Sorry for the delay with this one. If you don't follow me on Tumblr, you probably won't know that I had some work issues, and then my husband had a small accident which delayed my progress.
When Killian opened his eyes the next morning it was still dark outside the windows of Storybrooke General. For a moment, he wasn't really sure what had woken him. That feeling of dread that he'd been startling awake with, while Emma had been unconscious, was suspiciously absent. And he was certain his dreams had been more pleasant than they had been for the last three weeks combined. His face creased a little with his confusion.
Until he felt it.
Soft fingers were running through his hair, so lightly that it barely felt like they were moving at all.
"Hey, Beautiful," he murmured, keeping his eyes closed for just a moment longer, to savor the feel of her touch. There had been a time, not too long ago, where he had worried that he'd never get to feel it again.
"Hi," she whispered back, her throat rough from its lack of use.
Killian looked around himself quickly before grabbing for the cup of water he'd stood to one side, a few hours earlier. He reached out to run the backs of his fingers down the side of Emma's face, before standing up to empty out the water that had grown lukewarm since it was last needed. Emma's eyes tracked his movement around the room as he brought the cup back over to where Janet had left the fresh jug of water, before she turned to face forward as he perched himself on the edge of her bed once more.
"Okay, Sweetheart," he whispered, slipping his free hand behind her head to help her sit forward a little. When she was as comfortable as she could get, Emma leaned in to suck the straw between her lips. "Small sips for me," he encouraged gently, as her eyes fluttered shut with her relief.
When she pulled back he gently eased her down to the bed once more, as he slid the cup onto the side of the table. Killian's hand found hers with practiced ease, lifting it to his lips to brush a kiss over the back of her knuckles.
"You should have woken me," he chided gently.
Emma's wiggled her fingers free to reach out and trace the dark circles under his eyes. It was her own silent way of telling him that she knew just how exhausted he was, and that she had wanted to let him rest.
Killian pressed a sweet kiss to the pads of her fingers, before he lowered their hands to tangle together on the bed between them.
"You can always wake me, Emma. I've missed you."
"How… how long?" she eventually asked, her voice trembling a little with her concerns.
He hesitated for a brief moment, wondering just how much he should be telling her so soon. But in the end, it was the worry behind Emma's eyes that had Killian answering her question truthfully.
"Three weeks. Give or take a few days. I'm uh… I'm not actually sure what day we're on," he chuckled bitterly. Keeping track of the date had been one of the lowest priorities for him, while Emma had been recovering.
"Three?" she croaked out, her eyes screwing shut against the implications of that number.
"You had us all really worried, Emma."
It was the biggest understatement of the century, but it was the only way he could put into words how the last three weeks of his life had been, without scaring her silly. When she was ready, and the time was right, he'd explain everything he'd been through during that time.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. The words were spoken so quietly that he almost missed them, over the sound of the thoughts rushing through his own mind.
"Don't you dare apologize for this, Emma. You didn't do anything wrong. You fought. You fought so fucking hard to come back to us. And that's the only damned thing that matters right now."
Her head turned back around so that her eyes would meet his, and the tears that were building there broke his heart. Killian knew that she must be scared and confused about what had happened to her. And he couldn't begin to imagine what kind of pain she was dealing with right then.
"Don't cry, Sweetheart." He reached up to brush away her tears, before sliding his hand around to weave his fingers into the back of her hair. Killian couldn't help but notice how badly tangled it was. When she was moving a little more freely, he'd ask Ruby to bring a hairbrush to the hospital, so that he could fix it for her.
"I wish I could hold you right now," he told her.
Emma turned her face into her boyfriend's hand, seeking as much comfort from him as her battered body would allow. It didn't take her long to fall asleep again, the exhaustion pulling her back under as her body worked to fix itself. But it took Killian much longer to shut off the thoughts running through his mind, and close his own eyes once more.
When Ruby arrived at the hospital the next morning with her grandmother and Sinéad just behind her, she wasn't surprised to find David and Mary-Margaret already sat in the small café, sipping coffee as they talked quietly amongst themselves. Victor's call the night before had seemed like part of a dream, when she'd first taken it. She hadn't been able to stop herself from checking the handset every few hours, just to confirm that he'd actually called her, as she tried unsuccessfully to drift back to sleep.
Victor had asked to meet them all before they headed up to see their friend that morning, and the café had been chosen for ease. So while her grandmother made her way over to the counter, to order some coffee, she and Sinéad took their seats to wait for the doctor's arrival.
"What do you think he wants to tell us?" David asked, as his leg bounced a little restlessly against the floor.
While hearing that Emma was awake and talking had helped to reassure everyone a little, they all knew that seeing her in a state of consciousness would relieve the panic and concern that they had all been carrying for so long.
"It's probably just the usual warning that she might not be awake while we're in there, and not to worry," Ruby replied. It was the same thing her boyfriend had told her the night before, when he'd made the call. Apparently, coming out of sedation was like swimming against the current during a storm. The medication would continue to pull her down and under those waves of drowsiness, as her body fought to repair the damage it had suffered. Emma would have to fight hard to push herself back up to the surface, whenever consciousness was in her grasp.
Ruby pulled out her phone to send a quick message to her boyfriend, to let him know that they were all in the café, and then accepted the paper cup of crappy coffee that was being offered her way. "We really need to talk Killian into replacing the coffee machine here," she chuckled, as she took her first sip.
Sinéad snorted out a laugh next to her. "I'm sure it's already on his list of things to do for this hospital when Emma leaves it. He's just been a little too distracted to care about the quality of the coffee."
"I think we all have," Granny assured her new friend. "But if he wants to send one my way too, I wouldn't complain."
A short bark of laughter passed around the table, but the mood was shattered when Whale's familiar white coat came into view, quickly followed by the man himself. He shot a brief glance around the space before taking a deep breath in, as he headed over to their group. After dropping a quick kiss to his girlfriend's lips, he grabbed a free chair from a nearby table, and sat it between Mary-Margaret and Granny before taking his seat.
"What's going on?" David asked, as he took in the guy's form. Whale had lost that air of cockiness that he'd always seemed to have in the hospital, over the last few weeks. When combined with everything the guy had done to help Emma out during her time there, the deputy had discovered a whole new level of respect for him. "Is Emma…?"
"She's okay," Whale rushed to assure them all. "She's actually doing really well. Jones said she woke again a couple of times in the middle of the night. They were only brief moments, but it's a very good sign. She's doing much better than we could have anticipated."
"So why do you look like someone just kicked your puppy?" David pressed, even as his wife threw out an arm to slap some sense into him.
"Because it means that her awareness is returning faster than I had expected. So I'm going to need to explain what happened to her sooner than I thought I would. It's why I asked you all to meet me here first."
"What does that mean?" Ruby worried.
"I had planned to give you today with her," Whale explained. "A day where you could just enjoy seeing her awake again, and have some small conversations with your friend. But I don't think I can do that now. As her awareness grows, she's going to start taking notice of the damage to her body. And she's going to want answers."
The doctor paused for a moment as he tried hard not to think about the conversation that lay ahead of him. While he and Emma had never been overly close, explaining to someone that they may never have children, was not a conversation anyone ever wanted to have. And it certainly wasn't one he wanted to have with his girlfriend's best friend.
"I want to give her some explanations before her mind can begin to come up with the worst-case scenarios for what's happened. And I don't think she'll be in the mood for visitors again when she hears everything that I need to say to her."
Mary-Margaret reached over to give the doctor's arm a gentle squeeze of support. She knew what he wasn't saying; what he'd have to tell Emma, when she was more alert. And her heart ached for him. Whale had become a doctor because he'd wanted to help people. Seeing them suffer with the news that he sometimes had to deliver must have cut him deeply each and every time. And she had no idea how he'd managed to do it for as long as he had.
"It's okay," she assured him. "We understand. Thank you, for giving us some time with Emma first. Even if it is only a handful of minutes."
Whale nodded his thanks to Mary-Margaret for her understanding, but instead of immediately leaving, he took a moment just to enjoy the noise of the small café. It wasn't loud, by any means. But it certainly held more of a buzz than the ward Emma was currently resting on. And it had a far better atmosphere than the ICU did. All too soon his need to help drove him back to his feet, and after brushing another quick kiss to his girlfriend's lips, Whale left with a promise that they could head up to see Emma when they were ready, and that he would be around all morning if they needed him.
The small group of friends didn't immediately rush up to Emma's room, though. Everyone seemed to know that the others needed a moment to prepare themselves before seeing their friend again. To control that swell of emotion that had come in the early hours of the morning, when they'd finally gotten that call. Emma had been through a lot, and she was still going through more than any of them could ever imagine. The last thing she needed was to see her friends for the first time in weeks, and have them all sobbing over her bed.
David was the first to rise, when he'd finished his drink. He took a moment to clear away the trash that had accumulated on the table between them all, as Ruby drained the last of her own coffee and stood from her seat. The others slowly followed suit, taking their time to finish mentally preparing themselves, before they headed out of the small café, and through the familiar halls that would lead to Emma's room.
Mary-Margaret was just about to push through the door when Sinéad hesitated a little, looking back to the entrance of the ward as though she wasn't quite sure she belonged where she was.
"Emma would want to see you," the other woman told Killian's mother, as everyone else turned back to face her.
"I'm not so sure that's true," Sinéad chuckled bitterly. "And I don't want to overstep. Or get in anyone's way. I can wait in the café for you guys, though?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Ruby chided. "She'll be thrilled to know that you came all of this way to support Killian. She's probably gonna be more worried about him, than she will be about herself. So trust me, she won't mind having you in that room with us all."
Sinéad offered the young woman a small smile of thanks, and nodded her agreement. She would leave if her presence made Emma uncomfortable. That was the last thing she wanted to do, while her son's girlfriend was coming out of her coma. But she couldn't deny that she was looking forward to finally being able to officially meet the woman. Because Sinéad had a feeling that Emma Swan would be playing a rather large part in the rest of her life.
When Mary-Margaret and David finally pushed their way through the door to Emma's room, they were both a little disappointed to find it silent. Killian was sat in his usual place by Emma's bed, reading the paper. But as they made their way further inside, a soft smile started to work its way over Mary-Margaret's face.
Emma might have been sleeping that morning, but the signs that she'd been conscious at some point in the evening were glaringly obvious. She had her head and upper body twisted ever-so-slightly, so that she was facing the chair her fiancé was sat in. Her body looked more natural than it had done under sedation. While she was relatively still while she slept, there was something about the way her eyes flickered beneath her lids, that made her seem more human than she had while she'd been in her coma. And her hand was resting possessively over Killian's wrist, gripping it lightly as though she needed that connection to him, just as much as he needed it from her.
"Good morning," Mary-Margaret whispered, as she made her way over to Emma's side to press a kiss to her friend's forehead. "How is she doing?"
"Good. I think," Killian chuckled. "She's uh... her throat's tender from the ventilator, so she's struggling to speak for long periods of time. But she woke a couple of times in the night for a few minutes, and she remembers me. So I'm taking that as a good sign."
"That's definitely a good sign," she agreed, before dropping her voice again to a whisper. "Whale said that she didn't know about her injuries yet."
"She knows about her shoulder. She tried moving her arm last night and got a painful answer as to what had happened there. And she knows that she's been out of things for a while. I don't think she's as clueless as any of us hope she is," he whispered back sadly, folding the paper to drop it down to the floor, as he leaned in to brush a kiss over his girlfriend's forehead.
When he looked up again the room was full of the people who loved Emma the most, each taking in the changes in her body, and smiling a little easier as they did. But as they took their own seats in the small space, an awkward silence seemed to descend over them all.
"You can talk," Killian chuckled, as he settled himself back into the chair more comfortably, and picked up Emma's hand to hold between his own. "From what I understand, when she's sleeping she's pretty much out of things. She'll wake again when she's ready."
David nodded his understanding, before he launched into a story about the mess that Leo had made that morning, with his cereal. It seemed to help everyone else relax a little more, as they all adjusted their expectations for the morning. But Killian didn't miss the way their eyes continued to dart back over to Emma's face every few minutes, in the hopes of seeing their friend awake once more.
Sinéad was part-way through what Killian considered to be one of her most embarrassing stories about his childhood, when the pressure on his fingers increased ever-so-slightly.
"Emma?" he asked, turning away from the people he'd spent the morning getting to know even better. He dropped his head down onto the bed beside his girlfriend, and brought his free hand up to run softly through her hair. "Can you hear me, Sweetheart?"
The pressure on his fingers increased once more, and he wanted to laugh with the relief it brought to his system.
"It's okay, Love. Take your time," he assured her. "I'm here."
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, patiently waiting for her eyes to open once more. His neck was protesting the painful angle he'd forced himself to rest at, but he didn't complain. Killian would never again complain about any slight ache or pain in his life, knowing what Emma had been through.
The moment her eyelashes gently fluttered open he heard someone gasp from somewhere just behind him. But he couldn't pull his eyes away from the beautiful green ones trying hard to focus on his face, to see who was responsible for it.
"I bet… you were… a cute kid," she told him, and he released that bark of laughter that he'd been holding in.
"I'm sure you were too," he assured her, as he leaned in to brush a soft kiss over her lips. Killian spent a moment just enjoying watching her watch him, before he turned his head slightly to ask, "Ruby, there's a cup just behind me on the table. Can you empty it out and put some fresh water into it for me?"
"Of course," she told him, before hurrying to do as he'd asked.
"Who?" Emma whispered, her voice sounding painfully raw.
"I think it would probably be easier to tell you who wasn't here," he chuckled.
When he sensed Ruby's presence beside him, he pulled himself out of the chair to take his usual place on the edge of the bed, that he'd found the night before. As the brunette slipped the cup into his hand, Emma's head rolled slowly around to face the ceiling above her. Killian leaned in to brush a series of soft kisses down her nose and over her lips, before slipping his free hand back behind her head to help pull her forward.
"Slowly," he warned again, as he raised the straw towards her mouth, to let her take what she needed. When Emma finally pulled back, Ruby took the plastic cup from his hands to stand on the side once more, as he gently eased his girlfriend back down to the bed. "How are you feeling, Sweetheart?"
"Sore," she admitted honestly, and he cringed a little at the word. "My hips…"
"You uh… you did a lot of damage to your pelvis," he explained vaguely. "Whale will be here soon. He knows more of the technical stuff than I do. So try not to worry until then. Do you need me to call a nurse so that we can get you some more meds?"
She shook her head slowly as her hand lifted to trace the dark circles under his eyes.
"I love you," Killian whispered, turning his head to press his lips against her hand.
"I love you too."
There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them, before Killian finally remembered that there were others in the room, and turned as best as he could to bring them into the conversation.
"There are uh… there are quite a few people here happy to see you again, Beautiful," he told her, as he covered her hand with his own and brought it down to rest in his lap. He made as if to move from his position on the bed, to give Emma more space to look around herself. But she stopped him by squeezing his fingers as tightly as she could.
She needed his reassuring presence as close as she could get it right then. Because something was becoming painfully apparent to her, and she wasn't sure how to voice her concerns. So Emma tried to push the intrusive thoughts aside, as she turned her head a little to face the group of people stood beside her bed.
"Hey," she whispered quietly, and Mary-Margaret burst into tears.
"Hey, Ems." Ruby's own smile was a little watery, but she managed to keep her emotions in check, as she sank down into the seat that Killian had vacated. "You look like shit."
Emma laughed at her friend's words even though the movement pulled painfully on both her lower tummy, and her shoulder.
"Sorry. I uh… I'm just so happy to see you again," Ruby told her, as she reached out to gently squeeze the hand resting over Emma's chest, in a sling. "We were worried about you."
"I'm sorry. I don't…" Emma screwed her eyes shut as she tried hard to recall images from before. The memories of the past few months were crystal clear. Everything from her very first encounter with Killian Jones, in an elevator in Boston, up to the memories of saying goodbye to him in Chicago. But things became hazier with the more she pushed to recall what had happened, in the days that followed that weekend. "I can't…"
"It's okay," Killian rushed to assure her, as he reached out to smooth a hand over the lines creasing her face. "Don't try and push it, Love. They'll come back to you when you're ready."
"Killian's right," her friend added. "Don't make yourself worse trying to push it. If they come back to you then that's great. If they don't, then they don't."
Emma nodded her understanding and closed her eyes for a moment, but Killian could tell from the tight set of her jaw that she hated having so much missing time in her memories. It was a hole he knew she'd prod at, until she either became too frustrated to keep going, or until some of it began to fill with flashes of those days.
He hoped like hell that it would be the former option.
When Emma opened her eyes again, she turned back around to face the people who had gathered to see her. "Shouldn't you all be working?" she chuckled, before her eyes snapped back to her boyfriend's face. "Wait. Shouldn't…"
"No," he cut her off fiercely. "I'm right where I should be, Emma."
"But you…"
"It's fine," he stated firmly. "They have it covered. The writers will find a way to make it work without me for now. They're creative people. I'm not going anywhere until you're well enough to come with me."
Her eyes began to shine with the tears that were building at his words, as she raised her hand to trace the outline of his lips softly with her fingers. Killian pressed a gentle kiss to them before he leaned down to brush another over her lips and cheeks.
"I don't deserve you," she whispered into his ear, as her hand came up to run through the back of his hair.
"Yes, you do." He pressed another kiss to her lips and then pulled back to give the others their chance to speak with Emma, before she lost her battle with exhaustion once more.
Whale had spoken to him that morning, when he'd been in to check her readings. Killian knew that the plan was to tell Emma about what had happened to her sooner, rather than later. And he knew that it was going to be a difficult moment for everyone involved. Emma would likely attempt to push the people closest to her away, while she tried to process everything. So the last thing he wanted to do was steal too much of the time she would get with her friends, before the news was delivered.
But when her eyes moved over the others in the room, they caught on the one person he'd almost forgotten was there, given that she was hovering a little further back.
"I'm sorry, do we…?" Emma trailed of as she turned her attention back to the man sat beside her, and Killian could see the worry behind her eyes. The fear that she'd met this strange person before, but now couldn't remember that encounter, thanks to what had happened.
"No, Sweetheart," he assured her, as he urged his mother to move a little closer to the bed. "This is my mam, Sinéad Jones. She uh… she came out to make sure that you were doing okay."
"You did?" Emma turned her attention back to the only stranger in the room. Now that she'd moved a little closer to the bed, she could tell who Sinéad Jones was. The woman's eyes were the same shape and color as the ones that shone back at her every time she looked at the man she loved, and the two of them had the same colored hair.
"It's nice to meet you, Emma. I only wish it had been under better circumstances," Sinéad offered. "My son speaks very highly of you. So of course I came out to make sure that the woman who had stolen his heart was doing okay, after he told me what had happened to you."
Emma's eyes flicked between Killian's and his mother's a few times, before they eventually settled on the other woman. "Thank you," she told her. "For taking care of him." Because even without being told what had happened, Emma knew that someone needed to be taking care of her man, while he was busy taking care of her.
"Of course. How are you feeling?" the older woman asked, dropping down to a crouch beside the bed. "Is there anything we can get for you, Sweetheart? Any home comforts that you'd like whilst you're stuck here, or any food and drink for when you're given the all clear?"
Killian felt a little bad for not making the offer himself. But this was what his mother did best, and it was what he was hoping she'd be able to do for Emma, while she was in the country. His girlfriend might have grown up without a mother in her life, but if there was ever a time where she needed one, it was now, more than ever before. And Sinéad Jones was definitely the best person he knew to fill that role.
"I uh… I don't know," Emma replied lamely, screwing her eyes closed once more with her frustration. She hated how scattered her thoughts were.
"It's okay," Killian's mother assured her, as she reached out to rest her hand gently on Emma's forearm. "If you think of anything that would help, just let us know. We want this to be as easy and comfortable for you as it can be. So I don't think any of us would object to running around town a little, to make that happen for you. Well, Killian might. But he's good at delegating."
"Thank you." The small words were whispered so softly into the room, but everyone there could feel the weight behind them. Emma didn't often accept help, and rarely from people she didn't know. But it seemed like she was ready to make some exceptions to those rules of hers. "Just… keep taking care of him for me?" she asked, as she flicked her eyes back over to her boyfriend's hunched form. "He looks exhausted."
"Hey, he's sitting right here," Killian protested, with humor dancing behind his eyes.
"Hush, Honey. This isn't about you," his mother interjected, before she turned her attention back to Emma. "Of course I will. But you need to promise to let the rest of us take care of you too. Killian tells me you're a little stubborn and strong willed at times. Much like he is."
"Mam!" he protested. Because his girlfriend had only known her for a handful of minutes, and his mother was already embarrassing him.
Sinéad just waved away his complaints, as she pushed herself back to her feet and leaned over to brush a kiss to Emma's temple. "I'm gonna go and do a coffee run for everyone, and give you some time alone with your friends. Are you sure I can't bring you anything back?"
"Coffee sounds good right now," Emma chuckled bitterly. She didn't even need to call for Whale to know that he wouldn't let her have any.
"When you're feeling better, we'll steal Killian's credit card and buy the café here a new coffee machine," Sinéad promised, as she gave Emma's arm one final squeeze. "I'll be back soon. I just need to call my eldest son to see if my husband has destroyed our house, while I've been gone. Killian knows how to reach me if you can think of anything you need while I'm out."
"Thank you, Mrs Jones."
The other woman turned back with her hand on the door knob, and Killian caught the glimmer of tears forming in the corner of her eyes as she did. "It's Sinéad," his mother told Emma. "You can call me Sinéad."
She left without another word, needing a moment just to compose herself, away from the scrutiny of the others in the room.
While Killian's mother was gone, Emma's friends made small talk with her in an attempt to keep her awake and engaged. Nobody wanted to bring up anything too heavy, in case it triggered a reaction in their friend that would hinder her recovery. But when her eyes began to droop and her speech started to slur from her exhaustion, they knew it was time to say their reluctant goodbyes for the day.
"You'll be back?" she asked, as David leaned in to press a kiss to his friend's cheek.
He'd remained oddly silent throughout the morning, but after what he'd seen when he found Emma that fateful day in the woods, he'd been more than happy to just sit back and watch as his friend spoke with the people around her. Because if he was being completely honest with himself, when his flashlight beam had first fallen over her body, laying so battered and broken on the forest floor, David hadn't thought that she'd ever be speaking to anyone else again.
"We'll be back, Ems. We'll be here as soon as visiting hours start," he promised, before moving back to let his wife take his place.
"Okay," Emma sighed, as she let her eyes fall closed and turned her head slightly.
The others said their goodbyes as quickly as they could, but by the time the door finally closed behind them, Emma had already been dragged back under.
Killian took advantage of those precious few hours where Emma slept. He knew they would probably be the last before her world was turned upside down once more, and he wanted to savor the calm that came with them.
He watched as her face creased with her concern, and then relaxed with her relief, while she dreamed. He took a moment just to appreciate how beautiful her lashes looked, as they rested against her cheekbones with her eyes closed. Her entire upper body had seemed to twist in his direction, searching for her partner as best she could. And her fingers twitched in his hand, a sure sign that she was coming out from under the medication faster than anyone had expected.
When his legs became a little restless he forced himself up and out of his seat, to tidy the small hospital room once more. He placed dirty disposable cups into the trash can, and tucked away chairs that had been moved around to better suit the size of their group.
As he made his way around the room, Killian hummed a few of the tunes that had been stuck in his mind, more out of habit than anything else. So when he stopped to flick through a magazine that Ruby had left behind, he was surprised to hear a small voice ask, "Keep going?"
"I thought you were sleeping," he chuckled.
"I was." She didn't say anything else, but she didn't really need to. Killian could see the haunted look behind her eyes, which shattered his illusions that she'd been having pleasant dreams.
"What did you see?" he asked, as he dropped the magazine onto the neat pile he'd made, in favor of heading back to Emma's side. As soon as he was in his seat he reached for her hand, linking their fingers together as he brought it up to his lips.
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I just… I felt it." Her eyes slid closed for a moment and Killian briefly wondered if she was falling back to sleep. But when she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I felt… Scared. And alone."
"You're not," he told her firmly. "You're not alone now, Emma. And you never will be again. I promise you that."
"You can't make that promise," she countered, turning back around to face him. "But I love you for wanting to."
Killian's head dropped down to rest on the pillow beside her own, as his eyes screwed shut. He really wished that it had been a promise that he could make and keep for her. But he knew that deep down, Emma was right. There was no practical way for him to assure her that she'd never be alone again. So instead, he made one that he knew he could keep.
"Then I promise that no matter what happens, I will always come back to you, Emma. Always."
She wiggled her face a little closer to his to brush soft kisses over his closed eyes, before freeing her hand to bring up and hold him close to her. For a long moment, the two lovers rested as they were, just taking comfort in being close to each other again, and from the knowledge that what they shared together was enough to stop them from ever truly being alone for long.
But all too soon, the question that had been niggling away in the back of Emma's mind made its presence well known once more, and instead of pushing it aside, she decided to voice it. If nothing else, Emma hoped that having an answer to it would at least help to calm her troubled mind.
"Killian," she whispered quietly, as she continued to run her fingers softly through his hair.
Her boyfriend hummed his acknowledgement at the sound of his name, but didn't lift his head. He was practically purring under the attention she was lavishing upon him, after suffering so long without it.
"Why can't I move my legs?"
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