Author's note: Just wanting to say thank you again for all the lovely followers and comments and basically everyone who reads this. I am now a beta, so if anyone has anything they want read over, I'm here to help. Once again, all mistakes are mine, and reviews are always welcomed.

The next few hours were the most torturous hours Belle had ever encountered. She had barely registered that she had dragged Ruby's limp body to the diner, not noticing the cut on her arm, nor the pain in her foot when he ogre crushed her. No, that came later. Belle felt hollow, as if she weren't really there, as Snow helped her carry Ruby. She didn't notice that her clothes were drenched in Ruby's blood until after all that, after David had driven them, along with Snow, Emma and Regina, to the hospital. After she had yelled at Doctor Whale when he was still half drunk, as always. It was only when the staff had taken Ruby away, and David had left to break up a dispute between Regina and Snow, that it all hit Belle, and she broke, sinking into a chair and wept, by herself, in the waiting room. She had no clue how much time had passed, and tears were still pouring out of her eyes when she felt a comforting arm wrap around her. She heard Snow whisper words of comfort in her ear as she held her close, telling her it would be alright. Belle knew then that she had been right, that the teacher had indeed known how she felt during their talk. For maybe an hour had passed, before a doctor – not Whale, Belle was happy to know – entered the room. Immediately, Belle was on her feet.

"Is she okay-?" she asked, but the doctor held up a hand to stop her.

"Before I continue, I must tell you that nothing at this moment is definite. Miss Lucas has lost a lot of blood, she has several fractures in her ribs, potentially some breakage. We've stabilised her for the moment. I can let you in to see her now but I highly doubt she'll be awake any time soon." The doctor paused, taking in Belle's ragged appearance. "Were you with her? Are you family?"

"Yes, I was with her, but I'm not family. I'm just her friend," she said, grateful that Snow had joined her and taken her arm, steadying her. Belle realised she hadn't eaten for hours, she was sleep deprived and stressed. Not a healthy combination.

"She doesn't have a lot of family, I'll go phone her Granny," said Snow to the doctor. The doctor nodded and left. Snow turned to Belle. "Do you want to go see her?" she asked, in her sweet voice. Belle noticed that Snow was just as ragged as she was.

"Uhm, yes," she said after taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry about… that, how's Emma?" she asked.

"Emma's fine, her leg had a hairline fracture but she'll be okay. I'm concerned though, Regina won't leave her side, I'm worried to leave the pair in the room by themselves. It's very odd, the way they look at each other sometimes…" Snow tailed off thoughtfully. Belle just nodded, too exhausted to respond with words. Snow gave her a quick hug. "Will you be okay by yourself, or do you want me to come with you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Snow. Really, thank you."

"It's no problem. I'll be through in a minute, okay? I'm just going to phone Granny and tell her how Ruby is, she's busy trying to sort out everyone in the town, then I'll go check on Emma to make sure Regina hasn't… poisoned her or something." Belle nodded again and flashed her a weak smile, before watching Snow leave. Belle walked slowly out of the waiting room, down the corridor to the room the doctor was standing in front of. He gave her a small smile as he opened the door for her, closing it quietly behind her.

Belle stood frozen by the door, her eyes unable to take in anything other than the pale form on the bed, with a large red gash on the side of her head. Taking a shaky step forwards, Belle approached the bed. Even asleep, though Belle could be imagining it, she looked like she was in pain. She looked completely different from the Ruby she had woken up to the day before. Reaching out a cold hand, she touched Ruby's cheek. The usually burning hot skin was cooler, not quite cold, but not warm. A fresh tear ran down her face as she closed her eyes, trying not to fall apart again. Pulling herself together, Belle drew up a chair and sat next to Ruby's bed, her hand clasped over Ruby's motionless one.

Belle woke with a start, her eyes immediately attacked by the sunlight streaming through the window. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around or the source of the disturbance. Her eyes fell on Snow in the doorway. The woman was wincing, noticing she had startle Belle.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"It's fine," replied Belle.

"I came to see how you are; you've been in here for hours."

"I fell asleep, it's… been a long day," she said, biting her lip as she took a moment to think over her words. Snow nodded as she joined the librarian at their friend's side. There was a minute of a not uncomfortable silence, before Snow broke it.

"It's her, isn't it?" she asked quietly. Belle didn't have the energy to deny it when the woman clearly knew the truth. Instead, she just nodded. Belle noticed out of the corner of her eye that Snow was grinning.

"What?" Belle enquired. Snow didn't take her eyes off of Ruby as she spoke.

"She feels the same way, you know."

Belle was dumbstruck. She just gazed at Snow, who continued gazing affectionately at her friend.

"How- How do you know that?" Belle asked urgently.

"It's obvious," replied Snow in her sometimes unnervingly calm and sweet voice.

"Care to explain?" Belle realised her enquiry was rather blunt, and immediately apologised. Snow nodded understandingly.

"She could barely take her eyes off you throughout the whole battle. Every time she stopped fighting, she was looking for you. Even when she's just in the diner, she changes whenever you come in. I've seen it. She threw herself in danger* for you."

"She would have done that for anyone else," Belle reasoned, not wanting to believe it, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"True, but she doesn't look at anyone else the way she does with you. Believe me," said Snow, turning to finally face Belle, and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know her, and she loves you."

Ruby awoke; her eyes snapping open and she sat bolt upright, her most recent memories replaying themselves in her head. Pain flared immediately all the way down the left side of her torso. She felt dizzy, but she felt a hand on her right shoulder, another on her waist, steadying her.

"Calm down, Ruby, come one, lie back down," came a voice, a sweet, accented, beautiful voice that instantly calmed Ruby and she submitted to the speaker, allowing herself lie down on a bed that was too small and not red enough to be hers. Blinking rapidly, her vision cleared and she gazed around, taking in her surroundings. First, the room was very white and clean. Ruby could smell the clinical scent of medicine. The room was small, and beside her was a consistent beeping noise. On her right side, she saw the wonderful librarian sitting in a chair next to her, her left arm bandaged and a few cuts on her face, but looked altogether alright. Belle smiled at her, her bright blue eyes sparkling with tears. Ruby noticed Belle looked exhausted, her beautiful face clouded by fatigue.

"Belle? Where am I?" Her dream of the events that had just happened came rushing back to her. "Is everyone alright?" Ruby felt her side ache as she tried to move.

"You're in hospital. Doctor Whale said you had a few fractured ribs and needed seven stitches on the side of your head." Ruby picked up a hint of annoyance in her voice when she mentioned the Doctor's name. After a pause, Belle continued. "The ogres have been dealt with. Apparently some kind of riff opened from the Enchanted Forest and… well, I don't know the full thing. Emma's leg's on the mend, Gold has a concussion but he'll be okay. He sent Henry to Regina's vault, by the time he got out, the battle was over. Leroy has a broken arm, but he's okay. It was lucky there weren't any deaths."

"So everyone's okay?" she asked.

"Yes," chuckled Belle. "They're all fine. Recovering, but fine."

Ruby sat up straighter against the pillows, looking to Belle. "How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Bit of an injured arm, and my foot needed a bit of attention, but other than that, Im perfectly fine."

"Have you slept much?"

"I dozed in and out for a while. Chairs are not the comfiest."

"You stayed with me the whole time?"

"Yes," Belle replied, somewhat sheepishly. Ruby smiled and reached out, taking Belle's hand, and glancing up, receiving a smile in return.