Anne waited outside of Gilbert's hospital room for the rest of the afternoon. As each moment passed, she became more anxious and worried. The doctors told her that she would be allowed to visit him once they were done performing certain tests. But how long would that actually take? She had already been waiting for several hours, and there was no update regarding Gilbert's condition.
Ms. Stacey frequently comforted Anne, who was afraid that Gilbert would never associate with her again.
"Ms. Stacey?" Anne asked, trying to hold back her tears, "I am beginning to think that Gilbert will never forgive me for what I've done."
"Anne, you are one of the brightest people I know. Now stop and really think for a moment. Do you believe that Gilbert is the type of person who would hold a grudge for the rest of his life? Especially considering that he cares about you more than anyone else in this whole entire world?"
"But you can't be sure," Anne said. "You can't be sure that he will forgive me or that he cares about me more than anyone else."
"If you truly believe that he does not care for you, take a look at this letter that the doctors found in his pocket just a few hours ago," Ms. Stacey said, holding out an envelope with 'Anne' written across the front, clearly in Gilbert's handwriting. "I am curious to know what it says, but I did not want to open it without your permission, of course."
Anne reached for the letter, opened it slowly, took a deep breath, and cleared her throat.
"My dearest Anne," she read,
"I was wondering if you would consider attending the Springtime Ball with me this weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed our picnic today, and..."
Anne paused mid-sentence and started blushing.
"And what?" Ms. Stacey asked, smiling profusely.
"Oh, Ms. Stacey, this is quite embarrassing for me to read aloud!" Anne said. She could not believe the audacity that Gilbert had to write such scandalous things!
"Oh, Anne, you can tell me anything," Ms. Stacey said encouragingly. "There is honestly no need for embarrassment!"
"Well, it says...
"I thoroughly enjoyed our picnic today, and just so you know, your kisses were sweeter than the chocolate cake."
"Oh, is Gilbert trying his hand at romantic poetry, now?" Ms. Stacey asked, noticing Anne's look of extreme mortification.
Anne cleared her throat and continued.
"You do not know how extremely happy I am now that you've realized we belong together. Ms. Stacey even told me yesterday that you have been talking about me nonstop, which really boosted my spirits.
"Ms. Stacey!" Anne joked, glaring at her teacher. "How dare you say such things to Gilbert?"
"Well, I have a confession to make," she began.
"Go on," Anne urged.
"Last night, Gilbert came into my office. He told me that you blurted out that you have strong feelings for him, and he was wondering if I thought that was true."
"What did you tell him?" Anne asked.
"Ah, well I told him that he is smart enough to know the right answer to that. The answer, of course, being that you do have strong feelings for him."
"I see," Anne said.
"Now, what else does the letter say?"
"I am going to pay Ms. Stacey another visit right now, in fact. I need her advice on something extremely important. I hope to see you again this evening...that is, if Ms. Brooke doesn't catch us!
With my deepest love and admiration,
Gilbert."
"Oh, Anne, he was coming to my office for 'advice on something extremely important'! Oh, now I am in suspense over what that must be!" Ms. Stacey exclaimed.
"He's probably forgotten all about it," Anne said forlornly.
That moment, a doctor walked out of Gilbert's room and approached Anne.
"Hello, I am Dr. Williams. Are you...Mrs. Blythe?" The man asked Anne as he glanced at his paperwork.
Anne's mouth dropped open at the doctor's statement. "I'm...I'm a friend of Mr. Blythe," Anne stated, "but I am not his wife." She was mortified at what the doctor said, which was made obvious by the rosy color of her cheeks. Where had the doctor gotten that information from?
"Sorry for the misinterpretation. I wrongly assumed so by the way you were...uh...behaving."
"Well, I am most definitely not," Anne said firmly, clearing her throat awkwardly.
"And who are you?" The doctor asked, directing the question at Ms. Stacey.
"I am...a former teacher of Gilbert's," Ms. Stacey said. "We are fairly close."
"Well, I would like to update you on his condition, seeing that you two are his only visitors at the moment."
"Yes, please do," Ms. Stacey said urgently.
"I am afraid that the news I am about to deliver is not what you hope to hear. It seems that Mr. Blythe is suffering from amnesia. The most vulnerable part of the skull has been impacted from his injury, and the chances that he will have a normal memory immediately after regaining consciousness are very slim."
"Wh...what do...what do you mean?" Anne stuttered as a lump grew in her throat.
"I'm sorry, miss. Quite frankly, the chances are slim that his memory will not have been impacted. However, there is the possibility that the injury caused him to lose memory from only shortly before the injury occurred."
"Will he ever...fully recover? Or will he be...impaired for life?" Tears were sliding down Anne's face now; she could no longer do anything to try and hold them back.
"We don't know the answer to that yet, miss. There is a chance that his brain will function normally, but there is also a possibility that his memory will be permanently injured. We will know more once he regains consciousness."
"I need to go in an see him," Anne sobbed, standing up. "I need to see him right now."
"I'm sorry, but you are not yet allowed to enter the operating room. We are still in the process of evaluating Mr. Blythe's condition. Since you are not a relative of Mr. Blythe, you are not allowed to be in the hospital room while he is undergoing any type of medical treatment," the doctor recited.
"Why, you can't be serious!" Ms. Stacey said. "Anne is extremely close to Gilbert! They are best friends!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't violate hospital policy. However, I can assure you that you can see Mr. Blythe during the visitor hours tomorrow."
"Excuse me, Doctor, but I want to see Gilbert now!" Anne persisted. "I am close enough to him to be considered his family. We grew up together!"
"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you, but it just can't be allowed."
"But I must see him! I have to see him! I insist!"
"Anne..." Ms. Stacey said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You will be able to see him in the morning. Doctor, when are the visiting hours tomorrow?"
"Nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the evening."
"You can come over first thing, Anne."
"What about my classes?" Anne asked. "I can't just abandon them for the day."
"I'm sure that something can be arranged," Ms. Stacey encouraged. "And I know that your pupils would enjoy a day off, anyway," she said. "Now, everything's settled. Thank you for the update on Gilbert's condition, Doctor."
"You're quite welcome," Dr. Williams said as he reentered Gilbert's room.
"Now, Anne, it's quite late. You should get some rest," Ms. Stacey advised.
"But Gilbert's in there...and he needs me..."
"And he'll love to see you tomorrow morning, Anne. There's nothing you can do. There's no point in sleeping here in the hospital waiting room when you won't see him, anyway. And how would Marilla feel if she knew that you were spending your night in a hospital waiting room?"
"I guess you're right, Ms. Stacey. But I think that my tremendous regret and sorrow is too difficult to put into words right now. All I can say is that...I just feel like it is my responsibility to be with him."
"And you will be able to see him bright and early tomorrow morning. Now, I must return to my residence for the night. But remember, this, Anne: kindred spirits are always together at heart." Ms. Stacey placed her hand on Anne's shoulder reassuringly and smiled warmly as she departed for the evening.
"Kindred spirits may be together at heart," she sobbed when Ms. Stacey was out of earshot, "though what's the use if he can't remember that we were kindred spirits in the first place?"
Anne dreadfully trekked back to the boardinghouse, walking with her face buried in her hands. In the wake of the darkness, the unendurable desolateness, and the circumstantial bleakness, she found herself turning to the memories that had defined her. As she reminisced her childhood in Avonlea to relieve herself of her loneliness, everything seemed to circle back to her memories of Gilbert. Some vague, unascertainable emotion stirred within Anne in regards to her lust for him. The feeling, she decided, was notably different than how she felt among the other kindred spirits who had shaped her life- namely Matthew, Marilla, and Diana. It was a need that could never be fully satisfied until she was fully devoted to him and he to her. And it was just at this moment, as everything in the world appeared bleak and hopeless and inauspicious, that Anne recognized, embraced, and yearned for her love of him. In the midst of the fathomless shadow of the night, the never-ending depth of her worst nightmare, she realized what could have been, and what had since been lost. And with the sweetness of her revelation came the bitterness of the notion that Gilbert Blythe may never, ever again feel the same.
A/N: Sorry for the somewhat depressing and lengthy ending. I just felt that I needed to convey Anne's feelings with such description that would be characteristic of her poetic nature. I do have an idea for where I'm going with the next chapter (Hint: it involves a character who has not appeared in this story recently). Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Keep them coming! :)