Monday, 23rd April 2018
Over the course of the next few weeks, Emma, Regina and Henry finally figured out a routine that worked out for them all. Regina stayed back until 5pm on Thursday's and Friday's, leaving Emma and Henry to hang out with one another after school at the station and then home before Regina arrived home too. The busyness of the last 7 weeks helped them fall into a groove that held very few hiccups.
The Easter holidays were a memory that Emma would forever hold dear to her heart. Not only because it was their first official holiday together as an actual family living together, but because the joy and excitement that Henry displayed as he searched the house far and wide for all the hidden chocolate eggs that the 'Easter Bunny' had left behind for him to find. Regina had teased and taunted Emma the night before as they hid the eggs for Henry. Emma would either be hiding the eggs in too plain of view or well and truly out of the sight of the little boy. The e(gg)xhausting activity of it all was most definitely worth it when Emma got to see the pure happiness in Henry's eyes the next morning as he realised that the Easter Bunny had once again seen that he was a good boy this past year and "deserved" chocolate.
Also, the weekend before on the 15th of April, was Zelena's 38th Birthday. Henry had insisted that they all dressed up in their formal wear for the afternoon tea that Zelena was insisted on out at her farm. Regina had attempted to coax her older sister out for dinner at Moirai, but Zelena had refused to make a big deal out of her '38th rotation of the sun' as she called it. The thoughts of only being 2 years away from her 40's tarnished her ego of youth.
So, Henry, Regina and Emma all got dressed up in their best outfits for an afternoon at the farm. Henry in her navy-blue suit with matching tie, Emma in her black slim fitting suit (much to Regina's delight) and Regina wore a navy-blue dress that matched up with her son. Zelena was over zealous when they arrived. She'd expected a casual afternoon, but instead decided that the evening need a little extra to appease the obviously excited nephew of hers. They turned her loungeroom into a formal seating area (as best they could) and entertained Henry with a high tea and even danced with him around the room.
But its funny how everything so perfect can change in a split second. Today was a day that the town will always remember. For today, something very terrible has happened. It started as any normal Monday morning for Emma. Regina came to the station for their usual morning coffee, she'd processed all the reports from over the weekend, and Robin had just arrived back from his morning patrol and they were having a conversation about the teens that kept on trying to skip school. They were in the middle of discussing the possibility of staggering the patrol times, so they were less predictable, when all the radios in the station came to life.
"calling all units, calling all units. We need emergency personal to report to Storybrooke Primary immediately."
Emma was the first to respond, "Sheriff Swan & Deputy Locksley on the way. Please provide additional information via channel 6."
Emma grabbed her car keys and whistled high and loud for Bonnie to come to her, she did and was waiting for her by the front door.
"for fucks sake, Locksley! Hurry the fuck up!" Emma yelled out to him as she held the station door open for him.
He was fumbling in a panic, trying to attach the hand-held radio to himself, while he ran towards her.
"do it in the fucking car!" Emma growled.
He nodded his head frantically and did as he was told. the fear in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by the Sheriff as he ran out the door past her.
Emma locked the door behind them and ran to her SUV. She was turning the vehicle on at the same time as letting the dog in, then jumping into the driver's seat herself. Robin was still fucking around with his car keys when Emma was putting her own vehicle in reverse and speeding off towards the school. The lights and sirens of her car echoed through the streets and allowed her direct access to her destination.
"Sheriff Swan, are you online" came over her radio.
"Sheriff Swan- go ahead"
"we have an ambulance 10 minutes out. There seems to be a child who has collapsed and is not responsive. You will be the first responder until they arrive. How far are you out?"
"less than 2 minutes – what class room?"
"first grade – class C"
"copy that"
Emma's hand slapped over her mouth as she recalled that that was Henry's class. Fear began to take over her responses and she couldn't shake it. She had to know that he was safe. She planted her foot further on the acceleration and powered over towards to school a lot more dangerously than she should be. She knew that it was risky but she needed to know that her boy was safe.
In record time, Emma arrived out the front of the school. She got her car as close as she possibly could without affecting the ambulance that was arriving to do the same.
"Locksley, I am on scene. Keep all exits cleared and wait for the ambulance to arrive. Then escort them to 1c!" Emma bellowed over the radio. She reefed the keys out of her car and jumped out, leaving the door open for Bonnie to get out and catch up to her.
"copy that Sheriff, I'm 3 minutes out"
Emma growled at his response. he should have been right on her tail!
She shook her head as she rounded the corner that led down towards Henry's classroom. Emma could hear the echoes of her feet slamming against the concrete floor with every bounding stride she took. She felt her anxiety rising with every stomp. She needed to know Henry was ok, so she picked up her speed, running faster than she thought she ever could.
Emma reached the room and took in the sight around her. the class room was empty except for a little girl that laid on the ground near the port racks with Henry's teacher leaning over her. She took a deep needed breath of relief as it hit her that it wasn't Henry. With her focus now cleared, it allowed her to do her job properly.
"what happened?" Emma asked the teacher as she made her way over to the girl. Emma checked her vitals as the teacher spoke through sobbing tears.
"the children were coming back in from morning tea. I don't- I don't know what happened. They were putting their lunches away and then next thing I know, she was on the ground like this and everyone was screaming."
Emma placed a calming hand on the teachers arm to offer her some form of comfort, "and you've not moved her in any way?"
"no" she said shakily, "I know that it may cause further damage if there is something wrong"
"thank you" Emma said and began to check over the girl's body. It was in this moment that Emma allowed herself to take notice of who the girl was. Grace Hatter, Henry's bestfriend. She swallowed hard and collected herself once again, trying to remain professional for the safety of her life. She swears that she can hear Henry yelling out to her from the other room but she can't let the panicked cries of the boy get to her, she really needs to focus on Grace right now, Henry is at least safe. Emma felt around to see if any limbs were broken or swelling in her body. They all seemed fine so Emma instructed the teacher to hold her neck in place. A moment later, Robin came barreling in with the paramedics on his toes.
Emma went straight to work with the professionals, "Grace Hatter, 6 years old. History of headaches but no known history of collapsing. Medication she takes is Panadol and anti-nausea for her headaches, when required." She then turned her attention to Robin who was standing there and staring, not knowing what to do, "call Jefferson Hatter, tell him that Gracey has collapsed and that I will go up to the hospital with her and meet him there."
Robin nodded his head with determination, happy that he could do something helpful in such a dire and stressful situation.
Emma assisted the paramedics in getting Grace onto the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance. She insisted on coming with them as she was a familiar face for Grace if she were to come to. Henry and Grace had spent plenty of times hanging out together over the last few weeks and Grace had come to calling Emma, 'Sherf' as well.
They reached the hospital in record time and Emma followed the stretcher as far she was allowed to. The doctors instantly insisted into getting the little girl into an MRI to check that no damage was done to her head from her fall. Emma began walking to the waiting room, then began a jog as she heard a loud commotion going on just outside the doors.
"fucking MOVE!" she heard from a deep voice. Emma barreled through the doors and came face to face with Jefferson. His arms were flailing as he fought to get out of the grasps of the two security guards that patrolled the hospital. Emma stood in front of her friend and attempted to lock eyes with the man. He avoided all eye contact and kept yelling profanities at the guards, keeping his eyes trained on the door behind Emma, his only goal being to get to his daughter.
Emma took it in her might to twist the man around so she could break his train of thoughts, taking away the view of where his anger wanted him to go. The amount of pain, both physically and mentally, that he was going through was unimaginable for Emma.
"Jeff, you got to calm down" Emma said to the enraged man.
"NO! I CAN'T! My baby girl is behind there!" he yelled as he struggled more against the guard's hold.
Emma grabbed his face and force him to look at her, "you need to calm down, Jeff. If you don't, I will have no other choice but to arrest you".
Jefferson growled as tears began to fall down his face, "you don't understand Emma! She needs me! I'm all she's got!"
Emma fought her own tears that were forming in her eyes. The conversation she had with him about him losing his wife flashing back to her. "I get that, mate. But you're being a public nuisance and it's my duty to ensure the safety of the public. There isn't anything you can do right now, she's in getting an MRI as we speak. Just calm down and I will wait with you until the doctor comes out"
Jefferson calmed and nodded his head in agreement. He collapsed his sobbing body against Emma's and held onto her tightly as they both wrapped their arms around one another. "I can't lose her too" he cried into Emma's shoulder.
"I know, I know" Emma replied and let her tears fall with his. She let the man cry into her for as long as he needed.
The two security guards silently left to attend back to their patrols once they realised that the Sheriff had everything under control. The silence in the room had Jefferson's cries echoing against the walls. The nurses on duty made themselves busy to give the two adults some privacy.
After many minutes had passed, Jefferson lifted his head from Emma's shoulder and took a step back, wiping his wet face against the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry Em, I don't know what came over me"
"it's fine, Jeff. I'd probably be the same if it were Henry."
He nods his head and looked around the empty room and then gestured towards the seats with his head, "will you stay with me? I don't really want to be alone."
"yeah, I will. Just give me a sec, I need to make a phone call"
After Jefferson agreed, Emma left the room and went out to the ambulance drop off entrance to make her call. The phone dialed twice before it was answered.
"Storybrooke Sheriff's Station, Deputy Locksley speaking"
Instantly, Emma's rage flooded throughout her system as the events of the day all came back to her from the sound of Robin's voice, "WHAT THE FUCK TOOK YOU SO LONG?" Emma yelled into the speaker.
A slight pause was given before he began, "I picked up on the second-"
"You took you're sweet-fucking-ass time to get to the damned school you fucking idiot! What if that was Roland, huh?! Would you still have taken that long to get there?!"
"Roland is at home sick" Robin replied quietly.
"and what? That gives you the right to not act upon an emergency with all you've got! You're a bumbling buffoon and can't even put your damned radio on properly! Why the fuck did I even hire you?!"
"I-"
"I don't want to hear it Locksley! You're walking a fine line with the way your performance was today! You got on scene and had no fucking clue on what to do! You've been trained for these scenarios and yet you're inadequate with EVERY-FUCKING-THING I set out for you to do!"
"Sheriff, I don't know what to say right now" Robin replied with sincere concern in his voice.
"just do your fucking job! I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
Emma hung up her phone and ran her fingers through her hair with complete frustration. That was not her intention of the phone call, but it was too late to take it back now. The smell of a cigarette whiffed in her nose from one of the janitors having a smoke break and it tempted her to go ask the man for one. She thought better of it and went back inside instead and sought out the coffee machine for herself and Jefferson.
Over an hour later was when the doctor came out to speak to Jefferson. Dr Whale approached them both and spoke diligently with the worried father.
"we performed an MRI with the gadolinium solution to get a contrast image and were able to identify a mass against Grace's brain. She is currently under sedation awaiting your approval to go ahead and operate. We can't really know what it is until we can get in there and have a look. You can go see her now before surgery, that's if we have your go ahead of course."
Emma looked over at Jefferson. His face was ghostly white and he was in complete shock. She placed a hand on his back and rubbed a little. "go ahead and see her. I'll wait right here"
Jefferson nodded his head and followed the doctor on autopilot. Emma watched on as they both walked through and disappeared behind the ER doors.
After letting out a long and deep breath, Emma called Regina and let her know what was going on. She told her about the entire incident and also how she'd gone off at her Deputy. Regina had insisted to Emma that she ought to apologise to the man tomorrow and that it was highly unprofessional to act in that manner despite that he'd not responded well in the emergency.
Half an hour after the phone call to her girlfriend, Emma stood up and approached Jefferson as he walked out of the ER doors.
"how is she?" Emma asked. The look on Jeff's face was unreadable and that had her worried.
Jefferson shook his head and began to walk back over to the seats that they were in, "not good. She's just laying there in the bed. She looks so small and tiny, and it's like losing my wife all over again. She looks so much like her. I don't know if I can do this" he said with a trembling voice.
Emma coaxed him the rest of the way to their seats and offered him some words of encouragement. "Gracey will be just fine, you know this. She's a tough little girl and is way too much of a fighter to give in. Dr Whale seems confident that everything will be work out and that's what matters. This is his profession and he knows what he's talking about."
Jefferson agreed with a nod of his head and let out a deep shaky breath, "I know she's strong. She'll pull through"
"that's right. So, I'll stay here with you and we can wait together until she comes out from her operation. Does that sound good?"
"yes, please. Thank you, Emma. I really appreciate it"
"No worries, Jeff. What are friends for?" she said with a slight bump of shoulders, eliciting the first smile she's seen from him all day.
The next 8 hours are going to be hell to wait.
