Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time, nor am I affiliated with Adam Horowitz or Eddy Kitsis.


A/N:

I wrote this a couple of days before the 'Captain Swan at the hospital' sneak peek came out. There are a couple of similarities between this fic and the sneak peek, but they're just coincidences. I'm going my own way with Injured!Hook. Hope you enjoy, a review would be very much appreciated!


He looked like hell.

Bruises and cuts marred almost every inch of visible skin and a clean white cast elevated his currently useless ankle. Emma couldn't tell if the purple shadows under his eyes were bruises or a punishment from too many restless nights.

She had seen a great many injured people in her time - and had been the cause of quite a few of them - but there was something unnatural about this scene. There was no reconciling this pale, drawn figure with the infamous Captain Hook.

But this wasn't the time to go soft. Emma had questions, Hook had answers. She wasn't about to let a small thing like his unconsciousness get in the way of that.

"Hook."

Her voice was scratchy and small in the private room. She cleared her throat and tried again, debating the merits of slapping him across the face in the name of waking him up. Hook roused the third time she said his name. His forehead creased - in what? Pain? Annoyance? - and he squinted his eyes open against the harsh hospital lights.

Hook blinked, adjusting to the light, and shifted his head to the side. For a few moments after he noticed Emma, his expression was unguarded. Emma saw confusion, suspicion and optimism fight for dominance before he remembered himself and let a mask of indifference take over. She hoped her own emotions weren't so easy to decipher.

Hook tried to lift himself into a sitting position, only to be weighed down by the handcuffs around his left wrist that trapped him to the bed. The dull clank of metal on metal made him look down and, with dawning comprehension, he smiled bitterly.

"This seems to be a theme with you, love," he said, testing the limits of the handcuffs.

Emma ignored how weak his voice sounded. There was still bite behind his words, even if he didn't have the energy to convey it.

"Actually, this time it wasn't my idea," she replied, her own voice low and controlled. She didn't want to draw attention to the room until she had her answers.

Hook, unconcerned as ever with subtlety, clanged the cuffs against the side of his hospital bed again. The metallic echo was jarring.

"Learning to trust, are you? Better late than never, I suppose, although-"

"I didn't think the cuffs were necessary," Emma interrupted. At Hook's raised eyebrow, she nodded to the bottom of the bed. "Good luck escaping here with a fractured ankle."

Hook lowered the handcuffs and glanced down at his plaster-clad leg as though it was only a mild annoyance.

"Ah, yes. That does complicate things."

After a further moment of contemplation, he settled back down and rested his head against the pillow, leaving Emma standing uncertainly across the room Either Hook had been subjected to an obscene amount of morphine, or he was genuinely apathetic about his brush with death. Emma wasn't sure which unnerved her more.

"Where's my hook?"

Emma gave a non-committal shrug.

"It's safe."

Hook's lips thinned. "I'll be needing it back, lass."

"Sure. Just as soon as I'm satisfied that you're not going to impale anyone."

A second after she said it, Emma realised the potential for innuendo. She braced herself for a suggestive comment, and even formed a scathing reply, but the only indication that Hook had even heard her was in the slight lift of his lips.

Something was wrong with him that extended beyond his broken body. Emma knew this, and though a small part of her was intrigued, she knew she had only gone to the hospital because the people she loved could be in danger from Cora. If Hook knew where she was, Emma would find out. She didn't have time to deal with a pirate Captain having an existential crisis. After a quick scan of the empty outside corridor, Emma shifted into Sheriff mode.

"You remember what happened?"

Hook's smile, directed at the tiles on the ceiling, was a good imitation of pleasant.

"Yes, I fractured my ankle."

Emma's stoicism went from maintained to forced. She had known that Hook would not be forthcoming with his information but she had hoped - wrongly - that if she had segued into it, he might have been more willing to help. Still, she couldn't afford to lose her cool in front of him. If he thought he had any kind of advantage over her, he would take it without hesitation.

"You were hit by a car," she said. "The driver's in hospital, too."

The news doesn't faze Hook.

"That's why transportation in my world is vastly superior. You've never heard of anyone getting knocked down by a speeding ship. Well, I might have hit a mermaid once or twice…"

He trailed off with a smile that might have rueful if Emma hadn't known better. She found herself wishing for a time when mermaids weren't commonplace discussions.

A spasm of pain caused Hook to wince almost imperceptibly. Emma frowned at his visible wounds and wondered if she should get a doctor, just in case Hook passed out before giving her the information she needed.

Hook mistook her lingering gaze for something else and smiled. It was amazing how a simple twitch of the lips could seem so suggestive.

"Enjoying the view?" When Emma didn't answer, his soft tone hardened. "Reckon I'm a picture right now."

"Yeah, well. The car crash aside, Gold hit you pretty hard."

Hook raised an eyebrow.

"Heard about that, did you?"

There was a wry note in his voice and Emma wondered how he could be so casual after an entire day of getting the ever-loving crap knocked out of him.

"I had to take a statement from him. From a few people, actually. A shooting and a car crash in the same day is a pretty big news, even in Storybrooke."

Instead of replying, Hook simply watched Emma for a moment, waiting for the rebuke he knew was coming. Emma, reading him as well as ever, shook her head.

"It isn't me you'll have to answer to for hurting Belle,"

It was meant as a softly spoken truth and not a threat but Hook made a soft noise of disbelief.

"Thought you were supposed to be the sheriff. Interesting form of justice you dispense."

Emma scoffed. "Look who's talking."

The thin ice they had been dancing on cracked with those words. Hook's jaw tightened.

"Why are you here? You obviously don't consider me a threat." There was a dark, underlying more fool you hint to his smooth tone. "And I wouldn't flatter myself into assuming you came to enquire about my recovery."

Emma steeled herself.

"I need to know where Cora is."

Hook's bitter smile made a brief return. Emma didn't want to think about the reasons why.

"I would assume she's in the middle of an emotional reunion with her daughter. Well, probably not 'emotional', it is Cora, after all."

"But where?" Emma pressed.

"I don't know. I'm not lying," he added when he saw Emma's expression. "Cora got me to Storybrooke and then we went our separate ways."

"Straight away?"

There was a challenge in her voice and Emma waited to see if he would lie to her. Even after everything, she wasn't sure if he would choose to tell her an untruth over being candid.

"No," was Hook's - and Emma's - answer. "She stayed long enough to gift me with a cricket. Chirpy little chap."

He scanned Emma's face to see if his words were having any impact. She remained impassive.

"Why did you hold Archie captive?"

Hook shrugged as best he could, given his position.

"I've been told I have a great many issues. Thought it was time to talk them through with a professional."

Emma didn't crack a smile. "Cora didn't tell you where she might have gone?"

"Wherever Regina is, Cora won't be far behind. Just find Regina -" Hook bit his lip in an imitation of worry. "Oh, but, wait…you burned that bridge when you accused her of murdering the cricket. No judgement there, by the way. I would have assumed the same. People only ever change for the worse."

There was a weary defiance in his eyes when he looked at her; he would argue his corner for as long as possible even though he would rather not. The unguarded moment left Emma at a loss as to what to say next. She repaid honesty with honesty, letting the fear that knotted her stomach bleed into her tone.

"Hook, if Cora wants to get to Regina, she might hurt Henry to do it."

Hook's expression softened into the picture of sincerity.

"And for that, love, I am truly sorry."

They remained at that impasse until the door banged open. David came charging in, unaware that Emma had instinctively reached for the gun she had brought along.

"Emma, we need you to…" David trailed off when he noticed Hook. "You're awake."

"Observant," Hook noted, back to his arrogant best. He flicked through his personas with practiced ease. "Good trait to have when you rule a kingdom."

David opened his mouth in what was sure to be a poorly thought out retort, only to be interrupted by his daughter.

"What is it, David?"

David cast another suspicious glance at the bedridden pirate. Hook held his stare unflinchingly.

"Sheriff business," was all the Prince said. He turned to Emma. "We need you in the other room."

Emma nodded and slowly drew her hand away from her gun. David strode away without so much as a glance backwards and Emma turned her attention back to Hook.

"I'll be back," she warned him.

He gave her a lazy smile that told her he was the furthest thing from vulnerable, no matter what his broken body suggested.

"Bring some flowers next time, would you, darling?" Emma gave him a distinct look before leaving and closing the door behind her, leaving the next of Hook's parting remark hanging in silence: "Remind me that you care."