It's been two days since Mia was born and Killian hasn't been able to put his new daughter down. Snow and David brought the kids over to meet their new cousin while also allowing Roland, Henry, and Riley to meet their littlest sister for the first time. Killian has grown a new love for not just Mia but Emma as well. He looks over at Emma and smiles at her. With Mia in his arms, he walks over to Emma and covers her with a blanket, he smiles and bends down and places a kiss on Emma's forehead. He goes to the recliner where he sits down and relaxes with his baby daughter in his arms. Mia coos and lets out gentle noises as she stares up at her father. Her piercing deep blue-grey eyes stare directly into her father's eyes and Mia lets out a smile. Just then a light knock is heard, "Emma?" Regina whispered as she walked in with Robin. Regina sees Killian holding Mia and she smiles wide.
"Hi!" Regina said with glee as Robin gave a brotherly hug to Killian. "Congratulations, dad! Welcome to the club," Robin said as he patted Killian on the back of his shoulder. "She's beautiful!" Regina uttered as she caught a glimpse at Mia. "How's Audrey?" Emma asked. When she saw the smiles disappear from Robin and Regina's face, she knew it wasn't good. Regina hesitated to answer, "she's fighting. But she hasn't been able to breathe on her own yet and every time she does, she can't regulate her breathing." Regina started to tear up but regained her composure when she focused her attention on Mia. "She has around the clock care, we wanted to come to pay Mia a visit," Robin said with a forced smile.
"Would you like to hold, Mia?" Killian asked. Regina's eyes light up, "sure!" Killian gently hands Mia over to Regina and she smiles wide. Robin stands next to Regina as he gazes down at her. "She is beautiful! She has your eyes, Killian," Robin said as he smiled. There is a light knock at the door and the nurse comes in, "special delivery!" The nurse comes in with a bouquet and sets them down on the table next to Emma. "They're from Zelena, Aiden, and Ashley." Emma smiles, "thank you!" As the nurse walks out, Emma can hear sniffles coming from Regina as Robin lays a hand on her shoulder. "Regina, what's wrong?" Emma asked. Regina just shakes her head as tears roll down her face, "I have yet to hold, Audrey, and yet here I am holding Mia," Regina hands Mia over to Robin and he too starts to tear up. Mia lets out a cry, just then Robin's phone starts to ring. He hands Mia back to Killian as he answers, "Hello? Ok, we're on our way up." Mia continues her crying but it's more distressed. "It's Audrey, Regina, we have to go." Without a word, Robin and Regina rush out and head to the newborn unit to see what is going on.
Just then a nurse walks in to check on Emma and Mia. Emma takes the opportunity to ask the nurse, "am I able to visit my friend and her baby in the NICU?" The nurse nods her head as she preps to take Emma's vitals, "yes. We can wheel right on up," the nurse makes her way out to get a wheelchair for Emma. She turns to Killian, "I'm going to go check on Robin and Regina, do you want to come?" "Yes, I'll take Mia. She's starting to get fussy." Minutes later, the nurse comes in to help Emma into the wheelchair. Mia starts crying and Killian is doing his best to comfort his baby girl. He cradles her over his shoulder and she seems to calm down after they board the elevator. The nurse helps out Killian, "here, put her head right on top of where your elbow folds, and make sure she's swaddled tightly and put your other arm, here." Mia stops crying and Killian smiles, "I'll get used to this, Mia, don't you worry." Emma looks up at Killian and smiles. "Okay, here is our floor. Who are you here to see so that I can let them know?" "Audrey Hood." The nurse takes them to the waiting room where Killian sits next to Emma. Mia is wide awake and staring up at her father's eyes and begins to coo.
"She's already a daddy's girl, huh?" Emma uttered. Killian just smiles and looks down at his daughter. Robin comes out to greet them, "Hey guys," Robin said in a quiet hesitant tone. "Audrey stopped breathing for almost thirty seconds and they almost couldn't make her start breathing again. They're monitoring her to see if there was any sort of damage done to her brain," Robin begins to tear up, Emma carefully gets up from the chair and goes to hug Robin. Killian, with Mia still in his arms, joins in on the embrace. "Robin. I'm so sorry. Have they said anything as to what's wrong?" Emma asked. Mia starts crying but her cries are different from before, they are more distressed and distinct. "Mia, darling, what's the matter?" Killian looks to see if anything is poking her or making her uncomfortable. Regina emerges and it is evident that she has been crying.
"Regina," Emma whispered as she hugged her tight. "Robin has told us everything, Regina, I'm so sorry," Emma has tears rolling down her eyes as Regina lets out a heavy sob. Mia is still crying loudly as Killian is trying to settle her down. "Can we go see her?" Emma asked, "yes, of course. I'll take Mia while you and Killian pay your visit," Regina said as she wiped away her tears. Killian hands over Mia, who is still crying, over to Regina, "I'm not sure why she is crying, I think she is uncomfortable or something. Emma just fed her so I know she's not hungry."
"I'll try to calm her," Regina said with a forced smile. "Don't hesitate to call me back if she is too much?" Killian uttered. Killian and Emma make their way into Audrey's room. The nurses are changing her diaper and monitoring her as they are walking in. "Hi, we're friends of Audrey's parents, they allowed us to come in and visit her." The nurse smiles, "of course. She's over here," as the nurse leads them to Audrey, Emma starts to become overwhelmed with emotions. "Emma, what's the matter?" Killian asked as he grabs her hand, "nothing," Emma sniffled. "Audrey, you have some visitors baby girl," the nurse whispered lovingly to Audrey. When Emma sees Audrey, her tears become more prominent. "She's so tiny, Killian," Emma uttered under her breath. "Audrey, love, you're such a strong girl," Killian followed. "Can we touch her?" he asked, "yes, she's still too fragile to carry," the nurse said. "You mean, Robin and Regina have yet to hold her? How long has she been in here?" The nurse starts thinking, "she will hit her 3-week anniversary on Saturday," the nurse answered. As Emma and Killian place, a hand on each of Audrey's tiny legs, Audrey starts moving and starts to let out cries. Emma and Killian are startled, "what did we do?" as they retracted their hands, "nothing. I think you just startled her a bit," the nurse implied.
They place their hands on each leg again and Audrey reacts. She starts crying and fidgeting. "Well that's new," the nurse said. "What?" Emma asked, "the way she's crying. Her machine would start beeping because she doesn't get enough air to cry so she stops, but she's crying a taking a breath on her own. Hmm…take your hands off of her so I can see what she does." When Killian and Emma release their touch, Audrey's vitals start to lower and her machine beeps again. "Hmm…" the nurse uttered, "touch her again," as Killian and Emma touch her, Audrey gets stabilized and cries on her own. "She doesn't do that with her mom and dad, can you call them in for me?" "They have our baby is that alright?"
"Sure. I'll make this one exception because I think I may have the answer to helping Audrey win her fight," the nurse said with bright confidence.
"Mia, darling, what's the matter?" Regina starts to grow slight hesitation as she is trying very hard to calm her down. She's been crying since Killian and Emma left her with them. "Let me try," Robin said. As Regina handed Mia over to Robin, Killian emerges, "Robin, Regina, the nurse wants to see you, it's about Audrey." The smile on Killian's face brings them relief, "Killian, what happened?" Robin asked, "the nurse may have an idea to help with Audrey's recovery, here, I'll take Mia, I'll follow you two in." Mia continues her cries as Killian tries to calm her again. "She's still crying?" Emma asked, she walked over to Killian and tries to comfort her daughter, Killian hands over Mia for Emma to try her luck and then walks over to Audrey, Robin, and Regina where the nurse is explaining to them what is happening, "it looks like Audrey responds to a certain touch. When we touch her she doesn't respond to us. When she responds to your touch, she's neutral and her heart rate stabilizes and she does breathe on her own but she's still too fragile to be held. However, if I can make a suggestion and get the permission, I've seen it done before, pair her with a healthy baby so that she will have that constant touch."
"Pair her with, Mia!" Killian uttered abruptly and without hesitation. Robin and Regina look over at Killian with bright emotions.
"If it's okay with your wife, Mr. Jones, we can have your daughter hooked up in under five minutes." Killian goes over to Emma and explains. Emma agrees wholeheartedly and hands Mia over to the nurse "Oh my, you are not happy, are you sweetie," the nurse said as she goes to prep Mia for her pairing with Audrey. Emma and Killian go to comfort Robin and Regina. "It's going to be okay. Hopefully, this will be the miracle our Audrey needs," Killian said as he laid a gentle hand on Regina's shoulders. "Thank you, Killian," Regina said under her sobs. "I don't know what to say?" Robin said to Emma as he hugged her tightly.
Mia is still crying as the nurses hook her up the machine. "I know, sweetie, we're almost done and then we will pair you with your new best friend." Almost instantly, Mia starts to calm down at the words of the nurse. Mia lets out another cry just as Audrey's machine beeps, "okay, let's move you in, sweet pea." As they lay Mia down next to Audrey, instantly Mia calms down and right away Audrey's vitals slowly start to stabilize. Robin and Regina look on with hope as Emma and Killian look on with pride. "It's working," the nurse uttered. Mia is calm as she naturally moves her head against Audrey's. As everyone looks on, Mia moves her arm over her new best friend and places it on top of her face. "Come look at this," the nurse calls over Robin and Regina as Emma and Killian follow. "Audrey's heart rate is stabilizing and syncing with Mia's!" They smile and tears start rolling down Regina's face.
"Audrey is responding positively! Look at her breathing, Audrey is trying to breathe on her own," the nurse said with a positive smile on her beaming face. Audrey's heart rate elevates to a healthy rate, her breathing machine is getting to where it can't keep up with her natural breathing, and Mia has fallen fast asleep while resting her hand on Audrey's side.
"Mr. and Mrs. Jones, with your permission, if we see that Audrey is progressing, would it be okay if we continue this procedure until we are comfortable enough to discharge Audrey," the nurse asked and without hesitation, Killian answers right away as Emma shakes her head in agreement, "of course! You do what you need to do to make sure our girls are happy and healthy," Killian said. Regina goes up to Emma and Killian with a beaming smile and tears of relief and joy streaming down her face, "Emma, Killian, I don't know what to say. You and Mia have saved my baby's life and I don't think we will ever be able to repay you." Regina leans in to hug Emma and she returns it with pure love and joy, as Killian joins in, Robin approaches with tears of joy also emerging from his face, "Killian, Emma, what else is there to say other than thank you and that we are forever grateful and appreciative of you."
The nursing staff has decided to keep Mia in with Audrey overnight so that they can monitor both of them. Mia slept through the night and Audrey continued to thrive as the night progressed. Emma and Killian slept in their hospital room while Robin and Regina stayed by the girls' side. Emma walks in and greets Regina first, "I'm so glad we were able to help you in anyway. I have a feeling, Mia sensed she was needed which is why she wouldn't stop crying and came out so fast," Emma said. Just then, Dr. Whale pays a visit to check on Mia and Audrey. After he is done, he gives out his advice and the next steps for Audrey. "Robin, Regina, may I speak with you really quick?"
"Is everything alright, Dr. Whale?" Regina asked worriedly. "Everything is perfectly fine. Audrey is responding beautifully. My nurses have told me what they've done and they've made a lifesaving call if I might say. If we keep this up, I see Audrey making a full recovery with no complications. She may be able to go home in the next two to three days or sooner! We are going to observe her and Mia overnight again and see if she's still responding to Mia's touch. This happened so fast and it's something I've never seen," Dr. Whale said with confidence.
"That's the best news we've heard in a while Dr. Whale. Thank you so much," Robin said with relief. Dr. Whale beams a smile at Robin and Regina and then heads over to speak with Emma and Killian. "Killian, Emma, just wanted to say thank you for volunteering Mia. You should be very proud of your daughter. She's a hero," Dr. Whale gave them a thumbs up and headed on his way. Killian approaches Robin and Regina, "Hey, do you two want to take the night off and go home and rest? Emma and I can stay here to be with the girls. You guys need your rest."
"Are you sure? I do miss the kids and I could use the rest, to be honest," Regina said with a genuine smile. Emma nods, "yes, I insist. Killian and I will stay up here with the girls. Feel free to call us every now and then if it will make you feel better."