Summary - Emma laid her head back on the pillow. Coming out of the sickness that she'd caught from being trapped in the ice cave was far more taxing than she figured...

Setting - Season 4, after episode 2. Off Canon.

Disclaimer - Once Upon A Time is owned by ABC and Eddie and Adam. I'm just taking them out to play with for a bit.

A/N- The beginning of this story has been sitting for months and after thecaptainswan requested more Frozen arc stories, I decided to post it. Don't worry, friends! There is more to this story, I just need to finish it. ;)

Enjoy!

David had returned to the police station the morning after the "Ice Cave Incident" as they'd affectionately dubbed it. The night before at everyone's insistence, Elsa came home with them and wouldn't stop apologizing for the upset she'd caused after unintentionally trapping herself and Emma in the ice cave.

Emma was so cold and even after warming up quite a bit with Hook and her family, cold shivers ran down her spine resulting in her jerking here and there. Eventually Emma was so exhausted that she headed to bed. Snow watched her daughter with a wary eye. She knew the after effects of such an incident wouldn't go smoothly. She and Charming had had far too many run ins with magic in the Enchanted Forest for her to think both knew all too well that "magic always comes with a price."

Emma was so out of it that she didn't fuss when her father and Hook walked her upstairs, nor did she hardly make a sound when Snow went to work unzipping her boots and tucking her in.

Snow and Charming shared an amused look as their normally vocal and stubborn daughter was put to bed by her parents and didn't so much as cock an eyebrow. Yes, they knew they'd be feeling the after affects for a while.

The next morning found Emma pretty much dead to the world; fairly normal for her, but even her dad noticed that she was still completely sacked out when he left for the station an hour later than normal. After gently placing a kiss on her forehead and feeling the chill, he had placed another blanket over her, all the while being so grateful that she was home and in bed… and alive.

Hook had volunteered to stay with Emma while she slept so David and Snow could go to work. He'd assured David that he would call if they needed anything. With that, David had left, comforted by the fact that his daughter was safe.

The quiet loft became, well, not quite so quiet as the stubborn (and still shivering) Emma Swan awoke. She groaned as her body protested the movement. She ached, everywhere. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she pushed her way out of the mountains of blankets she was buried under. And yet, she was still cold.

And then it came...the cough… and the chills. Ugh, while Emma did not want to acknowledge it, she knew she was more than likely sick. Yeah, no, she would just ignore it. That seemed like a good plan. She needed to get to work anyway.

Hook, bless his heart, protested quite intensely as Emma got up and dressed. She left in a huff, stating that she had work that wouldn't wait and that she was fine. But she left the loft on clearly shaky legs and without eating or drinking anything.

"Sheriffing," as her mom called it, was Emma's least favorite thing to do when she was sick. Except, she wasn't sick, or was she? Even she didn't know...

It was close to lunchtime when Emma slumped down at her desk, piles of paperwork stared back at her. While David was an excellent addition to the department, there were still some tasks that the sheriff herself had to take care of. One of those being putting her signature on what felt like endless mountains of paperwork.

She began the arduous task of sorting and filing. Without warning, on one of her trips to the filing cabinets, her legs felt unsteady and the room began shaking. She knew it was due to the past twenty four hours and then not eating this morning.

Thankful that her dad's back was to her, she placed a hand on her desk as she slowly made it back to her chair. Once she was seated the spinning slowed and she began plowing through more paperwork, this time making piles instead of endless ups and downs.

Finally everything settled and Emma decided she could stand. She grabbed a pile of paperwork and stood. Smiling at the fact that her legs felt strong. One step toward the filing cabinet and that strength gave way. The room began spinning wildly and her legs gave out. Emma lost her grip on the paperwork and it fell to the floor… along with her.

With the noise of papers falling, David turned around to find Emma's hand on her desk as her knees gave way. "Emma!" He dove for her body as it crumpled toward the floor. In a move only Prince Charming himself could have made, he caught her as she was just inches from the floor. Cradling her head, he laid it on the ground gently. "Emma, can you hear me?" Immediately checking for a pulse and breath, David was assured that she was alive, she'd just passed out.

"Emma!" He was bordering on frantic when his daughter's eyelids began to flutter and she took a deep breath in. She looked up at him, squinting her eyes against the somewhat still spinning room. "Dad." It came out as a whisper, but he didn't miss it for the world. She sounded like a child. "I'm right here, Emma." He tenderly stroked her cheek.

"What happened?" She asked as she searched his face for an answer. "Looks like you passed out, sweetie." As David's eyes met hers, she saw the concern and love shining through.

Emma swallowed hard and attempted to sit up, but the room began spinning again. Instead she leaned back on her dad's shoulder. David wrapped his arm around her to steady her.

He gently ran his hand over her upper arm, "this is why I hoped you'd stay home, at least for today." His touch gentle, but his eyes locked on hers. Concerned dad, mixed with the protective father made for an infuriating combo that today she didn't want, even if it was what she had always wished for growing up.

"I know, but I had stuff that needed to get done." It came out bordering on a whiny tone. "Plus I didn't think I could handle lying in bed all day." The next words out of her mouth made her father bite back a smile. "I'm really fine." She protested, sounding much more like the daughter he knew.

Suddenly David heard Emma's stomach growl, protective dad stare in full force. "Have you had anything to eat today?" Emma shook her head, instantly regretting it. "No. I actually don't think I even drank anything before I left either…" she trailed off as she added the last part. And all at once it hit her, her lips were parched and her mouth was so dry. Everything was aching too.

David just gazed her direction, "oh sweetie. Last night took a lot out of you." He tenderly rubbed her arm. "Let's get you back home and some food in you."

A/N - That's it for now. Stay tuned for more!