A/N - Currently look at updating about once a week. They may speed up once i get it completed. I hope you all like it and enjoy the ride with me.
The first time they met was shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Emma could live until a hundred and never forget those moments working in the hospital. She could never forget the seemingly endless mess of broken and bloodied bodies coming through the hospital doors for help. She tried to help as many as she could, administering pain medication that they could spare to those desperately in need and stitching up those with minor injuries. It was nearly midnight when she was finally able to sit down, unfortunately every bed was taken and every chair was used for any soldier who needed it. She sat down on the bed of a soldier who was unconscious. His dark hair and bloodied bandages stood out against the paleness of his skin.
"I'm sorry," She whispered down to the battered soldier beside her. "If I didn't sit down, I was liable to fall over on my next patient." She shook her head at herself. The exhaustion was catching up with her; she was talking to an unconscious patient. She opened up the bag she had brought with her and pulled out the apple. She took a bite and pulled out the patients chart letting her curiosity get the better of her. Not many of the patients had been moved upstairs to a room, let alone managed to be alone still.
This chart had yet to be redone; it was nothing more than a hastily scribbled sheet of paper. 'Patient: Killian Jones, Age: 32, Injuries: Fractured ribs, broken leg, severe lacerations to arms and back, medium gash on forehead, probable concussion; Misc: Came in unconscious approximately 10:30am'
"Well Mr. Jones, it seems you fared far better than some of my patients today. You get a room alone and you are still breathing." Emma commented as she set his chart back down, noticing no nurse or doctor had signed off since shortly after he arrived. She finished her apple and quickly did a check of his vitals, making the appropriate notes. He seemed to be doing fine minus being unconscious; either he was a heavy sleeper or he had yet to wake up once. She capped her pin and used it to poke the man in the foot. She rolled her eyes when he barely flinched. "High pain tolerance, fabulous," she commented as she tried again. This time she put a bit more force into poking his foot. When he actually wrinkled his nose she let out a breath and walked up and rubbed on his sternum with a closed fist.
"Mr. Jones, I need you to wake up." Emma called to him, watching his face for any reaction. She could see his eyes move beneath his eyelids and tried again. She pressed her knuckles slightly harder against the breast bone, hoping not to aggravate his injuries but needing him to wake up. Over twelve hours of being unconscious was not a good sign. "Can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes for me." Emma spoke slowly so that he could follow if he was near waking. After a few minutes of struggling, the patient started to blink. "Hi, that's it. Just open them a bit more." Emma coaxed him. When his eyes finally were open Emma had to bite back a gasp at how startlingly blue they actually were. Slowly his eyes focused and turned on her. She gave him a reassuring smile as she leaned back from him and reached for the pitcher of water. She quickly poured a glass and offered him the straw. He took a small drink then blinked at her again.
"Where am I?" He asked her, his voice raspy from disuse despite the water.
"You are at the base hospital; you were brought in this morning after the attack. You should drink a bit more of this" Emma told him, offering him a bit more of the water. He did and frowned at her as if trying to place the attack. "Do you know your name?" She asked him and got a glare back.
"Killian Jones, miss." Killian replied, "Why are you asking me this?" Emma frowned at him.
"You have been unconscious for what appears to be at least twelve hours; I needed to be sure you had some memory left." She told him with a quick roll of her eyes. His eyes grew large when she told him how long he had been out.
"The boy, what happened to the boy?" Killian quickly asked, his hand gripping onto her arm as he stared at her. His eyes were troubled as images of the attack flashed through his mind. Bombs dropping, people screaming, fires and explosions everywhere. He saw a young boy, barely 6 or 7 crying in a street near the ship yard. He ran and grabbed him, his ribs protesting as he carried him as far as he could before the explosion behind him knocked him off his feet. He curled his body around the child letting the debris batter him. He pulled himself up to check on the boy before something hit him on the head. His last memory was of the boy looking scared. Emma carefully placed her free hand against his.
"I'm sorry but your chart doesn't say anything. I can ask for you though. You just have to promise to stay calm." Emma spoke to him, the fear and frenzy in his eyes slowly started to die down at her words, but he still looked troubled. "Now before I go ask a few questions for you, I need you to answer some of mine. Can you do that?" She asked him carefully. When he barely nodded she gave him a smile and pulled the empty cup back. "Do you remember what happened?" She paused and waited for him to respond, when he nodded she smiled. "Now, can you tell me how much pain you are in, using a scale of 1 to 10, one being I could dance out of here and ten being please knock me unconscious again." She smiled at him; she was trying to make him focus on her and not his thoughts. His lips moved a bit like he wanted to smile but quickly fell again.
"A 7, if I make it down to a 1 would you dance out of here with me?" He asked her causing her to laugh. Her laugh finally forced the smile out of the soldier on the bed.
"Ask me again when you are able to actually stand on your own." She told him. "I'll see what I can do about getting you some pain medication and some food. We are rather low on supplies today though. Rest, but don't sleep. I'll be back shortly." She told him as he closed his eyes nodding as she stood from the bed. She picked up her bag and made her way into the hall ways casting one last glance back at the soldier.
It took Emma over an hour to find someone who could answer the questions the soldier had. She wouldn't have done it but the idea that a little boy could be out there was enough to move her into action. She wanted to go back to him immediately after getting the information, but she had to check in on a few others things first. It took her another hour to get things worked out to go home. She had a few patients they requested she treat before she would be allowed to leave. As soon as she was done she retreated into the supply room and let out a long sigh. Most the supplies had been used up. So many patients today and not all of them were saved. She leaned back against the door and steadied her breathing. She could freak out once she was back in her apartment; she had one more patient to take care of first. She pushed herself away from the door and dug through the drawers. She quickly found a misplaced bottle of aspirin, a few rolls of gauze and sterile padding and 2 support bandages to try and rewrap his ribs. From what she had noticed earlier, the quick wrap that was done wouldn't give him any decent support if he tried to move in his sleep. She jotted what she was taking onto the ledger and signed it all out.
Emma let out a sigh as she carried the tray of items she had retrieved with a fresh pitcher of water and an apple. She quickly trudged her way back to the room she left Killian in before. She was doing this then going home and attempting to sleep. She walked in and found he was still alone, which must say something for who he was. She walked up to the side of his bed and set the tray down on the table before reaching out to grab his shoulder.
"Killian, wake up." Emma called to him, gently squeezing his shoulder as she did. His eyes slowly opened and it took him a minute to realize where he was again, his eyes slowly focusing. He turned his head slightly and looked at her. "I brought more water, and what I could get for bandages. It's getting closer to breakfast so I brought you an to try and eat. First though I need to redo some of your bandages." She smiled reassuringly towards him until he mutely nodded. She knew he was lost again in the memories of whatever he had to face out there. She quickly moved the blanket down to his hips and worked on checking the bandages on his arms. The ones that had bled through already she quickly replaced with fresh. Once she finished with his arms, she made a slight grimace when she realized she'd have to make him sit up to work on his ribs.
"You are going to hate me, but you have to sit up." She told him which caused him to level her with a glare. "Yes I know, it's going to hurt like hell. We will go slowly until we get you sitting up okay?" She tried offering him a small smile which caused him to roll his eyes.
"You don't have to do this," Killian told her, his voice weak and tired.
"Yes I do, no one deserves to be left alone today." She told him, her voice solemn. He nodded at her words while his eyes seemed to study her. Emma leaned down and placed her arms under his and slowly helped him lever his body up. She managed not to apologize once, despite hearing his slight hisses in pain. Once he was upright she held him there for a moment, her hand feeling against his back for any fresh blood. Only one bandage was wet and she sighed in relief.
Her hands quickly worked to unwrap the flimsy bandage from his waist and redressed the one bandage with the remaining gauze. Every few words were an apology when she'd hear him hiss or grunt in pain from having to sit in such an uncomfortable position. She could almost literally hear him roll his eyes at her stream of apologies. She worked as quickly as she could to wrap his ribs correctly, hoping to offer him a bit more support while he laid in bed. When she finally finished she laid him back down and gave him a sad smile.
"I'm so sorry, I know that it hurts." Emma mumbled out as she grabbed the pain pills and a glass of fresh water.
"If you apologize again, I'll find some way to shut you up." Killian told her with a small smirk. Emma rolled her eyes as she sat back down on the edge of his bed and handed him the pills which he quickly placed in his mouth. She lowered the glass to his lips and carefully held his head up so he could get a good drink. Once he finished off the glass she helped him lower his head back to the pillow.
"Thank you," Killian told her sincerely, Emma smiled back at him. "Did you find out about the little boy?" As he asked her the questioned she feared her smile fell from her face and she set the glass aside.
"I did," Emma started and stared at her hands for a moment before looking him in the eyes. "No little boy was brought in with you Killian. They did find him with you when they found you unconscious. The large piece of debris that hit your head also hit him. They emergency crews didn't make it to you fast enough and he was so little. The paramedic I spoke with that brought you in says that he likely died immediately. I'm so sorry." Emma finished her eyes full of unshed tears. Killian tore his gaze away from her and stared up at the ceiling. Emma reached forward and squeezed his hand. "They told me they found you trying to protect him. What you did was honorable and," Killian's voice cut her off. It was barely a whisper but it was enough to stop her.
"Stop, please." Killian pleaded with her. Emma swallowed and nodded.
"Okay, you were very brave to try and save him Killian, don't forget that." Emma squeezed his hand one more time before she stood. "I'll come by later today to check on you. Try and rest." She smiled sadly down to him. His eyes were already closed and she felt horrible for what she had just told him. She slipped the apple she had managed to grab for him into his hand. "Eat this too, it's not much but it'll get you by until they can bring you real food at breakfast." She patted his hand and walked away. She quickly glanced behind her before she walked out of the hospital.
Killian laid there in his bed, his hand still wrapped around the apple as he listened to her footfalls fade from his hearing. He let out a low sigh and brought his free hand up to rub his face. His arm moved stiffly and he saw the myriad of bandages. The other fared not much better, apparently he had been closer to the explosion than he thought. His hearing was finally almost back to normal, minus the occasional ringing; which he knew it would go away soon. The rest of him felt like he had been ran over by one of the tanks or keelhauled on one of the ships. He nearly forgot the crippling pain that was fractured ribs seventeen years after the accident that took his father. He carefully rolled the apple in his palm as he drifted back off to sleep.