One-shots/Short Stories

Jefferson/Mad Hatter

A/N: We reached 150 guys!

The Wife and Daughter
"Mama, Mama!"
   "Yes, Grace?" Amelia walked out of the kitchen from making dinner, seeing her husband and daughter take off their coats. Amelia sat on the nearest chair when she started to feel dizzy.
   "Look what we found!" Grace skipped to her mother's side, revealing a basket of mushrooms. "We can make mushroom soup to make you feel better!"
   "Thank you, honey." Amelia gave her daughter a weak smile, planting a kiss on her forehead.
   "Amelia, I told you to not worry about making dinner." Jefferson came to her other side, placing a hand on his wife's forehead. "You're sick. You need to rest."
   "I'm fine, I'm fine." Amelia waved off, slowly getting out of her chair with the help from him. "Dinner is almost ready."
   Just when she took one step towards the kitchen, she fell to the floor. Luckily Jefferson caught her in time. "Mama?"
   "Grace, go get some water from the well." Jefferson told her. She did as she was told. "Come on, Amelia, let's go back to bed."
   "Jefferson. . ."
   "Shh, everything is going to be fine." Lifting her up bridal style, he started making his way back to their bedroom.

***

"It's getting worse, isn't it."
   He stood at the window in their room, the moonlight hitting his face gently. Amelia laid on the bed with a sleeping Grace at her side, stroking her hair gently. "What's getting worse, my love?" Amelia asked tiredly. Jefferson turned away from the window to give his wife a sad look.
   "Your sickness." he clarified. "You're not getting better. You're getting worse."
   "Jefferson. . ."
   "Why can't you just let me travel just this once?" he pleaded, kneeling beside her weak form. "I promise as soon as I get the medicine you need. . ."
   "No." she coughed, placing a hand on his face. "We can't risk it. I can't risk losing you because of me."
   "But Amelia -"
   "You promised to never use the hat when Grace came to our world." Amelia told him. "You promised unless it is an emergency -"
   "It is an emergency." he told her, barely holding his tears in. "You're dying, Amelia. And I can't just let it win."
   "Please," she whispered, her eyes drooping, "don't do it. I promise, I'm getting better. Just please, don't leave."
   "Okay." he agreed reluctantly, feeling the hopelessness sink in. "Okay, I won't."
   "Come to bed, darling. It's late."
   Watching his two girls sleep, he thought about Amelia's health, and how much he wanted to use the hat one last time to get her the medicine she needed. But like she said, they promised each other to never use the hat unless it's an emergency. In his opinion (and maybe Grace's) Amelia's sickness was an emergency. They suspected she got it from when they went to the nearby village. They were selling their products when she first started feeling dizzy. After that, she's been getting weak and tired and was coughing a lot.
   He needed her to get help, but he just didn't know how.

***

When he walked inside the house, Grace staying outside and away from the house when they saw the Queen's carriage, he felt his world shatter when he saw the Queen towering over his unconscious wife.
   "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jefferson shoved her to the side despite the fact she was the Queen, and placed a hand on Amelia's clammy skin. "Amelia? Amelia, are you okay?"
   "I'd like to say you're doing well, Jefferson, but I'd be lying." Regina drawled out, one of Grace's dolls in her hands. "Poverty doesn't suit you."
   "What are you doing here, Regina? What did you do to her?" Jefferson demanded, standing in front of his wife protectively.
   "I did nothing to her." she waved off. "When I came she was like that on the sofa. I decided to be nice and make sure she didn't die. If she did, then surely you wouldn't have done what I want you to do."
   "What do you want, Regina?" he repeated.
   "I have a job for you."
   "I don't do that anymore." Jefferson shook his head, going back to his wife. He went to the kitchen quickly and grabbed a wet cloth, placing it on her forehead. Amelia moaned, but that was it.
   "Yes, I heard you hung your hat. Why? Is it because of your sweet daughter and your ill wife?" She waved the doll in her hands.
   "I don't do that anymore because it puts them at risk. If I get caught, they will have to live without me. Grace will grow up without a father, and with a dying mother. I can't let that happen." Jefferson explained to her, revealing his darkest fear. Regina kept her face bank.
   "So now you're foraging for fungus." she said in disgust. He shrugged in reply. "What kind of future does your daughter have here with you? And with a dying mother? Do this one last favour for me, and you can give your daughter the life she deserves. You and your beautiful, dying wife."
   Jefferson removed his from his spot at his wife's side, walking up to the Queen's face. "That's why I'm staying. You don't abandon family. That's -" he leaned closer to her face mockingly, "-what she deserves. Now please leave."
   He went back to his wife. "All I need is your special skills to get me somewhere. Somewhere you've been before. Do it, and I can change your life. I can even heal your wife from her sickness. I'm not stupid, I can see she's dying."
   Frustrated with what's been happening recently, he grabbed the paper she held out to him. He frowned down at the destination given to him. "What business could you possibly have there?"
   "Something of mine was taken and found its way over there. I want it back." Jefferson shook his head, holding the paper to her.
   "Then find someone else to get it." Mad that he refused despite the obvious that Amelia needed the medication, Regina snatched the paper back.
   "I see. Hard living has strengthened your resolve. Well, I'm sorry I couldn't convince you, but I understand. There's nothing more important than family." Chuckling bitterly, she made her way out. "Have fun telling your daughter that your one chance at healing her mother went to waste because of your fear."