Henry's screaming filled the small car, piercing Emma's ears painfully. She tried to keep a grip on the steering wheel, but after 45 minutes of her son's never-ending tantrum driving was nearly impossible. "Scooby Doo! I want it!" The little boy screamed, his pale face a bright shade of red.
"Henry Daniel Swan stop it right now! You already have enough books." Emma scolded him. This just caused him to scream louder and begin kicking the back of her seat. Emma had stopped at a gas station/gift shop on the way out of town when Henry had spotted the Scooby Doo book on the shelf.
The blonde had firmly told him no, and Henry hadn't liked that answer. 10 minutes later Emma was hauling her son out kicking and screaming, $50 shorter from the display case that the boy had knocked over in his fit of rage. He hadn't stopped screaming since.
Emma looked in the rearview mirror to see Henry violently scratching at his own face, ripping off his bandage in the process. Often times when he did this Emma would restrain and sing to him to calm him down, but this time she couldn't. She tried to look for a place to pull over, but wasn't able to find a spot that would be safe enough. Henry's cries of anger turned to pain, and as Emma looked back she saw blood covering his face and hands.
Suddenly, a loud pop could be heard. The car skidded to the left out of control. Emma managed to maneuver the car to the shoulder before hopping out. The right back tire was popped. The blonde opened the door to inspect Henry's injury. His stitches were ripped, and his wound was bleeding steadily.
Emma's heart pounded against her chest as she grabbed a towel and held it firmly against the boy's head before picking him up in her arms. The first time his stitches ripped he had fallen down the jungle gym at the park. He lost so much blood he nearly had to get a blood transfusion. It was the scariest moment of his mother's life.
The young woman grabbed her cell phone, her heart sinking as it indicated no service. Frantically she looked around for a car or someone that might be able to help. No such luck, as they were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by dense forest.
"Mommy it hurts!" Henry moaned, sobbing into her shoulder. "I know baby. It's going to be okay I'm going to take care of you. Just hold on." Emma tried soothing him. Her eyes lit up as she saw a sign a few feet ahead that read Storybrooke: 1 mile with an arrow pointing to the left. Holding her son tightly she began to run towards it.
Regina and Owen were enjoying a nice breakfast at Granny's diner as they did every Saturday morning when suddenly the door burst open. "Somebody help me please!" A frantic voice cried. Regina along with everyone else in the diner turned to see a woman holding a little boy in her arms. Both were covered in blood.
Regina immediately stood Owen up, covering his eyes as she led him to the back. "Go with Ruby, okay?" She said. "What's going on, Mom?" Her son asked, straining to try and see the commotion in the front. "Owen, please listen to me." The brunette said, pushing him towards the waitress.
Regina returned to the front to see people had cleared tables and chairs to make room for the new arrivals. "What happened?" Regina asked, shedding her blazer and immediately going into nurse-mode. "My son was throwing a tantrum in the car and he ripped his stitches." The blonde sobbed, hyperventilating.
"I called an ambulance." Granny informed them. "Lay him down." Regina instructed, grabbing the first-aid kit. The boy was unconscious but his pulse was strong. "What's your name?" Regina asked the young woman. "Em- Em- Emma Swan" The woman stammered, gasping for air. "Okay Emma, my name is Regina Mills. I'm a nurse. I need you to take deep breaths for me." The brunette said gently.
Mary Margaret sat the woman down in a chair, setting down a glass of water next to her. Regina shined a light in the boy's eyes, relaxing a little as his pupils responded. "What's your son's name?" The brunette asked. "Um- his name is- He- Henry." The blonde answered.
Regina noticed the woman was having memory issues and seemed to be going into shock. "Henry. Henry open your eyes." Regina tried to coax the boy. His eyelids fluttered, then slid shut again. "How old is he?"
"He's 6." Emma answered her. The paramedics soon arrived and loaded the boy into the ambulance. Regina rode with Emma in the back, more worried about the young woman than the boy. Once at the hospital, the doctors whisked Henry into a back room, causing the blonde to go into hysterics.
Regina sat the woman down, kneeling in front of her. "Emma. Emma I need you to calm down and breathe. In and out. That's it. Just like that." The brunette soothed, rubbing the woman's leg in a comforting gesture. "I need to see Henry. I need to know he's alright." The young woman said, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
"You will soon. Right now you need to calm down. If you keep breathing the way you are your blood pressure is going to rise and you will pass out. Then you won't be helping Henry at all." Regina said. She moved to sit next to the woman, rubbing her back to help her breathing.
"I think I'm okay now." Emma said after a few minutes. Regina checked her pulse to see it was far slower than it was before, almost back to normal. "Good. Now the doctors are going to need to know some more about your son. Can you answer some questions for me?"
The blonde nodded, wiping her nose with a tissue. "What is Henry's blood type?" The brunette asked. "O positive. Same as mine." Emma answered. "Is he allergic to anything?" Regina asked, jotting down a few notes. "No."
"What happened that caused him to have to get stitches?" Regina asked. She saw the woman take a sharp breath, hesitant to answer. "He fell down the stairs." Emma finally answered. Regina silently wrote the answer down, knowing that wasn't exactly what happened but deciding not to push it.
"Henry Swan." A nurse entered the waiting room, prompting Emma and Regina to stand up. As Emma started to follow the nurse, she stopped and turned around. "Um, my car has a popped tire. It's about a mile out of town and everything we have is in it. It's a yellow VW bug."
"Not to worry. I'll take care of it." Regina reassured her, touching her arm gently. "Thank you." Emma gave her a small smile before following the nurse back.
Henry was wide awake and happy to see Emma as she entered the room. "Mommy look at the cool sticker they gave me for being brave!" The little boy said enthusiastically, pointing to the smiley face sticker on his hand. "Very cool." Emma sat down beside him, kissing his forehead.
"We're going to keep him here for a few more hours to observe him, and then we'll send him home." A doctor explained. "We've got him started on ibuprofen right now, and I'll write a prescription for some stronger medicine for you to pick up later today."
Henry frowned as he noticed his mother was upset. "Why are you crying, Mommy? Did I make you sad?" He asked. "No. Not at all, buddy. Mommy was just scared." Emma answered, wiping her eyes.
When Regina had asked how Henry had gotten hurt, she had frozen on the spot. What was she supposed to say? That her abusive ex-boyfriend had pushed him down the stairs and Emma wasn't able to stop him? That she was a terrible mother and she blamed herself every day?
Regina returned as Henry was being discharged. "Here's the keys to your car. It's in the shop right now being fixed." She said, greeting Henry with a kiss on his head. "Thank you so much." Emma told her. A little boy that looked to be about Henry's age ran up to them. "Hi!" He said enthusiastically.
"Hi!" Henry answered, waving from the wheel chair he was in. "I'm Owen. What's your name?" The boy asked. "Henry."
"What happened to your head?" The curious boy asked. "Owen, it's not nice to point." Regina scolded him lightly, pulling the boy away. "I'm sorry for him, he's just a little friendly. We don't get many visitors here. This is my son, Owen. Owen, this is Emma and Henry."
"Nice to meet you." The boy asked, shaking Emma's hand politely. "You too." Emma answered, surprised at his manners. "I like your hat." Henry spoke up. Owen grinned and touched the colorful beanie atop his head. "Thanks. My Dad got it for me."
"You're married, then?" Emma asked the woman, then immediately kicked herself for prying. "I- I'm sorry."
Regina waved her hand in dismissal. "No worries. Owen and his father came to Storybrooke about 3 years ago. After Kurt passed, I took his son in. Now Owen is my son. Well, he always has been. At least I believe that we were meant to come into each other's lives."
Emma smiled as the boy hugged his mother tightly. She smiled down at her own son as he took her hand and cuddled it. "So are you two headed home now?" Regina asked. "We're running away from home." Henry answered. Emma cleared her throat and tried to think of how to answer the question.
"Oh?" Regina said, a look of surprise mixed with confusion on her face. "Why?" Owen asked his newfound friend. Henry bit his lip, contemplating whether or not to say. "We're just starting over. Finding a new town that we can call home." Emma answered.
"Do you have somewhere to stay for the night?" Regina asked. "Um, no. Is there a motel around here that we can stay at?" The blonde asked. "There's Granny's, but the rooms are small and the people that stay there are quite obnoxious." Regina answered.
"Why don't you stay with us?" Owen offered. "Yeah, Mom! Can we?" Henry turned his puppy dog eyes upwards towards his mother. "We can't just intrude on this family, Henry." Emma said. "If you'd like you both can stay with us until you get settled in. Our house is much too big for just the two of us, and I could observe Henry to make sure he doesn't have any more complications."
"Well…" Emma thought about it. "Please?" Owen asked, his bright blue eyes begging her. He grabbed her free hand and swung it back and forth. "Please?" Henry asked. Emma glanced up at Regina. "You might find you really like our town." The brunette said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Alright." Emma relented.
The boys cheered and ran to the car, racing each other the whole way. "I think Henry is going to be just fine." Emma chuckled, shaking her head at the boy. After grabbing their overnight bags and learning it was going to take a little longer to fix the car, Regina drove them to her house.
Emma's mouth dropped open as they parked in the expansive driveway. "You weren't kidding when you said your house was too big for just the two of you." She commented. She blushed as Regina smiled at her reaction. "It's beautiful."
"Thank you. It was my parents, actually." Regina answered, leading the young women inside while the boys ran ahead. "Your son sure seems to like Henry. It's nice, Henry doesn't usually open up to kids his age." Emma said. Honestly, it worried her.
The boy was always plastered to her side. Even when she took him to play at the park, he refused to go more than 20 feet away from her. He was shy and introverted, often times escaping into his head while reading or drawing. Emma tried to get him in to see a therapist, but they were all expensive and Neal didn't see the point of him going anyway.
Of course the man that was hardly ever around them and spent their money on booze and useless junk didn't want to "waste" their income on something that would benefit their child. Seeing as Emma didn't have a job, she let the issue drop for fear of angering him.
Deep down, Henry was dealing with issues that no child should ever have to. Emma blamed herself for making her son that way. Part of her enjoyed having a child that loved to be babied and was attached to her, but she knew it was getting to the point where it wasn't healthy anymore.
After getting set up in the guest bedroom and giving Henry a pill as he started to complain about the pain, Regina got the boys set up in the den watching cartoons. "Scooby Doo is my favorite too!" The women could hear Owen exclaim from the other room. "Thank you, for doing this for us. I'll pay you back." Emma said.
"No need, Emma. I enjoy helping people out." Regina said, patting her hand before starting to make grilled cheese for a late lunch. "Hello!" Regina rolled her eyes as Mary Margaret let herself into the house, balloons in one hand and a gift basket in the other.
"I was just going to come by and drop off the lesson plans for next week but I decided to stop by the store and get a little something for the little boy that got hurt earlier. I couldn't resist, aren't these balloons so cute? Oh! You must be Emma! Excuse me for being so rude and not introducing myself, we didn't get a chance to formally meet earlier. I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard, Regina's friend."
Regina smiled and shook her head as her friend rambled and attempted to shake Emma's hand. The young woman looked a little rattled and wary of Mary Margaret's bubbly personality, but she politely shook her hand and introduced herself anyways.
"And your son, what was his name? Oh, Henry! That's right. Where is the little guy? Is he sleeping? Oh dear, I don't want to wake him up if he's resting. I just got some things I thought he might like." Mary Margaret said. Emma stifled a giggle. This woman sure was a character. "She could make a good living doing live auctions too." The blonde thought to herself.
"No, he's just in the other room with Owen. Henry! Come out and say hello!" Emma called. Two sets of little feet pounded on the floor followed by giggling. "Careful, buddy." Emma warned her son as he slid across the floor in his socks. "Mary Margaret!" Owen launched himself into the woman's arms.
Henry lingered between Emma and Regina, his cheerful mood fading as he retreated into himself once more. "Henry, this is Mary Margaret." Emma said, pulling her son onto her lap. "She's Regina's friend. She was nice enough to bring you over some goodies because of your stitches. You should thank her for being so kind." She explained.
The woman set down the gift in front of the little boy, stepping back to give him some space. The basket was filled with books, little toys, coloring pages and crayons, even a small Spongebob blanket and teddy bear to cuddle with. Henry slowly climbed off his mother's lap to inspect the basket, mumbling a thank you to the woman.
"Mommy, look! My Scooby Doo book!" Henry squealed, holding up the book that was the reason he got hurt in the first place. "Now you don't have to throw a fit about not having it and ripping out your stitches again, do you?" Emma teased. Henry's smile fell. "I'm sorry, Mommy." He said, hugging her.
Emma hugged him back, kissing his cheek. The little boy was so perceptive and could read between the lines. He could even tell when someone was being sarcastic and started using witty little lines of his own when he felt the need. Emma wasn't even mad about the tantrum situation anymore. He was just having a hard day. This was a big adjustment for both of them.
After lunch, Henry fell asleep rather quickly as Emma had woken him up early this morning and the pain pill was kicking in. Emma got him tucked in upstairs in the guest room, thinking it would be more comfortable for him than the couch.
Owen was settled in the den, coloring and watching a Disney film. Emma joined the women in the kitchen, grabbing a second sandwich as her stomach grumbled loudly. "So anyways, I was thinking the older kids could work on spelling and alphabetizing in the morning, and the younger kids could work on reading skills. We could do our normal routine of the weather and time with snack." Mary Margaret was saying.
Emma listened silently, her curiosity peaked but she was too nervous to say anything. Regina noticed, and a smile broke across the woman's face. "You must think we're absolutely crazy." She said. "Oh, no. Carry on." Emma said through a mouthful of crunchy toast and gooey cheese. "We teach the kids in town. We run a homeschooling program out of Regina's house." Mary Margaret explained.
"That's pretty cool." Emma answered. Feeling her phone vibrate from her pocket, she saw she had 3 missed calls from August. "I'll be right back I just have to take this." She excused herself.
As soon as Emma had left the room, Mary Margaret grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Regina. "What?" Regina asked, knowing what the woman was about to say. "She's cute, isn't she. Young, her son is the same age as Owen, she's single…"
"You don't know that. Besides, I'm just being nice." Regina said curtly, trying to keep her annoyance under wraps. She loved her friend to death, but sometimes she could be a bit overwhelming and pushy. "Sure you are. I always knew you had a thing for blondes."
Regina rolled her eyes and bit back a sarcastic remark. The only reason she had told Mary Margaret she wasn't interested in men is so the woman would stop setting her up with the single men around town. She wasn't really lying when she told her so, but now the woman was obsessing over it. But that was Mary Margaret for you. She obsessed over anything and everything.
"I already told you, all I need is Owen. I'm just helping this woman get back on her feet. Besides, it would be nice having new faces around our town." Regina answered. "Well if you're not interested, you won't mind if I ask her out, will you? Mary Margaret teased. Regina swatted her playfully with a rolled up magazine.
Emma had just gotten off the phone with August after explaining what happened when she heard Henry scream loudly from upstairs. Before she could go see what was wrong, the little boy had already run down the stairs and jumped into her arms. He was sobbing, and his clothes were damp. "You weren't there when I woke up. I had a bad dream. Daddy was coming after me." Henry cried, burying his head in her hair.
"I'm sorry, baby. I should have kept you downstairs. But it's okay, it was just a bad dream. Daddy can't find us." Emma soothed him. Part of her realized she now had an audience, but she didn't care. The truth would have come out eventually.
"I'm sorry about your bed, Regina. Henry usually changes into pull-ups at night, but I thought he would be fine for a nap." Emma apologized for the hundredth time. "Emma, don't worry about it. Owen had problems like this too. It's not a big deal." Regina reassured her, throwing the dirty laundry into the washing machine.
"Is Henry okay?" The brunette asked after a moment of silence. "He's fine now. He should sleep good tonight at least." Emma said. Sensing the question Regina really wanted to ask, the blonde decided to explain a little more. "Things with Henry's father are… complicated. Or at least they were. We're just trying to escape a bad situation."
Regina nodded, politely deciding not to prod her further. "Alright, fresh sheets, fresh bed. Is there anything else you needed?"
"Mommy?" Henry stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. Emma opened her arms for him to come join her. "I think we'll just take a little nap. It's been a long day." The blonde answered, stifling a yawn of her own. Regina left the two alone, closing the door softly behind her. With Henry nestled in her arms, Emma easily drifted off to sleep.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!