Chapter 4

With the chaos of the convention centre, Zelena, Ashley and Belle were able to meet at Grandma's Goodie Shack, their designated meeting point but Regina wasn't there.

"What's going on? Why is everyone yelling and screaming?" Belle yelled out to her friends and as soon as she said it, a gunshot was heard and the three ran out of the building with all the other people. They didn't stop running until they made it to Regina's car and still no Regina.

"Where could she be? When was the last time anyone saw her?" Zelena asked looking at the swarms of people still rushing out the doors.

"I saw her maybe an hour ago, I was just getting in a line, and she was heading over to the Pen and Coop station. She said she would meet up at the Goodie Shack in two hours or we would text if that changed. Have you tried texting or calling?"

"Yes it goes straight to voicemail and no reply to the texts. I'm worried about her." Zelena began then stopped as the police and paramedics arrived. "She's going to kill me, I told her this was supposed to be a day for her to relax and now this."

"It will be all right, Zee... she's fine, and she's probably telling the police where to go and how to do their job, yeah?" Ashley soothed and then chuckled. "You know what she's like."

Her body was shivering, and she felt cold and numb. She tried to move her left hand but couldn't yet she could feel something sticky beneath it. She could hear people around her however only muffled sounds. Her ears were ringing and she couldn't understand what was going on.

She remembered the man stabbing at her with his knife but she fought back as best as she could but he got her in the shoulder and she screamed out. He pulled the knife out and was going to strike again but she kicked at him and pushed him away. When he came at her again, Regina grabbed the knife hand around his thumb and bent his hand away from her then pushing towards him, stabbing him before he realized what happened.

Being taller and stronger he pushed Regina away from him the stab wound wasn't deep but it pissed him off enough that he pulled it out and threw it on the ground. With quick moves, he punched Regina in the arm where she was bleeding and it knocked her to the ground in extreme pain.

He wanted to finish her off but he had to kill the Swan woman first, he had wasted too much time on the brunette he would kill her once his job was completed. He turned away and walked towards the target reaching inside his coat as he went.

Regina was dazed from the punch and her vision was nothing but white spots but she knew she needed to get up and get to Emma; he was going to kill her. With pure adrenalin, Regina got up and ran towards Emma. Shaking her head to clear her eyesight she saw the gun pointed at Emma's head. She doesn't really remember what she did but she remembered pain and the loud shockwave and then darkness.

She tried to keep her eyes open, she could see a woman above her she was talking to someone else, but she would smile at Regina so she felt safe. A mask was put over her mouth and nose and she could feel pressure on her upper body. Then she was being lifted onto a bed and strapped in. She was moving now and it made her dizzy but she didn't want to throw up. They were outside and Regina couldn't keep her eyes opened any longer and passed out.

Zelena, Ashley and Belle waited at the Convention centre which seemed like hours hoping to find Regina but she was nowhere in sight. Finally, Belle went over to a police officer and let him know they couldn't find their friend and she wasn't answering her phone. He told her those who were not accounted for might have been taken to the hospital and for them to go there.

Not having the keys to Regina's car, the ladies caught a cab down the street and made their way to the hospital. Once there, Zelena took charge and went to the woman at the reception window.

"I'm here to find out if my sister was brought in with those from the comic-con. Her name is Regina Mills!" Zelena all but shouted being scared and worried for her half-sister.

"Please Miss; calm down there is no need to shout. I'll look her name up to see if she has been admitted."

"Of...of course, I apologize I'm just very worried about her. She's been missing for so long now."

Her face full of empathy, the receptionist gave Zelena a small smile and went back to her monitor. "I'm afraid that no one has been admitted by that name."

"Excuse me Miss...?" A scruffy looking man in a blue suit came up next to Zelena.

"West, Zelena West, who are you?" Zelena asked as she stepped away from the receptionist window.

"I'm Detective Prince, if you could come with me, I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Do you know where my sister is? Is she all right? What's going on here?" Zelena commanded.

"Please Miss West, if you could come with me I'll answer your questions but please follow me away from the crowded waiting area."

She nodded her head in acquiescence, followed the man, and waved for Belle and Ashley to follow them.

He motioned Zelena to enter a small office down the corridor from the main entrance and put his arm out to stop the others from entering, "Who are you two?"

"I'm Belle French and this is Ashley Boyd we're friends of Zelena and Regina we all came to Darling together." Belle told him.

"It's all right Detective they're with me, you can talk to them. Please. I need to know what's happened to Regina."

"All right, ladies have a seat please." The detective accepted the three women as a unit and shut the door behind them.

"First of all is this your sister?" He asked holding out his phone to the three women.

Gasping then covering her mouth, Zelena watery eyes nodded, "Y...yes that's her. Is...Is she dead?"

Both Belle and Ashley gasped and hugged one another.

"No! No, she's not dead, I'm sorry this was taken before she went into surgery. I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. She didn't have any identification on her or a phone so we didn't know her name."

"She's not... oh God, Thank God, She's okay? What Surgery? What happened to her?"

"Miss West, please calm down, Regina was assaulted which resulted in being stabbed at the comic-con from what I understand she saved another woman's life."

"Stabbed?" All three women asked at once.

"Yes, I don't have all of the details as yet because those who were involved were seriously injured and are being treated by the staff here in the hospital. Once your sister is out of surgery, awake, and has made her statement, you can all see her but please do not release her name or anything about her or that she is here. The man who did this is still at large."

"What do you mean? Would he come back and hurt her? Who is it and why did he do this?" Belle asked as she stood up. "Who did Regina save?"

"I'm sorry but I cannot tell you it's an ongoing investigation please Miss French, have a seat, this could be a long wait." He told her.

"You said she didn't have any I.D. or phone on her, did someone take it? Did the man who did this take it? Does that mean he knows where she lives?" Zelena asked becoming more agitated as she spoke.

"I have officers collecting evidence as we speak, if her purse and or phone are still at the centre we'll find them." Detective Prince replied then quickly answered his ringing phone. With a few nods of his head, he ended the call and looked at the three ladies.

"Your sister is out of surgery and starting to wake up," Detective Prince relayed the information then put both hands up," My partner and I are going to ask her a few questions and get a statement from her and then you can go see her. And please remember do not tell anyone that she is here or that she was hurt in any way. Keep it off your social media. I'll be back to get you when we're done."

"Thank you Detective, please tell her we're here and we can't wait to see her." Zelena called out as he was leaving the room.

"I will Miss West."

Pain, it's all she could feel, sharp throbbing intense pain. It was ripping through her body enough she couldn't move. She could hear beeping noises as well as people in the distance and muffled sounds. She tried to open her eyes but she wanted to sleep but the pain was searing enough to make her groan.

A nurse came in a few moments later because she noted the patient's heart rate was elevated a sure sign that she was waking up. "Miss. Miss. Can you hear me? Wake up for me."

Regina groaned again but moved her head towards the voice and tried to open her eyes. She wanted to speak but her mouth was so dry she couldn't.

"You can do it Miss, wake up for me."

Regina wanted to wake up; memories of her mother and father flashed by as well the day she met Zelena, then a blonde woman with the greenest eyes flashed before her. Where was she? What was happening to her? Why was there so much pain? She tried to move but it felt as if she was emerging from underwater, she felt so heavy. Fighting through the pain she slowly opened one eye then another. It was bright yet blurry but she could see the frame of a person standing beside her.

"That's it Miss, open those beautiful brown eyes. That's it." The nurse cooed trying to coax Regina to wake up. Noticing that Regina was trying to speak the nurse gave her a spoon of ice chips. "Here you go Love, just some chips for now; we'll get you some water in a bit."

"Where?" Regina uttered huskily.

"You're in the hospital dear, my name is Johanna and I'm your nurse, you're going to be just fine, you rest, and I'll go get the doctor."

It didn't seem very long from when the nurse left until a flurry of medical staff came and went along with a Dr. Hopper telling her how lucky she was. That she would feel tired from the blood loss but should have at least 90% function of her shoulder and that she would be up in no time.

Feeling tired she was hoping to go back to sleep when two men walked into her room. She tensed up not knowing who they were because they didn't look as if they worked at the hospital. She tried to reach for the call button when one man came closer and showed her a badge.

"It's all right, Ms. Mills, I'm Detective Prince and this is Detective Knight. We have some questions for you if you are up for it?"

"I'll try, I've only just woken up, things feel a bit jumbled yet, but before you ask me anything can you tell me if Miss Swan is all right. I... don't remember what happened before I passed out."

"I can tell you is that she is okay and here in the hospital and is being kept overnight for observation."

"She's okay? I mean he didn't... he...a gun...head. He was..." Regina stressed couldn't form a sentence and was becoming flustered.

"Hey, hey it's all right Ms. Mills he didn't shoot her and that's thanks to you. Do you remember what the man looked like?"

"I...because of me?" Regina asked bewildered.

"Yes, but please can we start from the beginning. We need to get a statement from you and then your sister and friends are waiting to see you."

"Oh yes, I, I..." Regina began but then shook her head in confusion."It's been a trying day and things are muddled in my head."

"It's all right. Just close your eyes and begin with when you first arrived." Detective Prince coaxed and sat down on the chair next to Regina's bed.

Regina began as he suggested when they first arrived at the Convention Centre, and about getting in early, and walking around. Her bump into Miss Swan and their interaction just before the comic-con began and when she stepped out of line and made her way to the Pen and Coop merchandise booth.

It was then her heart started to beat faster remembering what happened next, but she pulled herself together and continued. She really wanted to get this over with and see her sister and hopefully Emma.

She described the man as 6' maybe a little more, mid to late 30's, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black jeans with black boots. Bald once the wig was pulled off, tanned skin, and black, dark eyes. She didn't detect an accent when he called her a bitch but she couldn't be sure.

"Weren't there any security cameras there? Surely you would know this much already." Regina asked wondering why they needed a description.

"We don't believe he was working alone. The cameras were turned off just before the attack but we're looking into social media to see if anyone recorded anything."

"The security guard," Regina called out. "He just didn't seem to know what he was doing. He didn't care whether I went backstage or if fans were getting too close to Emma, I mean Miss Swan. He kept looking at his watch." Regina recalled then remembering something else she looked at Detective Prince. "Just before the man started yelling the security guard bent down behind Miss Swan and then backed up and then I didn't see him anymore."

The detectives looked at each other at the last bit of information and back to Regina. "Can you describe him?"

"He was Caucasian, mid 30's, tall over 6' and muscular, bald and very red in the face. It made his eyebrows stand out more, dressed in a blue security uniform obviously."

"Okay, now what happened next?"

"I really don't know to be honest, I was so afraid for Miss Swan that I just reacted on impulse. I knew he was going to harm her and I...well I couldn't let that happen. I just ran. I didn't know what I was going to do but I just ran around the other side of the booth and jumped when I saw him lurch forward with that knife. I did all that I could to push him away from...from her."

"We rolled off the table and he got up quicker than I did and was going after Emma again, she seemed out of it, dazed. I'm not sure but she didn't seem to be able to defend herself. I ran at him and jumped on his back, I pulled at his hair but that was a wig, then I remembered what my teacher once told me and I pulled up on his nostrils hoping to stop his advance."

"Your teacher?" Detective Knight inquired looking up from taking notes.

"I lived in New York City for ten years; I enrolled in martial arts and defense classes' years ago." Regina replied.

"Of course, sorry to interrupt, please go on."

Regina laid there trying to calm herself down a bit, "the next part all happened so fast and I'm not sure how or what actually happened. He jabbed me in the ribs to get me off from his back and he then attacked me with his knife, I wasn't quick enough and he pierced my shoulder. Then he came after me again, I didn't feel any pain at the time but I knew he did damage and I believed he was going to kill me."

Detective Prince could see Regina becoming more upset as she went along so he reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. "It's okay, just take your time, take a deep breath, and continue when you can, you're safe here."

Regina looked down shyly and replied with a "thank you." And did what he suggested, she took a deep breath then continued on how she grabbed at his hand and twisted his wrist away from her and pushed keeping the knife blade away from her and into him. Another thing she learned from her instructor. "It stabbed him but not deep, he didn't flinch or anything, it actually seemed to anger him more and then he punched me hard in my shoulder enough that I fell down and almost passed out."

He left me and went towards Emma then, and I knew that if I didn't do anything he would kill her. So I got up, picked up the knife, and ran after him but I don't remember what happened, I remember seeing the gun pointed at Emma and I heard it go off but..." Regina trailed off as she looked down at her lap. "Are you sure that she's all right?"

"She is, you received the most injuries actually, and you were very lucky and very brave."

"Crazy maybe, I wouldn't say brave."

Detective Prince smiled at Regina response, "I believe Miss Swan would say differently.