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Chapter 22
Twenty years ago . . .
Gold barged into Milah's house after maneuvering the door open . . . he was stunned that she was foolish enough to think that changing the locks would keep him out. Mr. Smee had to have set everything up by now; it was just a matter of time. He wanted to be there for Bae when the news came – she wasn't much of a mother but the boy would most certainly be upset.
"Mr. Gold – what are you doing here?" Ashley Boyd asked, coming out of the kitchen and into the foyer. Ashley was Milah's maid; he had forgotten that today was one of her cleaning days.
"Miss Boyd, I'm just here to see my son. I know that today isn't my day for visitation but Milah isn't here and I want to make sure the boy is getting his homework done." Gold said.
"He's not here – he went with Ms. Story." Ashley said. (Milah had taken back her maiden name after their divorce.)
"He what?" Gold said, a look of shock coming over his face.
"She said they had some errands to run, she didn't want to come back home to get him so he just went with her." Ashley said.
"No. No – Bae, NO!" Gold shouted as he rushed out of the house as quickly as possible.
Gold gasped as he awakened from the nightmare that continued to haunt him twenty years later. He looked around the room, for a moment forgetting where he was. He rubbed his eyes and looked up – he had fallen asleep in the chair next to Belle's bed. She was still sleeping; she still looked so pale to him. Gold reached for his cane and stood up; he ambled into the bathroom, walked over to the sink, and splashed some cold water on his face. He then looked up to see his reflection in the mirror. He looked absolutely terrible, at least to himself. His eyes were red and bloodshot and a bit of stubble had already begun to grow on his face, as he hadn't shaved the day before. His hair was unkempt. He had changed his clothes the night before but they were already wrinkled from sleeping in the chair. He wasn't even sure how much sleep he actually got, or how much he drank the night prior. Not enough to be completely hung over, but enough to give him a bit of a headache that he could really do without at the moment. His neck was also stiff and sore from sleeping in an uncomfortable chair. He splashed his face with cold water one more time, and then returned to Belle's side.
Gold sat back down in the chair next to Belle's bed. He took her left hand and kissed it gently. Belle moaned and sighed as her eyes fluttered open. Gold ran his hand gently across her face, brushing the hair from her eyes. "Good morning, sweetheart. How do you feel?" Gold asked. Belle shifted her weight a bit and cried out in pain.
"Hey, no, no, don't move sweetheart, just lie still." Gold said worriedly.
"It hurts." Belle said, now crying. Gold immediately pushed the nurse call button next to her bed.
"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay. I know it hurts love, it's okay. First few days are the worst, it'll get better." Gold said as he caressed her cheek and wiped her tears away. A nurse entered the room and Gold looked up at her. "She's in pain, get her something." Gold demanded. The nurse quickly left the room as Gold continued to do his best to comfort Belle. The nurse returned a few minutes later.
"This should make you feel much better." the nurse said, and she pulled out a need with a small vial of medicine attached. Gold grabbed the nurse's wrist.
"What are you giving her?" Gold asked.
"Morphine." the nurse replied.
"Let me see the amount." Gold said, and the nurse showed him the measured vial. "Alright." Gold said, and the nurse injected the drug into Belle's IV. Within moments Belle calmed down and stopped crying.
"Let's go ahead and get your vitals." the nurse said, and she proceeded to take Belle's pulse, blood pressure, and temperature. "Everything looks good. The doctor will be in shortly to talk to you." the nurse said, and she left.
"There. Better now?" Gold asked. Belle looked at him and nodded.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a baby." Belle said.
"No – sweetheart, you're not a baby. I've been shot before, I know how much it hurts." Gold said. "You're being very brave."
"How bad was I hurt?" Belle asked.
"The bullet shattered your shoulder blade, love. They had to do surgery; they put a plate in to hold the bone fragments back together while they heal. You're going to be fine; you'll probably have to do some therapy exercises with your arm once it's healed but in time you won't even know it happened. Except when it's cold or raining out, then you might notice." Gold said.
"Didn't your leg shatter? When you shot it?" Belle asked.
"It's not the same. That was a close range shot – very different thing. You'll be fine." Gold said, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Is that all, then? That's all that happened to me?" Belle asked. "I, um – I don't remember much, it's all a blur."
"The bullet – hit an artery. You lost quite a bit of blood. That was a concern, but – you're alright now. Nothing to worry about." Gold said.
"Do you know who shot me?" Belle asked.
"No." Gold replied. "Emma and Gwen are working on that right now. Sweetheart, we admitted you as Lacey Woods, to protect your identity. The doctors and nurses here, that's the name they have for you so you'll have to go along with that. As soon as they say you're strong enough, I'm having you moved to Boston. We have an agency-run hospital and rehab wing there, top security, all of the doctors and nurses are agents, it's where I was when I hurt my leg."
"Are you coming with me?" Belle asked.
"Yeah. Of course I am." Gold replied. Belle reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Are you alright?" Belle asked. Gold just smiled at her.
"You don't worry about me right now, alright? I'll manage. I just want you to get better." Gold told her, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead just as Dr. Whale entered the room.
"Miss Woods. How are you feeling?" Dr. Whale asked.
"I – I think I'm okay. Are you my doctor?" Belle asked.
"I'm one of them, I was your attending yesterday and will be today as well." Dr. Whale said. "How is your pain level?"
"The nurse just gave her a dose of morphine, it's helping." Gold said.
"We'll keep you on that for today but tomorrow we need to start weaning you onto something else." Dr. Whale said. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, what would you say your pain level is?"
"I – five, I suppose." Belle said.
"Five? That's too much, can't you give her anything else?" Gold asked.
"Given her injury five is actually a good number, it sounds like you're doing well and the pain is being managed as well as can be expected." Dr. Whale said. He picked up her chart and looked at the notes. "The nurse just took your vitals and they look good – we'll get that heart monitor unhooked, everything looks back to normal."
"Heart monitor? Was something wrong with my heart?" Belle asked worriedly. She turned and looked at Gold. "Ian?"
"It's alright, sweetheart. You're fine, it was just a precaution." Gold said, squeezing her hand.
"Your blood pressure ran a bit low, you lost quite a bit of blood, we've had you on a heart monitor to make sure you remained stable. Everything is looking much better now though, and it doesn't look like you had any problems overnight. You just need to keep resting." Dr. Whale said. "I want you to do something for me, Miss Woods. Without moving the rest of your arm, I want you to wiggle your fingers in your right hand, can you do that?"
"I think so." Belle replied. Gold held in his breath and watched nervously as Belle moved the fingers in her right hand a bit.
"Very good." Dr. Whale said, and Gold breathed a sigh of relief. "Any numbness or tingling in them?"
"No." Belle replied. "Is that good?"
"That's very good. You're doing well, Miss Woods." Dr. Whale said. "I want you to try and eat some breakfast, I'll have them bring you a tray. I want you to stay put in bed today, no sitting up or getting up without help from the nurse, and you should only be out of bed if you need to use the bathroom and I don't want you doing that without a nurse there, we need to keep that arm as immobile as possible so that it can heal."
"Okay." Belle agreed.
"I'll be back to check on you later today. Lots of rest today, alright?" Dr. Whale said.
"Don't worry – I'll see to that." Gold said. Dr. Whale left the room. Gold gently touched Belle's cheek and reached over to give her a kiss on the lips. "You're doing so well, love. Everything will be alright."
"This medicine makes me feel all loopy." Belle said after he kissed her. "How much of this do you think I'll even remember?"
"From my own experience? Some of it. Not all." Gold said. "It's alright though – when you're feeling better you can ask me one question a day about what happened during your drug-addled state." he teased, and Belle laughed a bit.
"Did you call my papa?" Belle asked.
"No. I didn't think you'd want me to worry him or put him at risk." Gold said.
"No, I don't want that." Belle said.
"You'll be all better by the time you see him again." Gold said. Belle reached up and touched his cheek with her left hand.
"You don't look like you slept very well." Belle said. Gold took her hand and kissed it.
"What did I just say? You don't worry about me, I'm fine. Getting you all healed up is what matters right now." Gold said.
"You need to take care of yourself, too. Did you eat anything yesterday? You hadn't had lunch yet before everything happened." Belle said.
"Belle – I will be fine. I had a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria, it was awful. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Gold asked.
"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself. I know how hard this has to be on you. You've come so far, Ian. Promise me that you'll tell me if it's too much for you to handle and we'll find a way to work through it together." Belle said.
"Belle, you're the one lying in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound, not me." Gold said. "You have enough to handle without worrying about my issues. I'll manage." Belle simply looked up at him and then squeezed his hand.
"Promise me." she said once again. Gold sighed.
"Sweetheart – I promise." he said. Gold cupped her chin in his hand, and she nuzzled her cheek against his hand and smiled.
Belle spent most of the day sleeping, much to Gold's relief. She was far too perceptive of what he was thinking and feeling, even in her heavily medicated state, and he was admittedly not very good at hiding the fact that he was barely handling things as they were. He spent much of the day in a state of worry – worry over traveling to Boston without having a panic attack, worry over the idea of watching his beautiful Belle struggle as they began to adjust her medication and move her down the road to recovery, which he knew from personal experience would be long and painful, and most of all – worry that whoever did this to Belle was still out there, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about that. He had been taking small swigs of alcohol throughout the day, topping them off with breath mints to make sure no one noticed. He had enough to get him through the evening but knew he would have to have Leroy purchase more for him the following day. Gold took walks down various hallways in the hospital to throw away the liquor bottles in different places. The last thing he needed was for Gwen or Emma to find out, let alone Belle. Gold told himself this was just a temporary necessity to help him cope until Belle was stronger and settled in Boston in a more secure place. Once he made it to that hurdle he'd be fine.
Gold intent was to spend most of his day attempting to implement a surveillance plan-o-gram for Regina's new property in Boston that would secure Emma's safety as she attempted to retrieve her son, Henry. Mrs. Potts had brought him a laptop that morning and he had hoped to have the entire thing completed by the end of the day. However, between his mind being fogged from his alcohol intake and his worry for Belle, not to mention his own lack of sleep and hunger (he had barely eaten a thing that day), he actually spent most of his day staring blankly at the computer, not accomplishing much of anything.
Mrs. Potts dragged Gold off to get a bite to eat in the cafeteria that evening, and when they got back to Belle's room he found that Mrs. Potts had arranged for a cot to be delivered and placed next to Belle's bed so that Gold could get some sleep. Too tired to argue, Gold laid down on the cot and fell asleep almost instantly.
Gold was awakened the next morning by the sound of Belle calling out for him. He immediately stood up, moved to the chair next to her bed, and took her hand. "I'm here, sweetheart."
"I have to get up." Belle said, her voice trembling.
"Alright, I'll buzz for the nurse." Gold hit the call button and the attending nurse entered the room within minutes. The nurse helped Belle into the bathroom. Gold cringed as he listened to her cry out in pain repeatedly. He carefully put his arm around her uninjured side as he, along with the nurse, helped her back to bed, ignoring the throbbing pain in his own leg as he put extra weight on it in order to aide Belle. "Get her something for the pain." Gold demanded after the nurse finished taking Belle's vitals, and the nurse left the room.
"No – no more drugs, please." Belle begged as Gold helped her settle in bed.
"Sweetheart – I know you don't like them but you won't be able to start on any kind of recovery process until your pain is under control and that requires your body to heal, and that means you need to rest." Gold told her gently.
"I want to go home, Ian. I don't want to be here." Belle said, starting to cry.
"I'm sorry, Belle. I'm so sorry." Gold said, not really sure what else to tell her. The nurse came back into the room with a cup of water and two pills.
"Here – the doctor ordered two every four hours, but he'll assess the dosage this afternoon once we see how you're doing." the nurse said, trying to hand her the pills.
"I don't want it." Belle said.
"Sweetheart – come on. It's alright. This isn't as strong as the morphine, right?" Gold asked.
"No, of course not. It will make you tired, but you'll be much more lucid when you're awake." the nurse said. "Can you tell me your pain level, Miss Woods?"
"Eight." Belle admitted reluctantly.
"Come on, love. I know you want to be brave, but this isn't being brave, and it isn't helping you at all." Gold said. Belle grudgingly took the pills from the nurse and swallowed them.
"I'll get you a breakfast tray." the nurse said.
"No need – I have a nice, healthy breakfast right here." Mrs. Potts said as she entered the room.
"Gwen!" Belle said, her face lighting up.
"Well, the doctor will be in later today." the nurse told her, and she left the room.
"Well, let's see what we have here. For you too Ian, you need to keep your strength up, too." Mrs. Potts said as she laid the food out on Belle's tray.
"Thank God, I don't think I could bear any more of that bloody cafeteria food." Gold commented.
"Thank you, Gwen. It's good to see you." Belle said, and she began eating, struggling with using a spoon with her left hand.
"Here – let me help." Gold said.
"Ian – I'm not an infant, I can feed myself." Belle insisted.
"Medicine is working then, is it?" Gold asked. "I've taken those before, they're pretty fast-acting."
"I just hate that I'm doing nothing but sleeping." Belle said as she finally managed to figure out how to maneuver her silverware.
"Oh, Ian slept for nearly four days straight after his surgery, trust me, it's the best thing, dear. You'll be well in no time." Mrs. Potts told her. Gold noticed for the first time since waking up that his laptop was missing. "I took care of it, dear." Gold sighed.
"That was my job." Gold said.
"You have other things on your mind. Don't worry about it." Mrs. Potts said.
"Don't worry about what?" Belle asked.
"Work things. Nothing you need to be concerned about." Gold said. "Let me at least look it over."
"You don't trust my work? Don't forget who trained you, young man." Mrs. Potts said, and Belle couldn't help but smile at their banter. Belle leaned back and sighed after she finished eating.
"I thought the nurse said this medicine wouldn't make me as tired." Belle mumbled.
"She said you would be more lucid when you are awake than on the morphine. Better chance of actually recalling conversations. But you do need to rest, sweetheart." Gold told her.
"Okay." Belle agreed, and she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Poor thing. She shouldn't have to be going through this." Mrs. Potts said.
"No, she shouldn't. I should be the one lying there, not her." Gold said.
"It's too bad she doesn't have any other friends here for support, that would do her a world of good, especially when we take her to Boston." Mrs. Potts said.
"I know." Gold agreed. "Is there any word on the surveillance footage?"
"They're still working on it." Mrs. Potts said. "So do you want to 'check my work' so to speak?"
"Yes, actually, I do." Gold replied.
"My laptop is in the car, I'll go get it." Mrs. Potts said. "Let's meet in the cafeteria, I don't want to disturb her. Take a shower and clean yourself up a bit and meet me there in an hour. You look absolutely awful, I'm surprised she wasn't petrified at the sight of you this morning."
"Thank you. Appreciate it." Gold retorted.
"Just being honest, dear. Poor girl has been through enough, no need to frighten her." Mrs. Potts teased.
"Indeed." Gold agreed. After Mrs. Potts left the room he began to go through his things. There wasn't one drop of alcohol left. Maybe he could get through the day without it, he thought to himself. At the very least he could try – for Belle's sake.
After Gold met with Mrs. Potts to go over what she had done, he headed back toward Belle's room. He was walking down the hall when he heard a voice call his name. "Mr. Gold?" the feminine voice called out. Gold turned around. It was Ruby Lucas. "It is you. I – I thought you never left your house."
"Well, I do." Gold said, and he turned to walk away.
"Is – is Lacey okay? I mean, she – she stopped coming to town, did she leave? I've been wondering about her, I just – wanted to know if she was alright." Ruby said nervously.
"She's fine." Gold said.
"Can you, um – can you tell her I said hi?" Ruby asked. Gold hesitated for a moment.
"Come with me." Gold said, and he grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her down the hall until he spotted an empty room – he pushed her inside and closed the door and stood in front of it, glaring at her. "Why are you here?" Ruby looked around the room nervously.
"Please let me go, I'll – I'll scream if you do anything to me." Ruby said.
"I'm not going to hurt you Miss Lucas, I simply asked you a question. Why are you here? I'd appreciate an answer." Gold said.
"I – I volunteer here a couple days a week. Bring magazines to the patients. Sometimes I play card games with them." Ruby said.
"Have you ever been arrested, Miss Lucas?" Gold asked bluntly.
"What? No – what do you want with me?" Ruby asked, nearly in tears.
"Have you ever done anything illegal? Drugs, prostitution, theft?" Gold asked.
"I – of course not, no. Please let me go." Ruby said.
"If I ran a background check on you, would I find anything that would make you out to be a threat or a dangerous person, or do you have any associations with people that might be a threat to others?" Gold asked.
"You can't keep me here. Let me out!" Ruby screamed.
"Miss Lucas – I'm simply trying to determine if you would be a good candidate to assist me in an urgent matter, I will not harm you." Gold said. "I'm usually wary of trusting people without knowing their personal history but Belle trusts you and I believe she has good instincts about people so I'm willing to take a risk with you because I do think her instincts are right about you, and that the only thing questionable about you are your wardrobe choices."
"Who's Belle?" Ruby asked.
"Lacey, I'm sorry. She's been hurt, and she's here in the hospital." Gold said.
"What did you do to her?" Ruby asked.
"I did nothing to her – you really need to stop listening to the town gossip, Miss Lucas." Gold said. "I'm having her moved to Boston, and need someone trustworthy to travel with her and keep her company when I'm unable to be there. I'd pay all of your expenses, of course. I'll still require several background checks but I'm willing to permit you to start with the stipulation that they will be conducted in a timely manner, and if I find you were not up front with me about anything you will have to answer to some people that you do not want to answer to. Now I'll ask you again – is there anything in your background, or any person, that one would consider suspicious or dangerous in nature?"
"No." Ruby replied. "Where is Lacey, I want to see her." Gold paused for a moment.
"Her name is Belle. She's staying with me as part of the Witness Protection program. This is top secret information and if you repeat it to anyone, even your grandmother, you risk arrest and prosecution by the United States government, as well as several international security organizations, do you understand?" Gold asked. Ruby nodded nervously. "Now – she is to be moved to Boston as soon as she's strong enough to travel. She'll be going to a rehab center to recover from her injury. It's not safe for me to travel with her, I'll be coming after. You would be responsible for keeping her company and getting whatever she needs. Once I arrive you would be asked to be there for her when I am unable to do so. As I said, I will pay all of your expenses and you will receive a generous stipend for your time. Are you interested?"
"Who are you?" Ruby asked, half in shock, not knowing what to say.
"Not what you've heard. Answer my question – are you interested?" Gold asked.
"Do I have a choice?" Ruby asked.
"At this point, given what I just told you, I'd say no. My guess Miss Lucas is that you've not done much with your life outside of Storybrooke. Think of this as an – adventure." Gold said, recalling Belle's words to him early on.
"What am I supposed to tell my grandmother?" Ruby asked.
"You are a grown woman, correct? You tell her you're taking a vacation and you'll return in a few weeks, it's not like she controls what you do with your life, or does she, because that may be a problem." Gold said.
"I work for her, I can't just leave." Ruby said.
"I knew your grandmother before you were even born, she's not going to fire you, the worst she'll do is yell at you upon your return, and if it helps, once this little adventure is over, I am more than willing to take the brunt of her wrath on your behalf, it won't be the first time." Gold said.
"Did you kill my parents?" Ruby asked bluntly.
"I did not." Gold replied.
"Then why do people think that?" Ruby asked.
"Because they do. Because they don't know what I know." Gold said.
"And what is that?" Ruby asked.
"Not telling." Gold replied. Ruby became quiet. "Miss Lucas – I am asking you for a favor. This means that I will owe YOU a favor in return, and I promise you, that is something that will definitely be a good thing for you at some point. I'd like an answer. Please." Ruby hesitated for a moment.
"I want to see Lacey. Then you'll have your answer." Ruby said.
"Fair enough. Let's go." Gold said, and she followed him out of the room.
Gold and Ruby approached the door to Belle's room just as a nurse was exiting. "Is she awake?" Gold asked the nurse. The nurse nodded yes.
"Just took her vitals. She's a little sleepy still from her last dose of meds – she didn't want anymore, she said she's fine." the nurse told him.
"Thank you." Gold replied. "Wait right here." he said to Ruby, motioning for her to stay in the doorway as he entered the room. Gold sat down next to Belle; she looked asleep but when he sat down she opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Where have you been?" Belle asked.
"Had to take care of a few things." Gold said. He brushed her hair back with his fingers and kissed her on the forehead. "Feeling any better? I just saw the nurse, she said you didn't want any more pain meds. Sweetheart, I know you don't like them but I don't want you to suffer, if you're in pain you need to take them."
"I'm alright. I'm feeling a little better now." Belle said.
"Well, that's very good." Gold told her. "I have surprise of sorts for you, if you're up for it. Would you like some company?"
"I like your company." Belle whispered, smiling at him.
"Well – I'm pretty certain that you'll get tired of me if I spend too much time fussing over you." Gold said, and he turned and looked at Ruby, who had been watching the entire scenario in shock and surprise. He motioned for Ruby to come in, and Ruby stepped forward. Belle smiled a huge smile when she saw her.
"Ruby." Belle said. "Hi."
"Hi Lacey." Ruby said. "What happened?"
"Wrong place at the wrong time." Belle told her.
"Her name is Belle – you may call her that, but only when no one else is here in the room. If a doctor or nurse enters she is to be referred to as Lacey Woods, do you understand?" Gold asked. Ruby nodded in agreement. "Ruby is going to be traveling with you to Boston. She'll help you get settled and she'll get whatever you need, and she'll be there with you when I have to step away to take care of things. Provided that her background check goes through alright." Gold grabbed a notepad that was lying on the end table and handed it to Ruby. "Write down your social, please. As well as your phone number." Ruby hesitated for a moment.
"It's alright – he did five of them on me." Belle said. Ruby wrote the numbers down and handed it to Gold.
"Thank you. You girls have a nice visit. Not too long though – she'll talk your ear off, this one, and she's supposed to be resting, don't tire her too much." Gold said to Ruby. "I'll be back in a few hours, love. I'll bring you another surprise." Gold said to Belle, and he gave her a kiss on the lips. Gold turned to Ruby as he stood up. "I'll call you tomorrow to let you know all of the details. Again – do not tell anyone, is that clear?"
"Yeah." Ruby said. She watched in shock as Gold left the room, then sat down next to Belle.
"What is his deal?" Ruby asked.
"He's a complicated man." Belle replied.
"And you guys are – a thing? How long has that been going on?" Ruby asked.
"It started a little while after you were at the house. We're in love." Belle said.
"Yeah, that was glaringly obvious, he's like a – totally different person with you." Ruby said. "So what happened?"
"I got shot." Belle said. "Hit my shoulder, it um – well it hurts like hell. I just don't like all the medicines, all I've been doing since I got here is sleeping and I barely remember half of anything that's happened."
"Who shot you?" Ruby asked, stunned.
"I don't know." Belle replied. "Ian is – he's a spy. It could have been anyone."
"A spy? You mean like an actual SPY spy?" Ruby asked incredulously.
"Yeah." Belle said. "I'm surprised he even let you in here."
"Well, he pulled me into an empty room and grilled me like I was a criminal before he brought me here. But that kind of makes sense now. All of it does. So he's not like a crazy person or anything, right?" Ruby asked. Belle laughed a bit.
"Well – he's – he has demons, but he's working through them. He's had a hard life. But he's a good man. And I love him, and he loves me." Belle said.
"Are you a spy too?" Ruby asked.
"No. I witnessed something in New York that – put me in danger. I was brought here to keep me safe, as well as my family. The whole falling in love thing was – not something I expected to happen. But it did." Belle told her. She yawned a bit and sighed.
"You should probably go back to sleep, you look kind of tired." Ruby said.
"I can't do anything, I hate all these medicines that I have to take and I can't even move from this bloody bed without help because I can't move my arm. I hate it here." Belle said, fighting back tears. "I just want to go back home with Ian."
"Well I think you have to get better before that can happen, that's why you're going to Boston, it sounds like they'll really help you there. You okay with me coming with you?" Ruby asked.
"I'd like that, very much." Belle told her. "Thank you. I really do need a friend right now."
"I'll be happy to be your friend, Lacey. I mean – Belle. I think your Mr. Gold sensed that. Maybe he's not so bad after all." Ruby said, and Belle smiled in agreement.
"I thought you'd want to see it right away." Leroy said to Gold, meeting with him in a private conference room that the hospital provided. Gold watched the surveillance footage that had been slowed down and more focused on the driver of the car. A look of absolute fury came over his face.
"Jones." he said through gritted teeth. "I thought that bastard was deported."
"Well, he figured out a way to come back I guess." Leroy said.
"Well, if he knows what's good for him, he'd best re-deport himself, because if he doesn't, I'll do it myself, and this time he'll be heading home in a box." Gold said angrily.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Mr. G." Leroy said. "How's Belle doing?"
"Still in quite a bit of pain, but she's – well, she's a very brave girl. I think once the initial bout with pain ends, which should be soon, she'll do well." Gold said.
"How about you? You don't look as crappy as you did the other day." Leroy said.
"I'm managing." Gold said.
"I um – I brought you some more – well, you know. If you need it." Leroy said. Gold thought about it for a moment.
"Yeah. I think I do." Gold replied, sighing with disappointment in himself.