So we move on, are David and Emma too late? Will they manage to save our poor Pirate? Only one way to find out...
P.S. Please review, I'm not sure what everyone is thinking, is the story worth carrying on with?
Ariel popped her head above the water as she approached the harbor, she could see a few people moving about on the dock and it seemed like they were organizing themselves into groups and heading off in different directions. They must be about to search for Hook. Her heart jumped as she saw Snow talking to a short bearded man who was standing next to quite a small boat and Henry, she knew right away that she had to reach her friend.
"SNOW" she yelled waving her hand in the air.
Snow's head shot up but she looked towards the dock obviously thinking the voice came from the land. Ariel knew she had to get closer so she ducked back beneath the waves and swam as fast as she could coming back up right by the wooden structure.
"Snow, here, in the water" she yelled again
This time Snow's face turned the right way, her face lighting up when she finally saw Ariel below her.
"Ariel, what are you doing here? Now really isn't a very good time, you see we are looking for..."
"HOOK" Ariel shouted out and Snow froze, confusion clear on her face.
"How did you know?" Snow's face fell into a frown.
"I know where he is, you need to come quickly Snow, he's hurt" Ariel answered quickly
"What? Where is he Ariel?"
"I little bit down the coast, in a sandy cove but he doesn't look good, come on, I can show you but we need to leave now" Ariel needed to make her understand that they needed to move quickly.
"OK Ariel, I'll get Leroy and Henry to follow you in Leroy's boat but I need to stay here, I have a baby now, I can't leave him. I can speak to David though I'll let him know what's happening. He and Emma headed down the coast earlier to search along the shore maybe they are closer and will be able to get there first."
"Alright, are the others ready to go?" Ariel asked looking over to the men at the boats
"They will be moving in two minutes, I promise"
Snow gave her an encouraging smile before turning and ushering her Grandson and the bearded man, Leroy, towards the small boat. Ariel waited patiently as she watched Leroy and Henry climb on board the boat and untie the ropes that held it to the quay. In minutes the engine roared to life and the vessel started moving, Henry stood at the front and he waved to her as they got closer. Ariel beckoned for them to follow her turning and swimming quickly, FINALLY they were underway.
"We're coming Hook" she whispered to herself as she turned in the water and headed back towards the cove "Hang on, please, just hang on"
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David's heart was thumping against his ribs as he stepped forward leaving Emma standing a few feet away. Someone else must have been here, he could see foot prints in the sand and Hook's jacket was laid across his back like someone had placed it there. David pulled in a breath as he knelt down by the Pirate's head, his eyes roamed the man's features looking for any sign of life but he was getting nothing. He reached forward to check for a pulse, fingers searching his cold skin but finally finding what he was looking for. His own heart leapt as he realized that the Pirate was still alive.
"He's alive Emma but we need to get him warm, he is FREEZING" David grit out as he yanked the leather jacket from Hook's back to reveal his disfigured form.
David's eyes went wide when he saw the hook firmly stuck in the tree, how had he not noticed this before. Hook must at the very least have a dislocated shoulder, the angle he was lying at could only be described as wrong. He lay mostly on his front but his left arm was being pulled upwards by his wedged hook, what on earth had happened?
"Dad, what do I do?" Emma asked urgently, looking to him for advise "I don't want to hurt him"
"Hang on, I need to free his arm. Once we get that free we can flip him over. Can you start getting out the blankets, he's not even shivering anymore he's so cold, that is not a good sign"
David worked quickly while Emma grabbed the backpacks and pulled out a thick gray blanket and a foil one. David realized that the Pirate's hook was not going to be freed with him still attached so he had no other choice but to remove the hook from the man. David pulled back Hook's sleeve to get access to the bindings but froze when he saw the dark purple bruising and the very visible break just above the black brace. Damn, this just got even more awkward. He tentatively reached his fingers out trying to work the bindings loose but they were wet and filled with sand so it was really tricky, he could feel the bones grating beneath Hook's skin and it sent a shiver down his spine at the sensation.
Finally Hook's arm came free and David gently held it, trying not to do anymore damage to the already mangled limb. He looked up as Emma laid the last of the supplies out ready for them to turn him over.
"You ready?" he asked
She visibly swallowed, her face was one of concern as she moved to her Pirate's side.
"Can you support his head, if we can get his top half turned in one I'll be happy."
Emma nodded, quickly kneeling by his head.
"On the count of three" David met Emma's eyes and gave her a quick nod
They moved quickly, it was not easy but they soon had him on his back and David gently laid Hook's broken arm by his side. He immediately jumped up and rummaged in his own bag, he had packed a few extras and now he needed them.
"What are you looking for?" Emma asked him as she stroked the side of Hook's face lovingly
"I needed these" he replied pulling out a short blade and some sweatpants
He was back at the Pirate's side in seconds cutting through his clothing, he removed his pants first tossing the tatters to the side. Next he yanked the man's water logged socks from his feet before wrestling the sweatpants onto Hook's still very damp bottom half. He finally moved on to his top half, sighing deeply before getting started.
As he finally managed to pull the last pieces of wet fabric from Hook's chest Emma gasped at the sight that met them. Hook was a mess, his shoulder was clearly not in it's socket anymore, there was an ugly bruise across his ribs on his left hand side and he had a lot of cuts and bruises across his whole torso but David didn't have time to dwell on that, he needed to get the Pirate warm.
"Emma, pass me the blankets" he said holding his hand out to his daughter but her eyes were still stuck on Hook's torso.
"Emma! We don't have time for this" he grit out "I need those blankets now"
She blinked quickly, a single tear slipped down her face but she moved anyway grabbing the blankets and passing them to him. He spread the silver foil over Hook first, tucking it under his body before he laid the woolen blanket over the top of that.
"We need to build a fire Emma, come on, we need to move quickly. We can't do anything until we get him warm" David said coming to her side and crouching down looking her in the face wiping the tears from her face.
He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet, giving her a quick hug before pulling back and looking her in the eye again.
"Can you start gathering some wood? I'm going to radio the town and get a boat down here, it's the only way that we're moving him" he gave her a slight squeeze of encouragement as she nodded and moved off picking up bits of drift wood from the shore and throwing them into a pile.
David grabbed the radio from his belt and turned to face out over the ocean, he didn't want Emma to hear what he was about to relay back to town. David knew that if they didn't get Hook back to Storybrooke General ASAP he wasn't going to make it. He knew Hook was in a bad way but as much as he was worried about the Pirate he was also worried about Emma too so if he could protect her even just a little he'd do it.
He was just raising the radio up when a burst of static from the appliance made him jump then Mary-Margaret's voice came through and it was like music to his ears.
"David!"
"I'm here" he replied "We've found him"
"Good, I was just about to tell you where he was. Ariel just showed up here and told us she knew where we could find him, is he alright?"
David turned his back further away from Emma and sighed bringing his hand up and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"No... He's in bad shape Mary-Margaret, we need to get him back to town"
"Ariel is bringing Leroy and Henry to you right now. David, how is Emma?"
"Quiet, I've got her collecting driftwood to build a fire just to keep her busy, I'm hoping that we'll be moving before we need it"
David walked back over to the Pirate to check on him as he spoke. He knelt down and checked his pulse again, it was still there but quite week, he didn't know what else he had been expecting, it had literally just been minutes since they had covered him up. He was so cold, he wasn't generating any heat for himself which brought a sudden thought to David's mind.
"I have to go Mary-Margaret, I'll let you know when we are heading back, can you make sure that there is an ambulance waiting, speak to Whale and let him know that Hook has a bad case of hypothermia. I'm going to try and get some heat back into him but it's not going to be enough, we need heating pads and more blankets than we have"
"Alright, I'll make sure we are ready at this end. I love you"
"I love you too" he replied quickly then tossed the radio into his backpack.
He looked over to Emma, she was a short distance away but he needed her here for what he was about to attempt.
"Emma, come help me" he shouted while stripping his own clothes from his upper body
"What are you doing?" she asked, voice full of concern
"Skin to skin warming is his best shot right now. Once we get him settled on me you can light the fire. Leroy and Henry are on their way with Ariel so hopefully it won't be too long before they get here."
"Ariel?!" Emma looked confused "Where did she come from?"
"I don't know but your Mom said she showed up in town to tell them where Hook was, it must have been her that laid his jacket on him but right now you need to help me, I need to get as much of his skin touching mine as possible."
They worked as quickly as they could but were mindful of Hook's injuries and the fact that a person with hypothermia should be moved as little as possible otherwise it could trigger a cardiac arrest. After a few minutes they had him practically sitting in David's lap. David held Hook tight to his front with his head laying against his left collar bone, he could feel Hook's cool breath hitting his neck. Hook was cold enough to raise goosebumps across David's own skin and he gave an involuntary shiver as his body tried to accommodate for the heat literally being sucked from his skin by the icy Pirate.
"Grab the blankets" he said through chattering teeth "Cover him up, bring the blanket right up over his head"
Emma did as she was told and once they were satisfied that Hook was fully covered Emma moved to start a fire. David watched as she piled the wood up, he assumed she was going to grab a lighter from her bag but was not surprised when she just raised her hand and the flames instantly dances high into the air.
Emma was being too quiet, what was going on in that head of hers?
"Emma, tell me what you are thinking" he said as she stared into the flames
"I'm thinking, what's the use in having magic when the one thing I really need to do is beyond me?" her voice cracked as she struggled to keep it together "I can't help him Dad, I don't know how to do healing magic, all I'm good for is lighting stupid fires and moving mugs of cocoa from one side of Granny's to the other" she burst out
"Hey, that's not true and you know it. This is helping..."
She gave him a watery smile "I just feel so helpless Dad"
"I know but it will be over soon, I promise" he said in earnest.
"I'm going to grab some more wood" she huffed out, got to her feet and marched up the beach.
David watched as she left him, holding her man to his front. He was surprised a few minutes later when the Pirate in his arms started to move, a low groan coming from below the blankets followed by something that sounded distinctly like "Swan?"
David pulled the blanket's back to reveal Hook's battered face looking up at him
"Sorry buddy, not this time"
He could practically see the Pirate trying to get his brain to work as his eyes took in his face followed by the moment of clarity when he finally realized that he was currently lying on David's bare chest.
"Bloody hell" Hook moaned
But that was it, there was no attempt to move away or indignant calls at the revelation, his eyes just simply slid shut again as he lost his fight with consciousness once more. His breathing seemed a bit better and David could feel him starting to shiver, these were all positive signs but he was far from being out of the woods just yet.
Emma returned a few minutes later arms filled with more wood.
"How's he doing?" she asked quietly
"He's doing better I think, he's starting to shiver which is a good thing although I think it may cause him a fair amount of pain before too long if it gets bad." he paused and gave her a hopeful smile then added "He was asking for you"
"He was awake?! Why didn't you call me?" she dropped to her knees by their side and gingerly pulled the blankets back
"He was out again in seconds, but he knew who I was"
"I'm sure he was just thrilled to be lying on your naked man boobs" Emma chuckled
"Man boobs?! Really? But now I come to think of it I'm sure I saw a twinkle in his eye when he figured it out. Who could resist this body, right?"
"Eww Dad, I am not even discussing this with you right now, that is all kinds of wrong... You are my Dad and HE is my boyfriend" she gave a mock shiver
He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, if Emma was back to joking she was obviously feeling better, he just needed to keep it that way. He was just about to carry it on when Emma shushed him and tilted her head as if listening. There was a low rumble coming from somewhere north of their position, a boat, they could hear it coming, the noise getting louder as it approached.
"Hang on Hook, help is coming" She whispered into the blanket before jumping to her feet and running down the sand to meet the others.
"You listen to me Pirate, this is not going to be pleasant but if you so much as think about dying on me I will kill you. I am not going to have you break my Daughter's heart." David spoke to the unconscious man in his arms, he needed to do something other than just sit and watch as Leroy's boat came into sight.
"I know that we have had our differences in the past but you are one of us now. Emma has been through so much in her life and I'm not going to let you be another person that she has lost, you can't leave her you infernal Pirate, do you hear me?"
To his utter amazement the Pirate replied with a simple "Aye" but it was enough, David was going to hold him to it.
