A waiting game
Phoebes asked for a oneshot of...a read and see story. Sorry Phoebes, only one chapter per request ;)
"Mom…"
"Please, Henry." Emma said, exasperated. She just didn't have the strength to deal with this. "Not now."
"There might not be another time, mom." Henry said, his own voice wavering. Emma looked up at him, her eyes red from all her crying. How was she meant to face the fact that her dad might die? Or even if he did live, he might never be the same. All because of her. Everyone else might tell Emma that it wasn't her fault, that her dad had saved her because he loved her and that Emma couldn't have stopped him, but Emma still felt dreadful. Every time she saw her mother, when she wasn't by Charming's side, Emma couldn't even look her in the eye. It would be Emma's fault if she lost her true love, and nothing anyone could say would change Emma's opinion on that.
"Have you thought about using your magic?" Henry asked her. Emma looked at her son, confused.
"Henry, you know the laws of magic better than anyone. I can't use my magic to fix this, and if…" The words caught in Emma's throat. "Well, I couldn't fix that either."
"No, I know." Henry said gently. "I meant use a dreamcatcher, like you did with Pongo when we thought Jiminy was dead. You can get grandpa's memories on one. That way…you've at least got them." Emma smiled warmly at her son. That actually wasn't a bad idea.
Now here Emma was having taken Henry's suggestion. She had the dreamcatcher in her shaking hands. All her dad's important memories were stored in this, just waiting for a wave of Emma's hand to be seen. Emma took a steadying breath. She wanted to see these. Slowly, Emma waved her hand over the dreamcatcher.
The first thing Emma saw, was the aftermath of her own birth. She saw her dad's hesitance to take her away. Heard her mom's anguished cries. Saw how her dad fought two of Regina's dark knights with her in his arms. How he took a stab wound to his shoulder protecting her. Saw his world go black as he did what he had set how to do. He had kept Emma safe. This choked Emma up. She had forgotten this wasn't the first time her dad had got himself critically ill protecting her. Emma shook herself. There were more memories to see.
There were lots of other little moments Emma saw that related to her. She saw her dad's first memories of being her father after the curse broke. Saw how he felt when she and her mom were taken to the Enchanted Forest. Then she saw yet another possibly fatal sacrifice he made for her; when he gave his heart so her mom could get back to her. True, that was a more complicated story. Charming was also doing this to protect the child that would become Neal. Finding Emma was the only way to protect him from the Wicked Witch, but that wasn't the only reason he wanted Snow getting back to Emma, and Emma knew it. She knew that her dad didn't want her alone anymore.
Emma wiped the tears from her eyes. Her dad had already given so much for her, and now here he was again, possibly dying for her. Both her parents had given so much for her. She couldn't lose one now.
So Emma went back to the hospital when her mom had been convinced to go and get some rest. She held her dad's hand and she cried.
"Please don't leave me." Emma pleaded with him. "I still need you." Emma held her dad's hand up to her tear-soaked face. "I'm not ready to lose you dad." Emma then felt it, she was sure of it. It was tiny, but Emma knew that it happened. Emma had felt her dad squeeze her hand. Emma kissed the back of his hand. She knew that he was fighting this, and right now, that was all Emma could ask of him.
