David and Mary Margaret walked into Killian's room after dropping Neal off with Granny, when they stopped dead in their tracks. Killian looked worse than they had seen him yet so far. Yes, he was not unnaturally gaunt anymore, but his face was deathly pale, except his cheeks which were crimson with fever. He was shaking in his chair, his eyes closed, clearly sleeping uncomfortably. Mary Margaret grasped his hand, grateful suddenly, that she, her husband, and her daughter all received their flu shots this year. His hand was hot to the touch, even with the few cold packs propped against him to help try to cool him down.

"He looks awful," Mary Margaret commented, her heart breaking. She brushed his hair from his eyes, noticing that he desperately needed a haircut. She saw the scar from where he had split his head open, and the splinted leg now propped up. She could not stop the tears from flowing.

"Hasn't he been through enough, David? Why do these things keep happening to him?" David reached over and grabbed her other hand in his own.

"I know. He's been such a trooper the past week. I just hope Emma actually comes. That may give him the last little push he needs to beat this." They were interrupted by the sound of him coughing. They were harsh, barking coughs, his right hand leaving Mary Margaret's and grasping at his chest, eyes still closed, as he hunched over in pain.

"Shhh, Killian, it's okay," Mary Margaret soothed, stroking his hair. David grabbed a glass of water, helped ease Killian back, and aided him in taking a sip.

"Agh!" Killian moaned as his raw throat attempted to swallow the water. His eyes flickered open for a moment, resting on David. David offered him a small smile, but noticed no recognition in Killian's face.

"Bloody hell, Lia…m. W-what took you so long?" Killian whispered, almost looking through David. The prince was going to ask who Liam was, when a look from Mary Margaret stopped him. Killian quietly chuckled before closing his eyes again, becoming unconscious once more. Mary Margaret burst into fresh tears. The pair sat beside Killian for a little over two hours, him not waking up again. Dr. Whale finally came in, appearing to be calm, but David and Mary Margaret knew better.

"David, Mary Margaret," he greeted. They nodded in response, as he checked Killian's temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, etc. When he was done writing things in his chart, David spoke up.

"How is he?" Dr. Whale looked over to them. He sighed before beginning. "Well, let's just say that we are lucky he is so tough. He crashed very quickly last night. When I called you, his fever was 106.4, which is extremely alarming. However, it is now down to 105.7, so, still dangerous, but it is going down. We are still giving him medication for the symptoms and trying to reduce his body temperature. He still has a long road ahead, but, he's stuck around this long, he might make it yet. I'll be back in a bit. However, let me know if he wakes up and is actually coherent." Dr. Whale left the room. They stayed another hour or so, before deciding it was time for them to leave, take their showers, and return to Neal. David patted Killian's shoulder.

"Hang in there, Mate. I haven't sat with you this past week just for you to go now." Mary Margaret squeezed his hand once more and looked into his face.

"You've been through so much, Killian. Don't give up now. Hang on, hang on for Emma." David put his arm around his wife, and they quietly left the room. As soon as they were gone, Killian opened his eyes, a few tears streaking his cheeks. The Charmings checked on him. Or at least he thought they did. He kept zoning between what he knew to be reality and what he knew wasn't. He could have sworn he saw his brother Liam a few hours before. He started coughing again, wincing as the pain spread through his chest. He really would welcome death right about now. It made him wish he was still starving. He let his eyes drift closed to block out the light, but let his mind wander.

Emma watched her parents leave Killian's room from around the corner. It took only a few moments to realize that she needed to be here, with him. She loved him, and she hoped he still loved her. She had been so selfish, stupid, ashamed, and a million other words in regards to him. She couldn't lose him, wouldn't lose him. She was done hiding from obstacles. She walked to Killian's door when she was sure that her parents had left. She didn't want this reunion to be interrupted by her mom and dad. She looked through the window and saw him sitting in a recliner, eyes closed, face pale, cheeks flushed, shaking slightly from the fever. However, he had put on the smallest bit of weight. She also frowned as she saw his hair, longer than she had ever seen it before. A new wave of guilt hit Emma when she realized how long she had kept away. She pushed open the door quietly, hoping not to wake him. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

At the sound of the door closing, Killian opened his eyes tiredly, seeing long, slightly curled, blonde hair facing him. His heart leapt, and he hoped, once turned around, the hair would belong to the woman he had been longing to see for over a week. Emma turned around and saw glassy, slightly unfixed eyes gazing at her. She took a deep breath to steady herself as she took a step forward.

"Hi," she said shyly, making her way over to him, his gaze following her. She pulled up a chair to sit beside him. Still, he said nothing. It made her very uneasy, to have his eyes upon her, but not hearing him speak. She was growing more and more concerned by the minute.

"Killian?" she called out softly, praying that he would answer her. The silence was breaking her. Was he still mad? Still hurt? Had she gone too far in staying away? Suddenly, she saw Killian's hand rising to rest upon her cheek, his thumb stroking her face as his eyes filled.

"You're real," he breathed, his voice hoarse and weak. She placed her own hand over his, hesitating slightly at the heat radiating off of it.

"Yeah," she exhaled, relaxing somewhat. "I am."

"I, I thought you w-were a hallucination. So m-many ti…mes, I thought you w-would w-walk through that door, and every ti…me I w-was disappointed. I thought I w-would never see you again, that you'd never…" he was stopped by a fresh round of agonizing coughs. Emma put her arm around his shoulders, holding him steady, and Killian instinctively leaned towards her.

"Killian," her voice broke as she started to cry. "I am so, so sorry." When he had regained control of himself once more, he returned his good hand to her face.

"Shh, Em…ma. It's okay." That only made her cry more.

"No, no it's not! I left you! I was so caught up in myself that I couldn't see that you needed me. I promised you that I would be here, that I would support you, but I didn't. I couldn't see that I was being stupid, putting pride, anger, guilt, everything before what I should have been worrying about, you! And-" Killian cut her off by putting a shaky finger to her lips.

"Stop," he commanded softly. "Em…ma, I'm tired. Can w-we talk about this later? W-when I'm sure that all this is real?" Emma smiled through her tears and brushed the hair out of his eyes, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, you're right. You need rest. You need to get better so I can make everything up to you." A small glint appeared in Killian's tired and sickly eyes.

"Aye, Love. And believe m-me, I already kno…w how I a…m going to m-make you pay w-when I've recovered." He gave her his half-smile and her heart melted. Emma hit the call button and Dr. Whale came in. He looked surprised and relieved that Emma had finally arrived, he knew that it would make all the difference to his patient.

"Emma!" he greeted enthusiastically. "Nice to see you back. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, but, I think Killian's getting tired, do you think we can get him back into bed?" Dr. Whale nodded and instructed Emma on how she could help him move Killian. They were still able to move him with relative ease, as some of the weight he had gained had fallen off again due to his recent setback. Killian tried to hobble with their help, but his better leg could not support him. They settled him into bed and Dr. Whale checked his stats one more time.

"104.9. We're making progress, Mr. Jones. And with this woman finally here to take care of you, I think you'll make it. Try to get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you later." Dr. Whale left the pair alone.

Emma turned her head back to Killian after Dr. Whale left the room, to find Killian's eyes looking into hers.

"What?" she asked.

"You ca…me back," he said, reaching his hand out to her. She grasped it, and once again ran her free hand over his face, as if trying to remember every line, every contour.

"Of course I came back. I couldn't let you…" she trailed off, not bearing to think about if he had died, and she not been there. Her eyes filled again as she gave him a watery smile.

"I'm sorry," Killian breathed, his voice becoming heavy with sleep. "I understand w-why you left m-me. I'm going to get better this ti…me, I pro…mise."

"No, Killian," Emma interrupted firmly. "You have nothing to apologize for. Besides, you need to sleep. We can talk about everything later." Killian nodded. Emma let go of his hand, and stood up from the straight-backed chair and moved it to the side of the room.

"Em…ma?" Killian called out softly. "W-where are you going?" Emma walked over to "her" recliner and dragged it back to its rightful place beside his bed, as close as possible and closed the blinds at the windows. She collapsed into the chair and put up the footrest, looking at Killian.

"Please, tell m-me you're staying," Killian said, his eyes beginning to drift closed. Emma took his hand and was delighted when his fingers could grip hers. She rested her head partly on his shoulder and looked up at his flushed and feverish face.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Together, they fell asleep, peaceful for the first time in weeks, as the afternoon sun reappeared and the snow stopped falling.

A/N: Okay, so the moment many of you were waiting for finally happened! There will be more discussion between the two of them, when Killian is up for it, as he is very ill at the moment. Also, I have not forgotten about Elsa. Her part will come into play soon. As always, I love the reviews, they make my day!