The hospital was packed, doctors running around with blood and equipment and people crying in the waiting room, which was where they were instructed to sit. Wait for an update was what the woman said before quickly heading out of the room, her pager going off and Emma just sat there with her father. She probably looked like a crazy person. Her hair a mess, clothes just thrown on. She hadn't wiped the sleep from her eyes yet. It would be hours before any of her friends got here. No doubt her mother had called everyone in town as soon as they left.

"You should try and sleep some more." Her father said softly

"No."

"Emma."

"I have to stay awake."

"Em-"

"I can't sleep right now." She said softly, "after they tell us something" She looked around for a second, scanned the room because he could be here somewhere. He could be looking for her and she had to stay awake.
They were told at seven in the morning that Killian was in the ICU, had suffered a magnitude of injuries and that right now they were waiting for him to stabilize before taking him back into surgery. She felt sick. Even more sick when they said his heart had stopped a few times after he got here.
It was a miracle he was still alive or had made it at all. She was instructed to stay where she was and to wait. She wasn't allowed in the room with him, wasn't allowed to see him. Only family.
He didn't have any.
"Just a minute."

"I'm sorry." the woman in the blue scrubs said softly, "We can't let you in. You'll have to stay here until he's moved to a different-"

"I'm just asking for a minute." She didn't get to argue anymore, the woman's pager went off and she was gone.
"Emma, it's okay."

"It's not." She whispered as she sat down, holding her head in her hands, running her hands over her eyes and leaning back. "He died."

"They got him back."
"What if they don't next time?"

"There won't be a next time." She swallowed, the lump forming. They mentioned Killian, she asked about Killian but she said nothing of Liam.
She should have asked about Liam.

Ruby came in a few hours after. When the sun was up and she looked pissed. She demanded to be taken to him. Had this look on her face that screamed murder and the head nurse at the desk leading into the Intensive Care Ward looked terrified, but she still refused to allow them in.

"Bullshit." Ruby hissed as she sat next to Emma, an empty hallway, feet outstretched in front of them. "Just tell them you're married to him."

"They check."

"Oh."

"Where's Elsa?"

"She doesn't know." She said softly, "Besides, Anna was having problems with the baby last night."

"Oh."

"Having contractions. I think everything's fine now. We know about Killian, but what about Liam?"

"They didn't say anything about another person."
"Shit."

"Yeah."

"Maybe he...maybe he decided to stay in Seattle, maybe he's on his way here."

"Ruby." Emma said softly.
"No. No more casualties." Ruby whispered, "I don't want to think about it. The driver?"

"Got out with a broken leg and bad cut."

"Ew."

"He was high on prescription pills." She said softly, "Just hit them. Likely they didn't see him coming."

"I wish he died."

"Don't say that."

"I can say what I want, you're not my mom." She said softly, leaning her head back against the wall and heaving a heavy sigh. Emma closed her eyes for a second, only to be woken moments later by loud beeping and doctors running to the ICU, screaming about tubes and blood and cracking a chest and when they pulled a crash cart over, her heart nearly exploded.

"Emma." Ruby whispered, rushing to her feet, pulling her with her. The curtain had been pulled, revealing who they were screaming about and Ruby's never turned so fast to look away. She pulled Emma's head down, covering her eyes with her shoulder. "Don't look, don't look, don't look." She was whispering but she peeked and she saw gloves streaked with blood and long tubes and the doctors were cutting him open. Right there, right on his bed. They moved their hands, they shocked him.
One shock.
Then two.
Then three.
And his heart started beating again. Emma was shaking now, if it wasn't for Ruby she might have fallen over. Killian can't do that, his heart can't just stop and then start again. That's not okay. Not a funny joke Killian Jones.

"Can we go somewhere else?" Emma whispered, Ruby nodded and tugged her down the long hallway. She wiped at her eyes, didn't even realize she was crying and followed as Ruby led her somewhere, shaking hand tight in Ruby's manicured one.

"I know exactly what you need." She was explaining as she walked, heels clicking against the hospital tile. She led her to a different part of the hospital, the elevator ride making her dizzy, stopping to ask directions to nurses and interns who passed by. Emma didn't hear what she was saying, her ears were somewhat ringing now.

"Here it is." Ruby said softly, opening a door and pulling her through. A large glass window sat in front of what they were looking at, the door next to them that actually led into the room locked and marked, authorized personnel only.

"Look at all the babies." She said softly, squeezing Emma's fingers. The level one nursery, where they kept the healthy, full term newborns. She watched them wiggle around in their little cribs. "Remember when Henry was that small?"

"Yeah."

"Seems like forever ago."

"Yeah." Emma said softly.

"Aw, look at that one." She pointed at one, a little boy in a blue blanket, twisting a turning in his crib. "He does not wanna be in that."

"Yeah." They stood and looked at the babies, nurses and Parents looking at them funny for just standing there staring for so long.

It did make her feel better though.

He "coded" again. That's what they call it, when someone's heart stops and they have to shock it. He did it again, doctor said he might not make it through the night. Said nothing about Liam. She followed the doctor up to the glass, finding a way to speak again. Her voice coming out hoarse and unrecognizable.

"Excuse me…" She said softly

"Yes." The doctor turned around, his green eyes nearly matched hers.

"Did...they say whether there was another person in the car? His name is Liam Jones. It's his brother, do you know where he is?" His shoulders fell, look on his face that flashed shock and then sadness and oh hell, she knew what that meant.

"No one told you?" He asked.

"Told me what?" She asked, don't say it. He ran a hand through his brown curls and sighed.

"He was...DOA." He said softly and she didn't know what that meant. How could she not know what that meant?

"I don't…"
"He was killed on impact, there was nothing we could have done." He said softly. Dammit. Did Killian know? Had he been conscious? Was he aware that his brother was dead? Emma nodded, whispering a soft thank you as she walked away. He'll wake up without a brother. He'll wake up with literally no blood relation left. Ruby cried, a lot more than Emma did. She was pretty much numb to it. She didn't really know him that well, they'd only talked on occasion, like when he gave her that letter.
The letter. She still had it, she never showed it to him. What if he dies and he never gets to see it? She watched as Ruby tried to bite back her tears to call Elsa and tell her what happened. That Liam is dead. Poor Elsa. She swore they were something.
Now they're nothing. He's not here anymore.

"Why won't my phone work?" Ruby said through a mountain of tears as she tapped the screen with her finger.

"You turned it off." Emma said softly. Her father had come back again and was looking between them with confusion.

"Henrys okay. I just got off the phone with Mary Margaret, she wants you to call her, Emma." He said softly as he sat down. The waiting room again. Where they never have enough tissues.

"Ruby are you okay? What did I miss?" He asked.

"Liams dead." Emma said softly, she didn't even think about it, how this would affect him. How he'd react. Completely forgot they were friends.
"Oh my god." He said softly, running a hand through his hair and she just kept her eyes ahead, staring at the nurse at her desk, waiting for her to move. Maybe she could sneak in, see him for a second and then leave. She wanted to see him while he was still breathing, she'd rather see him hooked up to tubes and wires and noisy beeping monitors than see him, pale and not breathing on a slab in the morgue.

The chapel was cold, a breeze she couldn't find the source of; blowing in and she regretted taking off her jacket somewhere. It was the second day, two days and he hadn't woken up. Had coded a record of three times, the third had been close. Nearly called Time of Death but his heart started beating again.
She'll punch him when he wakes up for scaring her like this. She hadn't slept at all, had barely eaten. She just needed some quiet, the chapel seemed like a good place to go. There wasn't anyone in here, so it wasn't bombarded with sniffles and tears. She sighed.

"Didn't know you were the praying type." Rubys heels clicked against the hardwood floor, sending a satisfying echo through the chapel.
"I'm not." She said softly, voice scratchy because, yes. She finally cried. She would pray, she should have gone to church with her parents when they asked her too, maybe then she'd know how to start. Ruby sat down, hair pulled back, makeup scrubbed off. She looked like a completely different person.

"You okay?" She asked, Emma glared. "Right. Stupid question."

"I don't know...what to do."

"Hm?"

"I don't...know how to pray."

"There's really no guidelines. You just kind of talk." Ruby said softly, "Liiiike, like this." She cleared her throat, "Hey God. How's it going? My friend got himself in a...pretty bad accident. It'd be great if you could help us out."

"I don't think that-"

"Tell Milah to keep her ghost hands off Killian, she can't take him." Ruby said softly, looking at the ceiling, "Tell Liam the same thing and tell him Elsa and Killian will be fine. I'm sure he knows that. Thanks father, amen." Emma rolled her eyes.

"You're a piece of work." She said softly. She was right about one thing. Milah better keep her ghost hands off of him. He wasn't hers anymore.