Ariel sat in the chair, the ridiculously uncomfortable chair, though she did not notice. She did not budge from her seat when Henry barreled into the room; she did not answer any one when they called her name, or asked her a question; she did not even spare them a glance.
She just sat in her chair, still as a statue, her haunted brown eyes staring blankly at her mother's sleeping face. Regina looked so small, so pale, so weak, and in pain. Her face clearly showed the pain that she felt, though no one knew its source.
'I cannot find any medical reason as to why she is not waking up'.
That sentence kept bouncing around in her head, she had tuned out the rest of Whale's sentence, and simply walked to the room. She used whatever was left of her energy to check her mother over again, trying desperately to locate the source of her pain, and the reason why she wasn't waking up.
She barely recalls her hollow voice as she answered Henry's hysterical question, 'I can't find anything to heal'.
And that was the last thing she said, she had completely tuned out their voices, especially Henry's desperate cries for his mother. She fell down into the seat by the bed, and numbly looked at her mother's sleeping form.
She looked haunted, she looked almost like a once beautiful house, whose occupants have left and never looked back; she looked like an empty shell of the person she used to be. Her haunted, desolate eyes moved away from her mother's form, when a face swam into view, David's. She saw his lips moving, though she did not hear a word he said, before she moved her eyes back to her mother, not caring in the least what he had said to her.
Many people came and went, but she paid them no attention, she did not even spare them a glance. And if someone was to ask her who had come, she wouldn't know how to answer.
She leaned forward, almost robotically, her eyes not leaving Regina's pale face, as she took a hold of her limp hand, and buried it between her own. Her brows creased slightly at the evident pain itched on her mother's features, and she hoped with everything she had that she can know its source, so she can take it away.
"Mom?" she called hopefully, her voice hoarse from the lack of use, and the tears that she shed mere hours ago.
She waited patiently, closely looking for any sign that Regina will wake up, and found none. Not a twitch in her eye, not a slight movement of the finger, not even a wrinkle on the forehead. Nothing, absolutely nothing.
"Mommy, please wake up," she begged her, one hand softly caressing her cheek, before it limply lay over her chest, where her heart beat steadily.
When once again she received no response, she allowed her head to collapse on top of their entwined hands. She rested her mouth over the back of Regina's hand, and closed her eyes in pain and plea alike.
"Pleaaase," she whispered brokenly, before she planted a soft kiss to the slightly cold skin.
She felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, and she once again chose to ignore its owner, until she heard his voice.
"Ariel."
His voice was only a tad over a whisper, and even though all he said was one word, every letter of it was laced with love and worry.
She slowly turned her face towards him, allowing her cheek to rest where her lips were a second prior, as her haunted, broken brown eyes, found his worry-filled ocean blue ones.
They held each other's gazes steady for a few moments, neither saying a word, her hand still clutching onto her mother's, as Killian ran his through her hair, pushing the stray strands behind her ear.
He saw the lack of tears in her eyes, and it didn't surprise him. He knew her well, and he knew that she holds her composure when she gets in the cross hairs. He knew that she didn't shed any, not because she didn't want to, but rather because she couldn't. He saw the pain in her eyes, the silent plea to whatever high power that controlled the situation to end this nightmare, he saw that haunted look that was not present when she left to get her mother.
"Killian," she whispered softly, almost in disbelief about his presence.
"Hey love," he said softly, his thumb now caressing her paling cheeks.
"She's not waking up," she whimpered brokenly, her voice a lot like that of a child's whose favorite toy got lost or broken. For to a child, that was the greatest loss of all. But to Ariel, her greatest loss and nightmare, was materializing before her very eyes.
"I know baby," was all he could say, for no words he could possibly say will bring her any comfort.
"Why won't she wake up?" she asked numbly, her voice showing the amount of emotions clogging up her throat, but also the inability to shed any tears.
"She went through a lot, at the hands of her mother no less, just give her some time," he soothed, as he took her hand away from Regina's, and turned her towards him. He needed to have her full attention, without any distraction from Regina whatsoever, even if it is just in the form of a simple touch.
His heart broke at the lost, haunted look in her eyes. She looked like a lost child, who had no idea where she belonged. He briefly contemplated the thought of telling her to go to Atlantica, but realized that it would be a very cold day in hell if Ariel left her mother's side at a time like this.
"Come with me," he instructed gently, pulling at her hands to get her to stand up with him, but she refused to move an inch.
"Where are we going?" she wondered.
"My place," he answered softly.
He had rented Graham's old apartment when things started to settle down a bit, figured he needed a more permanent place than Granny's inn.
She shook her head, slowly and almost reluctantly at first, but then it became more determined and vigorous.
"Sweetheart, nothing bad will befall your mother. She is safe here, she just needs some rest," he appealed, but she still shook her head, the pain in her eyes increasing a thousand folds at the prospect of leaving her mother's side.
"I can't leave her alone," she defended.
"She is not alone," Killian objected softly, "she's got an entire army."
"I will stay here and call you if anything changes."
That was David's voice, and she slowly turned her head to look at him. Killian was grateful for the break from the haunted look in her eyes, however brief it may be. She hadn't even realized that David came in, or maybe he never even left, she did not know.
She watched him take slow, almost hesitant steps towards her; like she was a wounded predator that he was worried about setting off. And in more than one way, she was exactly that.
Once he reached her, he slowly crouched down next to Killian, so he can hold her pained eyes steady, "I will not leave her side, until you get back. And if anything changes, I will come get you myself," he promised, smiling reassuringly when she started to nod her head.
Killian pushed the door open, and maneuvered a zombie-like Ariel into the apartment, stopping her just inside, so he can close the door behind them.
"Why don't you take a shower? It'll help," he suggested, as he walked them both to his bedroom, where the ensuite bathroom was.
"I don't have anything to wear," she reminded, her voice hollow of any emotions, almost as if she was hypnotized.
"You left a few things here before, and I will call Emma and tell her to get the rest," he offered, and she nodded solemnly, but did not move from her place.
He silently led her to the bathroom, and turned the shower on, letting the water run, till he rids her of her clothes. He turned back towards her, and found her standing, completely surrendering to whatever he will do to her, completely trusting him with herself.
When he reached for the hem of the blouse she was wearing, he felt something sticky on his fingertips, and the texture felt weird to him. He looked down, and finally noticed the blood stain on her side.
"Oh my God, Ariel, you're hurt," he exclaimed, immediately lifting up her shirt to inspect the skin underneath.
His forehead wrinkled in confusion when he found no signs of an injury on her skin, it was smooth and toned, just as it always was.
"Daddy healed me," her hollow voice came once more, and he nodded in understanding, as he pulled the shirt over her head.
Her boots, socks, jeans and underwear soon followed the blouse on the floor of the bathroom. And once he checked the temperature of the water, and made sure that it was nice and warm, he slowly guided her into the tub.
As soon as the water hit her face, she allowed her eyelids to slide over her eyes, and for the water to run down her face. He watched how she slowly sat on the floor of the tub, and pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. He hated leaving her, but it was winter, and the last thing he wanted, was for her to catch a cold.
So, he left the glass door open, and went back into the room. He quickly fished out his phone, and dug through the numbers to find Emma's, before he finally hit the call button.
Ariel sat under the hot water, enjoying how it felt against her body, and wishing that it could take away her pain as easily as it's taking away the dirt. She felt the urge to cry, but found herself to be unable to shed any tears.
She slowly pried her eyes open, a faint shred of hope in her heart, that she will find herself in her mother's bathroom, and she will hear Regina's soft voice humming as she got ready for work. But all she saw, was the creamy interior of Killian's bath tub, and his hand as he reached for hers.
She trailed her eyes up his arm, till they finally found his.
"Emma will go to the house to pick some of your stuff, is there anything in particular you want?" he asked.
She nodded, "I want my mom," she whispered, and he sighed.
"I know baby," he sympathized, "you'll get her soon, I promise," he soothed.
"What if she never wakes up? What if we never find out what is wrong with her?"
"Of course she will wake up," he assured, "she has so many people waiting for her, and she will never leave them."
"What if Cora convinced her that we don't care about her enough to save her?" she retorted.
"Regina will never believe something like that, she knows how much she is loved, especially by you," he soothed.
"What if Cora cursed her in some way? Wha…" the rest of her sentence was cut off by Killian's hand cupping her cheek.
"You, Triton and Athena checked her, and found nothing. Hell, even Rumpelstiltskin checked. I have never heard of a curse which can elude all four of you, especially you," he shot back.
"She was screaming," she choked out, as the tears finally came, "I heard the bones snapping, and I heard her screams, I….."She couldn't get the rest of the sentence out, as her entire body started shaking, and her breaths were coming out short and ragged.
Killian simply moved to his knees, and pulled her into his arms. He didn't care that his clothes were getting soaked by the water, he only cared about her, he only cared about offering her any form of comfort, in the hopes that it will help her through.
Emma walked up the steps to Killian's apartment, small bag in her hand, and a silent prayer that Ariel will seem a bit better, so they can sit down and think of a reason as to why Regina was not waking up. She stood at the door, staring at it for a moment, before she finally took a calming breath, mustered up the nerves, and knocked on the door.
It wasn't long before she heard the approaching footsteps, and was greeted by Killian's tired smile, "thanks for bringing them, Swan," he said.
"No problem," she replied, "How is she?"
"As expected," was the only answer he could give.
She smiled encouragingly at him, and he gave her a tired, grateful one in return, before he turned around and headed for the bedroom.
A few moments later, a slightly less robotic Ariel emerged from the bedroom, all dressed and ready to go.
"Ready to do?" she asked, as she made her way over to the door, without even waiting for an answer from Emma or Killian, who traded knowing looks, before they followed her.
This one is set right after the rescue, and before Regina wakes up.
To those following my other stories, I promise you I didn't forget, but life is getting in the way.