It was the early hours of the morning before Janet returned once more to escort them back to Emma's room. Mary-Margret and David didn't stay long, before taking off to relieve Granny of babysitting duties. But they had both felt the need to wait until they'd seen Emma alive and breathing once more for themselves, before they left. Ruby stayed a little longer, just watching over her friend with soft eyes, before she finally took her leave when she couldn't stop yawning.
Which left Killian alone with the woman he loved once more.
"You scared the hell out of me tonight," he told Emma quietly, as he brushed his thumb softly over her knuckles. "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't do that again, Sweetheart. I'm gonna go prematurely grey soon." He chuckled a little bitterly before adding, "I love you, Emma. I know that right now, this is the best thing for you. But I uh… I really need you to start healing soon. I um… I'm scared Emma. I'm scared of losing you. I'm scared of what losing you will do to me. I just… I really need you to get better for me. Okay?"
He sat for a moment longer, just watching as the machines did their thing, while he reassured himself that even though she was deathly still, Emma was in there. And she was fighting her way back to him.
When Ruby and Granny arrived the next morning with breakfast, they found Killian curled up on the edge of his own small bed, fast asleep with the stuffed bear clutched tightly to his chest.
Neither of them knew the significance of that little toy, but they both knew that something else had happened that had caused him to purchase it. Something they didn't know about, and probably never would.
Instead of waking Emma's boyfriend, Granny sat a bag of food down on the side for him while Ruby scribbled out a quick note, before they headed down to the small café. They knew that Killian hadn't been sleeping well since he had arrived in town, and neither one of them wanted to deny him what little reprieve he could find, from the torment he was currently suffering.
So they ate a barely-edible breakfast together while they waited for him to wake, just talking about anything and everything unrelated to the friend they loved, who was currently fighting for her life. When Ruby's phone eventually pinged with a message from an unknown number, that simply read, thanks for the food. x,they headed back up to the ICU once more.
"Hey, how is she?" Ruby asked, as they pushed back into the room, each dressed in a new gown and pair of booties.
"No change," Killian explained. "They uh… they gave her another transfusion last night, though. Janet said they want her to be as strong as possibly for Monday afternoon. The procedure isn't a massively dangerous one, but any kind of surgery carries a risk."
The two women nodded their understanding as Ruby took a seat on top of the table once more, leaving Granny free to use the chair beside Emma's bed.
"How are you holding up?" she asked the actor quietly, as she pulled out the daily paper to flick through. Emma's shooting was once again headline news, but she'd removed those pages the moment the publication had been pushed through her mailbox.
Nobody needed that kind of inaccurate reminder of what was going on.
"I'm okay."
"Are you?" Those two small words seemed to carry so much weight in the silence of the room.
"I have to be," Killian explained. "Emma's gonna need me more than she ever has before, when she wakes up."
"That doesn't mean you can't be okay right now." The older women folded her paper and set it down on her lap, as she turned to face the young man sat beside her. The one who had barely slept since his arrival in town, and hadn't left the hospital grounds at all. "It's alright to admit that you're not okay right now, Killian. Lord knows I'm not. I've watched that girl grow up from a scared, skittish teenager into the beautiful woman she is now. And I'm scared out of my mind that I won't get to see her marry you, or have a family of her own. Every night I worry myself to sleep over thoughts of never seeing her truly settle down, for the very first time in her life. Admitting that doesn't make me weak. It makes me human. I know you don't know us well, so you're probably hiding a lot of what you feel right now. But I wanted you to know that we're all here for you, Killian. So… it's okay not to be alright."
"Thank you," he whispered softly. Because while he wasn't yet ready to fully open up about how he felt, he appreciated that even with everything happening to Emma right then, her friends still found the time and compassion to care about his own wellbeing.
Granny left to open the diner an hour or so later, and Killian offered to walk her out. He wanted to call his mother and let her know about what had happened with Emma, but he knew that there was another call he needed to place first.
After a quick hug with the older woman, he detoured around to the spot behind the building that would allow him some form of privacy, without having to leave the grounds. He hesitated for a moment over which number to dial first, before finally settling on the one that he'd already received three missed calls from.
"Killian? What the hell is going on?" Robin demanded, the moment he picked up. "There are rumors going around set that you're not coming back for a while."
"Hey, Mate." Killian slid down the wall to sit on the floor, as he searched for an easy way to break the news to his friend. But nothing was coming to him. "The uh… the rumors are right. I'm not coming back any time soon," he said instead.
"What the hell? Why not? You're locked into a contract, Killian. They could fire you for this."
"They won't," he reassured his friend. "Compassionate leave is permitted."
"Compassionate leave? What the hell happened?" Robin's entire tone seemed to shift at the words. He was likely already considering the worst possible situations that could require his friend invoking the emergency clause in his contract.
"You remember what Emma does for a living, right?"
"Of course. You weren't exactly shy about how sexy you found it," his friend teased, as Killian's gut sunk a little further.
Because there was absolutely nothing sexy about the situation he'd found himself in.
"She was shot," he whispered quietly into the line. "Three times. She's um… she's fighting for her life right now, and I'm not going anywhere until she's ready to come with me."
"Fuck me."
Robin said nothing else as he allowed Killian's words to sink in. Even while his mind had been busy conjuring up every worst-case scenario at the words 'compassionate leave,' he'd never in a million years have thought that a possibility.
"What um… how… how is she?" he eventually asked. Because he wasn't really sure what else to say in that moment.
"She uh… she's not good," Killian replied honestly. There wasn't really any other way to explain the situation. "The smallest injury was to her shoulder. But the bullet damaged the muscle there, so Whale isn't sure she'll ever be able to regain full use of that arm again."
"Fuck me," Robin muttered again, because as far as he was concerned, that wasn't a small injury.
"Another broke one of her ribs and punctured her lung. And the last one broke her pelvis and ripped through her uterus, before it settled close to her spine."
"Jesus Christ, Killian."
"She um… she's had surgery. Lots of surgery to try and fix the injuries, but a lot of it could leave lasting damage." Killian screwed his eyes shut tight against the tears that were forming once more, at the thought of just how lasting that damage could be for the woman he loved.
"Fuck. Is um…. Is there anything I can do?" Robin asked, his voice cracking a little with his own emotions. While he and Emma might not have gotten off to the best start back in Chicago, he knew that she didn't deserve what had happened to her.
Hell, nobody deserved that.
"Thanks, Mate. But right now, the only people who can help have medical degrees. We uh… there are specialists coming down from Boston on Monday to perform the first surgery she needs, to fix the damage to her pelvis."
"Do you um… do you need someone with you?" Robin worried.
He was trying hard not to imagine how he would have felt if it were Marian in that position, because just the thought of something happening to his wife was like a knife to his heart. But he knew that he'd want all of the support he could get, if he ever found himself in that situation.
"I'm okay," Killian assured his friend. "I have Ruby and the others here to keep me company. The guys will need you on set with me gone. I don't wanna make thing any more difficult for them."
"Nobody's gonna give a fuck about that, Killian. If you need someone to lean on, I can get the next flight out there."
"Thanks. But I promise, as of right now, I'm okay," he reassured Robin. "I spend most of my time with Emma anyway. But I'll call if that changes."
Killian knew that the chances of that happening were slim, but he also knew that his friend would feel better hearing his empty promise.
"Okay. Well… you can call me anytime you need to. No matter what time of the day it is. I'm always here for you, Mate."
"Thanks."
When he returned to Emma's room, Killian wasn't surprised to find Mary-Margret inside of it, talking with Ruby about the new word that Leo had spoken that morning.
"Will I ever get to meet the little lad?" he asked quietly, as he made his way over to Emma to press a kiss to her forehead, before he took his own seat once more.
"Of course," Mary-Margret said. "He already knows his Aunty Emma, so it's only fair that he should get a chance to meet his Uncle Killian too."
He chuckled slightly at the term 'Uncle Killian.' He'd certainly heard it plenty of times before in his life, what with his brother already having a family of his own. But it was one he hadn't considered hearing as a result of his relationship with Emma.
He'd seen a few pictures of her with Leo since they'd started dating, and there were even more on her Facebook profile. She clearly loved the little boy and the role she had in his life. But he wondered how she'd feel about becoming an aunt to his nephews, and how the boys would react to suddenly meeting a new member of their family.
The warm feeling that was beginning to spread through his chest at the realization of just how good she was with children, died instantly when he remembered Whale's words from earlier that week. It was obvious now that he thought about it just how much Emma loved children, and how much Leo seemed to love her. The idea of his nephews not liking her was absolutely preposterous. She would charm them instantly, of that he was certain. But when she woke, Emma would be faced with the news that it might never be possible for her to have a child of her own.
Killian knew for certain that it would be that piece of news, that would devastate her the most.
Logically, he understood that there were other avenues they could explore in their future. Surrogacy was an option, as was adoption. But right then, the idea that he might never get to see the woman he loved pregnant with their child, felt like a crushing blow to his heart.
"Are you okay?" Mary-Margret asked softly, as she reached over to rub his arm soothingly, pulling Killian out of his thoughts and back to the present.
"Yeah. Sorry. I just got lost in my mind," he explained, as he sank back into his seat.
Killian missed the look the two women shared as he turned his attention back to Emma.
The rest of his Saturday seemed to crawl by at a snail's pace.
When Mary-Margret left to meet her husband and son for lunch, Killian snuck out for a moment to grab himself something to eat, while he called his mother. He wanted to let her know how Emma was doing, and promised to call again the following day, regardless of the progress she made. When he returned, Ruby took off for her own lunchbreak with Doctor Whale, before returning a little over an hour later.
David arrived sometime in the early afternoon and stayed until the evening, before leaving to help put his son to bed and spend some time with his wife. Ruby finally left just before midnight, pressing a kiss to Emma's cheek, and then to Killian's, before promising she'd be back in the morning.
It was an easy routine for them to slip into, and one that absolutely everybody wished they'd never had to develop.
But throughout it all, Killian's presence by Emma's side never wavered. When he absolutely had to leave her, he did so for as little time as possible, eager to get back to her side just in case she woke earlier than expected. Because he knew that if their situations had been reversed, he would want her face to be the first thing he saw, when his eyes finally opened.
When Killian woke on Sunday morning, for one brief moment he forgot everything that was going on in his life. The dream he'd had of himself and Emma, on-board a private yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean, was still fresh in his mind. Along with the blissfully happy feeling it had brought with it.
But it was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor beside her bed that brought him crashing back down to earth, and back to the reality of their current situation.
"Hey, Sweetheart," he whispered, as he slid off the bed and padded over to the chair beside her own. "I had the best dream last night. You and I were alone together on a boat, in the middle of the ocean. It was just the two of us, enjoying each other's company. Mostly naked," he added, with a wry chuckle.
Killian picked up the hand closest to him to brush his lips over her knuckles. "As soon as you're up for it, I'm gonna make that dream a reality. I'll hire the biggest and best boat I can find, maybe even take some sailing lessons. Then we can spend some time at sea. I'm sure you could talk me into borrowing Hook's costume from work for it too."
He bent forward to brush his lips over her brow, before pushing himself up to stand once more. He needed to use the bathroom and at the very least brush his teeth, before the others arrived. A change of clothes would probably stop Ruby from nagging him about going back to the apartment to shower and sleep for a while too.
But when he made it back to Emma's room, it was to find a team once more disconnecting the wires and monitors around her bed.
"What's going on?" Killian demanded, his heart already beginning to pound in his torso.
"We're just taking her down for a chest x-ray," one of the nurses explained. "Doctor Whale wants to keep an eye on her lungs, after what happened. That way, we can remove her chest tube as soon as its possible, to avoid the risk of infection."
"Oh thank god," he mumbled, clutching the doorframe for support. His mind had gone straight to the worst case scenario, and the relief at not receiving bad news in that moment was overwhelming.
"Why don't you go and get some breakfast, Honey? She'll be back soon enough."
Killian didn't like the idea of leaving. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the x-ray, and he didn't want Emma returning to an empty room. But he could tell that the tone behind the nurse's idea was more of an order, than it was a suggestion. So he quickly bent to brush his lips to Emma's forehead, telling her, "I love you," before he watched the team wheel her out of the room once more.
After sending them a quick text message, Ruby and Granny joined Killian in the small café a few moments later. They both looked completely exhausted from the long hours they had been keeping, but they had a smile for their friend as they slipped into the free seats around the table.
Granny had smuggled some of her own pastries into the building, as she swore the ones served in the café were days old. And the three of them had shared a giggle over her ways, while they waited for Emma's x-ray to be completed.
The thought of that one small tube being removed from her body felt like a tiny victory, and Killian found himself hoping that the x-ray would show her lungs were clear enough for that to happen.
When the hour had finally passed, the three of them made their way up to the ICU together, slipping on new gowns and booties before they carried on down to the room that Emma had been recovering inside of.
Killian wasn't surprised to see her bed already back in its place, but he was a little shocked to find Whale sat beside it, in the chair that Ruby usually occupied.
"I know you don't like leaving her alone," he explained with a small shrug, as he stood to greet his girlfriend. After pressing a sweet kiss to Ruby's lips, he turned back to face the room. "I just wanted to let you guys know that while we're not quite ready to remove the chest tube yet, the x-rays are looking good. I'm really pleased with what we're seeing there."
"When do you think it will come out?" Ruby asked.
"By the end of the week," he replied. "I'm pretty confident about that."
The three friends exchanged small looks with each other, acknowledging just how big that moment would feel, as they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"The surgeons from Boston have arrived today. They're getting settled into their hotel room as we speak, and then I'll be offering them a small tour of the hospital so they know where everything is. Tomorrow morning, they'll come in and explain to you what it is that they're going to do, and how that will help Emma."
"Thank you."
Killian really appreciated that Whale was taking the time to explain everything to them. While it didn't stop him from worrying about the woman he loved completely, it did help to ease a few of his fears of the unknown.
"You're welcome. I have rounds to do, but I'll be back to check on her soon," Whale promised, before slipping out of the room.
"So, tell me about Vancouver," Ruby asked, when they were alone once more.
While most of their time in Emma's room had been spent in tense silence, when the worry wasn't so overwhelming, Ruby and Killian had spent their time trying to get to know each other a little better. They both knew how much the other meant to Emma, so the friendship they were fast forming was important to them.
"It um… it reminds me a little of home," Killian replied softly. "There are a couple of months of the year where it gets really warm and dry. But most of the time it's quite wet. They get a lot more snow than we used to back in Ireland, though. My nephews would love it there. They've never seen a white Christmas before."
"Maybe you should bring them out for the holidays one year?" Ruby suggested.
"Yeah. Maybe. I was um… I was thinking of looking for a new place when I went back," he mumbled quietly. "Emma's um… I'm not sure an apartment building would be the best place for her to recover in. I was thinking of finding a small house we could call home. That might make things a little easier on her."
Ruby leaned over to squeeze Killian's arm softly, as she explained, "Emma won't want you to go to any special trouble for her, Killian. But as her best friend, I love you a little more for wanting to."
"I'm sorry for taking her away from you," he whispered into his lap. "I know she loves this town, and the people in it. I just…"
"I get it," she stated emotionlessly. "Someone tried to kill her here. As much as I love her, I don't want her staying in this town if it means she could get hurt again. Or worse."
Those last two words had them both swallowing back tears once more as they realized just how close they had come to losing Emma.
"As long as you don't mind me coming and crashing on your sofa every few months, I'm fully in camp move-her-away-from-town-as-soon-as-possible."
"You know, I have frequent flyer miles and a spare room," Killian teased softly. "Vancouver's a big city too. If you ever wanted to move out of Storybrooke, you should consider it."
"A couple of months ago, I would have taken you up on that offer," Ruby chuckled. "But now… I can't leave Granny here alone, and Mary-Margret needs someone to drag her out of the house every now and then, or she'll become a hermit."
The two of them giggled a little at that statement. Killian might not have known the women for long, but he knew that Ruby was the more sociable one of their friendship group.
"And then there's Victor… But if any of that changes, you can bet your fine ass I'll be on the first flight out there."
"We'll come back often," Killian promised. "Emma doesn't want to lose you guys. We just… being apart was tough before this happened. I can't even leave the fucking hospital grounds right now, I'm not sure how I'd survive weeks without seeing her again."
"It's okay," Ruby soothed. "We get it. None of us are going to be angry about this, Killian. We all understand."
When David arrived a few hours later, it was with the news that Detective Roberts was once again waiting in the café, with a few updates on Emma's case. Ruby and Killian swallowed back their fear at what the investigation may have turned up, as they said a quick hello to Mary-Margret and then slipped from the room to follow her husband downstairs.
Detective Roberts looked just as severe as she had before, as she stood to shake each of their hands, before gesturing to the seats around the table.
"Thank you both for meeting with me again," she began. "I know this is a difficult time for you."
"Have you found anything?" Killian asked. He wasn't much in the mood for pleasantries. He just wanted some answers.
"As we expected, evidence at the scene is sparse, I'm afraid. There's nothing there we can use to tie to anyone to the shooting, at the moment."
Killian and Ruby's hearts sank a little, even though they had both been expecting Roberts's answer. Having the person responsible for hurting Emma behind bars would go a long way towards easing both of their fears.
"However, the scrapings that were taken from under the Sheriff's nails do contain DNA traces. We're running them through our system now, but so far, there haven't been any hits."
"What does that mean?" Ruby asked, sliding forward a little in her seat.
"It means a couple of things," Roberts explained patiently. "If the person who attacked Emma is already in the system, then we'll be able to match their DNA and make an arrest. If the individual isn't, it means that when we do have a suspect, we can get a warrant for their DNA to see if it matches the scrapings taken from under the Sheriff's nails."
"So… this is only helpful if the person is already a convict, or if you come up with a suspect?" Killian asked.
There were an awful lot of ifs in that sentence he'd just spoken, and he didn't like that one bit.
"Yes," Roberts sighed. "But this is a step forward. It might not seem like it now, but this is a good thing. DNA evidence is incredibly compelling for a jury at trial."
"Yeah. But you need a suspect first," he pointed out. "And as you've just said, there's nothing at the scene that is pointing you to anyone. So until you come up with a name, this is essentially useless, right?"
"Killian," David warned, because he could sense the tension growing in the man sat opposite him.
"I'm sorry, David, but this isn't reassuring at all," he explained, as his temper began to rise. "You're basically saying that you have no idea who did this to Emma, and that the evidence you do have all hinges upon that knowledge. How am I supposed to feel reassured after hearing that?"
"I know it's not positive right now. But this is something. This is a small victory for us."
"No. A small victory will be when that tube comes out of Emma's chest. Another will be when her broken pelvis is set so she can walk again. This isn't a victory. This is just another block in the fucking road. Someone tried to kill her," Killian snarled. "This wasn't an accident. This was a targeted attack on the woman I love. So don't you dare tell me this is a victory when the person who did this to her is still walking around this fucking town, without a care in the world, while I sit beside her bed praying to every god out there that her fucking heart doesn't stop beating again."
He pushed away from the table aggressively before storming out of the café once more, as he tried to hide the tears that were building behind his eyes.
David and Ruby were less successful.
When Killian woke on Monday morning it was with a nervous kind of energy buzzing around his body. He knew that the surgery Emma was to undergo that afternoon was crucial to her recovery. But he also knew that surgery was never risk-free, and he couldn't help but feel anxious about what the rest of the day would hold.
It seemed like Emma's friends had felt the same way, as they stopped by much earlier that morning to spend what precious little time they could with their friend, before they were pulled away by their own life commitments.
Ruby and Mary-Margret both stayed, wanting to meet the surgical team that would be performing the procedure on their friend. But instead of the usual light chatter that filled Emma's room, a tense silence took its place.
When Whale finally knocked softly on the door, before entering with two men behind him that none of them recognized, the tension inside the room seemed to amplify.
"Morning," he offered softly. "I wanted to introduce you to Doctors Griffin and Smith."
The two men gave the three friends a soft smile, as one of them reached for the chart at the end of Emma's bed to flick through it, while the other stepped forward ever so slightly.
"I'm Doctor Smith," he explained, "And I'm going to be performing Emma's surgery today. I wanted to take a moment to explain the procedure to you guys before we went ahead with it, because I know that the unknown can be scary for friends and family."
Killian already liked the guy for that small sentiment. He might not have known anything about medicine, but he wanted to know anything and everything that was happening to Emma, and how she could be helped.
Smith's colleague reached forward to hand him a large file, and the other doctor paused for a moment to flick through it, before he pulled out what looked to be an x-ray film.
"This is Emma's pelvis," he explained, as he held the image up to the light. "As you can see, there's a break at the front of the pelvic ring which was caused by the bullet, and then another on her left ilium. This was more likely caused by the fall she took after the bullet hit her. We call this kind of injury an unstable break, because of the displacement with the bone." He stopped for a moment to point out the ends of the bone fragments on the image. "As you can see, they don't line up," Smith explained. "Which means we can't rely upon a non-surgical method for repair."
The three friends in the room nodded their understanding. What Smith had said so far made sense to them, even with their limited medical knowledge.
"Now, what we're going to do today is called an external fixation. And it looks just as scary as it sounds, but I promise it's not."
Killian swallowed heavily as his mind immediately began racing with ideas of just how scary that procedure could be.
"We're going to make small incisions in the skin and muscle around Emma's pelvis, to insert some screws into the bone. Those screws will protrude from Emma's skin, I'm afraid."
"Oh God," Mary-Margret gasped, because none of them had expected that.
"I know," Smith rushed to reassure her. "It sounds horrifying, I know that. But I promise it's not. What we do is we attach carbon fiber bars to those screws, to hold the bone in place. And we put those on the outside of the body, because there simply isn't enough room inside for that to happen. Now, those bars will act like a frame to keep everything in place and stable, until we can perform the next procedure."
"And uh… what happens then?" Killian asked. His mind was already a jumble of information, but while he had the specialists in the room, he wanted to get as much out of them as possible.
"When the bones have begun to heal, we can assess the situation further. There might not be a need for any further procedures. However, it's likely that we may have to insert some more screws just to keep the bone in place. Think of this as a temporary fix, just to minimize the damage that's already been done, and to prevent the risk of more internal bleeding."
"Okay."
Smith leaned forward to squeeze Killian's shoulder firmly, as he passed the x-ray image back to Griffin. "I promise, as scary as this sounds, this is what's best for Emma."
"I believe that."
Killian knew that Whale was making sure she was getting the best possible treatment. So he knew that the team would only be acting with her recovery in mind.
"I um… I won't be involved in the procedure," Whale added. "But I will be in the operating theatre the entire time. I promise you Killian, we're gonna do everything in our power to make sure she's back in this room with you by the end of the day."
Smith nodded his head in agreement and the room fell silent for a moment, before he spoke up again. "I um… I will have to enforce stricter rules here when she's out of surgery, though. I'm sorry, but the chance of infection increases with external fixation, so you won't be able to spend the night here until we remove those screws."
Killian scrubbed a harsh hand over his face. He wasn't sure he'd be able to force himself to leave Emma's room at the end of the day. Especially with her having just been through major surgery. And he knew that he absolutely couldn't return to her bed without her.
"You can stay with us," Mary-Margret offered, having guessed where his thoughts had gone. "We have a spare room."
"Thank you," he told her. "But you have Leo. I don't wanna get in the way."
"It's fine," she chuckled, as she reached up to dry her eyes. "He'll love having his Uncle Killian in the house. I'm sure of it."
The two women reached out for each of his hands, squeezing them softly in solidarity as Killian thanked every god he knew of for their kindness.
"Okay," Smith declared eventually, drawing all eyes in the room back to him. "We're going to make a start on the preparations for this afternoon. The nursing team will move Emma back down to the OR at around two pm. That should give you all time to say a temporary goodbye. And I'll be back as soon as the procedure is over, to let you know how it went."
"Thank you," Ruby offered. "We appreciate how open and honest you've been with us today."
"We've all been on the other side. It's only fair."
Smith and Griffin left without another word, and Whale followed close behind them.
Ruby and Mary-Margret placed a couple of quick calls to let the others know what was happening, and before Killian knew it, Emma's room was once again filled with the people who loved her most.
David wished his friend and sheriff good luck, before bending to press a kiss to her forehead. When he left her room that afternoon it was with Killian's bags in his hands, and a promise that he would take them back to the house, before returning to join the others as they waited together through Emma's procedure.
Granny was the next to say her own piece, whispering something about how she would make sure that Emma had a grilled cheese and onion rings the moment she woke up, before she too pressed her own kiss to the young girl's forehead, and slipped quietly from the room.
Killian waited until everyone else had whispered their own versions of good luck to Emma, before he stepped forward to do the same. He was so focused on the woman he loved that he didn't notice that they had all left the room, to offer him some privacy to say his own piece.
"I'm not gonna tell you good luck," he began softly, "because I don't want to think about the consequences of the alternative. I um… instead, I'm just gonna let you know that I'll be downstairs in the waiting room. I'm not going anywhere, Emma. I'll be right here for you, and as soon as the doctors says I can come back up, I'll be by your side once more. I love you, Emma Swan. So stay strong for me, okay? You've got this. I know you have. And I'll um… I'll see you again in a few hours."
He bent to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth just as the door opened once more. When Killian pulled back to wipe his eyes dry with the back of his arm, one of the nurse smiled sadly in his direction.
"She's in great hands," she promised, as a few other members of staff followed her into the room, to begin the process of moving Emma back down to the operating theatre. "Doctor Whale won't leave her side."
"Thank you."
The thought of a familiar face being in that room with Emma reassured Killian more than he thought it would. He might not have known much about Whale, but he knew that he trusted the guy to do whatever it took to save Emma's life.
He'd have to buy him a beer… or a house… when Emma was awake once more, just to show Victor how much he appreciated everything that the guy was doing for them.
"I love you," he whispered to Emma once last time, before letting go of her hand to watch as the staff wheeled her from the room, and down the empty corridor.
"Come on," Ruby offered, as she wrapped her arm through his to squeeze it firmly. "Let's go downstairs and get comfortable. We'll just be in the way up here."
Killian didn't say anything else. Instead, he allowed Emma's friend to guide him out of the ICU, and down towards the small waiting room that he'd spent so many agonizing hours inside of, that very first night.
Only this time, when Ruby pushed opened the door to let them in, there was already a familiar face sat inside of it.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.