Yesterday and Today....

It's Eugene.  I'm....I really don't know what to do with this blog or  how to type this, or even what I'm going to do now...and I'm not talking about the blog.  I suppose I should keep the blog running in order to keep you guys updated on...on Rapunzel. 
My entire family was decimated within hours.

Yesterday evening, around six, Anna came over to our side of the table.  For this to make any sense, I guess I need to add that Jordan had been particularly fussy today. 
"I thought I'd let you know that Tangled Fan will be coming anytime now to get the kids.  I told her you guys obviously don't take care of them...since that baby is crying ALLLL the time.  Just thought I'd let you know, since she tends to be really abrupt with these things." 
Rapunzel whirled around to stare at her.  She had been pacing, trying to get Jordan distracted.  We both gave her a wide-eyed, horrified stare. 
"What?  You...you're kidding, right?  No.  Tangled Fan knows we take care of the girls.  She wouldn't--"
"You know that she's very picky about who gets kids, because she doesn't want them to be uncared for."
"Rapunzel, go.  Go with the girls.  I'll come along with Jordan in a few minutes, okay?  Take them where you know they can't be found, and stay."  I came to my senses.
She overlapped me.   "You good for nothing, sick--"
I snagged her shoulder.  "Listen to me.  I'll handle this, you go with the girls.  Run!" 
She gave Anna a look of pure hatred --one I had never seen, and quite honestly, it scared me.  She dropped the look for a second and glanced back at me.  "I have to--"
"Don't waste your time messing around and looking for a fight.  GO!"  I pulled Jordan from her arms, and she promptly scooped the other two girls up before rushing off.
I turned back towards Anna.  "What were you thinking?!" 
"I'm sick of you guys having such a PERFECT life.  You need to face reality, and know that life isn't easy for all of us."  she nodded three or four times, so sure of herself. 
"You don't even know the half of it," I spat.  She and I engaged in a staredown, and I would have won if I hadn't heard a shrill, bloodcurdling scream.
In a matter of minutes, my wife had made it with the girls to the top of the shelving unit across the room.  Casey was disappearing behind some of Tangled Fan's bigger dolls - the 18 inch dolls-, but Rapunzel had slipped, I guess, and she and Audrey were now dangling off of the top of that monstrous thing. 
I sucked in a breath, staring...horrified... I yelled for her to hold on, but just as I did so, she literally threw Audrey up onto the top of the unit...lost her grip...and fell. 
I tried to run, but Anna tried to stop me.  I shoved past her, with Jordan in one of my arms, and I raced to catch my girl....but I didn't get to her in time.  I watched as she cracked her head off of the middle shelf, and then hurtled through the air, unconscious. 

I'll never forget the resounding crack that she made when she hit the floor.

Everything around me went silent.  I went numb.  I tried to keep from screaming, because I didn't want to upset Jordan, who was already crying.  I staggered over to my wife, hiding Jordan's face in my shoulder.
Was she even alive?  Suddenly, Tangled Fan's shadow loomed over us, but she didn't seem to notice the three of us on the floor.  She was focused on the girls above.
"NO!  Don't...Don't step on us!"  I shouted, trying to shield Rapunzel and Jordan both with my own body...whatever good that would do. 
She jumped back, and bent down.  "I came to take the girls on a--"
"I KNOW!  We'll talk about that later!  She...she..." I gestured, and she immediately scooped her up. She didn't say a word, but she took the girls, too.  As she wrestled Jordan from my arms, I pleaded.  "Don't-don't take the girls, please....please, just..."
With that, she walked away.  Rather, she strode away angrily.
I stood alone on the floor for I don't even know how long, not moving an inch, but Zelia came tearing over to me sometime when it was getting dark.
"What on earth happened?!" 
"I-I..." I stared at her, alarmed.  I couldn't coordinate my thoughts, I couldn't even think straight --
"USE YOUR WORDS, MORON!"  she got in my face, and I stumbled back a step, tripped over some piece of junk on the floor, and almost fell. 
"She-she...s-she...." I stuttered until I was able to get the whole thing spat out.  I won't tell you what all I said, my dialogue was full of stuttering and stupidity, and you know what happened, anyway.
Once I'd told her what I knew, she grabbed my shirt sleeve and hauled me off, in hot pursuit of Tangled Fan.  I got my act together and helped her open the door, and we made a run for it.  Down the hallway, skid to a stop...look around.  Start yelling for someone.
Luckily, Tangled Fan was the first to hear us. 
"What...how did you guys-"
"Take us to see Rapunzel, now.  And give the girls back!" Zelia wasn't afraid to yell at her.
They went back and forth for some time, and I even got into it with Tangled Fan, but finally, she took us to the craft room. 
"I'm keeping a hold of the girls, because Hans and Anna were quite adamant that you and Rapunzel weren't caring for them.  While I can't believe either of you would do anything to them, I'm taking every precaution.  And as for Rapunzel...she's lucky to be alive right now, but she's not out of the woods yet.  She should be awake sometime soon.  If she isn't, there will be memory loss...or worse.  I'll tell you already, if she doesn't wake up in twenty-four hours, she might not live.  Nothing's broken from what I can tell, but I can't tell if anything's hurting her, because she isn't awake yet to tell me.  And there could be something broken or snapped off in the inside, too--you guys aren't completely hollow in there."  
Zelia and I fought her about the kids' 'mistreatment', and she finally relented, once Zelia told her about Anna and Hans doing anything to be jerks to us.  I won't include the argument...it's just drama.  The important thing is that we got Tangled Fan to understand, and we got the kids back.  Now, my wife just had to wake up. 
She--Tangled Fan-- finally set us both down on the table that she had set my wife.  She was bundled in a couple of blankets despite the warm-ish weather; maybe because of shock?  I don't know if us dolls can go through shock... 

All I could see of her was her horribly pale face.  Her eyes were closed; her lips dry and slightly blue.  I knelt beside her and promptly broke down.  Zelia put a hand on my shoulder, but it was just so she could lower herself beside me. 
"She...she looks bad, doesn't she..." it wasn't a question that her sister asked.  I glanced away from my wife to look at her sister, and she herself was pale, her eyes filled with fear. 
I realized then that Tangled Fan was still there, and I tried to regain my composure.  "Wh...when will she be awake?" 
She bit her lip.  "She should've been awake ten minutes ago."

For the second time that day, every sound faded away.  I could see her and Zelia talking, but I couldn't hear them.  I turned back to my wife and I didn't look away from her for a second.  My insides were churning, and I don't think I've ever felt so much fear in my life.
After what seemed like an eternity, none other than Anna came down.  Zelia stomped off, saying she needed a break.  Gee, thanks for the help there, sis-in-law.  Just what I wanted - just who I wanted to talk to.
She didn't even get to say a single thing.  She came over, took one look at my wife, and gasped. 
"Yeah.  You did this."  I stood up, slowly ripping my eyes away from her to look at the redhead.  I could feel the fury towards her surging.  "You did this.  You don't know what that girl has gone through.  You don't know the half of it.  She's gone through so much more than you ever have.  Than you ever WILL.  And you have to go and try to ruin our lives!  Well, I hope you're happy--"
"Oh, hush up.  I just heard what happened, and I wanted to see her, don't flip--"
"You WILL NOT make me 'hush up'!  You want to see her?  FINE!  Look at her.  LOOK at her!  See what you did?  Her skin is pale, her lips are turning blue.  She's been unconscious for hours, and if she doesn't wake up in less than 24 hours, she will DIE.  Because of YOU and your little jealous self, her life could be thrown away, LITERALLY.  The kids you tried to take away because she doesn't have it hard enough in life?  They'll be without parents for goodness-knows-how-long, and they'll know that their mommy is dead...because of a selfish, worthless act by someone who is nothing but a little, jealous pest!"  My voice rose until I was yelling, and that girl just gave me a wide-eyed stare of pure terror.
She didn't say a thing, she just ran off and left, just like the selfish cretin she was.
I let my breathing slow, and then resumed my position beside my wife.  I watched her for any sign of life aside from her shallow breathing, and  I saw none.

My girl was out for hours.  Tangled Fan left, went to bed, came back...and said that it had been approximately fourteen hours, and that I may as well just leave, but I refused to leave Rapunzel's side.  Shortly after, she woke up.
As soon as her eyes fluttered open, the fear melted away.  She was okay.  She was going to be okay.

But then, as she looked around silently, her eyes filled with uncertainty and worry. 
"Who...where'm I...an' who are all of you...?"  Her voice was gravelly and faint; slightly slurred.
"You fell off of the top of the shelving unit...you're okay now.  We're in the craft room," I told her.  I wanted to touch her, but I was so scared I would hurt her..
"Wai-it...you're not...Flynn?  Wh-ere's Flynn?"
My heart dropped as she looked around.  I could tell she was getting scared.  "You're...you're fine -- just take it easy, okay?"
I glanced back at Zelia, who was staring a hole through her sister.   I could tell she was having a hard time processing this.  I was, too.  Tangled Fan scooped us up and took us away from her. 
"She doesn't remember anything.  It seems to me that she can only remember the time she was still dating Flynn; nothing after.  We'll have to break the news to her, but I don't think it bodes well for your marriage.  And...I'll keep the girls.  I would let you care for them, but I think it's too stressful of  a situation on all accounts; I'm sorry." 
"Please...they're all I have left," I cried.  "Let me keep the girls...Zelia...Zelia would help care for them...wouldn't you?"  she nodded, but Tangled Fan shook her head. 
"It's too stressful of a situation, like I said." 
We both fell silent. 
She took us back, and Rapunzel was sitting up, staring at us.
"I'm Tangled Fan, and this is Eugene and Zelia," Tangled Fan introduced, setting the two of us back down.  
"H-hello...but who are you, really?  And where am I?" She was somewhat perkier, and I'm not sure how she could be perkier.
"Tangled Fan here bought you off of the Internet.  Flynn's a total jerk, he broke up with you prior.  He actually used you to get the attention of another girl --unbeknownst to you, but you don't remember because when you were taken out of your shipping box and set up on a shelf, you tripped, fell, and got knocked out pretty bad.  And I'm your sister, but you probably don't know or remember that either.  And that's that, then!"  Zelia stormed off, and I gaped at her. 
"W-wh...what?"  her eyes filled with tears.  "Flynn's...gone?  I loved...I loved him..."
I tried to keep from bawling myself. "I'm so sorry.  Y-your name's Rapunzel, right?  I'm so sorry, Rapunzel."
"Yeah..." she refused to make eye contact, and I could tell she was feeling shy and insecure, so I backed off. Let me tell you...having your wife wake up from being unconscious for so long and having her forget everything is...pure...horror...
Tangled  Fan moved in to check over her, and I waited, standing awkwardly in the distance as she talked to Rapunzel.
When they were done, Tangled Fan told me that she was surprisingly unharmed from her major fall, and aside from her head hurting where she hit it on the shelf, she was alright.  One of her arm joints may be just a smidgen looser, but other than that...she's okay.  How that girl survived that and came out of it with just a bump to the head...I'll never know. She'll never know, either.

After awhile, she took both of us and set us on the floor in her room. 
Well.  Talk about awkward.
"Um...what's your name again?  Sorry," she ducked her head.  I knew she was embarrassed and distracted.
"Eugene.  And it's fine," I managed a small smile.  "Sorry to hear about Flynn."
A tear slipped down her cheek, and she promptly tried to hide it.  "I don't really know what to think about it all.  I don't think he really...really broke up with me.  I think we were separated or something, and that that girl...Zelia?...is full of it.  No offense, but I think so." 
I swallowed, thinking frantically.  "She...she wasn't making anything up.  Flynn send a rather vulgar, nasty email about what happened and how glad you were gone, once he knew where you were headed...I'm so sorry."  I based my response off of the emails she had gotten awhile back from him..so they weren't entire lies.
"How do I know I should believe you?"  she blurted, giving me the stare she'd only ever given me when she was trying to convince herself something wasn't true.
"I'd never lie.   I have nothing to hide, so why would I lie?" 
"G-good...good point..." she teared up and looked away.  "I just don't know what to think right now." 
Me neither, honey.
"I'm sorry...I hate giving you news like this after all you've already gone through today," I mumbled awkwardly. 
"Stop apologizing...you haven't done anything wrong, have you?" 
"I guess not...sorry."  I tried to tease, and she gave the smallest smile I think I've ever seen. 

We walked in a heavy blanket of quietness for the longest time, until she asked me what other dolls lived here, if any.  I described all of them, where she'd live -- on the other side of the table-- and which dolls to watch out for...basically everyone.  Tangled Fan had mentioned telling everyone to play along and act like she was new, thinking that maybe, somehow, something they'd do would trigger and restore at least some memories.  Punzie was probably overeager to reprise her role as the jerk that would drive her to tears on more than one occasion. 
Suddenly, she gasped.  "Pascal!  Ohh...did Pascal come with me?" 
"There was a chameleon that came in the box, too.  I took him to my place -- which is right beside where you're staying -- so he wouldn't get lost."  I almost winced when I realized I'd forgotten about him. 
"Ohh...thanks," she said. 
Silence...again.
When we finally got to the table, I took her to my side of the table first, to pick up Pascal and give her a blanket.  (I gave her mine and I kept hers...call me sappy or weird but I did.) She stood awkwardly, looking around the table. 
Tangled Fan, being the sneak that she was, had slipped all the kids' beds and things behind the cutout while we were gone, so it was just the wicker chair and the box. 
Please recognize this, please recognize this, please recognize this...
"Here you go," I handed Pascal over and then held out the blanket. 
"Thanks," she sighed.  "I guess I need to go meet everyone.  I just...I..."
"You're shy?"
"Yeah." 
"I feel for you.  You can stay here as long as you like," I offered. 
She bit her lip and fiddled with her hair after she set Pascal on her shoulder.  "That's fine.  I'm cold, shaky, and tired, and I need to get over there - I'm sure you're tired, too!  Tangled Fan told me that you stayed with me the whole time...you and...and Zelia.  Thank you for that." 
Why yes.  I was exhausted...but no way was I going to sleep today.
"I'm fine...and you're welcome," I told her, taking the blanket away from her to spread it over her shoulders -- minding Pascal, of course.
"I'm okay--well...thanks."  she gulped and stared down at her feet.  "I-I should go." 
"Okay.  Wait--do you want to go for a walk tomorrow?  I can...show you around the place." 
She nodded, smothering a yawn with her hand.  "Um...okay.  Bye--and thanks again." 
I watched her go around to the other side of the table, and I'm pretty sure my heart shredded.

Tonight, Zelia wandered over.  I stood up from the wicker chair, and asked what was up. 
"Everyone's asleep.  She's settled in okay enough, I guess.  Sat in the corner and stared shyly at everyone...just like she did before." 
"She's a mess...." I sighed.  "Is she asleep?"
"Yep...she finally went to sleep.  She said something about you taking her for a walk tomorrow?" 
"Yeah...showing her around the place.  I don't know what to do or what to act like or...I just...I can't handle this, Zelia."  I buried my face in my hands, too tired to even cry. 
"Hey, dingbat.  Act like yourself.  She fell in love with you once, she'll fall in love with you again.  If you act stiff and weird, guess what?  You won't get your girl back!"  she snapped, but then she softened after a few minutes.  "...I'm sorry.  It's really hard." 
"Yeah.  Don't take this the wrong way, but why didn't you tell her the truth?  That she was-"
"Because, Eugene.  How would you like it if you were knocked out, couldn't remember about half a year, and someone comes up to you and is all like 'oh yeah you don't live there anymore.  So and so's a jerk, and you're married with three kids, hi honey'?"
"Good point," I sighed.  "Could I...see her one last time before you go to bed too?" 
"She's your wife...ish..." she said.
"Not cool," I grumbled, brushing past her to go to the other side.  She followed me, and pointed out the corner where Rapunzel and Pascal were sleeping.  She was curled up under the blanket, her arm outstretched across the floor; her face was also mashed into the floor.  Pascal was cuddled against her, sleeping hard. 
"She looks weird when she sleeps," Zelia whispered, almost snorting in laughter at her sister. 
"I think she's...never mind," I mumbled as I took a risk by tucking the blanket up to her chin.  With that, I turned and left abruptly, feeling like I could hardly stand to be there any longer.