Summary: Her father's been critically injured. Can they save him?


The atmosphere changed in an instant, as an ashen-faced Emma repeated Mulan's words. "They've taken him to hospital. It's bad."

Marian was the first on her feet. "Emma, go! We'll take care of Neal and the girls…"

"Emma, let's get-" Killian hardly got the words out, as Emma suddenly disapparated in front of them without warning, leaving a familiar cloud of white mist, "…over there!" He looked at the spot where she'd stood. "Guess I'll be driving there alone then…"

"No, hold on. Mari, could you take her for me?" Regina handed the baby back to her wife. "I'll teleport him, it'll be quicker. I'll be back shortly, my love..." A moment later, Marian was left alone with the babies.


Being married to Emma, Killian Jones had become used to being magically transported from place to place at a moment's notice. However, he hadn't anticipated apparating into what looked like a small, dark, broom cupboard. "What the bloody hell?"

"Safest place around here," said Regina, standing beside him. "I teleported on to the wards a couple of years ago, and a nurse almost dropped a baby she was holding! Wait a minute..." With a twirl of her fingers, a small light shone above them, and the locked cupboard opened, allowing them to step out into what appeared to be a corridor. Vaguely recognising where he was, he sprinted through it to a reception desk. After a moment's questions, the woman sitting behind it told them where David Nolan had been admitted. Two minutes later, they arrived outside a room to find Emma standing, talking to a nurse neither of them recognised.

"Mrs. Jones, we really won't know anything, until we get the results of the EEG. Your father was only admitted fifteen minutes ago. He's unconscious, and all I know is he received a blow to the head from an RTA. He's being x-rayed as we speak, so we should know a little more once we have some results. I'm sorry but that's all I can offer you at the moment! Can you tell me who's his next of kin?"

"His wife - my mother." She felt guilty not having thought of her earlier. "I'd best give her a ring."

"Swan?" she turned, not having realised Killian was there. He knew from experience that when she was this highly stressed, it was best not to hug her, as she tended to pull away. So, he merely rested a hand on her arm. "Let me call her?"

"How did you get here so quick?" though the moment she saw her best friend standing a few feet away, she knew the answer. "Regina?"

The trembling voice nearly broke the brunette's heart. "It's okay, Marian's taking care of them. They'll be fine so don't worry about that. I'll head back there soon, but I just wanted to see how you were. And how David is?"

"You just heard her," Emma glanced back to the door where the nurse had gone. "They're x-raying him right now, so we have to wait." Then she looked up at her husband. "Yeah, Killian, could you give mum a call? Just say he's in hospital, but don't give her the details yet?"

He nodded, pulling out his phone to tap the buttons. "It's going straight to voicemail. I'll leave a message." He stepped closer to the window to do so, just asking her to call him back as soon as she could. As he spoke, Regina stepped in front of her best friend, resting both hands on her arms.

"Perhaps I should just teleport over to the farm? It'll be quicker…"

Emma looked up with watery eyes. "Yeah. Perhaps..." she seemed to be fighting off tears, and found it almost impossible to hide the trembling in her voice. "I think she said something about going over to Ella's place today."

"I'll find her," she looked into her distraught face. "Emma, I'm so sorry…" she opened her arms, and Emma went crashing into them, tears finally coming. She wept, holding on tightly, as though her life depended on it. Until finally, resting her head on her shoulder, her voice was almost a whisper.

"She said 'next of kin'! You don't think…?"

"No. Emma, one thing I know about David, is he's a survivor! In all the years I've known him, he's been one of the most resilient people I've ever known. I'm sure he'll get through this…" Though she said it, she didn't quite believe it herself.

"But this isn't magic, Gina, it's a head injury! He's in a coma!"

"Well he's been in one before, hasn't he? I'm sure he'll pull through. You just need to have-" Her words were interrupted by a door opening, banging against the wall, as two people, a man and a woman, walked in.

"Where's my husband?" demanded Snow White, of the young receptionist who had just walked back in. "Where have you taken David Nolan?"

"He's…he's in the x-ray department right now, Mrs. Nolan." the receptionist seemed suddenly nervous. "There's a doctor with him! I don't have the details yet, but I've just been told he'll be going straight to theatre after that."

"Which doctor?" her expression was severe and her tone imperious. "Who's treating him?"

"Doctor Whale. He treats all head injuries himself. If you could-"

"Listen very carefully, nurse. Doctor Whale is NOT to operate on him until he's spoken to me! Is that clear?"

She clearly hadn't noticed her daughter and the others as she came in. Emma was taken aback by a commanding voice she almost didn't recognise. Her mother had assumed an air of authority she'd never seen before. Like she was taking control. And in a way it calmed her. A little.

"I'll talk to the nurses there, to pass on the message."

"No, nurse," Emma hadn't noticed the impressive figure of Sheriff Hank Morgan, who'd followed Snow into the room. "You need to tell Doctor Whale yourself! Mrs. Nolan here, is his next-of-kin, and you require her permission before you operate. Please go and tell him right now!" The nurse nodded nervously, walking out of the room.

"Mum?" said Emma, stepping away from the others.

"Emma?" it was the first time Snow realised who was also in the room, her demeanour instantly changing as she saw her nervousness. "Emma, come here, honey!" she stepped in front of her, wrapping her daughter in her arms, the blonde welcoming her mother's comfort, for a change.

"It, it doesn't look good, mum!" she breathed. "They brought him here in a coma…" she sniffled against her neck. "How did you find out he was here?"

"Hank phoned, then he came to get me…" she gave him a sad smile over Emma's shoulder.

As Regina watched them comfort each other, she realised the implications of what had happened. They share a heart! If Charming dies, she dies! And judging by the serious expression on the Queen of Misthaven's face, she was more than aware!

Snow released her hold, leaning back to look at her. "Honey, please look at me?" Emma looked up, wiping her running nose with the back of her wrist. "We've no idea how badly your father has been hurt. You're the bravest, most wonderful girl I've ever known and I'm so proud of you. But I need you to be brave for a little bit longer. Now, if something happens and, god forbid, he doesn't pull through, you need to know that your father loves you so very much, every bit as much as I do. And we need you to be there for Neal, to protect him till he grows up. And then, we expect you to love and protect each other. Always!"

The mention of her little brother made Emma realise what Snow was getting at. "Your heart! You, you split your heart with him!" her voice started shaking again as her jaw started to wobble. "To get back to me. So that means, if he dies…"

"We'll protect them, Snow!" said Regina, herself now also feeling rather emotional, at the thought of Emma losing both parents at once. "Both of them. You have my word!"

"Thank you, Regina," Snow was clearly the most in control of the three right now, never taking her eyes off Emma's. "That means a lot to me. I know how much they both care for you."

"You can't both die!" Tears started to fall down the blonde's cheeks. "There must be something?"

"Emma," she took her trembling hands in her own. "Your father sacrificed his heart, and his life, for his family, twice. Last time, he gave it to me to crush, just so I could get back to you and Henry. I don't regret splitting mine to share and bring him back for one minute. Without him, I would never have had you, or Neal. But death must come to us all one day."

"No, I'm not letting you go!" she dragged herself onto her once again. "I can't!"

"You may not have to, but you can, and you must if need be, Emma! For Hope, for Lizzie. And for Neal too…"

Hank and Killian watched their emotional scene. Even they were feeling choked. "I'll walk on through and see what's happening back there," said the Sheriff.

"I'm coming with you," said Snow, prising Emma gently off her.

"No, I really wouldn't advise it Snow! Just in case…"

"I said I'm coming!" Snow's hands cupped Emma's cheeks, as she whispered. "I will always love you!" before turning to her son-in-law. "Take care of her, Killian. She needs you now."

"Always." His arm went around her back, preventing her following her mother and Hank. The last thing he wanted her to see was both her parents dying.

"He's not finished yet, Swan! Let the doctors so their thing. Come…" he forcibly pulled her into his chest to hold her.

Regina twirled her fingers, producing a large box of handkerchiefs. "Killian's right, Emma," she wiped her own eyes, before offering the box. "I may have cursed her for having so much of it in the past, but now you have to hold onto the thing she's most famous for. Hope!"


The next ten minutes felt like ten hours, as the Saviour paced the reception area. A nurse briefly appeared, to check on notes on her desktop, before rushing back out again. Regina now stood in a corner by a window, on the phone to somebody.

"I feel so bloody useless, just waiting here!" she raged. "Can't someone at least just come out, and tell me what's going on?"

Moments later, a door opened, and Sheriff Morgan appeared, looking solemn. All three immediately turned to him for answers. "Emma, your father's alive, but still unconscious. You're mum's with him. He's had some sort of emergency surgery, and Doctor Whale will be out shortly to explain everything. I'd best get back to the station, as we still don't know the reason for the collision."

"Who did this, Hank?" she demanded. "Was it Palmer, that piss-head mate of Leroy's? If he was drunk, I swear to god I'm going to kill him!"

"It wasn't Palmer, Emma. It was Geoffrey, his other driver. The medics pronounced him dead at the wheel."

Emma knew Geoffrey Shaw, but only vaguely. He seemed to be a nice, polite and rather shy man in his late sixties. He drove the one truck that Rumpelstiltskin had specifically given the magical powers to pass over the town line, to collect produce from the land without magic. A widower, he rarely showed up at town events and to the best of her knowledge, he wasn't a drinker.

"Geoff Shaw? So, what happened? Had he been drinking?"

"Too early to say, but I doubt it. The way he was slumped over the wheel, it could have been a heart attack. Mulan's getting an update from the Coroner when he can do the autopsy. I'll let you know. Anyway, I'd best get over there. I'm sorry, Emma. If there's anything I can do?"

She hardly heard him leave as her mind went over recent events with her father. If anything happened to him, and Snow as a result, Henry would be devastated! And Hope? Would she ever grow up remembering her grandad? Prince Charming, the man who woke his mother up with true love's kiss. The farmer's boy who, with his wife, had led an entire realm. The man who fought off three royal guards one-handed, to save her life. The man who'd risked, and given, his own life for them. The man whose eventful life was possibly about to finally end as the result of a mere road accident?

"Emma," a soft hand on her arm tore her from her thoughts. "I've just spoken to Marian. Everything's okay over there, and we'll look after Neal and the girl's tonight, and till you're both ready."

"Erm…thanks Gina, I appreciate it. I kinda want to speak to Neal, but not sure whether I should just yet, you know?"

"Of course. Well, we're here when you need us." As they spoke, the doors opened again, as a tired Doctor Victor Whale emerged, still in theatre shrubs.

"Emma, Regina, Captain Jones. I've just come out of the operating theatre…"

"But my mum didn't want that! She said you shouldn't!"

"I've already spoken to her. Your father needed an urgent medical procedure to save his life. I had to carry out an emergency craniectomy."

"A cranie – brain surgery?" This was worse than she thought.

"Not quite. It's a procedure to remove a small part of the skull to relieve pressure from the brain swelling. We had no choice. I've explained everything to Snow. Sheriff Nolan had a rather traumatic brain injury when his head collided with the door of the car. Apart from a broken collar bone, the rest of his vitals and organs are good. So, now we must monitor his brain activity for the next few days. We have a machine, called an EEG, on him right now, and his breathing is being handled mechanically. Now, we must watch and wait. And hope."

"You're saying he'll survive?"

"I'd rather not say, at this stage. It was a serious trauma."

"Doctor Whale," Regina intervened. "You're aware that Sheriff Nolan and his wife have an 'unusual' heart situation, aren't you?"

"You mean their functioning with a shared heart? Yes, I'm aware. We discussed it when Mrs. Nolan last fell pregnant. It does rather…complicate matters. Which is why I have also just spoken to The Sorcerer. I'm expecting him over a little later."

"Merlin? Why him?" asked Emma. "Unless…" she didn't want to say the rest as she realised the most likely reason. To save the other half of Snow White's heart, if he dies?

"Magic's not my area of expertise. I think it best to allow for all eventualities."

She nodded. At least mum could get to live. "Can I go see him?"

"Of course. He's being transferred to a room as we speak. Give us a few more minutes and we'll come get you?"


When she did eventually get into his room, Emma was mortified to see the state of her father. He lay silent, in the middle of a hospital bed, machines behind and to his left. Though heavily bandaged, at least six wires were protruding from his skull, arms and chest. An IV dripped fluid into his arm, and even though a plastic mask covered most of his face, a breathing tube came out the front of it. The sight of her usually string, indefatigable father like this, broke her heart.

"Oh dad!" she sniffled. "What have they done to you?"

"Everything they can to keep him alive," answered the crop-haired brunette sitting on his right, holding his hand. "Emma, come over here and talk to your father." She stood, beckoning for Emma to take her place.

"And say what? He can't even hear me."

"I don't believe that. He'll hear you somehow. Sit…" she waved. "I'm going to the bathroom and I'll be back as quickly as possible. Talk to him, Emma."

She sighed, watching her leave. Knowing her mother's calm resolve was hiding so much grief inside.

"Hi dad, it's me. Emma. Got yourself banged up pretty good here, I see?" she wiped her cheek, trying to sound so much calmer than she felt. She listened to the regular, slow beeping from one machine that she assumed was monitoring his heartbeat, as the sporadic whooshing of the ventilator kept him breathing. Seeing his right hand lying lifeless, she wrapped her slender fingers around his, giving him the lightest squeeze. "Mum's just popped out for a second. Regina's family is looking after Neal at the moment and…" she stopped, thinking how pathetic she sounded. This is my dad. I might never see him again, and I'm just telling him this rubbish!

"Dad…I'm scared! I know I'm supposed to be the Saviour and everything, and I may be in my forties, but I'm scared. I've only had a mum and dad for the last ten and I don't want to lose you!" She wiped her face with her free hand. "I know I've been a real self-centred pain in the ass sometimes, and for that I'm really sorry. Most of my life I always wondered why you sent me away! I know you told me many times you had no choice, but it was only when I saw those wounds on you that I really accepted it, you know? You almost died to save me…"

Feeling her throat drying up, she swallowed. "And then you did it again, didn't you? Told mum to crush your heart, so she could get back to me and Henry! And what did I do? I told you I wanted to take him back to New York, like the selfish bitch I've always been!" It was getting harder to speak, so she focused her magic on a small water jug on a table nearby, and a glass appeared in her free hand. Taking a large slug of it, she wiped her lips to continue.

"I'm sorry for that, and everything I've done to make life harder for you. But please don't die on me, dad? I love you! I want Lizzie and Hope to have their grandpa! I need them to know you too! I don't want Neal growing up without his dad. And I need you around when Henry has kids! Cos he will. He'll be like you. He'll be a great dad…" tears now cascaded down her cheeks, and she did nothing to stop them anymore. "Please don't die? I couldn't bear it…"

As she spoke, Emma felt something against her hand. Pressure. A squeeze? It was his fingers! "Dad?" she sniffled, "Dad, did you hear me? Dad, do that again? Squeeze my fingers!" she stayed deadly still. Again, the slightest of pressure as his larger fingers seemed to move against her own! The sounds from the machines didn't change, but she definitely felt something!


She told Snow, the moment she walked back through the door.

"Okay, stay with him, Emma. Just keep taking to him while I get Whale!" Snow went out and found him by the reception desk, talking to Killian and Merlin, who had just arrived.


"I felt something!" Emma almost yelled at them. "I'm telling you - he just squeezed my hand!"

Victor Whale didn't look up, instead concentrating on the results of a printout he'd taken, of the last half hour of monitoring David's brain activity, while Snow continued holding her true love's hand. Emma stood at the foot of the bed, while Merlin stood watching from the door, staying silent.

"I'm not making this up, for god's sake! Do something!"

"I believe you, Emma, I really do," said Victor, looking up. "But I'm trying to see if he responded to your voice, or whether it was an involuntary movement, caused by your hand in his."

Snow stood, beckoning her. "Emma, come over here and do it again. Take your father's hand, and talk to him, the same way you were talking to him earlier."

"Hold on!" Merlin spoke for the first time. "Victor, would you mind?" the Sorcerer squeezed past the medic on David's left, forcing himself between the cot and the monitor, before lowering his hands either side of the patient's head, not touching it, just floating an inch above. He nodded to Emma to continue.

"Erm…dad. It's me again. You're in the hospital right now…" she mumbled nervously, feeling awkward now there were others listening in. "I asked you to squeeze my fingers if you could hear me…"

"Emma," her mother's voice was weirdly calm. "Just say the things you were saying to him before."

She nodded back. She hated showing her emotions and weakness to others. But this might be one of the last times she saw him! "Dad. Daddy, I love you. And I need you back with us. Neal needs his father. I do too. And Lizzie and Hope need to know their grandpa." She could feel the tears once again start to build, but she held back. Moving closer to his head, her voice wobbled. "Please don't die. You'd break my bloody heart. Please dad, I need you here! I…I need my daddy too!"

Listening, a tear slid down Snow's cheek. She knew how hard Emma found it to open up to her feelings, so unlike herself. She was so like David in that, and it was only being married to her that helped him open up to them.

"LOOK!" Emma gasped, as the still fingers twitched, just slightly. It was small, but Snow spotted it, and gasped too. Victor looked across, and back to the little EEG screen to see if there'd been any change. He slowly shook his head from side to side. Nothing.

"I felt it!" said Merlin, his eyes closed, hands still suspended over David's head. "He's there…"

"But…there's nothing showing?" said Whale. "No brain activity?"

"There is, doctor, but it's very low level right now! He's still with us alright…"

The moment she heard Merlin's words, Snow's shoulders sagged, and she shook, as a whole dam full of emotions finally released themselves. Then the tears came. "I knew it! I knew it!" she bawled. "I knew my David wouldn't leave me!"

Emma quickly stood, engulfing her mother in her arms as they cried together. Merlin and Whale watched, the former with a smile, but the latter with a look of concern on his face. He didn't want to destroy their moment, but they needed to know the facts! Once they'd stilled and calmed, he spoke.

"Ladies, while Professor Merlin here may have detected something, the monitors have not! I would caution too much optimism right now, as we still may not-"

"My husband is going to come back to me, Doctor! I know it!" She leaned across, kissing David's exposed forehead. "Aren't you, my darling?"

On the opposite side, Merlin's hands moved again to either side of the head, focusing his magic, the moment Snow moved back. "He can sense her! I think she's right, doctor!"


Half an hour later, as the Sorcerer was leaving the hospital, Emma rushed out from her father's room to stop him. "Merlin, wait! I need to ask you something."

"Of course. What is it?"

"Why did Whale call you in? It wasn't really a problem with magic, was it?"

He sighed. "It was, and it wasn't."

"So, it was to do with mum, and their split heart?"

"You're a bright woman, Emma. Yes, it was about the single heart they share. Victor believed there was a high chance they were going to lose King David. He wanted to know whether, if that happened, there was a way to prevent Queen Snow dying too…"

She shivered. It confirmed her worst fears. "And is there? Would there have been a way to save her?"

"Yes. But it would have meant removing the split-heart from your father, before his death. The logic being that, if he was already brain dead, he would have no need of it. It could be restored to your mother. Snow guessed what Victor was thinking and refused to allow it to be taken."

"But if dad had died with it still inside him – she'd have died too."

"True..." He smiled at her. "But you seem to forget about the virtue your mother holds inside? Holds more than anyone in all the realms. A virtue you even named your daughter after!"

"Hope."

"Hope, indeed. Your mother's a remarkable woman, Emma; as is your father. Together, they led an entire realm and overcame true evil, armed only with hope and belief and without the benefit of magic. You know, I heard those words of love you gave your father in there. It was powerful stuff! Words like that have a particular magic all of their own. Love is food for the young and old alike. I know you find expressing your feelings extremely difficult, but I would strongly urge you to use those same words to your father before and after he wakes up. As I'm sure he will…eventually."

"I'll try to remember that."

"Good. There's nothing sweeter, for most parents, than to hear their child's devotion to them. Nothing sweeter."

She stayed silent for a moment, thinking of their shared time in Camelot. "I know you said there's several of you 'clone Merlins' around, but you seem to be in Storybrooke a lot these days? Are you planning on living here or something?"

He chuckled. "Sadly not. But I do have some duties to perform here. The next magical generation is coming along, and I need to be around sometimes to guide it. Plus, I do own a significant stake in your Captain's sailing company, do I not? I like to check on my assets from time to time."

"I forgot about that! How about joining us for dinner soon? I've a lot of questions for you. About Camelot. You pretending to die. My daughters…"

"I know you have," he had a smug look. "I'm a seer, remember?" He smiled as she rolled her eyes. "And yes, I'd love to come to dinner!"