Sorry this one is a little late. I was trying to fight off a stubborn migraine, and then had some technical issues in the last 48 hours.
Again, I am in no way a medical expert. What I have written here is based on hours of extensive research, but I'm happy to be corrected if any of it is wrong.
WARNING - This chapter does deal with the loss of a child, and the emotional fallout of that. If this is something that you're not comfortable reading but you still wish to read the chapter, I've marked where the section begins and ends with this CSCSCSCS There's only 1 in this chapter. If you wish to skip over this update completely I would fully understand that. Please make your choices based on what is best for you personally.
It took a while for Killian's tears to finally dry up, as his anguished cries became soft sobs. But he remained on that hard floor a while longer as he pulled himself together, before he eventually staggered to his feet.
When he made it to Emma's bedside and peered down at the woman he loved, his sobs threatened to return again, as he assessed the damage he could see to her small body. Her right arm was in a sling, presumably to prevent her from jarring the damaged muscles there when she woke. Killian couldn't see the evidence of the other wounds the bullets had caused with the blankets tucked around her, but there were plenty of cuts and bruises on the skin that he could see, suggesting that whoever had shot Emma, had beaten her before they'd opened fire.
His stomach lurched at the thought of what she must have been through, and he found himself clutching the small bear a little tighter to his chest, as he screwed his eyes shut to stave off the tears. He wasn't sure there were any more left inside of him now.
"Hi, Sweetheart. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," he found himself eventually whispering, as he brushed the hair back from Emma's face, to drop a kiss to her brow.
Her left cheek was hidden under a large purple bruise, and there was a gash over her right eye that had been cleaned down by one of the nurses. The last thing he wanted to do was cause her any more pain than she had already suffered, so he kept his touches light and soft. But Killian found it hard to keep his hands off her, now that he had finally been reunited with the woman he loved.
He sat the small stuffed bear down beside Emma in the bed, wary of all of the wires and tubes that had been placed into her body, before he turned to look for a chair. A quick glance around the room showed that a couple of seats had been placed under the window, so Killian quickly pulled one over to the side of the bed, before dropping down heavily into it.
He hadn't realised until that moment just how exhausted he was.
"I promise I'm not going anywhere now," he assured her. "They're gonna have to physically remove me from this hospital, if they want me out of it." His hand found hers where it had been placed on top of the sheets covering her body, and Killian picked it up to hold carefully between his own.
"I uh… in the movies, they say that people can hear what you say to them, when they're unconscious. So I'm hoping you can hear this, because I need you to know how much I love you, Emma. I need you to come back to me, okay. I don't know how I'm supposed to get through this without you."
He brought her hand up to his lips to brush light kisses across the back of her knuckles, but everything about the moment felt wrong to Killian. Emma's grip on him had always been fierce and strong. Feeling her hand so cool and limp inside of his own, was churning his already empty stomach.
"But don't wake up just yet, okay?" he chuckled bitterly. "Doctor Whale tells me that you'll be in a lot of pain if you do, and you've already suffered enough, my love. So take some time to get better, and then come back to me, okay? I need you, Emma. I don't work without you now."
Killian dropped his head down to rest against the side of the bed as he screwed his eyes shut. He had no idea how he was supposed to get through the rest of the week without her by his side.
"Killian?"
His head sprung up from the side of the bed, and his neck immediately began protesting the painful angle he'd fallen asleep at, as he turned to see Ruby hovering in the doorway to Emma's room.
But all of her focus was now on the woman in the bed between them.
"It's okay," someone behind her whispered quietly. "She's fighting."
Ruby nodded her understanding as Whale steered her into the room, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt under his gown, rather than the scrubs Killian had seen him in before. Behind them were David and Mary-Margret, whose own faces had fallen at the sight of their beloved friend, so battered and broken in that hospital bed.
"Is she…"
"She's doing as well as can be expected, given the situation," Ruby's boyfriend assured them. "Everyone in this hospital will do all they can to make sure it stays that way."
Whale grabbed the other free chair from underneath the window, and pulled it a little closer to Emma's bedside. He nodded his head at the seat to indicate that his girlfriend should take it, and Killian took that as his hint to do the same for Emma's other friends.
"Do you um… do you wanna sit?" he asked Mary-Margret awkwardly, because the last thing he wanted to do in that moment was give up his place by Emma's side. But he knew that her friends had just as much of a right to be there as he did.
"It's fine," she whispered, as her eyes tracked the soft strokes his thumbs were making over the back of Emma's hand, and the way he'd laced their fingers tightly together. She'd never seen anyone show her friend that much physical affection before, and that small revelation rocked her to her core.
"Did you meet at the convention?" she found herself eventually asking, just to break the tense silence that had filled the room.
"Yeah." A small smile tugged at Killian's lips as he thought back to that day in Boston, and how much his life had changed since then. "Well technically, we met just before it. She was… she's so beautiful. Inside and out. I couldn't stay away from her. I didn't want to." He reached up to brush the hair back from Emma's face once more, knowing how much she hated when it fell into her eyes, before he pressed his lips softly to the unblemished skin just above her brow.
"What am I missing?" David asked curiously, as his own eyes flicked between the clearly devastated and broken man sat by Emma's bed, and his wife, who was watching the guy's every move so very intently.
Ruby snorted a little as she waited to see what the two would offer up as an explanation. But when they both seemed to flounder for the right way to phrase what had happened, to the other man in the room, she jumped in to help them out. "You know the show that Emma's obsessed with?"
"The one about a bunch of fairy tales?" David asked, confusion rolling off him in waves.
"Killian's the guy who plays her favourite character on the show, Captain Hook."
"No he's not," David snorted, turning his attention back down to the guy sat beside Emma's bed.
He didn't look like any version of Captain Hook David had ever seen before.
Killian simply cocked a brow up at Emma's deputy. He wasn't in the right frame of mind to argue the point with the guy, at that moment in time.
Ruby didn't seem to have such problems, as she quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket, and loaded up Killian's page on a popular celebrity website. "Are you sure about that?" she asked, as she turned the screen to face David.
He took a moment to browse through the information that was common knowledge about Killian Jones, before he started flicking through the images on the page. Images that started with some of Killian's earliest carer moments, and progressed through to him in the usual leather costume he'd formed a love/hate relationship with, over the past five years; and then back to images of Killian as himself, attending various events throughout the years, in order to promote the show.
"Holy shit," David whispered, as he handed the device back to Ruby, who quickly pulled up Killian's Instagram feed. It didn't take her long to find his most recent posts, and she was more than happy to show her friends some of the images the actor had shared of himself with Emma, since their relationship had begun. "How did this happen?"
"We just covered that, David," his wife sighed fondly. "Keep up, Darling." She turned her attention back over to Killian and smiled softly as she said, "These are beautiful pictures. I didn't even recognise Emma in them."
"That was my intention," he told her, but he kept his gaze fully focused on the woman in the bed by his side. "I don't like hiding her away, but I also didn't want to expose her to any of the nastiness some of the online trolls can bring."
"That's sweet of you to do."
Killian let the silence settle over the room at Mary-Margret's words, as he brought Emma's hand to his lips to brush a sweet kiss to the back of her knuckles. He hated how much he missed those soft noises she would make every time he'd kissed her before.
And the thought of never hearing them again filled his stomach with dread.
"We should get going," David announced reluctantly, as he cast a look around the room. "We need to pick Leo up."
"I'm staying," Killian replied immediately. Not that anyone had expected anything else from him.
"I am too," Whale added, starling them all. When they turned back to face him he explained, "Emma's not out of danger yet. The time it takes for me to get here from my place, or yours," he added, throwing a pointed look at Ruby, "Could make a huge difference when it comes to saving her life. I'll spend the night on the couch in my office."
"Thank you," Killian offered sincerely. It meant the world to him to see just how much the town had pulled together, to make sure that Emma would survive this incident. It gave him the hope he needed that he'd have the chance to see those beautiful green eyes of hers once more.
And that hope was all he had left to cling to, right then.
Ruby fiddled in her purse for a moment before she pulled out a set of keys to hand to him. "If you need a comfortable bed to sleep in, or a hot shower… or anything really, you know where we are," she told him.
Killian couldn't see himself making use of her offer. His stomach turned at the idea of having to bathe in Emma's shower, or sleep in her bed, without her beside him. But he appreciated the gesture her friend was making, so he tucked the keys safely into the pocket of his jeans.
"Thanks, Ruby."
She leaned down to brush a kiss to his cheek, before turning to her boyfriend to say goodbye to him more privately.
"It was nice to finally meet you," David offered, extending his hand for Killian to take. "I'm just sorry it was under these circumstances."
"Me too. Thanks for uh… thanks for knowing her well enough to realize that something was wrong."
David simply nodded his head in understanding, as he helped his wife to her feet.
"We'll be back in the morning. Can we bring you anything?" she wondered.
"I'll be fine, thanks. I'm just gonna stay here. I don't want her to be alone. Everything else can wait."
Mary-Margret leaned in to press a kiss to Killian's cheek, before bending down to brush one over Emma's forehead. When she straightened back up, Killian caught the shimmer of tears that had formed in her eyes, as David gently guided her from the room, whispering soft reassurances into his wife's hair.
Ruby and Whale left with them, sending small smiles and whispered words of goodnight his way, as they closed the door behind themselves, leaving Killian alone with the woman he loved once more.
He made himself a little more comfortable in his chair as he took Emma's hand into his own again, and told her, "So, I've met your friends now. I'd argue that it went much better than when you met mine. They seem like good people, Emma. I'm glad you have them in your life. You deserve to be showered with love. You deserve your happy ending, my love."
Killian was just coming out of the small bathroom attached to Emma's room, when he saw a couple of guys in scrubs making their way out of it. Nurse Janet was stood by Emma's bedside with her file in hand, as she took her time checking each of the monitors over carefully.
"What's going on?" he asked, already worried about what could have happened to the woman he loved, in the small space of time that he'd been occupied for.
"Doctor Whale thought you could use that," she explained, nodding her head towards the wall that contained the only exterior window in the room. Instead of the small table that had been previously sat there, another hospital cot had been pushed tight against it, with fresh linen stacked on top.
"Thanks," he whispered, as he realised that the doctor had made the decision to allow him to remain as close to Emma as he possibly could. Killian assumed that it was an offer rarely made to the family of loved ones in the ICU, but he wasn't going to turn it down.
"No worries. Do you need anything at all before I take my break?" she enquired politely. "I can run down and grab you some snacks and drinks, if you'd like?"
"A drink would be good, thanks. Just a bottle of water will do." He reached into his back pocket to fish out his wallet, but Janet was already waving his offer away, as she set the file down at the end of Emma's bed, and headed for the door.
"I'll bring it up to you as soon as I can."
Killian was fast asleep in the small chair beside Emma's bed, clutching tightly to her left hand, when Janet made it back to the ICU. She stood a bag of snacks and drinks onto the cabinet closest to the sheriff's fiancé, before leaving as quietly as she could to let the man get some much needed rest.
He was already awake when Granny and Ruby arrived the next morning, however. Killian had found himself bolting awake in the middle of the night a number of times, scared and confused before he realized where he was, what he'd been dreaming about, and why.
Granny's face paled the way most people's did the first time they got a good look at Emma's condition, but the older woman held it together remarkably well. She took a moment just to compose herself, before she made her way over to Killian's side. She sat a steaming mug of coffee onto the table beside him, before she bent to wrap her arms around his shoulders for a gentle hug. When she was finished, Granny reached for Emma's hand and gave it a soft squeeze, before she took a seat of her own.
"Now that you guys are here, I uh… I'm just gonna go and grab something to eat," Killian reluctantly whispered.
He hated the thought of leaving Emma for any length of time, but he wanted to give her friends a moment alone with her. After vomiting on set the day before, he knew that he needed to eat something before he passed out.
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked. She might not have known Killian for long, but she knew him well enough to know how much it would hurt him to leave Emma's side.
"Yeah. I won't be gone for long." He pulled himself up and out of his chair, before bending down to press a lingering kiss to Emma's forehead, as he whispered, "I love you, Sweetheart."
Killian waited until he was out of the hospital completely, and had found a small spot just behind the building where he knew he was unlikely to be interrupted, before he pulled his phone from his pocket and hit dial on the number he used most.
"Mam?" he asked, as soon as the line connected.
"Killian? Is that you, Honey?"
"Yeah," he whispered. The tears were already beginning to form once more, and he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to hold them back.
He'd spent the night being woken randomly by disturbing dreams of what had happened to his girlfriend and their child, in the middle of that forest. After the third one had left him dry-heaving into the toilet until he'd managed to calm himself down, he'd understood that he needed to speak to someone about what had happened, before the nightmares drove him insane.
But now that his mother was on the line, Killian was beginning to realize just how hard it was going to be to get those words out. "Do you um… do you have some time to talk?"
"Of course. What's happened?" she asked. Concern was filling her tone at the pain she could hear colouring her son's voice, and Killian hated that he had no way of preparing her for what was about to come.
"It's uh… it's Emma," he finally squeezed out, as he screwed his eyes shut once more, in an attempt to prevent the tears from falling.
It didn't work.
He could already feel a steady stream of them rolling down over his cheeks.
"Did she breakup with you?"
"No," he chuckled bitterly. Because in that moment, Killian was certain that a breakup would be easier to deal with than what he was currently going through. At least if she'd ended things with him, he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not Emma would ever breath for herself again.
"She um… she's been hurt, Mam. Badly."
"How badly?" his mother asked, her tone immediately switching to mimic the one he was sure his own voice had carried, when he'd gotten that call from Ruby the day before.
"She was shot." Killian paused as he heard his mother suck in a harsh breath at his words. He knew that even though she and Emma hadn't met personally, what he was about to say next was going to hurt her. "Three times."
"Three?" she forced out. "Why? Why would anyone do that?"
"We don't know. I'm uh… I'm hoping David will have some answers for me today. But he's not here yet."
Killian let a loaded silence stretch across the line, as he brought his hand up to pinch his eyes shut. The more he tried to force the words out, the more they seemed to stick in his throat.
"She um… she's gonna need a lot of therapy when she gets out of hospital. There was damage to the muscles in her shoulder, so she might never regain full motion in her right arm again. One of the bullets broke a rib, and that ended up puncturing her lung, so she's on a ventilator right now. And another… another broke her pelvis. We're waiting for her to be deemed medically stable enough to transfer to Boston, so a specialist can fix the damage. If not, she might never walk properly again."
"Oh, Honey," his mother sobbed.
While she'd not had the pleasure of meeting Emma in person just yet, Sinéad Jones couldn't help but cry over the pain she imagined the poor girl must have been in, and the pain that she was sure would follow the moment Emma opened her eyes.
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"There's more," Killian whispered softly. "She was um… she was pregnant. Doctor Whale… he couldn't… he couldn't… he…"
"You lost the baby," she whispered softly, because she couldn't begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for her son to attempt to form those words, in that moment. "Oh, Killian… I'm so sorry, Sweetheart."
"I don't know what to do, Mam," he wept. "We didn't even know about the baby, and now it's already gone. I don't know when Emma's gonna wake up, or if she even will. Doctor Whale said that he'll make arrangements so that we can say a proper goodbye, but I don't know if Emma will want that. I don't even know when we can tell her about our little angel. Do cemeteries bury babies that young? Is there even a baby to bury? I don't… I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Help me, Mama."
Killian wasn't sure if his mother said anything immediately following his breakdown. All he could hear was his own grief-stricken sobs echoing down the line, as he allowed everything that he'd been bottling up to spill out.
When his tears eventually ran dry, and all that was left was his heavy breathing, Sinéad finally spoke up.
"I need to you to think positively," she told her son, her voice wavering a little from her own tears. "Emma's going to wake up. And you're gonna be right by her side when she does. Don't you doubt that, Killian. You have to have faith. As for your little angel, I can't tell you what to do there, Sweetheart. That's a decision that you and Emma need to make together. When she wakes up, if she's not ready to handle that, then you'll wait until she is. Because I can guarantee you that she'll need her chance to grieve properly, just as you will."
Even though she couldn't see him, Killian nodded his agreement to his mother's words, as he used his sleeve to dry his face.
"I'm not an expert in this area, but I know that some of the local authorities here have Angel Gardens for little ones that small, so if you wanted to bury your baby, then I'm sure you'll find somewhere that can help you with that. But Killian… can I make a suggestion?"
"Of course," he encouraged. Because at that moment in time, Killian needed all of the help and guidance he could get.
"Don't bury her. You move around a lot for work, Honey. When Emma wakes up, she's probably gonna wanna stay by your side. Don't bury your baby somewhere that will have no strong meaning or connection to either of you." Sinéad paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, before she added, "If it were me, I'd um… I'd look into cremation. You can either scatter the ashes somewhere that does have a special meaning to you both, or you can do something with them?"
"Do something?" he asked. His mind was racing with the words his mother had spoken. There was only one place that Killian could think of that held any special meaning to both himself and Emma, and it wasn't an ideal location to bury anyone, let alone a child.
"There are companies that will take a small portion of the ashes of a loved one, and turn them into something special. You could consider doing something similar for your little angel? That way, you'd have something to keep her close to you at all times. Talk it through with Emma when she wakes up, and see what she feels is right. But whatever you do, Killian… don't push her to make a decision until she's ready. I can't even begin to imagine how much pain she'll be in both physically and emotionally, when she wakes up. She'll need you now, more than she ever has before."
"I won't," Killian promised. "I don't wanna make this worse for her. I just… I wish she was here with me, Mam."
"I know, Baby. I know. And she will be soon, okay. You have to believe that."
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There was another heavy silence between the two of them while they each tried to process everything that had been said in the last hour, before Sinéad finally asked, "Can I do anything for you? Do you need me to come out there, because I'll board the next plane to Canada if I have to?"
"Boston, Ma," he reluctantly chuckled. "I'm in Maine."
"Of course you are. Have you um… have you spoken to work?" she asked carefully.
Sinéad knew that work was probably the last thing on Killian's mind in that moment. But she also knew that her son had signed a very specific contract for the role of Hook, and the last thing she wanted was for him to end up with even more to worry about, while he was trying to help the woman he loved bounce back from this horrendous attack.
"I um… I was on set when Ruby called to tell me what had happened. They know something serious has pulled me away."
"Make sure you call them and explain everything," she implored. "I know it's probably the last thing on your mind right now, but you have to let them know what's going on."
"I will," he assured his mother. "I promise."
Killian dropped his gaze down to the toes of his shoes, momentarily amazed that he'd managed to find a matching pair in his hurry to leave Vancouver, before he finally spoke again. "I need to get back inside to Emma."
"Of course you do. Call us as soon as you have an update."
"I will do," he promised once more. "I love you, Ma," Killian declared, before ending the call to struggle back to his feet.
He made a quick stop at the small café on the ground floor, before making his way back up to the ICU once more, pulling on a fresh pair of booties and a new gown as he did. Ruby was still sat by Emma's side, reading the daily paper aloud to her friend. But her grandmother was nowhere to be seen.
"She left to open the diner," Ruby explained, as she folded the paper and sat it down on the small cabinet beside Emma's bed. Killian noticed that she'd folded it so the front-page was facing inwards, and he assumed it was to spare him from the headline about his girlfriend's horrific attack.
"How's she been?" he asked, as he bent forward to brush his lips over Emma's forehead and closed eyes, before he took his rightful place beside her once more.
"No change. The nurse said that's a good thing, though. That we shouldn't expect to see any changes just yet, as her body's busy healing itself, and it needs time to do that. But I just… I hate seeing her so still, Killian."
"Me too," he whispered softly, as he picked Emma's hand up to hold tightly between his own. "She always has this fierce and passionate grip whenever we hold each other. Feeling her so passive and unresponsive… it's wrong, Ruby. It's all wrong."
His friend reached out to lay her hand reassuringly over his left bicep, offering Killian the only kind of comfort she had in that moment, as the two of them sat and watched the ventilator breathe for Emma.
David's entrance into the room broke their silent camaraderie, as they both looked up to face the newcomer.
"How is she?" he asked, moving towards the bed to get a good look at his friend. In the harsh light of day, the cuts and bruises that littered her skin looked worse, but she looked much better than when he'd first found her in the forest. Her skin no longer had that greyish tinge to it, which gave David some hope that his friend would eventually wake up.
"As well as can be expected," Killian replied, while he watched Emma's friend bend over to press his own kiss to her hair. "Did you sleep much?"
David chuckled bitterly as he straightened up, before making his way around the room to pull himself up onto the small cot that had been left for Killian. "Not really," he admitted honestly. "Every time I closed my eyes all I could see was her lying in that pool of blood. I'll sleep when she's awake."
Killian and Ruby both nodded their understanding. They knew what David meant, as they'd both had their own nightmares to battle through the night before, and they knew the dreams would keep coming, until Emma opened her eyes again.
"How are you going to find the person responsible for this?" Killian eventually demanded, his tone slightly harsher than he had intended it to be. But in his defence, with David sat in Emma's hospital room, he wasn't sure who was out in the forest collecting evidence to punish the person who had hurt the woman he loved.
"A unit from the Boston Police Department is here. I called them out yesterday. I'm far too close to this investigation to be a part of it. They've been combing the forest for evidence since the moment they arrived."
Killian relaxed a little further into his seat at David's words. It wasn't that he didn't trust the guy to catch the bastard who had hurt Emma. It was just that he knew how distracted David would be while Emma was still in an unstable condition. And he'd seen enough crime dramas to know that distracted cops never caught the bad guys.
They usually ended up getting hurt themselves.
"When can we speak with the person in charge of the investigation?" Ruby asked.
"I'll um… I'll give them a call a little later and ask them to stop by. At the moment they're busy, and I don't want to disturb them. I know this seems like a targeted attack, but I think most of the people in town will feel better knowing that there are people out there working to catch this son of a bitch."
"I um… I want to take Emma back to Vancouver with me when she's stable," Killian declared into the silence of the room. He knew that it would be a controversial topic of conversation, but given that someone had appeared to deliberately lure the woman he loved into the woods with the intention of killing her, he didn't want her spending a moment longer in Storybrooke than she needed to. And he certainly wasn't planning to spend another night away from her ever again.
"I expected as much." Ruby smiled sadly as she reached out to fuss a little with Emma's sheets. She'd miss her friend, but she didn't want her staying in a place where her life was at risk. "I don't blame you, though. She's not safe here."
"We don't know that," David protested. "It could have happened to me, if I'd been on duty that night."
Ruby and Killian were already shaking their heads in protest before he'd finished speaking. They knew that what had happened to Emma had been personal. Someone had deliberately set out to kill her, and they'd come damned close to achieving that goal.
She was no longer safe in the only place she'd ever called home, and that thought broke Killian's heart a little more. Storybrooke had been a home to Emma because it was the first place she hadn't felt the need to run from, in her lifetime. And now, not only had this bastard taken their child from her, along with the potential for any children in their future, he'd also taken her only home from her too.
Killian had never hated anyone as much as he hated the person who had put the woman he loved in that hospital bed. He only hoped that the Boston Police Department found out who was responsible for hurting Emma, before he did.
Killian had been dozing in the chair beside Emma's bed when her nurse knocked softly on the door, before pushing her way into the room with a large bunch of flowers in her arms.
"The Sheriff has a delivery," she declared, as she sat them down onto the table that had been pushed against the wall opposite Emma's bed.
"Do you know who they're from?" Killian asked, as he screwed his brow up in concern.
"There's a card with them, but I haven't opened it," she replied. "I just need to check on your fiancée's dressings while I'm in here. Is that something you'd rather leave the room for?"
"Uh… no. I um… I don't wanna leave her."
David had stayed for over an hour before he'd left to check in with the unit co-ordinator from Boston, stating that he would be switching out with Mary-Margret when he was done, so that she could come and visit her friend while he watched over their son. Ruby had reluctantly left a little later, when her tummy had made its desire for food known. She had mumbled something about getting lunch with Doctor Whale, but Killian assumed that she'd be back sooner rather than later.
Until then, he didn't want to leave Emma's side.
"This won't be pretty, but try not to panic, okay?" the nurse advised, as she bent to fetch some supplies from the cabinet by the door. When she had everything she needed, she sat them down on the side of Emma's bed, before she pulled on a pair of latex gloves.
She gently eased back the sheets that had been covering Emma's body, to reveal a hospital gown that had been tied back-to-front around her small frame. Killian realised why it had been placed on her that way the moment the nurse pulled on the small string, to peel back the side that was covering the wound near Emma's shoulder.
A large piece of gauze was covering the site, and he watched as it was gently peeled away to reveal more that had been packed into the open wound in Emma's flesh.
"We pack it just to prevent infection and the formation of abscesses," the nurse explained, at the look of curiosity on Killian's face. "It's looking good," she assured him. "But we like to keep a close eye on these types of wounds, just to make sure things stay that way. Doctor Whale will probably stitch this closed later this evening, when he's sure that the wound is fully clean. Given where Emma was found, he's taking extra precautions to be certain that an infection won't set in."
Killian nodded his head to show his understanding, as he watched her redress the wound once more, before she pulled Emma's gown closed around her shoulders. The nurse took a moment to push the sheets a little further down the bed, so that they rested just over the tops of Emma's thighs, before she pulled the gown open around her waist.
"Jesus Christ," Killian bit out, as he took in the bandages that covered her torso. The first one that was peeled away covered what he assumed was the place where Whale had repaired the damaged to Emma's broken rib, and punctured lung. The incision site was smaller than he had expected it to be, and had already been sewn shut.
The nurse checked the stitches over carefully, making sure that there was no increased swelling or redness around the area, as she looked for any sign of blood or puss, before she covered the site once more.
The last one was by far the largest of Emma's injuries, and Killian felt his breakfast churn in his stomach at the sight of it. While Doctor Whale had managed to keep his incision low, it spanned almost the entire width of Emma's body. While it had been sewn shut, the wound looked angry and painful; not at all like the one over her ribs. There was a little seepage around the area that the nurse quickly cleaned down, before she redressed the site once more.
When she was finished, Killian helped her to close Emma's gown before he pulled the sheets back up around his girlfriend's body, and bent to press a kiss to her forehead again.
"You're doing so well," he whispered into her hair, as he allowed himself to linger a little longer than usual. "I'm so, so proud of you, my love."
With one more kiss pressed to the corner of her mouth, Killian pulled back and turned to thank the nurse for her care.
But the room was empty once more.
Before he took his seat at Emma's bedside again, he detoured over to the bright display of flowers that had been left in the room. Killian hesitated for a moment when he found the card, before opening the flap on the envelope, to pull out the message that had been written inside.
What he saw on that small piece of paper warmed his heart more than he thought possible, given the current situation.
Emma,
Although we may not know you in person,
we know that you have a kind and gentle soul.
We are wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery,
and we hope to see you soon,
under much better circumstances.
All of our love, thoughts and prayers are with you,
Brennan and Sinéad Jones.
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Thanks for reading and reviewing.
The next chapter will post NEXT weekend.