Rapunzel Untangled (15 page)

She walked over to the window and opened it. Angel perched in the tree branch in spite of the cold. She wondered how much longer the bird would be around before heading for warmer climes. Rapunzel leaned out, the cold air cooling her warm head. She held out her handful of seed, and Angel flew over, landing right on her palm.

“I haven’t seen much of you lately, my little friend,” she said to the bird.

Angel looked up at her, cocking her head side to side as if trying to puzzle out Rapunzel’s words. A wave of dizziness hit Rapunzel, and she grabbed the sill with her other hand, steadying herself.
That was strange
, she thought. Angel chirped at her and flew back to the branch. Rapunzel scattered the remaining seed on the sill and closed the window.

She’d thought of cooking for her mother tonight but just couldn’t muster the energy. She walked back into the room, still feeling overly warm as her mother entered with their dinner. Rapunzel went to help her carry the food in.

She sat down across from her mother and looked at the food. Chicken enchiladas. One of her favorites. Yet the thought of eating made her stomach churn. Suddenly she felt extremely cold and began shaking as her body broke out in goose bumps.

A look of alarm came into her mother’s eyes. “Rapunzel, what’s wrong with you?” She reached across the table, touched Rapunzel’s hand, and then quickly drew her hand back as if burned, gasping.

“What?” Rapunzel asked, looking down at her hand. Was there something there that gave away her going to the party?

“Are you feeling . . . sick?” she asked, rising from her chair and placing a hand on Rapunzel’s forehead. “Oh,” Gothel exclaimed on an exhaled breath, the alarm in her eyes ratcheting up to panic.

“I’m okay,” Rapunzel said. “Just a little tired.” Although now that she thought about it, she did feel kind of funny inside. Her stomach grumbled, and her head spun. “I really, really need to lie down,” she said, standing. As she did so, the room spun in a sickeningly fast whirl and blackness crowded her vision.

* * *

Rapunzel was dying. She’d taken the risk, known the possible outcome, and now she’d pay. She just hadn’t known it would be so utterly miserable to die. Her body ached deep in her bones, as if she’d been running and lifting weights non-stop for days on end.

Fire consumed her. She burned from somewhere deep within the pit of her belly. She wanted to beg someone to douse the flames, but when she tried to speak, her throat felt as if it had been jammed with rocks and sand, and the pain made it impossible to speak.

Someone had tied her arm down. She weakly tried to lift it, opening her eyes just a slit to see what was happening, and saw some clear plastic tubing binding her arm. She let it fall back to the bed.

“Rest, Rapunzel,” she heard her mother say. She turned toward the voice but only saw an unfocused version of her mother sitting next to her, worry creasing her face. She let her eyes slide closed. Coldness suddenly penetrated her forehead and her armpits. Why her armpits? Within seconds a bone-deep cold replaced the fire. She shivered violently, the action abusing her aching muscles, and she wanted to beg for some warmth. She heard arguing but couldn’t make the words out above her chattering teeth that knocked loudly in her pounding head.

If it were possible, she became even more chilled as icy coldness pressed against her again. She wished wildly for the fire to return and consume her, put her out of her misery. She heard a low moaning and realized the sound came from deep within her chest. The sound terrified her. She was helpless to stop it. Darkness pressed against her and she rose up quickly, gratefully to meet it.

* * *

Darkness pervaded the room when Rapunzel opened her eyes. She lay on her side, facing the wall. Her head throbbed, her body ached, and the strange plastic tubing was still stuck to her arm. But at least she wasn’t burning or freezing, though her bed was damp beneath her. She decided to lie still until she knew whether moving was going to hurt. When she felt ready, she rolled over, facing her door where ambient light came into the room.

Voices filtered in from the next room. She felt as if she were listening to them from underwater. One voice belonged to her mother—she could recognize that. But the other was unfamiliar, deep and masculine.

“Why isn’t she getting better?” she heard her mother ask urgently.

There was a pause, then the man spoke again, his voice much closer as if he’d moved closer to her doorway. She slammed her eyes closed. “You have to understand that she hasn’t built up a normal immunity, being confined as she is. Flu and strep throat aren’t easy for even a normal person’s body to deal with.”

“How did she get sick?” her mother hissed.

Again silence, broken only by rustling. She opened the smallest slit and saw the man holding his arms away from himself, as if to indicate his confusion.

Her mother’s head came into view, and she closed her eyes again. When she spoke, her voice was a harsh whisper. “She
cannot
die. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, I do, but—”

“There is no but, Henreich. Much rides on Rapunzel. If she dies, you know the consequences.”

The man sighed, and a memory niggled at Rapunzel’s memory. The name
Henreich
struck a note with her. Who was he?

“I’m well aware, Gothel. But perhaps it’s time to reconsider your actions. It seems very unfair and potentially dangerous to keep the girl locked up—”

“You dare to question me?” Rapunzel flinched at the venom in her mother’s voice. She dared to peek again and saw the man twisting his hands. “You have much to protect yourself by keeping the secret, Henreich. Or do you need to be reminded?”

Secret? What secret?
Rapunzel felt nauseated, her stomach clenching at the words.

“Listen, Gothel, I appreciate what you’ve done. But now, perhaps—”

“You listen to me, Henreich. You will lose everything; your sons will lose everything. Do you think they will allow you to continue being a doctor?” Rapunzel suddenly had a vague recollection of him from when she was a young girl. He’d come once when she was young, but the memory was too unclear. “How is your family going to survive with you in prison? What will they think of you then?”

Henreich’s shoulders drooped, and Rapunzel wondered what her mother was talking about. “It just doesn’t feel right to keep her here, Gothel,” he muttered so low that Rapunzel wasn’t even sure she heard right.

“But?” Gothel prompted.

“But I’ll keep your secret,” he said.

“
Our
secret,” she reiterated.

The man turned toward Rapunzel, and she quickly slid her eyes closed. She heard him move across the room and felt his hand on her forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and Rapunzel felt the words were for her. “Her fever has broken,” he said more loudly to Gothel. Soon her mother’s hands were on her, and Rapunzel slowly opened her eyes.

“Rapunzel, are you better?” her mother said urgently.

“It will take some time,” Henreich said. Rapunzel’s eyes moved to his. Sorrow reflected in his face, and something like guilt. “Don’t worry,” he said to her, “We’re going to get you feeling better. You just relax and take it easy, give your body time to recover.”

Rapunzel nodded and let her eyes drift closed again. She wanted to replay their conversation in her mind again, as if she were missing some key that she couldn’t quite grasp. But lethargy overtook her, and she was unable to fight against it.

 
^.*
*

S
everal days crawled by before Rapunzel felt strong enough to get out of bed unassisted. Henreich had come the day before and removed the tubing from her arm, explaining the IV and its function. She shuddered with horror as she watched the long tube sliding out of her, where it had been embedded beneath her skin.

She wanted to shower. Her mother or Henreich had been by her side constantly, and this was the first time she’d been left alone. Gratefully, shakily, she rose from the bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She avoided looking at herself in the mirror, having seen how awful she looked the last few times she’d been in here with her mother’s help.

She dropped her pajamas from her sunken body and climbed into the shower, reveling in the feel of the warm water as it sluiced across her body. She stood for long minutes, letting it soothe her before beginning the arduous process of washing her hair.

Half an hour later she emerged, exhausted but refreshed. She toweled dry and had just finished pulling on gym shorts and a T-shirt when her mother returned.

“Rapunzel! What are you doing out of bed?” Her mother hurried over, fluttering around her.

“I needed to shower,” she said. “I feel much better now.”

“You must get back to bed, right away.”

“Can’t I just sit on the couch for a while?”

“No.” Her mother’s tone didn’t allow for argument. “You must rest and get better. You need to lie down. Cook will soon bring your dinner.”

Rapunzel allowed herself to be led back to the bed. Her dinner came, which her mother stayed to watch her eat. She didn’t have much of an appetite and wasn’t able to eat much, but her mother seemed pleased and left her alone to sleep.

But Rapunzel didn’t want to sleep. She was bored. She was restless.

She wanted to talk to Fane.

An hour later her mother returned and Rapunzel pretended to be asleep. Satisfied, her mother left and Rapunzel, betting her mother wouldn’t return again, rose from her bed and made her way to her computer.

It took a few minutes for it to boot up. When it did, she quickly connected to the Internet and signed in to Facebook. He wasn’t online.

She saw that she had messages and clicked on the little icon. Message after message from Fane appeared. They began with a lighthearted tone and quickly became worried.

Hey, Rapunzel, just wanted to say how much fun I had at the Halloween party with you. You were definitely the hottest girl there. (Yes, I can see you blushing.)

Just wondering where you’ve been? Guess we keep missing one another. Maybe we should set a time. Tell me when you can be on, and I’ll be here. Anything for the hot girl.

Are you avoiding me? Cuz I know where you live, hahaha. Okay, sorry, that was a little creepy. But seriously, where are you?

Hey, are you mad at me? If I did something wrong, please tell me. I miss you.

Okay. Now I’m seriously worried. Did something happen to you? I kinda think if you are mad at me, you’d tell me. So now I think something might be wrong with you. Please, please, even if you hate me, let me know you’re okay.

If you hate me and never want to speak to me again, that’s okay. Just tell me so I know you’re fine.

Rapunzel, I am seriously going to come break into your house to see what’s going on.

Rapunzel counted. There were over thirty messages all together. She scrolled back up to the top one, surprised to see it had been ten days.
Ten days?
How in the world had so much time passed? She felt like it had only been a few.

Suddenly, her Skype window popped up, flashing to show Fane was calling her. She quickly answered with video, then regretted it when her reflection in the tiny window showed her hair plastered to one side of her face and her pale, drawn visage.

Fane leaned toward the camera, and in spite of the not-quite-clear quality, she could see the worry etched on his face.

“Rapunzel? Is that you? Are you okay?”

She smiled, drinking in the sight of him. “Yes, I am now.”

“Now? What does that mean?”

“I wasn’t feeling well for a few . . . for a while. I was sick. But I’m better now.”

Fane squinted his eyes a bit, examining her face. The worry never left his.

“Are you sure you’re better? You look really . . . tired.”

“I am,” she said. “But I do feel much better.”

Fane leaned back in his chair, twisting back and forth, arms crossed, chewing on one thumb. Finally he sat forward again. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?”

“What’s your fault?” she asked.

“You. Being sick. What if . . . what if you had, you know, died or something?”

Rapunzel couldn’t deny that she had thought she was dying, more than once. So she didn’t answer that particular question.

“No, Fane. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I shouldn’t have lifted the mask.”

“I shouldn’t have taken you to begin with,” he said.

“Don’t say that,” she said. “You’re the only fun I’ve had in my whole life. Even if I died tomorrow, I’d be okay with that. Fane, do you understand what my life is?”

He didn’t answer, just looked down.

“I sit inside these walls, all day, every day, doing nothing, seeing no one, talking to a bird that lives in the tree outside my window. I don’t want to live like that anymore.”

His eyes came back to her. “What do you mean?”

She looked around, as if her mother might have snuck in and would overhear her. “When I was sick, I overheard my mother and my doctor speaking. It was really weird.”

“Yeah? What’d they say?”

“I can’t remember everything,” she said with a sigh. “I was very sick and so I’m honestly not sure how much I really heard and how much I imagined. But he was telling her I shouldn’t be kept inside so much. He said something about it being bad for the community.”

“Bad for the community?” Fane’s brows clashed together as his mouth tightened.

“I know. It doesn’t make sense to me, either. But she told him that if he told her secret, he couldn’t be a doctor any longer, and that his family would be ashamed of him.” Tears pricked Rapunzel’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what it all meant. Somehow it felt deeply wrong that her mother had a secret involving her—a secret bad enough that a man would no longer be a doctor, that he would go to
prison
if revealed. She’d gotten to know Dr. Henreich as she recovered a bit, and found him to be kind and caring.

“What can I do to help?” Fane asked.