"So what're we seeing again?" Mary Margaret asked from the back seat
David and Ruby rolled their eyes and the latter turned to face Mary Margaret "The new Batman movie, M."
"Right, I knew that." Mary Margaret shrugged
Emma laughed from the driver's seat "Sure you did."
David unbuckled and slid from his seat behind Ruby to the seat right next to Mary Margaret "You're cute when you're pouting."
"I'm not pouting!" Mary Margaret cried indignantly, causing Ruby to laugh and turn back to face the road
"Whatever you say," David smiled, then leaned in to kiss his girlfriend
The two stayed lip- locked for a minute or two and Emma began to feel uncomfortable. Ruby was too, but she was better at masking it and started to pick at her nails. Without warning Emma turned and snapped "Click it or ticket, David."
"Oh Emma don't be such a buzzkill," Ruby scolded absently
"I doubt they'd take it well if we started snogging in their car." Emma defended turning to face her extra passengers again "Sorry I snapped, but could you save it for the dark theater?"
"Emma!" Ruby screamed, fear and panic in her voice
Emma turned her attention back to the road to find that she had somehow ended up in the wrong lane and was only seconds away from a head on collision. Ruby closed her eyes as her hands scrambled for something to grab onto. Mary Margaret held onto David as he struggled to stay in one spot. Emma tried desperately to regain control of the vehicle but her steering wheel didn't seem to be obeying her. The car ended up skidding into the guard rail and barely avoided going completely over the edge.
Emma was the first to recover and began checking on everyone else. David was against the door in his original seat, clutching his side and Emma could tell he was in pain "David, hey, David, you okay?"
"My... My ribs. I think they're broken." he grunted out, his face contorted in pain "Mary Margaret,"
Emma turned her attention to the black haired woman "Mary Margaret, hey can you hear me?"
"Yeah," Mary Margaret sighed sitting up and blinking "I'm good I'm just really dizzy."
"Okay, try to help David make sure he doesn't bend at the torso too much." Emma instructed and turned back to Ruby
"Rubes? Come on Ruby wake up. Ruby? Ruby?" Emma tried to wake her girlfriend but the brunette didn't move
Emma undid her seatbelt and moved closer to the passenger seat and tried again to wake her "Ruby! Come on Ruby don't do this to me. Come on!"
"What's going on?" Mary Margaret leaned between the passenger seat and Emma's seat, her eyes bouncing between the sheriff and the waitress, lingering worriedly on the latter
"Ruby won't wake up. How's David?" Emma replied, stopping trying to rouse Ruby for a moment to look up at her concerned friend
"he's sitting up and i think he's okay or he will be." Mary Margaret looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend as he tried not to seem pained, then back to her friends "Why isn't she waking up?"
"I don't know. She doesn't appear injured. I can't figure out what's..." Emma reached over to turn Ruby's head so that she could try to wake her again, but stopped when she felt a warm stickiness on her fingers. Emma turned Ruby's head completely and found a large, deep, bleeding gash on her face. Blood was spattered on a cracked part of the window. "...Wrong."
"Oh god, Ruby. Ruby! Come on! Wake up!" Emma tried to wake Ruby without jostling her head
Mary Margaret pulled out her clunker of a cell phone and called for two ambulances. David insisted he didn't need one, but the catch in his throat when he breathed told her otherwise.
"Hello yes there's been an accident. Our car skidded into the guard rail. There were four people in our car. My boyfriend has a broken rib or two and my friend is unconscious and bleeding from her head. Please hurry." Mary Margaret rambled into the phone
"Ruby, please, it's Emma. It's your Lemur. Just wake up, babe. Come on, Ruby. Please. You have to wake up, you have to be okay. Dear god, Ruby, please." Emma pleaded with Ruby but the girl hadn't moved "I'm so sorry,"
Ruby let out a small moan but nothing else. Emma took this as a sign of hope and kept begging her to wake up until the medics arrived. The white vehicle pulled up at the scene, lights flashing and sirens blaring, to find a yellow BMW bug with its left doors open. The right side of the car was pressed against a straining guardrail. A blond woman in the driver's seat looked relieved at the sight of the medical personal. One of the two recognized her as the sheriff. They called out to her, asking who was hurt. The sheriff turned to a black haired woman and pointed to the medics. The woman reluctantly stepped out of the car and said "unfortunately the two that are the most injured are the least accessible".
The taller of the two nodded and replied "Alright, miss, the best we can do right now is get whoever we can out."
"My boyfriend, David, is in the backseat with just a broken rib or something. Then there's my other roommate, Ruby, she's in the passenger seat and she's unconscious." Mary Margaret started fiddling with her hands as nervousness and worry overtook her.
"Okay let's get the man with the broken ribs out first then we'll try to move the car and get the unconscious one out." the medics move to the car and lean in to get a good look around.
They get the backboard and lay it down in the backseat, then tell David "Okay, try to lie down on this board and we'll pull you out."
As David does what they say Emma's jaw drops. She watches them get David onto the board and start pulling him out, then turns to see more blood trickle out of the wound on Ruby's face. "Wait! Why aren't you helping Ruby?! She's bleeding and could be dying! Doesn't the most injured take priority?!" Emma demanded
"Normally she would but we have to move the car and in order to do that we need to get the extra weight out until the other medics arrive to help us." The shorter of the two professionals explains
Emma tries to comprehend this as they all heard the sirens get closer and closer. Each change in pitch felt like the ticking of a clock to Emma. Counting down until… "No," she mentally scolded herself "don't think like that."
The other ambulance pulled up just as the first two medics got David stabilized
"We'll take him," called one of the new medics
"No we need the extra arm strength. We've got to move the front end of the car away from the railing to get the other girl out." Called the tall medic from the first ambulance
"Alright," three men went to the front end of the car and prepared to push, while one man went to the driver's seat
"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to get out of the car. I need to be near the patient to help get her out." the man spoke calmly so as not to upset the blond beside said patient, but it didn't work
"I'm not leaving her." Emma stared at the medic as though he'd said something absurd.
"Miss, please, we need to get her out." he repeated
Emma was just about to protest when Mary Margaret cried out "Emma, just do what they say! If you want Ruby to be okay, you've got to listen to them."
Emma nodded and got out of the car. Mary Margaret made sure David was okay, and then walked over to console the sheriff. "Emma, come on, back away from the car."
"No," Emma's tone was flat but firm
"Emma, we have to give them space to do their job." Mary Margaret coaxed
Emma nodded again and backed away only a few feet. Both women watched as the medics at the front of the car began pushing it away from the rail. If she hadn't been listening for it, Emma wouldn't have heard the pain filled moan that escape Ruby's lips. "Please, God, let her be okay."
They got Ruby out of the car and onto a stretcher but she still hadn't fully come back aside from a few more moans and twitches at the fingers.
"I'm her girlfriend, let me ride with her." Emma begged and the medics obliged
Emma apologized to Ruby and pleaded for another noise or anything to let her know she was okay, but none came. The medics explained what they were doing to Ruby, but Emma wasn't mentally in the room. They came to the conclusion that she had gotten a major concussion. Emma prayed to anything she could think of for Ruby to be okay. They'd just gotten past the mindless flirting and into a serious relationship and it was killing Emma to think that it might never be more than that. The doctors tried to give her good news but Emma knew they were lying without using her super power. She was permitted to see Ruby after a few hours once the waitress began showing signs of improvement, but then Emma refused to leave the room. It didn't take long for Emma to become a shell formed of guilt and negativity. She barely listened to anyone anymore and didn't even care that Sidney was running the police station. It had only been a few days, but it felt like years to Emma.
The logical part of her brain told her she needed to calm down but her heart was panicking. Ruby made small noises every now and then but it was still hardly anything. She moved her fingers more now and grasped Emma's hand whenever the blond offered it. The doctors told her that Ruby's case was at a point where it could either end well or badly, but it was definitely leaning towards ending well. Emma began to cling to the good news and hope rather than squash it with pessimism. She tried to send Ruby positive energy and it seemed to be working. Ruby had opened her eyes once or twice but always groaned in pain and shut them again. Emma had taken this as a good sign, but still refused to leave Ruby's room for more than an hour. Mary Margaret and David visited. Granny came everyday but knew that she had to keep up the diner. Henry snuck in a few times and rambled about the curse and whatnot. Emma's ears were fully functional again and she even went down to the food court with Mary Margaret once or twice while Henry stayed behind and read to Ruby.
Emma had been chatting with Mary Margaret over lunch when she heard a young voice cry out behind her "Emma!"
Both women looked at the voice's owner and saw Henry "Ruby talked!"
Emma threw some money on the table and followed Mary Margaret and Henry back to Ruby's room. In the lift she turned to Henry and asked "what exactly happened?"
"Ruby said your name. I was talking to her about the curse and how you're the savior and she said your name. It was kind of like a moan or something but she definitely said 'Emma'. I'm sure of it." Henry spent the whole way back to Ruby's room swearing up and down that he'd heard the girl speak.
Emma rushed to Ruby's side "Rubes, you back?"
"Emma," Ruby groaned, then mumbled something incoherent
"Mary Margaret, get her doctor." Emma told her friend
"Ruby can you hear us?" Henry asked as the black haired school teacher quickly left
Ruby groaned in response and tried again to speak, but failed. Her hand twitched as if grabbing for something and Emma took her hand. A smile flashed across Ruby's face then it twisted in pain as she moaned again.
Doctor Whale entered the room and went straight to Ruby. He shinned a light in her eyes, causing her to wince. He touched her wound once or twice and she cringed. He tried getting her to speak but she couldn't form words.
"She's recovering, but I don't understand why it's so slow." he told them "talking to her should help and keep the lights off. Turn on a radio if you leave the room. I think the more interaction she has the better."
"Thank you, Doctor." Emma moved around him, took Ruby's hand and sat on the bed as Henry hit the lights and Mary Margaret closed the door. "Do you think she's going to be okay?"
Before Henry or Mary Margaret could answer Ruby squeezed Emma's hand and smiled slightly. Emma laughed "I'll take that as a yes."