a/n: hello, everyone! so, i wrote several OQ/Hood-Mills fam fics back in the day (some i hope to rewrite/revive) but i no longer have access to my old fanfiction account, so i'm starting over. please go easy on me as i get my feet wet again to work on capturing OQ and co's voices. anyway, this story is a Modern Day AU where Regina is a Pediatric Trauma Physician at Storybrooke Medical Center in the Children's Wing. (i will do my best to remain as accurate to medical jargon as possible, and anything i don't know i won't pretend that i do, and will imply what should happen not write it out like i'm some medical 'know-it-all' ;D) i don't want to give too much away, but basically when the son she never knew and her estranged husband end up in the ER after being involved in a hit-and-run, regina and robin AND roland are given a second chance at happiness. let's see what happens!
here we go!
- - -part one note: this first chapter will be small, as i'm just trying to get my feet wet and introduce the story. as the fic goes on, the chapters will get longer :D
Reunited
a Mills-Hood family adventure
xjustanotherwriter
Chapter 1: The Accident
Storybrooke, Maine - Storybrooke Medical Center, Children's Wing
It was typical of a day like today for the hustle and bustle of the Children's Emergency Department of Storybrooke Medical Center to sync into a rhythm of something very much like a dance.
Dr. Regina Mills would grab the chart from the bin outside the door of one room and quickly look it over to learn exactly what she could as fast as possible in order to diagnose and treat her patient. The Resident, PA - and sometimes the Fellow - it simply depended on the day and case - on her service would also give her a quick lowdown of anything pertinent she needed to know before entering the room. It was imperative that nothing important be left out (and her team knew not to be sloppy because she would publicly call them out with no remorse toward their feelings) because it was their job to get the initial information, form a plan, and then go over it with her so she could sign off on it.
She would introduce herself to all parties present, speak with the patient, and give their parents the recommended treatment plan cultivated by her and her team.
After the parents agreed to what was planned, Regina would meet with her team in the hall once more.
They would give her a report of the next case and she would pass-off the present one to them, and probably scold them for something they were doing wrong.
She then made her way to the next room to do the dance all over again.
Regina was great with her patients. She loved kids, but her staff referred to her as the "Evil Queen".
She hadn't always been so cold, but after her life changed four years prior, she rose up out of her misery and sorrow, a very dark, depressed woman who reveled in her sadness. It was her work with children that kept whatever light, life and love that was left within her from completely dying out.
The daily madness of this routine - mixed with the occasional incoming trauma - would go on and on and on for a full sixteen-hour shift, and by the end of it? Her head was usually spinning. It wasn't uncommon for Regina to go home, fall onto the couch with a glass of wine, kick her feet up and be done for the night.
She was daydreaming of her shift ending now. . . so when the sound of the doors to the ambulance bay swished open, alerting all staff that a trauma had just come in, she couldn't have been more disappointed.
Another day in paradise, she thought as she sighed.
Her inner thoughts whined about what she could not say out-loud, and because she was the AOC (Attending on call), she would have to stick around to make sure no one needed her before taking her leave.
Regina immediately jumped into action.
"Swan!" Her voice echoed throughout the department, as she called-out for the blonde woman by the desk looking over a patient's chart. Emma Swan, one of the Fellows there for the night shift, looked up from her clipboard. "You're with me."
Emma nodded and immediately made her way over to where Regina and the Paramedics bringing the child in were rushing down the hall. She wasn't Regina's favorite person in the entire world, but she was damn good at her job and when it came to saving a child's life? Skill trumped likability.
"What've you got?" Regina met the lead Paramedic, Graham Humbert, and helped guide the stretcher down the hall.
"Four-year-old male, victim in a hit and run accident. . ."
"Blanchard!" Regina barked her orders toward the head nurse, who just happened to be her stepsister, Mary Margaret, in between listening to Graham as he shared the patient's vital signs. They were stable but indicated he was coming down from the high of a trauma. "Prep Trauma Four."
"On it." Mary Margaret raced down the hall.
". . .Loss of consciousness for approximately ten minutes. Disoriented but responds to voice commands. Head Injury suspected."
"Parents?"
"No mother according to authorities. Father was in the car at the time of the accident and is on his way to Storybrooke Medical via ambulance. Social services has been contacted."
"Emma, take point."
Emma shared a firm nod. She looked to the others now rushing into the room to help save this child's life. "You heard the lady, let's move it!"
Regina's attention returned to Graham. "A name would be helpful."
"Oh. Right. Sorry. Been a long day, Mills." Graham wiped his brow, letting out a sigh.
"It's been a long one for all of us. You know the drill." Regina held no sympathy in her tone. This was his job. They all had their roles, and she expected everyone - especially when a child was involved - to be quick and efficient. "Name?"
Graham rolled his eyes and shared a very unamused expression with Regina at her words, but this wasn't his first rodeo, Humbert was a pro. She knew he knew better than to slack off - especially when she was around.
Graham signed the patient's chart and passed it off to Regina. "Roland Locksley."
Regina blanched.
Her blood ran cold.
She froze where she stood.
It was as if her entire world faded away in that very moment.
"Roland. . ." Her voice was barely a whisper as her hand fell to her stomach and her attention turned toward Trauma Four.
"On my count!" That was Emma barking orders now. "One."
Regina watched as her team grabbed the sheet underneath where the little boy with brunette curls as dark as her own lay barely alert on the stretcher.
"Two." She flashed back to that night all those years ago when she held his newborn form in her arms and promised he would always be alright.
"Three." Regina's mind returned to the present and she watched as her son was being lifted from stretcher to bed.
Regina hadn't heard that name - she hadn't seen her precious baby boy - not since a few weeks after she gave birth to him four years before. . .
"Alright, Regina?" Graham asked, but before she could answer, Emma's voice came shouting from the trauma room.
"Mills! He's crashing. I think he's got a bleed!"
Crashing? Roland! Her child - - - - Crashing?
Regina remained frozen.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
She wanted to cry, but she forced herself not to. Not here.
There was so much emotion she had bottled up inside.
She blamed herself for him lying there. She promised him he would be safe! If she had been there for him over the years he would've been. . .
Regina stopped herself from going any further down that rabbit hole when her son needed her to be strong.
She knew there was a conflict of interest, and she wasn't allowed to perform any sort of medical care on family, but there were only two people in this hospital and town who knew her secret - herself and Mary Margaret - and neither of them would blab the truth to anyone.
She had to save her son!
Regina would deal with the reality of facing her past - Roland, his father, and everything else she had left behind in Mist Haven. She thought she was going to be sick at the reality that Robin - her estranged husband - was currently fighting for his life on the other side of the hospital.
"Mills!" Emma called again.
She knew she couldn't worry about him though - not at that moment anyway. Her main priority needed to be to save their son. The rest would come later. She would make sure Roland was okay.
"Regina, I need some help in here!"
She jumped into action, passing the clipboard back to Graham, and gowning up as she stepped into the trauma room and went to work.
Regina barked orders for imaging, labs, and a surgical consult to all be ordered stat!
Roland was probably going to be taken down to the OR, but for now? She worked to keep her son alive.
To be continued. . .