AUTHOR'S NOTES: I didn't originally intend for this chapter to get as dramatic as it did. But once I got going, I just went with it.

Besides, a little angst every now and then is good, right?

Chapter 5: Gardening Gone Wrong

Headcanon: During experimentations with growing different plants and hybrids, Isabela discovered that she is HIGHLY allergic to poison ivy.

"Isa, here's a plant called 'poison ivy'," Antonio said as he studied the book of plants his prima had gotten from her parents a few weeks ago.

During an overnight visit to a town a day's journey from the valley, Julieta and Agustin had stopped in the book shop and found several volumes of plants from around the world and couldn't help picking up a large book filled with colorful diagrams of foliage.

Since receiving the book, Isabela had taken to trying to grow whatever she could, some of which had even been replanted outside for cultivation purposes so that the vegetation could become a permanent addition to the encanto - coffee, fruit, and vegetables being of particular interest.

Glancing over Antonio's shoulder, Isa looked at the plant he was pointing to, and she frowned slightly as she read the description. "I don't know, Tonito," she mused, warily. "It says that this plant can cause skin irritation. It might be dangerous."

"I thought that's why you wanted me to bring some of Tia Julieta's food?" Antonio pointed out, gesturing to a basket containing arepas, bunuelos, and cinnamon cookies.

Smirking good-naturedly, Isabela nodded, ruffling her primo's hair as she agreed, "Alright, you've got me there." Looking at her bedroom walls, she asked the house, "Casita, if you could give me a little help on this one?"

A wide, stone and tile area appeared in the center of the room and a low wall encircled it as Isa stood in the center, closing her eyes as she focused on bringing the vines to life.

Hearing something sliding across the stones, she opened her eyes, nodding with approval as she studied the poison ivy. It looked harmless enough, but that didn't mean that she should let her guard down. After all, a few of her plants had been known to act independently of her magic.

"Ahhh!" Isabela yelped as her wrist brushed against the plant when she turned around towards Antonio. Looking down, her eyes widened as the skin of her wrist and hand broke out in hives almost instantly and her fingers started to get a little puffy. Before she could make the request of Antonio, she saw that he was already handing her an arepa which she bit into immediately, chewing quickly as she watched the rash worsen. "Go find Mama and tell her to bring the allergy kit!" she instructed, trying another bite of arepa. Once Antonio had gone, casita wasted no time burying the poison ivy underneath a mountain of bricks and stone before making a small stone bench for Isa to sit down on.

By the time Julieta and Antonio came rushing into the room followed by Pepa who was holding a dressing gown, the rash had started to spread all around her arm. "Did your clothes touch the ivy at all?" Pepa wanted to know as casita dumped out Isa's dirty laundry basket and shuffled it over to her.

"I-I don't know," Isabela admitted, looking at her forearm which was swelling up as the rash reached her elbow. "I ate a whole arepa but it's not helping!"

Using a handkerchief to give her daughter a bunuelo, Julieta examined the rash and set down the basket she'd brought with her, donning a thick pair of gloves before opening a jar of salve. "Eat," she said, simply, as she dabbed the paste onto the rash. "Are you having any trouble breathing?"

"No," Isabela replied as Pepa set the basket of food within her sobrina's reach.

"Keep eating," Julieta pressed, watching the allergic reaction. The swelling seemed to have subsided, but the rash was the same, even as Isabela finished off another bunuelo. "I don't know what was in that plant, but this is easily one of the worst allergic reactions I've ever seen." Giving her daughter a pointed look, she added, "Even worse than your father's bee stings."

Looking at her son as he asked how he could help, Pepa shook her head at Antonio. "I'm sorry, Tonito, but there's nothing you can do right now."

"But I need to help Isa! It's my fault that she touched that plant!" Antonio cried, tears falling down his cheeks. "I told her to grow it!"

"This is not your fault, Antonio," Isabela assured him as her mother soaked a rag with a thick liquid and pressed it to the rash. The second treatment smelled and stung but that became the least of Isa's worries as she heard herself wheezing ever so slightly. With a bit of difficulty, she managed to take a deep breath, but looking at her mother, she admitted, "Mama... I-I think I'm having trouble breathing."

Julieta swore loudly and she and Pepa exchanged a quick, panicked look as Pepa hurriedly helped Isa out of her dress and into the dressing gown before taking Isa towards her bedroom, getting the young woman settled in bed so that she was sitting up.

"Open up," Julieta ordered her daughter, slipping a lozenge under her tongue. "Hold that there, mi flor pequena."

"Am I going to die?" Isabela murmured, squeezing her Tia Pepa's hand.

The rasp in Isa's breathing was becoming more pronounced and Julieta tried to put on a brave smile as she dug a small bottle of tonic out of her kit and slowly trickled a bit down Isa's throat. "You're going to be okay, corazon. You hear me? You'll be alright."

Time seemed to drag on and with each tight breath her daughter took, fear clenched Julieta's heart a little tighter.

Finally, Isabela managed to take a deep, albeit shaky, breath and she gave her mother a reassuring look as the rash began to slowly heal.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Julieta caressed her daughter's cheek, offering numerous grateful prayers that her little girl was going to be fine.

"No more experiments with plants like that, understood?" Julieta warned, looking tired. "That was a close call. Imagine if you'd been in here alone."

Looking over at Antonio who still looked scared and guilty, Isabela smiled warmly at him and gave him a one-armed hug after beckoning him to join her on the bed. "You hear that, Tonito? If you hadn't been here to go for help, it might have been too late by the time someone checked on me. You saved my life."

Not wanting to point out that Isa's life might not have needed saving if not for Antonio's encouragements, Pepa nodded, kissing her son's curls. "She's right. You're a hero."

Standing up and gathering up her supplies, Julieta watched her sister grab the basket of food and bring it into the bedroom, handing over a pair of cookies. "Just keep eating," Juli advised. "I'll check on you in a little bit, okay?"

After consuming both cookies, another bunuelo, and half of the last arepa, Isabela felt considerably better as well as very tired. Antonio snuggled up to her and after a few moments, a restful slumber overtook both of them.