Work Text:
“Good morning, Dr. Jekyll”, Lady Summers greeted him. “Do you want a cup of tea? I have Ceylon. No milk, I'm afraid, but there is syrup.”
“Good morning, Milady. Thank you”, he responded and sat down.
Her condition was coming through again, it seemed. She was sitting in her wheelchair instead of the rocking chair she usually occupied.
“Don't pay attention to that. What distresses you, Doctor?”
“You know what.”
“And you know that I want you to speak of it to me.”
He lowered his head and sighed.
She rolled her wheelchair around the table, next to his own chair and took his hand.
“What …?”
“Talking about this is incredibly hard for you. So I'm going to hold your hand as emotional support.”
He spilled almost immediately; both in words and in tears.
*a bit later*
“I'm sorry for ruining your dress”, Jekyll sniffled and wiped his face and nose with a handkerchief.
Lady Summers smiled kindly. “Don't worry, this skirt absorbs more tears in one year than there are stars in the sky. I call it 'Skirt of Tears'.”
Jekyll laughed hoarsely and leaned into the small hand stroking his hair.
“Why is it that every time I come here, I cry my eyes out?”, he sighed.
“Because you need it, Doctor. You have so much pain and anxiety within and of course it takes quite a while to get it all out.”
“I'm just so scared”, he whispered.
The hand stroking his hair paused. “Can you be more specific?”
“That I might do something that'll make Gabriel hate me.”
The Countess cupped his cheek, making him look her in the eyes. “Dr. Jekyll, I can promise you that this will never happen. You need to learn to have more faith in him and yourself.”
“I know, Milady. But … but …” He bit his lower lip.
“But?”, she pried.
He gulped. “He looks at me like I have stars in my eyes and the sun in my smile. You have no idea just how much that means to me.”
“Doctor, you seem to forget that I once was married to a man, who saw just that in me.”
Jekyll took a deep breath, before admitting: “Nothing scares me more than the idea, that I can become ugly to someone who once thought all the stars were in my eyes.”
Her eyes became deeply sad and she was silent for a while.
Finally, she confessed: “I had the same fear about my dear James.”