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"My eyes? Henry?" Emma said,
words stammering in shock. He closed his eyes for a moment, coughing hoarsely.
"NO . . . what have I done
. . . " He heard softly from within. Don't blame yourself, it's
not your fault that you are weak and moronic, Henry . . . He shot back
through the
unconscious void that separated them, the living from the . . . subdued.
You're
not the only one who can compose a plan, Jekyll. We'll just see how
long it takes you to discover you have nothing left to win . . .
He
smirked to himself, a look that Emma had never seen in his vast array of
endearing
facial expressions. She stared at him, still unbelieving . . . so terrified
for his health, but because of something else, too . . . something she
couldn't
quite--
"As I was . . . saying, I . . . " He coughed again, this time purposely, lowing his voice to a whisper.
"Yes, Darling?" Emma asked, leaning
closer, his face inches from her own. Not close enough, Precious, let
me show you what you've been
missing. He reached a shaky hand up to her waist, pulling her
closer gently, his eyes straying to the low-neck line of her casual dress.
"Closer, I have to . . . tell you a secr-"
"What is it!?" Helena gasped, bursting into the room, seeing Emma hovering over him concernedly.
"He just, he started . . . " Emma
stuttered, her emotions bursting forth now that someone was there to properly
care for him. Helena brushed
past her, standing over his weakened body, Hyde shutting his eyes as
she approached him, biting back a snicker at the utter stupidity of these
two
women. "Suddenly he was in such incredible pain . . . "
"I'm quite alright now, Helena
. . . " He said, opening his eyes to see that his voice was all the indication
she needed to realize he had taken
over once again.
"Emma, please go. I'll need to
examine him, you understand . . . please just leave now . . . have Poole
fix you some dinner, it's been days
since you've eaten properly."
"But, I-"
"Emma, please!" Helena hissed seriously, praying she wouldn't realize what had taken place.
"But he looks so . . . his voice-"
"Emma, Darling, I'm fine . . .
just . . . parched." Hyde added, coughing for effect. Emma nodded and left
then, without another word, Hyde
chuckling as the door shut.
"You bastard! What are you trying
to do?" She said, louder then she had intended. "And what was this pain?
Was it physical or was it . . .
you?" She stood and crossed the room, anxious to escape those eyes,
noting that, recently, nothing separated the two men but voice and posture,
and
those eyes. They were terrible; all the beauty and life of Henry's
completely reciprocated into the exact opposite. Hyde's eyes shined with
a look of
death.
"It was nothing Helena . . . a brief spasm of the hips, you know how these newlywed situations get."
"You disgust me . . . you'd better not have laid a hand on her. She is NOT your plaything, Hyde!"
"Please, call me Edward . . ." He said, his weakness evident although he hid it quite well.
"I'll do no such thing!"
"Oh, I see . . .jealously can be
a powerful thing. I'll forgive your snippy attitude this time, seeing as
Emma just got closer to his face then you
ever will." He said snidely, playing his first, perfectly tuned card.
"Your face, Hyde. And my feelings are none of your concern."
"Both faces, Dear . . . and let
it be known that I am far more observant then my idiotic counterpart. You
love him, and if you deny that your
life will be very grim." Helena sighed, trying desperately to find
a way out of the conversation. Still she felt as though all Hyde's ribbing
had some
point, and she wanted to find out what it was.
"Well, then Mr. Hyde-"
"Edward . . ."
"MR. Hyde, what do you propose I do, considering the fact that you are very much in tune with my wishes and desires-"
"Take me instead . . . the perfect
compromise!" He said with an attempt at what Helena could have sworn was
sincerity, but not quite
succeeding. She glared at him for a long moment, his eyebrows raised
as though she would actually consider this for a moment. She walked over
to
the side of the bed then, resisting the urge to laugh.
"I'm sorry, Edward, but I make
an effort to not get involved with dying men, and you-Mr. Hyde-will not
be with us much longer, that I can
assure you of."
"Oh, in that case you may want
to steer clear of your darling Dr. Jekyll as well, Dearie." He said, his
nice act slipping for a moment with the
last word, his voice turning so cold Helena nearly flinched.
"Come now, use your pretty little
head! I believe you have already decided, though you may not be aware of
it, that I am considerably more
intellectually stimulating then he is."
"You make me ill, Hyde . . . everything about you sends a shudder through me."
"Ahhh, but Helena, now more then
ever, everything about me and everything about Henry are practically the
same! Save for the fact that I
indulge in the usage of all my anatomy." He said with a vulpine grin.
"This conversation is over." Helena
declared, storming to the door. What was I thinking! Her mind shouted,
not knowing why she had even
consented to listening to him in the first place. She reached the door,
terrified that Hyde was getting out of hand, gaining too much ground on
her
weakened doctor. Yet just as the door closed behind her, he spoke from
the bed one last time, his eyes closed. The words were rather hushed, almost
impossible to decipher, but his comment sparked her memory once again,
stopping her dead in her tracks. Leaving Helena alone with her beating
heart,
and the realization of why she had stayed so long. Hyde was right .
. . she was drawn to him.
"Goodnight, Helena . . .
You're sultry little pout can't fool me no matter how hard it tries. You
enjoyed this little encounter, we both know
that, so there's no need to hit me over the head with a beaker this
time."