He'd been thinking of her whilst at his spinning wheel and hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. He'd been reliving his false memories of Mr Gold, the false memories of their times in the back of his shop. He couldn't imagine what could have made him so indifferent to his wife; except that as Mr Gold and Isobella they had no idea of what they once meant to each other. He could make that happen again and he knew how. He had to let her go. He was dressed and ready to go to his office within half an hour. Making a call to his gopher, Mr Smee, to instruct him to pack Belle's belongings and have them ready to be removed that night, he left the house.
Mr Gold shut himself in his office. He had no magic here yet, so had to move carefully. He couldn't show that he was anyone other than Mr Gold. If Regina even just suspected he knew his identity he and Belle would be in danger. He had no doubt believing that Regina would try to use Belle against him again in her desire for revenge. No, what Regina didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Well, actually in this case what Regina didn't know would hurt her, and that made Mr Gold grin maliciously. He had the upper hand here and could turn events to his advantage. Playing the role of attentive husband to his estranged wife would not arouse Regina's suspicions now that time was moving again; things were bound to change for the residents of Storybrooke. He could work to bring Belle out of Isobella, and once the curse was broken he would find his son. He didn't even need to worry about bringing Regina down for what she had done to them. He knew the only thing she had left in her sorry, empty life was her son Henry. Once the curse was broken and Henry realised the full extent of what The Evil Queen had done to everyone, including his birth mother, Regina would lose him too. Yes, he had no need to dirty his hands, not when there was a whole town who would happily queue up to avenge themselves on her. He could almost smell the burning pitchforks.
Looking through some paperwork on his desk relating to the planning permission on the land by the school that Regina had so recently acquired he glanced up at the clock on the wall. Belle. The name thrummed through his mind again like a prayer for his loneliness. He was expecting her at some point during the day. Granny dutifully would have passed on his gift to Isobella. Isobella would be furious and confront him. And then he could put his plan into action.