Long Distance Love Letters

So Long, Summerside

Gilbert paced back and forth in the waiting room, the same exact waiting room that he had seen his boss kiss his wife in just an hour ago, fighting the urge to punch a wall.

In blind panic, he had scooped Anne up in his arms and rushed her to the hospital. They took Anne but had stopped Gilbert from coming with them.

"I work here and I'm her husband, for god's sake!!!" he had practically screamed, tears streaming down his face.

This came to no avail. They promised they would take incredible care of her, but since he wasn't on duty, they couldn't let him back.

So there he was, pacing back and forth in the waiting room as if he were some average Joe who would have no idea how to help his own wife given the chance.

"Damn it," he whispered, sitting down and punching his leg, ignoring the pain that it caused.

He tried to take deep breaths, praying to God that Anne and the baby were okay.

He turned as Daniel walked up to him.

He immediately stood. "Any news?"

Daniel sadly shook his head. "Not yet. I've just come to bring you to the hallway that she's in."

He nodded in disappointment and followed him to the appropriate hallway where he resumed his pacing for a bit before giving up and sliding down the wall to the floor.

He sighed as he recalled seeing Anne dance in the firelight all those years ago, looking so incandescently beautiful as her hair glowed and flickered with the flames.

"Please, God," he whispered, his head in his hands. "Please save her. Save my baby. Please, they don't deserve this. Please."

"Gilbert?"

Gilbert's blood started to boil as he turned to see Dr. Bledsoe walking up to him with a confused expression. He slowly stood up.

"What are you doing here?" Dr. Bledsoe asked, stopping in front of him.

Gilbert didn't respond, but the look in his eyes was enough to make the slightly older man squirm.

"Can you give me one reason why I shouldn't kick your ass right now?" Gilbert asked, his voice hard.

He watched as Dr. Bledsoe took a deep, shaky breath as he stared at the floor. "I am guessing Anne told you."

"She didn't need to. I saw."

He sighed. "Will you at least hear my side?"

"What?" Gilbert asked, his voice growing louder as he became angrier. "Are you going to claim that she lead you on?"

"No," he replied, his tone begging Gilbert to be quiet. "I'm so sorry, Gilbert. I did not mean to fall in love with her, I just did."

"I don't care if you meant to or not. You kissed her against her will after she explicitly let you know that she did not love you. How dare you think you can treat women that way?"

Dr. Bledsoe lost his composure a little, rolling his shoulders and refusing to respond.

"To think," Gilbert continued. "I blamed Anne at first because I had so much trust and respect for you. And now she is in the hospital risking a miscarriage because of me. I'm such a fool."

"Gilbert," Daniel called as he poked his head out of Anne's door, making him turn.

"Coming," he called before turning back to Dr. Bledsoe.

"You better pray to God that my wife and child are okay," he threatened. "Or I promise there will be hell to pay for you."

•••

Anne groggily opened her eyes, the fluorescent lights making her squint. She slowly became aware of her bearings. She could tell she was laying in a hospital bed in a really uncomfortable gown. The window showed that it was quite dark out. She looked over to see Gilbert sitting by her bed.

He saw her and smiled, leaning forward and taking her hand. "Hey," he whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she mumbled, still hazy. "What happened?"

"You, um...you started screaming in pain then you collapsed."

After a moment, all the memories came back with sharp clarity, as did all the emotions.

"The baby," she whispered, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "The baby. Did we...did we lose the baby?"

"No," he quickly assured. "No. The baby is okay, I promise. They reviewed it thoroughly and it's doing just fine."

Anne let her head fall back onto the pillow as relief washed over her. Gilbert squeezed her hand.

"So what happened?" she asked. "I mean, why did I have all of that pain?"

Gilbert sighed. "You were experiencing placental abruption. It's when the placenta separates from the uterus. Thankfully, the separation is small and caused no harm to the baby. It's uncommon, but can be caused by a lot of stress."

Anne nodded, just grateful that her baby was okay.

Gilbert's stroked her hand with his thumb. "I'm so sorry."

She sighed and shook her head, knowing he blamed himself. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I should've trusted you."

"And I should've told you when it started happening."

"Why didn't you?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "I thought I could handle it. And I didn't want you to do anything that would get you fired."

Gilbert cleared his throat. "Well, I just threatened Bledsoe twice, so I'm guessing I'll be getting fired soon."

"Gilbert Blythe!"

"What?? I wasn't going to let him get away with treating you like that."

Anne sighed, tracing the creases on Gilbert's hand. "I got fired today, too."

Gilbert's eyes shot up to meet hers. "What? Why?!"

She shrugged. "Apparently my students' parents think that I am telling their daughters to forget becoming a wife and to chase their 'quixotic' dreams."

Gilbert donned a confused expression. "That does not conform to any logic whatsoever."

"I agree, but...it's not my decision. But, of course, I am still expected to work until they can find someone to replace me."

He chuckled bitterly. "Of course. Why not rub salt in your wound?"

The two sat in silence for a moment before Gilbert spoke up again.

"Let's go home."

Anne looked at him in shock. "Really? Why?"

"Well, first of all, screw Summerside. Second of all, I have something to tell you."

Anne listened intently as Gilbert gave the full story about what was happening with Avonlea School, her blood heating up more and more until it was a roaring boil.

"I'm very sorry I didn't tell you earlier," he finished. "But we need to help."

She took a defiant breath. "Well, if it's a revolution that Avonlea needs, then it's a revolution they will get."

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AN: i'm literally apologizing for the late update now every chapter y'all are probably used to it