Author's note:

I talked about a few story ideas at the end of my first (and until now last) OUAT story. This is not one of those. I said that I wouldn't write romance but there will be some romance in this. So, nothing actually worked out as I predicted, but I simply couldn't get this story out of my head, so here it is.

Please, tell me what you think about it.

Also, I really could use a beta reader for this story. If someone feels like helping me out, please PM me. Thank you and enjoy!

The title comes from a song, My name by Shinedown. It's one of my favorites and it always makes me think of the Huntsman.

Nothing is mine, of course.

Chapter 1.

Graham's touches were gentle as he tended to the small cut in her eyebrow.

His eyes were still troubled, but he behaved calmer now. In the cemetery his erratic behavior had really frightened Emma. He seemed almost incoherent then. Now, he just looked heartbroken. And so adorable that when he stepped away, Emma felt the immense need to pull him back.

She smiled softly.

"What?" he asked with a similar smile.

She didn't say anything, just stepped closer and kissed him. He didn't hesitate to kiss back and it was the most gentle and still the most passionate kiss she has ever shared. His left hand caressed her face, while his other hand rested on her waist. It was a wonderful feeling to have him this close and Emma eased into his embrace.

Then suddenly he tensed up and staggered backwards.

"Graham?" Emma asked worriedly.

For a moment his eyes just stared into the distance vacantly, then he whispered as if talking to himself.

"I remember."

"Graham?" she tried to get his attention again and this time he looked at her.

His eyes were blown wide open and full of amazed wonder. As if just realizing that Emma was there too, he said again:

"I remember."

Emma tried to smile reassuringly but she felt it forced. She started to get scared for him again.

"What do you remember?"

He suddenly smiled brightly but Emma saw that his eyes were sparkling with tears. He stepped close to her, so that their lips were almost touching again.

"Thank you." he said with utter earnestness.

Emma didn't know what he was thanking her for but she bent into the kiss he was offering, eagerly.

And that was when he suddenly shuddered, gasped in pain and collapsed. It all happened in a second and he almost pulled Emma with him to the floor.

"Graham! Graham!" she dropped next to him, trying to rouse him, but he showed no reaction.

She checked his pulse, it was quicker and fainter than normal. Touching him Emma also realized that he was unnaturally hot, and she didn't understand how she didn't notice that before. He must have an extremely high fever, she noted.

It was against every instinct she had but Emma let go of Graham and went to call an ambulance.

ooo

Regina stood in her vault with the glowing heart in her palm.

This wasn't the first time she was seriously considering crushing it, but just like all the other times something held her back. Maybe there still was another solution. She still had some magic left – not the memory potion, she had used on Graham in this world before -, but there was something else. It might still kill the man, but there was a chance that he could remain useful for the future.

Holding the heart in her hand, she walked deeper into the underground chambers and came into a room, with crowded shelves around and a working bench in the middle. She took a bowl from one of the shelves and put the heart in it. Then she looked for the correct vial. The liquid in it was an ugly gray color, and when she uncorked the vial it emitted a rotting smell.

Without further hestitation, she poured all of it on the beating heart.

It was like a nightmare, really.

One moment, Emma thought that she just might let the walls down which she denied having but Mary Margaret was absolutely right about. The next moment she tried to keep the man, who cracked those aforementioned walls, alive.

ooo

Later, it was hard for her to remember how it all went down.

By the time she finished talking to the dispatcher, she was assured that the ambulance was on its way and she could go back to check on Graham, the man's pulse went terribly slow and erratic.

Touching him felt like touching a furnace and she was beating herself up about not noticing it sooner. His breathing was barely detectable and his whole body was trembling slightly. She sat on the floor and pulled his head onto her lap, that's how she waited for help to arrive.

The paramedics burst in about ten minutes later and both men got really grim after they checked out Graham. They quickly loaded him in their vehicle and didn't let Emma ride with them, saying that they needed the space.

So, she followed them in the patrol car and since then she was sitting in a waiting room, in a plastic chair.

An extremely long time later Doctor Whale came out from an examination room and walked up straight to Emma. She jumped up immediately.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Not well. I'm sorry but I don't think I can elaborate. You are not family."

"But he doesn't have family, does he?" Emma snapped.

Not that she was absolutely sure about that. As far as she knew Graham didn't have any family members but she hasn't been around that long.

"No, he doesn't, but he has an emergency contact. I already notified her…"

"You mean the mayor." Emma guessed.

"Of course, Deputy Swan." Regina's voice came from behind her. "Doctor." she greeted Whale, but looked at Emma with barely veiled animosity.

"Thank you for helping Graham, but now you can leave. I'm taking over from here."

"I'm not leaving." Emma said. "As his deputy, I need to know if Graham is all right or not."

Honestly, she needed to know that for other reasons more, but she wasn't about to talk about her feelings to Regina.

"I will officially notify you, when I know more." Regina declared. "I think we should take this somewhere private, Doctor Whale." she said turning to the doctor and the man led her away towards the offices.

Emma wasn't invited and she rationally knew that she had no real right to demand more information, she was too worried to leave, though. It was strange, really. She has been in this godforsaken town for a little over two months and she has been deputy not even four weeks and still it was as if she had known Graham a lot longer. The man simply got under her skin and she couldn't even explain why.

So, she sat back down and waited.

Regina came back almost an hour later and for a second – before she noticed that Emma was still there – Emma saw a strange, almost satisfied smile on her face. Their eyes locked and the smile vanished, being replaced with worry.

"I thought you would be back at the station by now." the mayor said.

"I told you I wanted to know about Graham. How is he?"

"He surely won't be back at work for a long time. He's very ill. I can't understand how you haven't noticed before."

"You haven't noticed it, either." There was no real heat in Emma's comment, because she felt too guilty about what happene. She really should have realized that something was wrong.

Regina scowled at her but then regained her composure.

"This is not the right time for being vindictive, Deputy. Doctor Whale thinks that Graham has encephalitis, that means his brain is inflamed. It is caused by some kind of infection, but they need more tests to determine what kind. His fever is over 107."

"What does all this mean?"

"They don't know yet. For now, they try to bring down his fever."

"Can I see him?" Emma asked and she hated how pitiful she sounded.

Regina shook her head.

"And before you shout at me, it's not me who forbids it. He's in ICU and Doctor Whale said he can't have visitors right now."

"I see. Would you call me when he's ready for visitors?"

To her honest surprise, Regina nodded and so Emma – despite all her misgivings – left the hospital.

ooo

Emma wasn't really expecting Regina to call her about Graham, so she checked in on him with Doctor Whale every day in the morning and in the afternoon. Every time the answer was that Graham's status was critical and – to avoid further infection – he couldn't have visitors. It was almost a full week later when she at last got a different answer. She actually dropped everything, closed down the Sheriff's station and rushed to the hospital immediately.

Doctor Whale was a little bit more talkative now, as obviously Regina was gracious enough to allow Emma to have some information.

"The sheriff has a very serious heart infection that actually caused inflammation in his brain as well. We did everything to keep his fever down, but it was a struggle. He seems to be stabilizing now, though. He's still in an ICU room, but you can go see him, but no longer than fifteen minutes and you have to wear a mask, and please, don't touch him in any way. We are keeping him under heavy sedation, so don't expect him to react to you."

Emma felt a bit overwhelmed as a nurse gave her a mask, plastic gloves and led her to a closed room.

Graham was the lone occupant of the room but he was surrounded by different kinds of medical equipments. To put it simply, he looked terrible. He was pale and sweaty, his curly hair stucking to his head wetly and he was constantly shivering. He was obviously unconscious but his eyes moved under his closed eyelids and when his whole body jerked, Emma almost jumped out of her skin. That was when he realized that Graham's wrists were in restrains.

The nurse was still in the room, checking the monitor.

"Are the restraints really necessary?" Emma asked her in a whisper. The nurse, her nametag said, Louise, smiled sympathetically.

"I'm sorry for that, but yes, it's necessary. He's quite calm now but he is prone to have quite violent nightmares, he's been trashing a lot, tore out his IV a few times. It's for his own protection."

Hearing her words, it downed on Emma how very sick Graham really was. It became frighteningly obvious that he easily could have died.

"But will he be all right?" she asked. She stunned herself how childlike she sounded but she couldn't pull it back.

"We hope so. He's temperature is still around 104, but that's much better than the 110 he piked to at one point."

"Thank you." Emma said sincerely.

"Talk to him, sometimes it calms him down if he hears a human voice." the nurse said and left.

Emma just stood at the bedside and watched Graham. She was at a loss as to what to tell him. They barely knew eachother after all. Emma couldn't even explain to herself why she was so worried about him. There was physical affection for sure. There was no denying that she found him hot as hell. He was also a genuinely nice guy, much nicer than any of Emma's former lovers. After working together for a few weeks Emma also found out that Graham was really hard-working and devoted to his job. There was actually much more to do in the Sheriff's Department than Emma anticipitated and there were also a few really tough situations in the past weeks and Graham always knew what to do, always knew what to say. The latter was kind of amazing, as otherwise – when not on the job – he could be a little bit awkward socially.

Then there was the issue with Regina, of course. Emma couldn't understand what Graham wanted from Regina, they had nothing in common. She had a suspicion that there was more behind this 'relationship' than what met the eye.

All in all, she really started to like Graham and that horrified her. The realization that the possibility of losing him scared her so much, scared her even more. She thought about it a lot during some sleepless nights this past week, and she had to admit that she could imagine a real relationship with Graham and that was a first since Neal.

She had a lot on her mind, she still didn't know what to say, so she just stood there and watched the unconscious man until the nurse came back and ushered her outside.

TBC