Holy cow! I just realized I never posted this chapter! I uploaded it and then for some reason I never officially put it up.

Hello strangers! Bet you never thought you'd here from me again! Alas I am here! I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to continue this story. Life can take you out of the moment for a while. I promise I have not abandoned this story. I honestly love writing on it and it let's me vent a little about things going on in my life. And since it's almost summer time here I will hopefully have more time to work on it. I have a couple stories going on right now so I'm trying to choose carefully which ones I use my creativity burst on. Because it only comes in bursts. lol This chapter is a bit longer than my others so hopefully that makes up for the long hiatus.

Enjoy!

Thicker than Blood

A heavy knocking and the sound of a constant doorbell woke Emma from her dreamless sleep. She rubbed her eyes and slowly picked herself up from the under the covers. Checking her phone she cursed at whoever was at the door for waking her up at such an ungodly hour. The sun had just peaked over the line of buildings from town and Emma was hoping to get at least another hour of sleep, but whoever was pounding on the door was obviously not going to let her.

Her mouth was wide as she yawned and she took the steps down to the first floor, the doorbell stinging her head as she now imagined ripping it off the wall outside of the house so she never had to hear it again. The air was cold around her exposed legs and arms and she shivered between doorbell rings. She was going to give whoever this was a piece of her mind.

"What the hell is it?" She swung open the door and squinted at the sun pouring into the opening. She hardly even cared that she was standing in the doorway in nothing but a white tank top and smaller than average shorts when she saw August standing in front of her.

"August?" Her eyes were wide at the sight of him. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, his clothes wrinkled and dark circles taken over his face underneath his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Are you serious!" He almost yelled. His nose flared and his cheeks were like flames. "You called me, absolutely beside yourself and you're asking me what I'm doing here? What the hell is going on?" He pushed passed her inside and began inspecting the house for anything out of place.

"Shit." She shut the door quickly. She had completely forgotten that she had called him. It had become a part of her life to call him when she was in a desperate spot, but with Regina waking up and everything, it had completely slipped her mind.

"Where is Regina?" He asked, still slightly flustered. "Where is Henry?"

"Henry is at his grandparents." Emma answered. "And Regina… well… she is in the hospital."

"What!" He spun around. "Why am I just hearing about this now? What happened?"

"Are you thirsty or something? You want some coffee?" Emma darted off toward the kitchen avoiding the question, August close at her heels.

"No, Emma. I want you to tell me why the fuck I just spent two days driving all the way down here?" He was almost shouting.

Emma sighed, her back turned to him and her shoulders pushed together as she supported herself on the marble topped island. "They were in a car accident." She finally spoke up.

"What?" He walked over to the island so he could she her face. She didn't look up at him.

"Regina and Henry were in a car accident about a month ago." She repeated.

"What the fuck, Emma!" He nervously ran his hands through his hair. "Why didn't you tell me?" He questioned her harshly.

"I don't know, August. I've been a little busy watching my girlfriend lay in a fucking coma for the past month." She finally looked up to him through her eyelashes in defense, spitting the words at him.

"What about Henry? I mean, is he okay?" August questioned.

"Yes, he is fine. He got a few stitches from a few cuts but that was it. He has been staying with Mary Margaret and David since he got out of the hospital." She answered. She couldn't look at him. She felt bad for not calling him, but the last month had been so crazy and Regina was the only thing that was on her mind and she just never thought about it.

"Jesus, Emma. What happened?" All he could think of was questions. One after the other popping up in his head. Was she okay? Was Henry really okay? Was Regina okay? What about this coma? Who did it? But he kept himself under control, not wanting to bombard her with questions. He was just pissed he was just hearing about this now. I guess that answered why he hadn't heard from Henry in a while.

"Drunk driver." She answered shortly.

"Do they know who it was?" August asked again, as a whole other set of questions entered his brain.

"It was Regina's ex-husband."

"Shit." August rubbed his scruff that had grown out on his chin. Emma could tell he had lost some weight, but it wasn't enough to really make a difference to anyone else but her. She knew he took his job way to seriously sometimes and with that came his sacrifice of a lot of other things. Like life.

"You didn't have to come." Emma forced the words. She couldn't deny she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders now that he was here though. Just like it always had been. She remembered when she was younger before she was taken from her first home where she met him when he would come back in the middle of the night and sit out on the porch and talk to her all through the night. She always begged him to just take her away and she never knew why he wouldn't, but he always promised her he would just be a phone call away. He always kept his promise.

"You're joking right? After that shit you pulled on the phone, I left as soon as I could. I thought you were dying." He stepped closer to her.

"Yeah well you could call it that." She shrunk further into herself.

"Come here." He breathed as he wrapped his arms around her small body. His large build engulfed her and she breathed in his warmth. This was her safe place. August was never the touchy feely kind of guy, but he knew what Emma needed and when she needed it. He could kick her ass if she was out of line, but he could be the sensitive big brother when he needed to, and he was not ashamed of it. They were in this together.

"I just wish you would have called me first." He squeezed tighter.

"I know. I'm sorry." Her voice was muffled in his shirt. She felt the tears well up in her eyes suddenly and she pushed her face further in his chest to keep them in. She was so tired of crying. She was tired of feeling weak and not in control of herself. August made her stronger. He was always there to make her stronger and patch up her walls. But now there were no walls to patch. They had fallen in a heap of rubble leaving Emma stranded and alone to fend for herself with no defense. He was her reinforcement and extra backup. He was a wall in and of himself. Always protecting.

They stood there together for a while. August could feel Emma relaxing in his arms and he waited until he felt like she was calm to speak up. "You know it's kind of weirding me out that you don't have real pants on." August chimed in through her thoughts.

Emma let out a grunting laugh and pushed away from him. "It's not like you've never seen me before." She joked playfully.

"That was only one time. And how was I supposed to know you were going to bring a girl home that night. Let alone sleep with her in my bed." He poked at her stomach causing her to swing out in defense.

"Shut up. You know how I get when I'm drunk." Emma protested. She felt her face stretch upward in a way that it hadn't in a long time. A smile.

"Yeah but my bed? Come on." He looked at her condescendingly.

"Whatever. Like you said, it was one time."

"One time too many." He faked a shiver through his body.

"Oh what, don't act like you haven't dreamed of all of this." Emma motioned down her body, mimicking her curves.

"Would you go get dressed please? I think I might throw up."

"Oh, you are such an ass." She threw the closest thing she could get her hands on, which thankfully was just a small kitchen towel. August caught it before it hit him and threw it back.

"Go.. Pants.. Now!" He shooed her.

"Oh, shit what time is it?" She froze and checked the time on the microwave.

August checked his watched and answered for her. "7:30."

"Shit we gotta go." She took off up to her room and put on the cleanest clothes she could find which ended up being a pair of fitted jeans and slipped her boots on over them and her jacket over her shoulders. She threw her hair up in a messy bun and washed her mouth out with Listerine. Regina never liked her morning breath.

August came out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hands when he heard Emma's heavy boots thumping down the stairs.

'"You're eating? Now?" She shook her head as she grabbed her keys and headed for the front door.

"I just drove two days to come down here. I deserve a good wholesome breakfast." He protested with a mouthful of cheerios.

"Yeah well hurry it up. We are late. I told Regina I would be there first thing in this morning. Let's go." She was out of the door before he could swallow his mouthful.

"Wait, I'm coming." He took a drink of some of the left over milk and then set the bowl in the sink and ran out after her.

As they drove to the hospital, Emma explained Regina's injuries as best she could to make sure August knew that Regina wouldn't know who he was or that they had ever even met. She told him about everything the doctor had told her about any possible rehab or possibility of her memory returning. August listened silently as Emma went on and on. He could tell she was incredibly nervous. She always bit at the inside of her cheeks when she was nervous.

"So does she look the same? I mean am I going to recognize her?" August asked, half serious, and half-jokingly.

"Well yeah.. She isn't Frankenstein. She just doesn't remember anything." She pulled her yellow bug into the parking lot, much more civilized than a short month ago.

Emma felt the air thicken around her as she stepped through the doors. The nights rest gave her a little bit of energy, but it seemed to all seep out of her as soon as she stood in front of Regina's door.

"Should we knock? She might still be asleep." August tried to move them along.

"No, if I know Regina she would have been up an hour ago." Nevertheless Emma gently knocked before slowly opening the door, peeking her head inside the room before entering. She held up her hand to August as she entered signaling for him to wait outside for a minute.

The room was still dark despite the risen sun outside. The blinds over the windows had been closed so the sun didn't break through and wake Regina up too early. Emma walked over to them as quietly as possible and opened them up slightly so she could see in the room.

"Emma?" The sleepy voice bit at Emma's ears.

"Hey, I'm sorry did I wake you?" Emma turned from the window with an apologetic look and stepped over to the bed. I guess with the memory loss, Regina forgot that she was an early riser.

"Uh, no." Regina answered slowly, rubbing her eyes. She placed a book that had fallen into her lap on the table next to her and straightened herself out on the bed, pushing the button to lift herself up. They waited awkwardly as the bed slowly rose up so that Regina was setting up right.

"What time is it?" Regina asked.

"It's a little after 8." Emma answered quickly.

"Did you get any sleep?" Regina asked. Emma smiled at the sincerity of Regina's voice.

"Yes, thanks to you." It was only a half lie. "How about you, did you sleep well?" Emma asked.

"Well the nurses came in twice last night, but other than that I think I slept okay." Regina admitted. Emma could tell from the dark circles under the woman's eyes that she was lying.

"You feel up to meeting someone this morning?" Emma stood at the end of the bed and leaned up against the rails at the foot.

Regina pulled a hand through her hair and wiped under her eyes. "I look terrible." She patted her cheeks.

"You look great." Emma smiled. Regina looked at her for a minute and then let out a smile of her own.

"Who is it?" Regina asked.

"His name is August. He is my foster brother. You'll like him." Emma reassured her.

Regina took a deep breath, setting up straighter in the bed. "Okay."

Emma stepped over to the door and opened it, sticking her head out and calling for August to come in. He entered slowly and smiled immediately when he saw Regina.

"Regina, this is August." She properly introduced him.

"Hi, August." Regina smiled properly at him. He stared at her for a moment and then looked at Emma real quick for reassurance.

"Hey. I heard you hit your head pretty good." He blabbed.

Emma smack him on his arm and he jumped a little. "August, jesus…" She rolled her eyes.

Regina laughed a little. "It's fine, Emma. Yes to answer your question. Apparently I did, but I don't remember." She raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them. "So you and Emma are close?"

"Eh, you could say that." He nudged her. She rolled her eyes again and then made her way to the couch that she had called home for the last month. "We met at a foster home when we were little. We've been stuck together ever since." He shrugged his shoulders casually.

"So you two were orphans?" Regina asked the question to both of them.

"Yep." He answered quickly. (He paused a moment and made eye contact with Emma before answering.)

"I'm sorry." Regina apologized like she had something to do with it.

"Nah don't be, it was a long time ago. And we turned out pretty good, wouldn't you say Emma?" He looked over at her.

"Yeah well one of us did." They all shared a quick laugh. The silence that set in was killer. August was unsure of himself, Emma was unsure of herself, and Regina was still trying to wake up. You could have sliced the air with a butter knife.

Before Emma could break the silence they heard a small knock on the door and then it opened revealing a man with wild red hair and glasses. He had a large smile stretched across his face and Emma squinted her eyes puzzled at who he was. She had never seen him before.

"Can we help you?" She stood up and walked over next to August in front of the bed.

"Yes, hi, my name is Dr. Hopper I'm the city psychiatrist." He held out his hand for Emma to shake but Emma was not so easily broken. Her defense walls went up immediately at his introduction.

August eyed Emma for a second and suddenly went for Dr. Hopper's hand to accept the shake. "Nice to meet you doctor, I'm August and this is Emma." He motioned to the blonde. The man moved slightly so he could see the woman laying in bed.

"And you must be Regina." He smiled and stepped over to the side to shake her hand as well. Emma moved to follow him closely but felt August heavy hand around her arm.

"That's what they tell me." Regina smiled glancing over at Emma before shaking his hand.

"Yes, well it's a pleasure to finally meet you. How are you feeling?" He asked her casually.

Before Regina could answer Emma interjected in. "I'm sorry but what are you doing here?" The words came out harsher than she planned but nonetheless she stood her ground.

"Emma." August warned her.

"No, it's fine. I know you all do deserve an explanation. I am here to see what we can do about some memory therapy. Your physician called me and asked me to come visit." He moved his attention from Emma to Regina and smiled. "I promise I won't take up much of your time, I'm just here to ask you a few questions and see if I can possible schedule some sessions with you to work with helping some of the side effects of your memory loss." HE explained gently.

"What kind of side effects?" Emma emphasized her words. Dr. Hopper looked back to her and sighed.

"Well," He looked down at Regina. "In the patients I've dealt with I've seen anything from forms of depression to OCD behavior. It just depends on the person and how severe the damage may be." The doctor explained. Emma eyed him suspiciously. She didn't like that he was here. Regina wasn't crazy, nor would she ever be. She didn't need a psychiatrist. Suddenly everything made her angry. Those dorky round glasses, that ugly green jacket and his uncombed hair struck a chord with all of her nerves all at once.

"Emma, can I talk to you in the hallway." August pulled on her toward the door.

"Why?" She gave him a evil stare.

"Because I think the doctor needs some time to talk to Regina." August tried to explain civilly.

"No. I'd like to hear what the doctor has to say." Emma protested, pulling her arm from Augusts grip. August was quickly growing impatient with Emma's childish attitude right now and if it wasn't for Regina finally speaking up he was sure he was about to drag her out of that room like a crying, kicking child.

"Emma, it's fine. I'd like to speak with him." Regina gave her a reassuring smile. Emma's eyes bounced between the doctor and Regina. She didn't like this at all.

"Fine. I'll be in the hallway if you need me." She turned and bumped into August on her way out. August gave an apologetic smile to the doctor and then headed out behind Emma.

When the door closed behind August he immediately turned to Emma, his cheeks red with annoyance.

"Are you serious right now? What are you like 10 years old?" He shook his head.

"She's not crazy. Why is he even here? She doesn't need a psychiatrist." Emma answered angrily.

"Of course she isn't crazy. Did you not hear a word he said? He is just here to make sure she doesn't have any side effects from the memory loss. Could you imagine not knowing who you were? You might need some help too." He tried to explain as calmly as he could.

"I can help her, she doesn't need a crazy doctor." Emma argued.

"Oh my god, Emma you are so hard headed."

"Yeah, well, I learned from the best." She eyed him.

"You can't be there for everything. She needs help, and as much as you may think you can, you can't help her in every way she needs. He can understand what's going on on her brain."

Emma fumed at his words. She didn't like it when people told her she couldn't do something. Especially when it came to Regina. She couldn't take knowing that she may not be enough for the woman. She wanted to be everything. She wanted to be strong for Regina and the thought that she needed an extra doctor to help her made Emma sick.

Emma leaned up against the wall and slid down until she hit the floor. She brought her hands up to her forehead and rested her head down. "This shit just never ends." She admitted.

August stayed silent as they waited outside for Dr. Hopper and Regina to finish talking. Emma's nerves were getting the better of her and she couldn't sit still any more. She got to her feet and started pacing in front of the door.

"This is taking way too long." She bit at her already extremely short nails.

"It's only been 30 minutes." August checked his watch.

"Well it's not brain surgery what the hell could be taking so long?" Emma didn't look up from the ground. Just then, they heard the door lever wiggle and the door opened, revealing Dr. Hopper. Emma looked at him with questioning eyes and August walked up behind her to support.

"It looks like she is doing quite well actually." Dr. Hopper started. Emma felt her body relax a little. "But I'm going to need to schedule some sessions. We discussed me coming by every other day for a few weeks. Then as things begin to smooth out the frequency will lengthen until she doesn't feel like she needs them anymore. But that decision is up to her." He gave Emma a look.

"She is supposed to be going home soon." Emma stated.

"Yes, we have discussed that. I will be visiting the house for the first few visits and then I would like her to start coming to my office. That way she can begin to learn the layout of the town and get used to travel. I'm sure that with a little time and patience we will be able to do this smoothly." He continued.

Emma took a deep breath and felt the heat from August behind her. Maybe she should give the doctor a chance.

"Okay." Emma finally let it out.

Dr. Hopper smiled. "Good. Here's my card if you need anything." He dug into one of his coat pockets and handed it to Emma. "I hope to see you soon." He looked between the two of them and then headed off down the hall. Emma started down at the card before quickly sticking it in the back pocket of her jeans.

"God." Emma wiped the sweat that had formed on her forehead.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" August stated knowingly.

"The worst." Emma admitted. She bent over and supported herself on her knees.

"Don't you go getting sick on me, Swan." He patted her back.

"No. No I'm good." She stood back up and took a deep breath.

"Hey. Why don't I head down to Granny's and get everyone some breakfast. What does Regina like?" He asked her.

"Uh. She likes those little blueberry scone things." Emma used her hands as a description and August gave her a thumbs up.

"Alright. You go in and calm down and I'll be back in a few." He smiled and then headed down the hall.

"Hey, August." She called out to him. He turned back, his jacket moving with his body. "Thanks for coming."

"Thicker than blood, Emma" He held out his hands and then turned down the hall.

"Thicker than blood." She whispered to herself and smiled.