"Why are you so nervous?" Regina got distracted from Gideon, to whom she was reading a book, and stared at her sister who was once again rearranging trinkets on the mantelpiece.

"I am?" She turned around. "What makes you think so?"

"I haven't noticed any compulsions in you thus far but now you are rubbing this vase for the third time in half an hour. Perhaps you always had just been panicked about dust lying around but I haven't noticed?"

"Well…" The Queen put the vase in its place. "Maybe I'm a little nervous."

"Call him again." Regina put down the book.

"I called five minutes ago." She nevertheless dialed her husband's number again. "The phone is still unavailable." She threw her cell phone onto the sofa. "Even if his battery had died along the way, they should have reached Storybrooke for quite some time now, the phone should have already been working."

"Maybe he dropped it somewhere along the way." The Mayor shrugged.

"Yes." The Queen nodded. "And also forgot my number and that he needs to call me or didn't find another phone within the whole Storybrooke. Different scenarios are possible. Sure."

"Stop it." She went to the Queen and put an arm around her shoulders. "You wind yourself up for nothing. Well, what could ever happen? There must be a reasonable explanation for everything, we just don't know it yet."

"Yes, you are probably right." She gently freed herself from her hands. "I'll go see how Charlotte is doing."

"Regina, you put her to bed less than an hour ago and listen…" She pointed to the baby monitor. "Do you hear? She is sleeping. Don't wake the baby up."

"I won't wake her, I'll just take a look to make sure everything is all right." The Queen headed for the stairs but halfway through a phone call stopped her. "Finally!" She quickly returned to the living room and grabbed the phone that still lying on the couch. "Wait, it's not my own. It's the landline." She searched around for the handset.

"All elective surgeries for today are canceled; transfer from the intensive care to the wards everyone possible, all free trauma surgeons go to the emergency room right now." Head physician Portland Mercy stood on the stairs at the hall, towering above a crowd of employees gathering below. "Everyone who has ended the shift, remains. Call a second neurosurgeon. Contact a blood bank: we will need an additional reserve ..."

"What is happening?", asked the doctor who had just approached his colleague who was already standing in the lobby. "What's the reason for the emergency?"

"Haven't you heard?", he said surprised. "Accident on the 90th highway. The truck driver lost control, the vehicle rolled over, flew across to the oncoming road and crashed onto 7 more cars. Look!" He pointed to the plasma hanging on the wall, where there was a report from the scene. "Everyone is being brought to us as we speak."

"And what will we do with all of them? Given that we have only four operating rooms and they, judging by the images, are all in critical condition." He peered at the TV.

"We are the closest.", his conversationalist shrugged. "Whoever it is possible, we will transfer to the central hospital. We'll leave the urgent ones for ourselves. Put your gloves on, the first ambulances are already there."

Everything in the hall was set in motion. The examination rooms were filled with teams of doctors.

"What do we have here?" "Nine on the Glasgow scale, multiple penetrating wounds from glass fragments, a hemothorax caused by a chest injury from a blunt object."

"And what's that?"

"Wiper. Fragment of a windscreen wiper."

"I need an ultrasound ... Look."

"This is bad. We can't pull this wiper off so he doesn't bleed to death. It is a millimeter away from the portal vein."

"Have. To."

"What? Sir? Can you hear me?"

"You have to ..."

"Sir, do you know where you are?"

"I don't care where I ... I need ... Regina ..."

"Is that your wife? Was she with you?"

"In New York ..."

"Is the operating room ready? Great, we're going. And call Adams and Ranger, I won't approach the portal vein alone."

"Any relatives reported?"

"How should I know? Let someone who has time for this do it ..."

"Yes?" The Queen finally found the receiver and answered the call. "Yes, Mrs. Gold speaking. What?... No, wait... When?... That is?... I'm on my way." She dropped the phone.

"What happened?" The Mayor asked anxiously.

"What? I ... I need to go.", the Queen replied perplexed. "I need to go to Portland." She quickly went out into the hallway and put on her down jacket.

"Regina, what's going on?" The Mayor caught up with her and took her hand.

"Look after the children.", the Queen replied, patting her on the shoulder, looking straight through her.

"Regina!" She grabbed her elbows and shook her a little. "What happened?"

"An accident on the highway ... They are still operating on him ... They don't know if he'll stay alive ... I need to go.", the Queen said spasmodically, trying to free herself from her hands.

"Wait." She tightened her grip on her sister. "You can't go anywhere now. What will happen to Charlotte? You need to take her with you. And I'll come with you too."

"No, don't." She again sluggishly pushed the Mayor away. "It is because of you ... And Henry ... because of you ... He would not have been there if he hadn't tried to re-establish your life ... And now he ... He can ..."

"Regina!" The Mayor picked up her rapidly turning pale, suffocating sister. "Honey, everything will be fine." She carefully lowered her down to the floor.

"You don't know that." the Queen breathed, squeezing her sister's hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say all this. I just ..."

"Regina?" She shook her shoulders again. "Good lord!"

She ran her hands through her hair, tucking locks behind her ears, found her phone in her pocket and dialed Stern's number. "David!" The Mayor breathed out with relief when he picked up the phone. "We need you, right now, please. Gold is in a hospital in Portland, his condition is not good. Regina's either... I don't know ... She is unconscious ... Please come!"

Ten minutes later, the man was already bringing the Queen to her senses.

"David." She opened her eyes, reaching out to him. "How good it is that you're here."

"Don't scare us like that anymore." He smiled, hugging the Queen.

"We need to go ...", she began.

"I know." Stern interrupted. "I'll go with you."

"Are you sure she can go anywhere?", the Mayor asked anxiously.

"Sure.", the doctor nodded. "She needs to be there. She will be all right, trust me. Pack Charlotte's things and let's go.", he said to the Queen. "I was thinking of buying plane tickets, but the next available flight was late at night. We will get there faster by car."

"Can't you get us a helicopter?" The Queen stared at David intensely. "Maybe a medical service helicopter?"

"No," he shook his head, "this is not an option. We will need to wait for the results of the operation, and then agree on the transfer to New York, and also justify the need for using medical aviation. It will be time consuming and almost one hundred percent to no avail. It's easier to take care of everything on the spot."

"It'll take us around five hours to go by car.", the Queen said. "If he ..." She gasped again. "... Dies ... He should not die alone."

"Regina, he won't die." Stern hugged the Queen again. "Everything will be fine."