I Gave You My Heart

Chapter 5

Hamlet hurried through the halls of the castle trying to find someone who could help Horatio. He tried to avoid places he might find Ophelia, for her stupidity was not something he thought he could handle right then.

Sure enough, despite his efforts, before he knew it Ophelia was right in front of him asking where he'd been all this time.

"Ophelia I really don't have time to talk to you right now," Hamlet started to say, but he was no match for Ophelia's craziness.

"BUT I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!?!!!!!?!!"

Hamlet realized his mistake, "Oh, of course I love you Ophelia, why else would I ask you to marry me?"

Ophelia seemed to be satisfied with this answer.

"Now, if you don't mind, I really must be going" said Hamlet, desperately trying to come up with an excuse to leave, "the.... Um.... The King and Queen summoned me." Before Ophelia could reply, Hamlet dashed off, in search of Fransisco.

It only took Hamlet a few minutes to find Fransisco, who was just enjoys the afternoon with Bernardo and Marcellus, and he pulled him aside.

"Okay... I need you help," Hamlet started, "but I need you to swear you won't tell anyone about it."  Fransisco agreed.

Hamlet proceeded to tell Fransisco about the events of the previous 12 hours.

Hamlet lead Fransisco down the hall towards Horatio's room, he opened the door and saw Horatio lying on the floor, he rushed to his side and shook him.

"HORATIO!  Please.....please don't be......-" Fransisco lifted Horatio's head and felt his neck for a pulse.

"He still has a pulse.....but it's slowing! We need to hurry!" They picked up Horatio and carried him down the hall  towards the doctors room.

As they ran down the corridor with Horatio in their arms, Hamlet struggled to hold himself together and stay strong, when all he wanted to do was curl up and cry. However, Hamlet knew that Horatio was far gone and that his only chance would be to receive medical attention.

Together Hamlet and Fransisco reached the infirmary where a nurse who was tending to the wound of a castle guard quickly rose to their feet when they saw Hamlet.

Horatio was immediately rushed behind a curtain on the other side of the room, some more nurses hurrying to get medical supplies and blankets.

At that moment Hamlet couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the floor from physical and emotional exhaustion.

Fransisco bent down beside his friend. "Are you okay?" he questioned in concern. Hamlet lay there, still conscious, but unresponsive.

"Hamlet. Are you okay?" he questioned again, his voice growing louder. Then he noticed that Hamlet was shaking.

He wasn't sick, Fransisco realized, as he looked closer, he was crying. Fransisco couldn't imagine how either of the men could have dealt with the past day's events as long as they had.

One of the nurses approached them. "We need to know what happened to your friend," she asked. Even though Fransisco knew everything that had happened, he knew that Hamlet needed to be the one to say it. Hamlet would decide what, and how much, to say.

"Come on Hamlet," Fransisco pleaded, " you NEED to get up. They need to know, at least partially, what happened to Horatio, so they can help him," he added, whispering.

Hamlet looked up. Fransisco was right. They couldn't help Horatio unless he told them what happened. He wouldn't tell them everything, he resolved, but he needed to say something.