I am so sorry for the wait! For some reason this chapter did not want to be written, I hope it is worth the wait! So Henry's accident is revealed in this chapter, and there's some cute Swan Queen to end it :)
Please review and enjoy!
"I guess the time has come to tell you how you got into that coma that caused you to lose your memory…"
"You've been working at the stable officially for just under a year now, but you helped out at the weekends and after school for quite a while. You love it. Just like any Tuesday, you headed to the stables in the morning to ride on your favourite horse; Merlin...you went on a trail but for some reason you were found quite far away from the path, we assume that you lost control of Merlin and he ran off course, throwing you off him. It's not like him, at all. But I guess something spooked him."
"I can ride a horse? Cool!" Emma had to laugh at that, of course that is all he picked up.
"Yeah, and you're pretty good at it too. Now you scared us kid, like, a lot. But we - you were very lucky as you were pretty much unharmed...nothing broken or sprained. I would have thought you were faking if your eyes weren't all glazed over…"
"Sheriff Swan." Emma was in her office, and it had been a quiet day. She had just been heading out to get some lunch when the phone rang.
"Emma! You need to go to the stables now" Ruby sounded out of breath.
"What? What's wrong - Henry! Is he alright?" The few seconds of silence after she said that were the longest seconds of Emma's life.
"I-I don't know...Emma-" The sheriff slapped her hand over her mouth as tears immediately sprung from her eyes.
"What do you mean you don't know!?" Her voice cracked with anger and sadness as she paced back and forth in her office, not knowing what to do.
"Oh Em," Ruby exhaled a shaky breath "It's all crazy down here, you-you have to be here ok? Get Regina and drive down, everything will be explained" Oh god Regina Emma thought, the tears still hot and thick, trailing down her face.
After hanging up the phone, Emma tried her best to calm herself down. When that didn't work, she rushed off to the squad car and drove to her home.
"Regina!" How am I going to explain this, I don't even know what's going on. She paced the foyer, and turned when she heard the clicking of her wife's heels.
"You came home for lunch? I didn't make anything so- Emma? Emma what's wrong?" Regina took in the image of the tear stained face and hurried movements of Emma and walked towards her, steadying her movements by placing her hands on Emma's shoulders and looking her in the eye. When they made eye contact, Emma crumpled and all but collapsed into Regina's arms, sobbing against her.
"Emma you're scaring me, what's happened? What's wrong? Come on, calm down, it will do no good Henry seeing you like this" Hearing Henry's name, the blonde looked up, readying herself to try to explain.
"H-henry...I don't know what's happened...we need to go to the stables, I don't know Regina I just don't" Emma tried to be strong, for Henry, for Regina, but the uncertainty was too much to bear, after everything they've been through.
Regina's heart stopped beating for a second, and she was about to break like her wife, but she knows that she needs to be the strong one right now, she has to believe that everything will be ok. It will be ok.
"Emma, you have to calm down, we'll g-go to the stables and Henry will be there and he'll laugh at you for worrying so much...ok?" She cupped Emma's face and wiped away her tears, kissing her firmly before she pulled away, grabbing her car keys and then Emma's hand. "Let's go"
After breaking many speed limits and making it there in record time, the two mothers ran frantically to where they saw a large group of people. It was too similar to a time long ago when both parents sped to where their son was, lying down, still. They pushed through the crowd, coming to an abrupt stop where they saw their boy, lying on the ground, with Whale assessing him.
"What happened? Is he awake? Is he..." Emma choked on her tears, and Whale stood up, quick to tell them all he can.
"We can't be for sure what happened, but it looks like he lost control of Merlin, taking him away from the path, and throwing Henry off. He's...alive. No broken or sprained limbs and from what I can see there is no major head injuries-"
"Just get to the point why is he not awake?" Regina shouted, her patience gone. Henry's glazed eyes were slightly open, and the image disturbed Regina. She seeked blindly for Emma's hand, gripping tightly when she found it, relieved slightly when Emma gripped just as tightly back.
"I need to take him in for a proper examination, it just looks like he's unconscious, but I need to do some tests" Not waiting for another command or insult, Whale and some nurses readied the stretcher and carried Henry's unmoving body to the back of the ambulance, his Mother's with him.
Emma and Regina seeked comfort from each other, simultaneously giving and taking on the ride to the hospital, holding on to one another and Henry's hand. It all went in a blur, and soon they were in the hospital waiting room with Whale telling them that there is no explanation, but he's alive, everything's stable, it's all just a waiting game he said, regretting his words when Regina lashed out at him for calling her sons life a 'game'.
They sat together on one side of his hospital bed, no words were spoken. There was nothing they could do but wait.
So they waited.
"It was a tough 2 weeks…but that doesn't matter, you're here now" Emma looked at her son with a small smile; it was hard to relive that time through telling it.
"Whoa…it's weird though, isn't it?" They started to gather their things and head up the stairs, Emma leading the pack being the most exhausted.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked; glaring at Emma's back as she picked up the red leather jacket that was draped across the banister.
"That I wasn't hurt at all. Getting thrown on to the ground has gotta do some damage, right?" They reached Henry's bedroom door and Emma sighed.
"Let's just thank the Gods that you didn't get damaged instead of questioning it" Emma's voice was turning into a whine as her eyelids drooped lower and lower. Henry frowned, not impressed that his Ma brushed off his speculation.
"Don't take it personally Henry, she's impatient with everyone when she's tired" His Mom explained, sounding tired herself. He decided to let it go, for tonight. But tomorrow he'll go to the stables and investigate the scene himself.
Emma collapsed on her side of the bed after changing into a fresh pair of boy shorts and a white vest. The blonde sighed contentedly as she snuggled into the comfy bed. Just before she became dead to the world, she felt the bed dip and a slight chill when the sheets were lifted briefly.
"Mmmmm" Emma blindly reached for Regina, and cuddled up to her side. "So glad I'm back where I belong" Emma didn't think much of her words, being half asleep. That was not the case for Regina, whose heart jumped as she held Emma closer, wondering how in the world her life ended up this way. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but that was just it. Why would you want perfect when you've got the beautiful and broken saviour in your arms?