Tutu was near blind, but even so, Alice felt that heavy gaze to the depths of her soul. “Go back. Call her to you and go back, Kuuipo. Wonderland will heal you. Will save you.”
Alice let the tears fall, uncaring who saw them. “I... I can’t. Wonderland said no.” She sucked in a hard breath, trying in vain to fill lungs that refused to fully inflate.
Tutu patted her hand, her skin was so soft. “They did this to you. They owe you.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Hatter didn’t do this. Neither did Danika. My. Time.” She huffed, no energy left in her body to feel anger, spite, or jealousy toward the woman who’d ruined Hatter for so long.
Tutu’s lips pressed into a thin slash and for a moment Alice saw the stubborn jaw, the legendary angry glint in her eyes.
“I... I loved him. Won’t go back.” She sucked air, needing to get this out, working harder than she’d worked in days, but knowing she had to tell someone the truth. “Not for healing. Never want him to think it wasn’t for... love.”
It was out, and maybe that’s what she’d been holding out for, because now Alice was tired-dead tired, ready to let go.
“Love him... so much.” The last words ended on a ragged whisper.
***
Danika had to find her. Alice had to know the truth. Why Hatter hadn’t followed. How it’d been the Hatter and not her that’d needed to confess his love.
Her wings fluttered. Maybe there was still hope. Danika waved her wand with a jerk, transporting herself back to Earth. She would fix this.
The briny smell of ocean water greeted Danika as she stepped through dimensions. Palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze. People shuffled about and kids squealed running through Waikiki’s waves. Earth wasn’t all bad.
But when she walked past the bakery, she frowned. The lights were off and the store empty. It was only midday.
Danika knocked on the door. No one came. She wiggled the lock. It didn’t budge.
A friendly face poked out of the neighboring building. A petite Asian woman with kind brown eyes smiled at her. “Girl not here,” she said in a gentle lilt.
Shocked, she pointed. “But they just opened.”
The old woman nodded. “Yes. Very sad. Girl sick. Very bad sick. She go hospital. No long time left.” She shook her head; a tiny frown tipped her mouth.
Her heart clenched. “Which one?”
She scratched her head. “Queens. She no long left.” She tsked. “Good girl, good cake. Too bad.” With one final shake of her head, she walked back into her shop.
Finding Queen’s Center was easy-- finding Alice’s room was not. She walked down hallway after hallway, asking if anyone knew of Alice Hu. Finally a kindly nurse pointed her to the front desk. But Danika wasn’t family and wasn’t allowed access.
She frowned, knowing there had to be a way. The very rude young man turned his back, and she smiled. Danika turned invisible, glanced at the computer screen and finally located Alice’s room. Room 5A, I.C.U.
The moment she walked through the halls and heard the quiet hush of death, she knew it was very, very bad.
Each room held a sad scene. People around a bed, machines beeping and whirring, sustaining a life that would end in days or weeks.
The sterile hallways made her want to run away. Her skin prickled with cold, the sounds of wheezing and sometimes... no sounds at all, it was almost too much. She stopped walking, clung to the wall and took a deep breath.
“Hatter needs her.” Steeling her resolve, she moved again. Three more rooms and then she saw her. She was alone.
Alice seemed dwarfed by the bed she lay on. The once vibrant honey hue of her skin was now ashen and gray. She looked like a skeleton; there wasn’t even any hair on her head, just thin wisps.
Her hands shook.
Clear, plastic tubes ran up her nose.
“Oh, Alice girl, I’m so, so sorry.”
Alice’s lashes fluttered. She opened her eyes, her breath coming short and choppy. “Danika? You’re here?”
She walked up to her, grabbed her hand, afraid to hurt her, afraid to let go. The vibrant beauty of before was gone, all that remained was a shell. Her eyes were bloodshot, wide and shining.
“I… Oh, dearie, I never knew.” Words spilled from Danika’s lips, mingled with the tears from her eyes.
Alice smiled, her lashes fluttered, as if the effort to hold her eyes open cost her everything. “It was nice. I was,” she breathed, a shallow sucking in of oxygen, “happy.”
“Who is she talking to?”
Danika turned at the sound of another voice. A woman-- bearing an uncanny resemblance to Alice, but older-- asked a man in a white coat. He put an arm around her shoulder.
“It’s part of the process. The drugs have dulled the pain.” His voice broke and he looked at Alice with love shining in his eyes.
Alice’s laugh was weak. Danika looked back at her. “They don’t see you. Think. I’m. Crazy.” Her lips trembled. “As a Hatter.”
The woman behind them sobbed. Heels clicked loudly on linoleum as she ran from the room.
“He misses you desperately,” Danika whispered.