To be with dad- part 2
Effervescent Dreamer asked for a oneshot of a sequel to Ch618 "To be with dad" where Emma visits Henry in hospital and they discuss his dad's passing. Trigger warning that the original theme for this chapter was attempted suicide.
As soon as Regina called Emma to let her know about the situation, she poofed herself right into the hospital. She practically hadn't left since. Much like Regina, Emma wanted to be there when Henry woke up. She had to know that he was ok. Whale didn't know what the lasting damage would be from those pills. They wouldn't know until he woke up.
Nobody would begin to get their answers until three days later. That's when Henry's eyes opened once more. That's when Emma and Regina's hearts began to beat again.
Although it quickly became clear that there would be no lasting damage from the pills Henry had taken (luckily), that had no healing effect on the mental scars he was obviously carrying to have attempted suicide in the first place. From mumblings he made as Robin carted him out of the bathroom, everyone had just about managed to piece together why Henry had done this: he missed his dad. Emma knew that she had to deal with this one. She alone had known Neal. She had to be the one to encourage Henry to talk about his dad. The times they shared together, any questions he might have. So when Regina went home to have a shower, Emma sat down beside her son and gently took his hand.
"This isn't the way to deal with how you're feeling, you know." She said gently. "Take it from the world's worst feelings runner." Emma felt Henry's hand clench inside hers. He had made it pretty clear he didn't want to talk about what had happened. That didn't ease anyone's worries that, as soon as he was discharged, he might try again. Whale had set him up with some sessions with Archie, but they wouldn't kick in until a week after his discharge to give him some more time to heal. Emma and Regina in particular were worried what might happen in that week. No, this had to be dealt with starting now. "It's not what he would have wanted for you either, Henry. Your dad would have wanted you to move on…"
"You can't know that though, can you?" Henry snapped. It was the first time he'd spoke in more than single words since the incident. "We'll never know, because my dad's dead." Emma stopped herself from pulling Henry into a hug. She knew it wasn't what he needed at that moment.
"That doesn't mean I don't know it, kid. I knew your dad pretty well." Emma said quietly. Henry was looking at his knees, but Emma could tell that he was listening. "Ok, it's no secret that I wasn't in love with your dad when he passed away. Heck, I had hated him for years before I heard the full story. But none of that matters. What matters is he came right in the end. It hurts when we lose someone we love, no matter how we lose them. But that means we then have a special job to do, kid. As one of the people who knew your dad the best, it's now your job to carry on his memory. One day you'll have kids of your own. They'll wanna know about your dad. You'll be able to tell them about the time you spent together. In that way, your dad lives on. It's ok to feel sad about him not being here anymore, but don't bottle that up. Don't let the hurt consume you. That won't make it go away. All it does is spread it out. Like when me and your other mom found out what had happened to you. Don't spread the hurt, Henry. Spread the memories instead. Over time, let the memories fill up where that sadness is. Whatever you do, kid, don't let it get this bad ever again. You have so many people here to help you out." Emma reminded him. Henry wasn't ready to respond to that yet. He wasn't ready to talk about how he was feeling. But Emma knew her message had sunk in. That would do for now.
