Sorry this one took longer than expected, life got in the way (I would blame the new season of oitnb but who am I kidding, I watched that within a day), and I was figuring out how to change this from the 244 words it was in my original drabble into something longer. I was tempted to simply post half of this, but getting a message from CharmingsDaughter inspired me to write more, which I think worked much better so thank you for that! And thank you all once again for the for the follows, favourites, and reviews - they honestly mean the world to me and it bowls me over to see people actually enjoying what I write, as often when I reread it I'm unimpressed, so thank you!
I also have to apologise in advance, I currently live in London, but I'm moving out of my flat at the weekend and moving home for summer, so I wont have time to write this coming week, I will have another chapter up by the end of the month.
Thank you all again, and without further ado!
Emma woke to the sound of crying, a baby's crying specifically. The baby sounded close by, as though it were somehow coming from inside of her room, she looked to the side of her bed to see one of the clear hospital cots, and a baby inside of it. She recognised the distress from her, somewhat clouded, fake memorise of raising Henry and from her real memoires of her brother as a new-born. She reached for the baby on impulse, unable to bear the mewling, but when she started to move her hand, it caught on something, it took her two more attempts of moving it before she bothered to look at what was stopping her. Handcuffs.
*OUAT*
Emma jolted awake.
"It's okay sweetie, it was just a bad dream, you're okay." Mary Margret soothed. She watched quietly as Emma looked around the room then moved bother of her wrists in front of her face, once she seemed happy, she turned to look at her mother. "Was it the same dream as before?" she carefully questioned.
Emma shook her head, she stared at her mother for a few seconds before she realised that something was off. Mary Margret's eyes were slightly bloodshot, although earlier she had changed her clothes they were still neat, and her hair was still flat not curled up at the edges like it normally was when she had been asleep. Emma's mother had clearly not slept; Emma couldn't help but wonder why. "What time is it?" Emma asked, she winced as her voice tore through her throat, she coughed slightly to try and clear it, but winced again: not a good idea, she decided.
Mary Margret poured Emma a glass of juice, knowing her daughter's dislike for water, and passed it to her. She waited for Emma to take a sip before she spoke "It's half past four." She was given the glass back from Emma as the blonde nodded. Mary Margret rubbed the ducts of her eyes, to force herself to keep them open, as she walked back towards Emma's bed.
When she saw that Emma was frowning as she stared into space, clearly because of her dream, Mary Margret picked up one of the candles David had left on the bedside table the night before. She turned the switch on and watched as Emma visibly relaxed, she turned the other candle on as well and watched as Emma stop staring into space, her face turned to Mary Margret no longer looking quite so lost. The flickering electrical light drew Mary Margret's eyes to how tired Emma looked, she sat on the side of the bed and took her daughter's hands. "What happened in your dream, sweetheart?" she asked again, her thumb stroked Emma's knuckle, hoping to take the chill out of her daughter's hand as she did so.
Emma tightened her grip on her mother's hand momentarily, she then loosened the grip as she sighed. "I was in hospital again. There was a baby there, it was crying… it just kept crying. When I tried to reach for the baby my hand was caught on something…o- on handcuffs." Emma looked down, unable to meet her mother's eyes, the embarrassment of her past still affected her even though she knew it was unjustified.
"Oh, Emma." Mary Margret said sympathetically, she cupped Emma's cheek with her left hand, her daughter looked up at her touch. "It's okay, you're not there anymore, it was just a dream."
"It felt real." Emma muttered.
Mary Margret couldn't restrain herself anymore, she pulled Emma into a hug, she rocked her slight, and Emma rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "I'm sure it did, and you shouldn't have ever gone through that, you were just a kid. I wish there were something I could do to take those memories away, or to have been able to stop you from going there." She felt Emma nod against her shoulder, as if to say she knew she would, Mary Margret rubbed circles onto her back, "But I know that I can't do that. So instead, I'll promise you that you will never, ever, have to go through that again. Your father and I will make sure of that."
Emma did not loosen her grip on her mother for several minutes so neither did Mary Margret. When Emma eventually did move she quickly wiped a couple of tears from her eyes. "So how about you, why are you up?" she asked to try to distract her mother.
Mary Margret noticed the diversion in conversation, but accepted it with only a slight raise of her eyebrow. "I just couldn't sleep, I thought I may as well wake up and read." She lied smoothly.
Emma nodded, too tired to mention that she didn't look like she had slept at all, and that there were no blankets or books in sight.
"Why don't you try get some more sleep, honey?" Mary Margret suggested. "You have me here to wake you if you need me to, and you also have your father's candles…"
"To keep the nightmares away." Emma finished with in a whisper with a small smile. "I'm not really tired." She grimaced at the thought of having another bad dream.
"Okay," Mary Margret said, the cogs of her mind whirring to come up with a plan, "how about we both sit here for a while then?" she proposed in the hope that Emma would eventually drop off.
Emma hesitated, but then realised that her mother might be able to fall asleep, so nodded and moved over so they could sit next to one another.
*OUAT*
Twenty minutes later Emma was asleep and Mary Margret was pacing the room. She couldn't sleep, not while King George was out there, she started to wonder if they would ever catch a break. She wished she could be out there, doing something active to find him, to hunt him, but she also knew that if she were out there she'd want to be back in this room, protecting Emma. She sighed and pulled out her phone, there was only one person she desperately wanted to speak to, the person who was probably also in the same position as she was. Sadly, she knew they he would more than likely be asleep, she sent him a text to ask, or more accurately tell him, to let her know how everything was going tomorrow, and of course how Neal was. She placed it down on the couch ready to continue her pacing, but as soon as it bounced from where she tossed it, it started to ring. She scrambled for it quickly, so it didn't wake Emma, and answered it before she could even look at the caller I.D.
"Hello?" her voice was just above a whisper as she walked to the far corner of the room, away from Emma's bed.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" the deep voice joked sleepily but filled Mary Margret with calm.
"David." She breathed, before she remembered she should actually speak to him. "No, not at all, you?"
"Mary Margret, you really should sleep-"
"I'll sleep tonight, better yet, I'll sleep when we've caught that monster and we're all back home." she rubbed at her eyes again with her free hand. "And you didn't answer my question."
"I- I got a couple of hours on and off."
Mary Margret hummed in understanding "How's Neal?" she asked having noticed that her husband's voice was also quiet.
David chuckled through the phone "Oh well, he's decided he'd much rather sleep in our bed, even without you here he's still a bed hog, he takes after his sister."
Mary Margret laughed, she had discovered that when she and Emma had first gone to the Enchanted Forest, she had figured that it was because she was in a strange place and had only known Mary Margret, and of course she had been going through a weird time finding out that the curse was real and her parentage. But it had happened again when they were in Neverland, she would sleep a fair distance away from where they were, but they would wake up with her almost next to them, after Emma and Henry had come back from New York she had admitted that those were only times she had managed to sleep, even if it were broken sleep.
"Mary Margret?"
"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts, what did you say?"
She could picture David's smile that was so clearly on his face when he repeated himself "I asked how our girl is."
Mary Margret turned to look at Emma who was still soundly asleep in the hospital bed. "She had a nightmare, but she eventually fell back asleep , your candles helped." She smiled.
"I'm glad they did; this will be a lot easier when she's out of there."
"Oh no."
"What?" David said alarmed "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, other than the fact you just jinxed it." she joked.
David laughed again, "Did she tell you what her dream was about?" he asked after he stopped laughing.
Mary Margret went on to explain Emma's dream to him, then she helped him formulate a plan to help him lead the others in the hunt for George later that day. After ten more minutes they ended their call, after promising the other that they would both get some more sleep. They both went to sleep with their hearts slightly lighter.
*OUAT*
Mary Margret got about an hours sleep before she woke again, having accidentally taken a power nap as opposed to proper sleep. She sighed but decided she would take advantage of Emma's shower before she woke up. She sat half reading her book and half keeping an eye on Emma and anyone who might enter the room.
A few hours later, Emma woke up, and was surprised to see it was already half past nine. She looked over to see just her mom sat there. "Where's dad?" she asked croakily.
Mary Margret shot her a sympathetic look and passed her some juice "He had to take care of something a work, but he'll be here this afternoon."
Emma nodded, but couldn't stop a sad look appearing on her face, she'd got used to having both her mom and dad there during the morning but she understood that her father needed to take fulfil his duty as sheriff: it didn't mean she had to like it though.
*OUAT*
David looked up from the map he was staring at on his desk when he saw Regina approach him. "How's Henry?" he asked by way of a hello.
The former queen smiled at him, "Apparently there's been a fun day arranged at the school."
"Yeah, Fredrick said that he'd do something to keep all the kids entertained, I wouldn't put it past George to attack the school – even if Henry wasn't in it"
"George is many things, but I doubt he'd be so stupid as to attack my son." Regina said, angry at the thought of George even debating hurting Henry.
David looked at Regina as if he was trying to figure something out.
"Don't think so hard 'Charming'," she mocked, "you'll strain something."
David rolled his eyes "You knew him pretty well, didn't you? Back in the Enchanted Forest."
"If you're suggesting that I would help him." Her voice rose in anger.
"I'm not suggesting anything; I know that you've… changed." He said slightly begrudgingly.
"Does it pain you to say it?"
"Oh trust me, I much prefer this version of you." he said in jest "But you'd know if there was anyone in town who he's working with, I know him well enough to say that he doesn't do his own dirty work."
"I have some files on people who I kept an eye on in my office, there'll probably be some of his lackeys there." She confirmed.
"I've made a list of the ones I remember from my time pretending to be my brother, but I don't doubt that there's more, you can use the police systems to match up any which have criminal records in this town. And Emma created a system with all of the people she met and their names from the world they're from." He smiled when he remembered how Emma had tried to hide it at first, but eventually told him so that she could learn about others, she had put together information regarding the information from her talking to people, information David and Mary Margret had told her, and worked with Henry to put together information from the book.
"I'll take one of the police laptops to my office." She looked around at the slightly messy police station with an air of disgust.
"Okay, well the laptop's in the office, the password's still the same as last time you used it." He glanced at his watch and stood up, in one fluid motion he put on his coat and grabbed his stuff. "There's a walkie-talkie in the office too, take that then you can talk to me and the others. I've got to go, I'm searching the woods with Ruby, but either Mary Margret or myself will talk to you about any names you find."
It was hard not to be impressed by the Prince, despite his birth, he was clearly a good leader. He spoke with confidence and clearly relied on others to follow him. Even the way he walked out of the room was effortlessly regal.
"David." Regina called.
David turned back around to face her. "Yeah?"
"I didn't know." She received just a confused look in return. "I did a lot of terrible things in the Enchanted Forest, hell I did some here too, but I didn't know. I didn't know that he gave Mary Margret that potion to drink, I wouldn't do that. I know what I did was… well…." She paused and composed herself. "I'm sorry you didn't have the opportunity to raise Emma, but if you had…" she trailed off.
"We wouldn't have Henry." David nodded in understanding, as much as he and his wife hated that they weren't there for Emma, they knew that none of them, especially Emma, would sacrifice Henry for that: it wouldn't be fair or right. "I should probably go, Ruby's waiting." He smiled kindly at her, but couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable at the two of them not taking swipes at each other.
*OUAT*
After Emma had her breakfast, and got changed, she practically collapsed onto the bed: exhausted. As if that wasn't enough, Whale came along to improve her mood, she automatically glared at him as she saw him walk in.
"Emma. Behave." Mary Margret said shortly with a severe look.
Emma wiped the look off of her face and nodded. Her mother had clearly not slept, or slept only a little, Emma knew that her mother was like her; as in they both needed sleep or they would become short tempered and moody. 'Oh no,' Emma thought, 'this is not gonna work.', she would clearly have to do something about that, as there was no way they'd both survive the day.
"Good morning, Emma," Doctor Whale said without looking up from Emma's notes, clearly oblivious about the moods of the two women in the room. "how are you feeling today."
"Fine." Emma said automatically, Mary Margret shot her a look which told her 'fine' wasn't going to cut it. "My breathing's feeling better, but it's still a little harder at night." She relinquished part of the truth, hoping that he would stop asking questions- even if it was his job.
Whale smiled politely as he looked up from the chart. "We've found that asthma patients find it harder to breathe at night, when you leave here I'll give you three inhalers, one of which will be a steroid one you'll take that morning and night, it will help keep the swelling in your lungs down and help you breathe." He started to listen to Emma's chest and seemed pleased with the result. "You seem to be doing much better, the steroids are clearly working."
"Does that mean I can go home?" Emma asked, struggling to contain her enthusiasm.
"I would say one more night here." Whale said, slightly apprehensively. "Now how about pain? Does it hurt when you breathe?"
Emma grimaced "Yeah." She muttered.
"Don't worry," Whale assured Mary Margret and Emma, "that's to be expected, the tablets I'm giving you to keep your temperature down- I can't give you anything stronger as it will make your asthma worse."
Emma nodded, she wasn't really a big fan of having lots of pain medicine anyway.
"-should help, and drinking honey and lemon should help her throat, or sucking on mints."
Emma frowned she had clearly missed part of the conversation, as she struggled to keep her eyes open, probably her mother asking what was in her opinion way too many questions. She yawned silently but when she opened her eyes she was being stared at by her mother and the doctor. "What was that? I missed it." she asked.
Mary Margret smiled at Emma "Doctor Whale said that you can change to tablets instead of the I.V."
Emma smiled broadly, she would rather be going home, but she would take what she could get.
"I'll also take you off the oxygen, if you find yourself having trouble breathing just let one of the nurses know and they'll give you it again." He looked at Emma for a second before he turned to Mary Margret with a smirk, "Although it's probably better to tell you that, I doubt your daughter would ask even if she were blue in the face."
"Why don't you just- "Emma started to say aggressively.
"Emma! That's enough." Mary Margret sad sternly then she turned to the doctor and spoke slightly stiffly, "Will that be all Doctor Whale?"
The doctor nodded slightly sheepishly and set himself to work, detaching Emma from all the machines before leaving to tell the nurses to give Emma her medicine and complete his rounds.
*OUAT*
"Emma." Mary Margret said drawing her attention to her. "I know that you and Whale don't get along, but you've got to stop rising to the bait."
"Even when he's behaving like an ass?" she countered.
"Especially when he's behaving like an ass." Mary Margret confirmed.
After two episodes Emma was feeling antsy, she needed to get out of her bed, out of her room, and out of the hospital, even if it was only for five minutes. She looked over to see her mother had fallen asleep, she carefully draped a blanket over her mother then sat back on her bed. A couple of minutes passed and she still felt restless, she needed to get out of there but there would be no way the hospital staff would risk the wrath of her parents should they find out, a plan formed in Emma's mind. Suddenly it clicked, she pulled her laptop towards her and turned exited Netflix. She knew that updating the police system was a good idea, she may not have been able to access files on people through the online system, but she could access information about buildings. She quickly logged in, and pulled up the blueprints of the hospital. She just needed to find an unused corridor to be able to get to one of the unalarmed fire exits.
"Emma Ruth Swan!" Mary Margret barely refrained herself from shouting. "I cannot believe you would do this again!"
"I was just-"
"You were just going to find a way out of the hospital." Mary Margret closed Emma's laptop and moved it to the table on the other side of the room. She turned and crossed her arms, staring at Emma with a no-nonsense look.
"Are you seriously taking my laptop away from me?"
"There are plenty of other things you can do." She replied not unkindly.
"Yeah, sure, I have a choice out of a whole four walls I can stare at!"
"Emma, cut it with the attitude." Mary Margret said sternly.
Emma sighed, she counted to ten in her head the sent her mother an apologetic look. "I just needed some air, I feel like I'm suffocating in here."
Mary Margret took a breath "I know Emma, but this wasn't the way to go about it, you could have just asked me and I would have taken you."
"Could we go now?" Emma asked hopefully.
"It's raining," she nodded towards the window where it was indeed raining heavily, "if you went out in that you'd end up staying in here for even longer."
"You wouldn't have taken me anyway." Emma muttered, she knew she wasn't really angry at her mother, yet took it out on her regardless.
"You're right Emma, if you had tried to sneak out yet again while it was sunny, I wouldn't have." She returned shortly. She knew that she was being harsher than she normally would have, but like Emma, she was accidentally letting her frustration out on the wrong person. She couldn't bear to think what might have happened if Emma had gone outside and George had got to her… if she hadn't woken up when she did…
Emma clenched her eyes closed regretfully. "Mom, I'm sorry." She received a nod in return and was handed the television control, apparently she wasn't getting her laptop back anytime soon.
*OUAT*
She heard her mother turn the page of her book for what seemed like the hundredth time but Mary Margret's silence was deafening. "Are you still mad at me?" Emma asked somewhat timidly she tagged a smile onto the end of her sentence in hopes that it would make her mother sympathetic.
"I'm not mad, I'm just... I just need you to do as your father and I say on this one, please? Just trust us that we know what's right for you?" Mary Margaret sighed in defeat "And don't think I don't know that you're using that smile to try and win me over. You're just like your father."
"How am I like him?" Emma asked quietly
Mary Margaret halted for a second, she thought that Emma knew how she was like her father already? No, this was something more, this was Emma wanting to be assured that she was part of them. She forced herself not to sigh so that Emma didn't get the wrong idea, David's absence from the hospital that morning was clearly affecting Emma. She knew David would much rather be with them, but their family's safety was top priority, even before their daughter's happiness. She decided to indulge Emma.
"You've got his hair, not so much his hair from now, but from when he was younger: his mother told me that when he was a little boy it was really light, it got darker as he grew up, but yours seems to have stuck. Your eyes are like mine but you also have bits of blue in them, the same shade as your father's eyes, a perfect mix of both of us."
Emma blushed slightly, but hid a small smile, so Mary Margaret continued.
"You obviously have his smile, which you also try to use to your advantage, unfairly might I add." Mary Margaret teased.
Emma couldn't help but grin at that, she quickly made sure to add extra charm to said smile.
"But what matters more is what you got from him that isn't to do with your looks. You both have a strong sense of family, you'd do anything to protect us and keep us together even if it means putting yourself in danger.
Emma smiled slightly guiltily, she knew that that trait scared her mother constantly, it was nice to know that she could blame her father for it though.
"You have his temperament," Mary Margaret continued "although I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing when we deal with the likes of Gold." She raised her eyebrow pointedly, having had many conversations with her about not threatening the most powerful man in the town.
Emma shrugged "What can I say? I have my father's tact." She smirked echoing the Dark One's earlier words.
"You do, but that can also be a good thing, you have the right tact for dealing with people who need help. You may have felt slightly uncomfortable doing it at the start, but you've really come into your own. I'm so proud of you, Emma."
"What do I get from you?" she asked her face slightly red from the compliment.
Mary Margret chuckled, "Other than my chin?" she joked. "You have my resourcefulness, you can be ruthless when you need to be, you're an amazing leader who gives people hope, and you give people countless chances because you choose to see the best in people no matter what, even if it means having to sacrifice yourself." She listed. She tucked an errant curl behind Emma's ear.
Emma thought about the time her dream was mimicking, when she had never felt more alone, and felt blessed that she got to have this amount of love now.
"Sweetheart, I know you don't like being here, but I promise you this isn't like the other times you were in hospital. We're here with you, you'll never have to go through that sort of thing again." She gently brushed a strand of hair away from Emma's face, she looked as her daughter's eyes, which were identical to her own, looked up at her with love and she couldn't ignore the mother's intuition that there was more to it than that. "Emma, there's more to this than you're letting on, you can tell me."
"I- there's not" Emma stuttered.
"Emma. I'm your mother, I know you better than you seem to think." She smiled encouragingly.
"I just miss us all being together." She gave her mother a sad smile. "I know it's only been a few days and I should be used to it but…"
Mary Margret touched her daughter's cheek lovingly "I understand, I miss it also, and I'm sure the boys miss it too. We'll all be together soon; by tomorrow night you'll be tucked in your own bed again."
Emma smiled at the thought but then her smile faltered. "But without Henry, he told me that Regina wanted him to stay with her while I'm ill."
"Which is understandable."
"Yeah I know." Emma admitted. "And I guess it's not like he's banned from coming around at all."
"Exactly." Mary Margret said, fully intending to make sure that was followed through with. "Emma? You know that your father would be here today if he could, right?"
"Yeah, I know." Emma reply, although she was slightly less confident than she was earlier on.
*OUAT*
Mary Margret saw Ruby's face appear outside of Emma's door. "Stay here." She told Emma before going to talk to her friend.
"Ruby? What's going on, where's David?" She asked worriedly.
"He's just back at the station, we haven't had any luck finding George so far, but Regina thinks that she might had narrowed the list of his accomplices down, and since David knew George better than any of us…"
"He's helping her." Mary Margret finished.
"Yeah, he said he was going to text you…"
She pulled out her phone and sure enough she had a text message from her husband, "I must have muted it by accident." She said.
"Anyway, I'm here to sit with Emma until he can get here. Granny would have kept Neal, but as we're all trying to appear as normal as possible until we can find George… And it was agreed that I'm more likely to hang out with Emma in hospital." She smirked.
Mary Margret laughed and pulled her into a hug, "Well, on your head be it."
*OUAT*
"I can't believe they got me a babysitter." Emma sulked.
"To be fair, your mom did find you on your laptop, trying to find blueprints to the hospital. Is it really any wonder she didn't want you to be alone while she had to get Neal and your dad got here?"
"I'm thirty!" Emma protested, apparently her mother had filled Ruby in on what she had done, or perhaps it was her father who told her.
"You're still their kid."
"You know Ruby, you're close to Franken-Doc, maybe you could put a good word in for me? I'm going to be discharged tomorrow anyway, so what's the point of delaying it a few more hours? I'm much better I don't even need the oxygen mask anymore! If you convince him, I could be ready to go by the time my Dad gets here." Emma reasoned.
"Oh no you don't! You are not getting me in trouble!"
"You wouldn't get in any trouble! Only I would." Emma protested.
Ruby started to laugh, only to be glared at by Emma. "Emma, when your mom was pregnant with you, you wouldn't stop kicking her. There were a couple of months where you wouldn't stop at all, all day and all night, or at least that's what she claimed. Once she and David had been assured that there was nothing wrong with you, that you were healthy just a little overactive, she relaxed slightly. She'd often end up being kept awake by them, David tried to tell her to wake him too but she didn't listen to him. In the end she'd wake me up instead just so she'd have someone to talk to, one night you were kicking her a lot, she couldn't get a spare second to rest. So I told you to stop it. You decided, apparently, to kick more. I, however, was the one who got an hour long lecture from your mother."
"Oh my god." Emma said, covering her face as she tried to hide the blush which was spreading across them. She though it was kind of funny that her mother defending her, even then.
"What's going on?"
She looked towards the door when she heard her father's voice and saw him standing in the doorway, soaking wet, but smiling at her. "Dad." Emma's face lit up despite her efforts against it.
"Hey Em" He replied "So what's up?"
But before Emma had time to respond to his question Ruby spoke.
"Emma kicked Mary Margret." Red replied simply, a smirk was on her face.
Emma grimaced behind her hands, knowing what would come next.
"You did what!?" Charming exclaimed disbelieving that Emma would do such a thing.
"Oh god," Emma muttered, "this is gonna be a long night."
"Oh, you didn't think I meant right now, did you?" Ruby ask in an innocent tone but with a knowing smile. "When Mary Margret was pregnant with Emma and she blamed me for Emma kicking her more than usual."
David took his shoes off while Ruby spoke, before stepping fully into the room, he had changed into some cleaner ones while he was at the station, but even the walk from the cruiser to the hospital door had soaked this shoes. He peeled off his coat, he knew it wouldn't be long before he would be able to get changed, he wanted to say hi to his daughter first though. "I'd forgotten about that!" David exclaimed with glee, "When she came back to bed-"
"I don't think I want to know this bit." Emma said with a grimace.
"When she came back to bed," David continued, "she also started to blame me, I then suggested that it was something you got from her…"
Emma sucked in some breath between her teeth, which made her cough.
"I know; not my best idea." David said once Emma had her breath back, "Thanks for keeping Emma company Ruby."
"No problem, I should get going now though, I have a thing. I hope you feel better soon Emma." She grinned and gave her a hug.
"Be careful, it wouldn't surprise me if we had a storm soon." David warned Ruby. His face turned to a smirk "Although I guess you could just shake the water off."
Ruby rolled her eyes and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Hilarious." She dead panned.
"Ow! Werewolf strength Rubes." David complained as he rubbed his shoulder.
Emma started to laugh and they both turned to look at her.
"You're meant to be on my side, Em." David said with a mocking pout.
Emma shrugged. "Well, you deserved it."
"She's right." Ruby teased, she pulled her friend into a quick hug.
"Be careful." He whispered to her.
She pulled out of the hug, nodded to him, then exited the room with a wave to the both of them.
*OUAT*
David stood by Emma's side, "I would give you a hug, but I'm a touch wet." He joked.
"It's okay." Emma said, then quickly covered her mouth to hide a yawn.
David grabbed one of the plastic chairs from next to the table and pulled it next to Emma's bed. "I don't want to get the other one soak." He explained when he sat and Emma was looking at him as if he were bizarre. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier kiddo." He apologised quietly.
"It's okay." Emma shrugged.
"Your mom told me about your dream." Emma quirked an eyebrow. "She was worried about you so she spoke to me." He defended with a smile, he was pleased to see Emma nod in reluctant acceptance. "You know, before you were born we filled your nursery with about a million toys. And your mother commissioned the unicorn mobile to be built: the best glassblower in the entirety of the Enchanted Forest to create it. "
Emma smiled, imploring him to continue.
"But I wanted to give you something extra special. One day I happened to be near the town I lived close to."
"The one from your school story?"
"The very same." He smiled. "I decided to take a walk through it as we had time to spare and I looked a lot different than I had when I had lived there so no one would be able to guess that I wasn't really Prince James. I came across a toyshop, it was rather small, but when I stepped foot in it I saw it had the most beautiful and skilfully made toys. I saw behind the counter a man, my age, stitching up a soft toy bear. He stood up as soon as he saw me approach him, it was only then that I realised it was one of the boys I went to school with, he wasn't one of my best friends, but we were civil."
"What did you do?" Emma breathed sleepily.
"I told him to treat me as he would any other customer." David answered "I also asked him if he had made anymore of the bears, he and his partner would design and hand stitch these beautiful bears. I asked if he would be able to design one for my child who was soon to be born, I assured him that he would be paid handsomely in return. I didn't tell your mother about it until the bear arrived, it was just a simple brown bear similar to some which roamed in the outers of the Enchanted Forest, I was convinced that you would have your mother's eyes, so this bear had emerald green ones as well. I wanted it to be simple so that you would stay rooted, I didn't come from the world of pomp, and when I met your mother she wasn't living in it either. We wanted you to stay humble."
David was surprised to see that Emma had already fallen asleep, she moved slightly in her sleep, her hand pulled the blankets closer to her. He smiled when he saw that the one she had grabbed was the one which was hidden under the rest, the one she had been sent into this world wrapped in.
"We needn't have worried, you turned out just perfect, and you always would have." He whispered. He pulled the hospital blanket fully over her as well, then decided he'd grab a shower and get changed.
*OUAT*
Emma awoke with a frown on her face.
"You know; you don't have to be here. I'm an adult, I don't need you here."
"And give you another chance of getting out of the hospital? Yeah, I don't think so." David raised an eyebrow, incredulous that Emma would be trying this, yet again, but also wondering where her outburst came from.
"Then just get one of the nurses or something to check on me. You don't have to be here. Go spend some time with your family, or go check in on whatever it was you were doing at work." Emma plastered a fake smile onto her face certain she would convince her father. She shivered and pulled the blanket closer to her.
David frowned, he took in Emma's smile, if he didn't know her he would have fallen for it, and he may even have left her. But, unluckily for Emma, he did know her. "Hey." he said firmly. "They're your family too. Is this because I wasn't here this morning?"
"No." Emma muttered twirling her hands in each other.
"Em." David sighed and placed a calming hand onto Emma', he held firmly on, even as she tried to pull away. "Emma." He said again, firmer this time, Emma stopped struggling. David took one of her hands in each of his down, and brushed her knuckles with his thumbs. "Emma, I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier on, I promise you I would have been if I could. I enjoy nothing more than spending time with you, and with your mother, brother, and son, but something came up at work I had to handle.
David pressed a kiss onto Emma's forehead, he frowned and pulled one of his hands out of Emma's hold. He held the back of his hand to Emma's forehead, he felt her eyebrow's furrow, as the heat radiated off. David sighed, the temperature raising again would explain Emma becoming emotional, and her mind manipulating her beliefs of the real reason he wasn't there. "Oh kiddo, you're burning up, I'm going to go get a nurse." He started to stand up.
"No. Stay, please." Emma pleaded and clung to his hands, her voice was dripping with anxiety.
David was worried at the quick turnaround of Emma not wanting, then wanting, him there, he cursed himself for not checking her temperature earlier – sure she was in a hospital and was having it checked by the staff, but wasn't it his job to check as well? As her parent. "Okay, I'll stay." David moved one of his hands to cup her cheek, but she held the other one firmly. "I just need my other hand so I can press the button, okay?"
Emma watched David carefully as he reached for the button above her head, she heard the gentle click of the button being pressed then her father's hand lovingly stroking her hair. She shivered and moved closer to David, seeking warmth. She became vaguely aware of a nurse entering and the vibration of her father's deep voice filling the room.
"Hello Emma, let's get that temperature off you, shall we?" the nurse said gently to her as he held the thermometer in his hand.
Emma shook her head and shivered again, she just wanted to sleep.
"Emma," David commanded using his 'dad' voice, "open your mouth, we need to get your temperature."
Emma looked up at her father and waited defiantly but David held her gaze, slowly she opened her mouth.
While they waited for the thermometer to sound, the nurse wrote Emma's observations down, David moved to sit beside Emma, he didn't lean back against the tilted head of the bed but put his arm around Emma, Emma's eyes fluttered shut and she moved even closer to her father. Emma kept her eyes closed even when the nurse took the thermometer out of Emma's mouth and frowned at the number on the face.
"What is it?" David asked the man, his voice was full of concern yet he kept it quiet to try not disturb Emma.
The nurse maintained his composure and smiled with a kind confidence at the prince. "It's a bit higher than we'd like it, at 103, but she's due a dose of medicine now any so that'll take it down. Not to worry, Mr Nolan, she'll be feeling better within the hour."
David couldn't help but feel put at ease by the man and his calm demeanour. He watched as the man managed to coax Emma into taking her tablets without argument, and felt thoroughly impressed, although Emma was half asleep. The door clicked closed quietly, but somehow still startled Emma from her approaching-sleep-state. David wasn't sure why he was surprised by this, after all, Emma was very much her mother's daughter. "Shhh," David soothed as he stroked her hair, "it's okay sweetie, go to sleep." He started to move from her side, on the bed to a chair, so that she would be more comfortable.
Emma grabbed his hand, "Stay." She said sleepily, not even bothering to open her eyes.
David settled back against the headboard and placed his arm back around Emma. "Okay, kiddo, I'm here."
*OUAT*
Later that night, David frowned down at the text on his phone, having received yet another text telling him that there was no sign of George. He sent one back to the group to thank them and ask them to meet Ruby and Regina in the morning at the station the next day. He was planning on staying home the next day as Emma would be getting home, that way he'd be able to protect all his family, and it seemed like Emma needed some time with all of them.
"Dad?" Emma asked timidly, having seen David looking at his phone, yet again. "You would tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?"
David stopped for a second. "I would tell you if there were something going on which only you could handle." He said purposely avoiding the actual question. "But, Emma, there's nothing going on which only you can sort out. The only thing you need to do right now, is focus on getting better." He smiled.
Emma nodded, almost to herself, and tried to stifle a yawn. She noticed the wording of her father's answer, but trusted him, and trusted that he would tell her eventually.
David smiled warmly at her, "Actually, I take that back, the only thing you need to do right now, is get some sleep."
Emma rolled her eyes at David's jokey voice, but didn't protest when he pulled the cover's up so that they were completely covering her. "I will, on one condition." She put on her best 'royal' sounding voice.
David chuckled at the sound of her voice, and couldn't help but envisage Emma doing the same thing as a child in the Enchanted Forest. He raised an eyebrow at his daughter and put on a face of mock-suspicion. "Oh? And what is your condition, Princess Emma?" he teased.
Emma glared jokily at her father, but then smiled at the thought that she was actually a princess, the thought was just so bizarre to her. "Could you read me some more of that book?"
"I would love to." David smiled at the shy sounding request. He found it kind of adorable that when Emma was ill she'd let her walls down, and as much as it terrified him, even without George being on the run, he liked that she was comfortable enough with he and Mary Margret to pull them down and ask for to spend more time with her; to watch movies and read books: the sort of things she missed out on as a child.