Canonically, when Hyde dies, Dolly kills herself. But what if Dolly were the one to die first?
Dolly falls ill. It all begins with something insignificant: a fever. Her movements become clumsy and her performance declines; now it takes her two hours to complete tasks she used to finish in one. Hyde notices, but thinks she's just being lazy and stupid. Whenever there are social events, Dolly refuses to attend. She knows there's something wrong inside her, but she doesn't know exactly what it is. Hyde insults her, though he eventually lets her rest after she begs him enough.
The days pass, and her condition worsens. Pneumonia. Everyone knows it. The poor girl runs through the rain and snow; it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. She ends up bedridden. The other servants in the Soho mansion notice, but no one dares speak up. Hyde refuses to call a doctor, even though Dolly begs him to.
Hyde feels nauseous at the mere sound of the word "doctor."
Dolly's room is cold, so Hyde keeps her in his own bedroom. It's warmer there, and they sleep in the same bed. It's so fucking taboo and sinful.
During the transformations, Jekyll leaves notes with instructions and medicines that could cure Dolly. When Hyde regains control, he burns them in the fireplace to keep the room warm.
Edward forbids anyone from entering his bedroom, even locking the door to prevent anyone from daring to give her medicine while he isn't there.
"If she has to die, she'll die."
He repeats it over and over, though perhaps he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else. While Dolly sleeps, Hyde slides his skeletal hands around her neck and squeezes just enough to feel the faint pulse beneath his fingertips. It irritates him to know that the illness intends to take her away from him. If anyone is to decide when she dies, it should be him.
Over the following days, the other servants see Hyde coming and going from the bedroom. They don't hear much noise, nor do they dare try to speak with her. No one ever talks in the Soho mansion. Deep down, they all know she's already dead. One of them tries to ask Hyde about it, but the look from his master silences him immediately. No one ever mentions Dolly again.
Forever cold in Hyde's bed, he refuses to surrender her body. Dolly is his servant and, therefore, his possession, even if death has claimed her. Whenever he takes control, Jekyll walks through London planning to do something, but he never does, because he always considered Hyde's things to be Hyde's things; Hyde's problems, Hyde's problems.
Hyde keeps her covered and sits her in a chair facing his bed. He changes her clothes whenever he grows tired of seeing her in the same ones, fixes her hair, and sits her back where he wants her. He revels in the thought of having her in his room and not six meters beneath the earth, nor beside the corpses of her husband and children. Dolly will be his forever.
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