Hey guys! I just wanted to thank all of you for reading my story! You all are wonderful! So, thanks again!
"She's going to be ok." The announcement came from Dr. Victor Whale, Storybrooke's best doctor, as he walked into the waiting room to greet Emma and August.
They had pulled up to the emergency room a little over 30 minutes ago and had been waiting to hear word about the baby ever since.
"It's a girl?"
"Yes, it's a girl, and I've estimated that she is around 3 weeks old. She only weighs about 8 pounds and is mildly dehydrated from being locked in the car. She must not have been in there too long before you found her Emma due to her state when she was brought in, but because of her age and size, if she were in there for even 10 minutes longer she would have died. You saved her life."
"But she is ok, right?" Emma felt panic grip her heart.
"Yes, she is going to be fine. We put a line in to give her fluids and her stats are already up. We also gave her a cool bath to remove the sweat as well as to cool down her core temperature, which was high but most likely due to the heat inside the car. We want to watch her for a few hours to make sure that no other issues arise and that her temperature remains low. But I see no reason why she can't go home tonight. Have you located her parents?"
August just shook his head. "Even if we did locate them, there is no way we would let the baby go with them. Once we find them they will be arrested for child endangerment."
The room fell silent, each person lost in their own thoughts.
Dr. Whale was the first person to break that silence. "Well, the child has been moved to the nursery where she will remain until she is ready to be taken off fluids and can leave any time after that. You are welcome to see her if you like."
August started to decline the offer but Emma quickly accepted. She made her way to the nursery as Whale stayed back with August to go over some more information regarding the child and her missing parents.
As she got closer to the nursery Emma could feel her heartrate increase and a lump form in her throat.
Stop it!
She stopped momentarily outside of the nursery before pushing her way through the doors. The room was quiet for being a nursery, there were only a few babies in the room and they were all asleep, all except one. A nurse, Anna, stood in the corner of the room holding a small crying baby wrapped in pink. She could see the wires attached to the baby and instantly knew that it was her baby.
She's not your baby, Emma! Calm down!
Emma stood there for a moment, simply watching as Anna held the small bundle who continued to cry and wiggle in the nurse's arms. Looking up, Anna spotted Emma and smiled.
"Emma! It's so nice to see you! I hear you are the big hero today!"
"Not really, it was a group effort. Um, how is she doing?" Emma stepped closer to the two and winced as the baby continued to cry.
"She's doing well but I can't seem to get her to stop crying!"
Emma looked down at the baby; pink face screaming, a clean onesie now in place, and beautiful. Looking back up at Anna, Emma moved a bit closer. "Mind if I hold her?"
Anna's face lit up as she transferred the baby into Emma's arms. Once settled, Emma started rocking the baby slowly trying to calm her tears. A few seconds later the little girl stopped crying and opened her eyes, staring straight up into Emma's. Emma gasped as the deep, ocean blue eyes settled on hers.
Emma could feel her heart swell to dangerous levels. This was a bad idea!
"Look at that! She stopped crying! She must like you! I mean, of course she likes you, you're the one that saved her!" Anna exclaimed with a little clap of her hands. Always overly excited about something, Anna, very different from her big sister Elsa, who happened to be Emma's best friend. "Why don't you sit down in the rocking chair with her, maybe you can get her to go to sleep?"
10 minutes later August walked into the nursery to find Emma sitting in a big rocking chair with the baby sleeping against her chest.
"How's she doing?"
Emma looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "She just fell asleep a few minutes ago."
She couldn't help but look back down at the baby in her arms again smiling.
"I just got a call from David. He ran the plates from the car, they came up with a name, Milah Gold. We called around to some hospitals and were able to find a birth certificate but there is not much listed on there."
Emma's head shot up to look at August. "What do you mean?"
"She didn't name the baby, she never completed the forms or the birth certificate. She gave birth in Boston 22 days ago and before the doctors could get any paperwork completed she fled the hospital with the baby. All they had was that it was a live birth with a female child born to a Milah Gold. No father's name was listed but David's put a call into the Boston Police Department, they are going to try to track down any information about Milah, hopefully they can find an address."
"Wait, did you say Milah Gold?! Do you think she might have some kind of connection to Mr. Gold?" Please god, no!
August nodded his head. "It's his ex-wife. They've been divorced for like 7 years now, a nasty divorce too. She left town and no one has seen or heard from her since. Graham attempted to talk to Mr. Gold about Milah but as soon as her name came up Gold threw him out of the store. So, I'm going to guess that he isn't the baby's father.
"I pray that he isn't."
The baby in her arms snuggled further into her chest, gathering warmth and comfort from their connection. Looking down at her, Emma knew that she already cared for the child deeply, and that was a problem.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Emma slowly stood and transferred the baby into her basinet without waking her. She stood there for just another moment, tucking the blanket closer to the child before turning to Anna who was attending to another baby in the room.
"Anna, I will be back later to check on her. I'm going to head to the station to work on things there."
"Ok, see you later Emma. Bye August!"
The two deputies made their way out of the hospital and into the squad car parked outside.
"You okay?" August asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go to the station and try to figure this whole mess out."
Author Note: Ok, chapter 2 down! What do you think? It's still a lot of setup for the real story but don't worry, that is coming soon! The next chapter should introduce Killian! But I don't think Killian and Emma with come face to face until chapter 4, possibly chapter 5! THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed chapter 1! They really helped me keep the fire burning to write more! Chapter 3 should be coming soon! Possibly even later today! Please review! Thank you!