Chapter 5
Regina yawned as she leaned over her cup of coffee. She had been successful in getting Kathryn to bathe, eat and come to her house, but not much else. She had set her up in the guest room before she had to come into work. All she could do was worry about leaving her friend alone, but she didn't want to call in on her father at the last minute.
She felt tired. She hadn't slept well in the last couple of days. The stress of everything in her life seemed to be hitting all at once. The brunette wasn't sure how much more she could take.
"Hey princess." Her father's voice rang out pulling her from her thoughts.
"Daddy? I thought you would be go playing golf." She said straightening her back.
Dr. Mills smiled softly, "It got canceled due to a chance of rain. I figured I could come by and see if you wanted some help, but I see the waiting room has cleared out some."
She stood up walking over to the coffee pot to top off her cup, "I think the worst of the rush is over."
"Millie locked the front door." He said then tilted his head at his daughter. "Regina? Is everything okay with you?" She could hear the concern in her father's voice.
Looking up at him she gave a small smile, "Just have a lot going on, but everything is fine." She didn't want to worry him, so the best thing to do was try and play it off.
Dr. Mills closed the breakroom door and slid his hands into his pockets. Regina licked her lips nervously as she waited for her father to say what was on his mind. "So, I saw a patient's folder on Millie's desk this morning."
Regina tried to look neutral, but her stomach was doing summersaults.
"It was strange really, there was no name. This concerned me a bit because it was a toxicology report that had tested positive for Rophenol. I thought maybe Millie had made a mistake so I was going to ask her about it when I saw the second folder. This folder had Kathryn Midas' name on it so you can imagine my surprise."
"Daddy, I can explain." She started but he cut her off.
"Did someone hurt you?" The protectiveness and sadness in her father's eyes were almost more than she can take.
"No. But Kathryn wasn't as lucky." She dropped her eyes to the floor. "We went out to a club the other night and two guys spiked our drinks. The club owner stopped the guy who was trying to take me home. But Kathryn's assailant took her before anyone could stop him."
Her father stepped closer and put his arms around her, "Honey, I am so sorry."
Regina blinked back tears. She had wanted to be held like this after that night, but she was too afraid to tell him. She wasn't afraid he would be mad, but she didn't want him to be disappointed or even worry about her. She was supposed to be a grown woman who was fully capable of taking care of herself. At least that's what she had believed. A person like Regina didn't put herself in positions or situations where things like this could happen.
The phone on the wall rang letting her know that Millie must have been busy in the lab. All the other nurses had gone home for the day.
"Family Practice, Dr. Locksley speaking. How can" Regina answered before getting cut off.
"Mom, where's grandpa?" Henry's voice asked in a panic.
"Henry, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She asked as her heart sped up and a new knot formed in her stomach.
"I'm fine, I need to talk to grandpa." He said his voice rushed.
She looked over at her father, her eyes overflowing with fear, "Dad, it's Henry. Somethings wrong but he only wants to speak with you."
Curiosity and concern flash across the man's face as he took the receiver, "Henry?"
It killed her that she couldn't hear what her son was saying. All she could hear was her father's responses.
"Wait, slow down." Her father's eyes were closed as he concentrated on what the boy was saying.
"Where are you now?"
"And you checked to see if she was breathing?"
"That's a good thing, Henry. Just stay calm, I'm on my way." He said and then hung the receiver up.
Regina waited expectantly, "What's going on? Where is Henry?" Her hands were now shaking and she felt as if she could throw up.
Dr. Mills gently took his daughter by the shoulders, "Henry is fine. I'm going to run over and get him. You stay here and stay calm. I need you to have Millie set up room five for emergency care."
Regina seemed confused, "What? Why? If Robin has hurt him, so help me God."
"Regina, focus." Her father snapped. "Henry is fine. Now go tell Millie and I will be back in ten minutes."
She still felt panicked and dazed all at the same time. She watched her father hurry from the room. What was going on? She shook her head and hurried out of the room towards the lab.
She knocked harder than she intended on the door and she saw Millie nearly fall off of her stool.
The woman quickly opened the door, "Everything okay, Doc?"
"Umm. I don't know. My father told me to tell you to ready room five for an emergency." Regina said looking questionably at the other woman.
She watched as Millie's eyebrows shot up into her hairline, but she didn't elaborate. She rushed passed the brunette and towards room five. Regina followed her.
"What the hell is going on?" Her eyes followed the other woman as she moved around the room gathering supplies.
Millie seemed as though she wasn't going to answer at first. "Your dad sometimes has special clients that come in after hours."
Regina knitted her eyebrows together, "Special clients?"
Millie hung a saline bottle up on the IV rack and sighed, "You'll have to talk to your dad about it. I promised to keep it quiet."
"Millie? My son is involved this time, you have to tell me." Regina hadn't meant for her voice to sound so pleading.
"Look Doc. Dr. Mills helps people out, you know that." She began pulling the IV needle out and laying it on a metal tray, "Some people don't have money. A few have money, but don't want to be in the spotlight so it's done on the D.L."
Regina let her mind run. Surely her father wasn't into anything illegal. This was the same man who reported every single dime to the I.R.S. and who had never even had as much as a speeding ticket, ever.
She must have been standing there for a while because the buzzer for the back door sounded. Millie hurried out of the room. Regina slowly stepped out into the hallway. Her heart felt as though it stopped as she waited for her father and son to appear around the corner.
Henry was the first one. He wasn't hurt or crying, but the worry was evident. When he saw his mom a single tear rolled down his cheek and he ran towards her. Regina knelt down and caught him in her arms.
"Mom, they hurt Em." He sobbed out.
"Who hurt her?" Who would hurt a little girl? She was so confused. Why would her father keep this a secret?
"They beat her up." He said into her hair. Before she could respond her father and Millie were coming up the hallway with someone on a gurney.
She stood up pulling her son backward a little so they were not in the way. The figure on the gurney was too big to be a child. Her eyes searched the body as they wheeled the bed into the room. For a second, she could have sworn that looked like Emma Nolan.
Once the gurney was in the room, Millie went to work attempting to start an I.V. The blonde seemed to be fighting them. Her eye was swollen shut. Dried caked blood had run down into her eye from a cut in her eyebrow. Her lip was swollen and slight cut could be seen near the corner of her mouth.
"That's Em?" Regina nearly whispered.
She saw her son nod his head yes out of the corner of her eye. She had thought this entire time that Em was some little girl her son had befriended. She didn't know it was a member of the Nolan family. She couldn't believe how naive she had been. How could Robin allow their son to run around with Emma Nolan? What was she saying? Nothing Robin did surprised her. It wasn't like he spent enough time with the boy to know anything about him.
"Regina, we need your help in here." Her father called.
She knelt down in from for her son, "Henry, you go and wait in the break room. I'll come and get you in a few."
The boy nodded and headed down the hallway, pausing briefly to take another look at the blonde on the bed. She watched him until he disappeared around the corner and then went into the room.
She hurried over grabbing the blonde wrist and pressing it down so her arm was straight. She didn't appear to be coherent, but she was trying to fight them off. Regina was surprised at the strength the woman had in her current state.
Millie was able to get the I.V. in place. Regina father passed her scissor's after he had tied the blonde's wrist down with straps to the railings. The brunette went to town on cutting off the woman's shirt.
She nearly gasped at the bruising the woman's torso revealed. "We need a sedative," Dr. Mills said looking over to the nurse. She could tell Emma's ribs were broken and if she continued to thrash around, it would only make things worse.
Millie nodded and left the room to get medications. Regina looked up at her father, "I hope she doesn't have any allergies.
"She doesn't." Dr. Mills said as he looked closer at the ribs. "We are going to need an x-ray. She doesn't seem to be having trouble breathing, so there shouldn't be any punctures to her lungs. We still need to see how bad it is."
Regina's eyes shot up to her father, "How do you know she doesn't have any allergies?"
Her father looked up at her, "We will discuss it later. Right now we need to worry about Emma."
The way her father said the younger woman's name let her know he knew her well. She didn't reply she just looked back at the patient. Millie hurried back in with a vial and a syringe.
Regina watched as she stuck the syringe into the vial drawing some up. She then stuck the needle into the port on the I.V. and pressed the plunger in.
Within a matter of seconds, the blonde had relaxed considerably. He father took a moment to brush a blonde curl from the woman's forehead and he smiled softly. Regina raised an eyebrow in curiosity but remained quiet.
"I'm going to go and find the portable x-ray thingy we got in last week. You girls can finish undressing the patient and getting her into a gown." He said as he turned to walk away.
Regina wanted to smile at her dad's name for technical equipment. He was a brilliant doctor, but the technology was not his forte.
Regina took the scissors and started cutting from the pant leg up to the blonde's waist. She normally wouldn't cut her patients clothes off but this was an emergency. She didn't know the full extent of the woman's injuries. Cutting her clothes off was the safest bet rather than trying to roll her around to take them off the regular way.
With the woman's pant now off, she decided she would leave her underwear for now. She couldn't stop the slight blush that filled her cheek when Millie removed the blonde's bra. It took her back to the morning she woke up in the motel. She had imagined all of the things that she and the other woman had done that night. She couldn't explain why she had felt a ping of disappointment finding out that nothing happened.
She shook the thoughts from her head as she helped Millie slide the opened back gown onto the younger woman. All she wanted to know now was what happened and why her son was there.
There was a tap on the door and then her father entered pushing the x-ray machine in. Even she was surprised at how small and portable it was. He pushed the machine over to the bed and Millie took over.
"Do you have this part handled?" She asked looking at the pink haired woman's face, "I need to go check on Henry."
Millie nodded, "Yep. I'll let you both know when I'm finished."
Regina walked out of the room and towards the break room. Once she was inside she couldn't help the harsh tone to her question, "What the hell happened?"
Henry looked up at her sadly but started to explain, "We went to the movies earlier. When we got out, we went to find the parking garage where she parked. I found an alleyway that I thought would be faster than walking all the way around the block. When we went down it, some man came out and started threatening Em." There was the name again, the brunette thought to herself as she listened. "He told her she was going to pay for making him lose his chances with some woman. Em told me to run."
Regina crossed her arms as she listened, "And you didn't, did you?"
"At first, but then I stopped. I couldn't leave her alone. Two other men were holding her. The dark haired man started talking about what he would have done to the woman she had taken from him. Then he said something about letting his friends have a turn. I don't know what he meant, but it pissed Em off because she headed butted him hard. I know his nose broke because I heard it crack." He explained, smiling slightly at the end causing the brunette's eyebrow to rise.
"Watch your mouth young man." She said but then noticed the tears back in his eyes.
"The man punched her and before I knew it she was on the ground and they were kicking her over and over." A tear ran down his cheek and Regina swallowed the lump in her chest.
She had a pretty good idea who the man was, and that it had been over her. She couldn't believe what her son had witnessed. No one should have to see something like that, especially a nine-year-old.
"Why didn't you call the police, Henry?" She asked.
"Mr. Nolan can't know about this." He said, his eyes pleading with his mother's.
She felt confused, "Why not? His daughter was beaten. Surely he would want to know."
Henry narrowed his eyes, "No he wouldn't. Besides he will take the club away from Em if she gets into any trouble."
"That's what this is about? A stupid club?" Regina asked as irritation was creeping in.
"It's not stupid. It was her brother's. Her dad made her sign some paper saying she wouldn't get into any trouble. She's not supposed to drink or sleep around, that's what the paper I saw said." He defended.
Regina clenched her teeth together. Robin was useless. How could he leave files lying around? How could he allow their son to run around town with Emma Nolan? "Listen to me, after tonight, you are to stay away from Emma Nolan. I will take this up with your father first thing in the morning."
"No!" Henry shouted. "She is my friend and you can't tell dad. He will tell Mr. Nolan." The boy looked scared.
Regina licked her lips as she tried to calm herself, "She is a grown woman. Women like her don't have nine-year-olds as friends. You will stay away from her, do I make myself clear?"
Henry glared, "No I won't and you can't make me! I finally find a friend and you try to take her away from me. I thought you wanted me to make friends?"
She was shocked at her son's outburst, but she forced herself to remain calm. "I do want you to make friends, but I meant friends your own age. Having a friend like her isn't normal Henry."
"It's not normal for me to have a grown-up friend or is it not normal for me to have Emma Nolan as my friend?" He asked, his voice cold as ice.
"Umm, I just meant that" She started.
Henry cut her off, "No! She is my friend you won't take her from me!" He screamed out as he took off down the hallway towards room five.
Regina blood was boiling. Her son had never acted like that before and she was blaming Robin for allowing him to go off with the blonde. She wanted to scream as she hurried after the boy.
She was intercepted by her father, "Regina, a word."
"Not now Dad, I have to talk to Henry." She said as she tried to move past.
"Now," Her father snapped stopping her in her tracks.
The man didn't wait for a response. Instead, he moved up the hallway and into the old morgue. She found herself a bit confused at the harshness her father had just displayed. She took a deep breath and then followed.
Once inside he turned and faced her. She noticed his gentle eyes were a little harder as he stared back at her, "I want to tell you a little story."
She looked at him with confusion, "A story? Are you serious?"
"Yes, now shut up and listen." He snapped again causing her to snap her mouth shut. She didn't think she had ever heard him talk like that to her.
"Roughly sixteen years ago as you know, Mary Margaret Nolan jumped from the fifteenth floor of the Nolan Enterprise building." Regina's eyes darted around as she tried to remember but then nodded at the very vague memory of seeing it on the news.
"William Nolan had already been kicked out of the house for his wild ways, and Emma had just turned twelve. The city coroner was out of town so the mayor called me to collect the body. I was to do the onsight investigation until the coroner could fly in the following day." Her father walked over to a metal trolley that held medical equipment and pulled out a bottle of scotch.
Regina watched her father pour the amber liquid into two glasses. She wanted to tell him she wasn't in the mood to drink, but after the way, he snapped at her she kept her mouth closed.
He passed one glass to his daughter and continued as she took a sip of the sweet yet pungent drink. "David Nolan didn't come to say goodbye to his wife nor did he bring Emma in to see her either. Her brothers were already grown by then, August was in college."
Dr. Mills took a long drink from his tumbler and then went on. "One night, I was here closing up and I heard glass break in the back. I went to go see what it was. I expected to find some big scary burglar or something. Instead, I found a broken-hearted little girl crying over the body of her mother."
A sudden lump formed in Regina's throat, "That's horrible. What did you do?" She wasn't sure what her father was trying to get at, but it was sad all the same.
Her father shot the remainder of his glass into his mouth and then sighed, "What could I do? I slid her mother's body back into the cooler and held her."
A tear slid down the brunette's cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She remembered what it was like losing her mother at twelve as well, but not like that. Her mother had gotten sick, and her father made sure that she was able to spend as much time as she could with her. In the end, her mother had been put into a medically induced coma, because the pain had gotten so bad. It was not easy watching the woman she loved most in the world die, and she would always miss her. Something in her felt that Emma's situation was much worse.
"Did you have to call her father?" She asked.
Henry took a deep breath and then blew it out, "No. I couldn't do that to her. I called Will." Her father chuckled at the memory, "He had had a bit much to drink, but Anton brought him down."
She remembered the giant from the club.
"I gave the siblings a few minutes with their mother. It was amazing the change that little girl could bring out in her brother."
Regina watched as her father's eyes turned watery, "What kind of change?"
"Well, William had an 'I don't care' attitude. He stayed drunk and high most of the time, getting into trouble around town. When Emma was around him, he could even fool his own senses into thinking he was sober. He spoke to his sister as if she were his own. He ignored phone calls and would walk out on any woman he was spending time with if his little sister needed him. That little girl was his whole world." Her father explained.
"But why did he keep living that lifestyle when he could have changed for her?" Regina asked.
Henry shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, but I do know that her father did everything in his power to keep the two apart. When Emma turned eighteen and graduated high school, she had planned to go with Will. Will said no. He told her that her place was far away from him and this town."
Regina looked down to the ground as she tried to process everything she was told. She realized now that the younger woman never stood a chance. That, however, did not make her feelings change over the current situation. Because of this woman's actions, rapists will go free.
She glanced up at her father, "What happened after you gave them their moment?"
Her father stood up looking at his watch, "He held his little sister until she cried herself to sleep. He handed me money to cover the cost of the window and then he carried the little girl out."
"Is that how you came to do shady deals after closing?" Regina asked, but her voice lacked the venom.
"No, not really. At least twice a week, after that night, Emma would make her way back to my morgue. She would sit next to the cooler that once held her mother's body and talked to the door." Her father saw the weird look his daughter had made so he explained. "Her father didn't have a funeral or memorial for her mother. He had her cremated and her ashes sent to some relative up north. He wiped the house clean of everything that resembled Mary Margret. This only left a confused little girl behind."
Regina was appalled, "How could a father do that to his children?"
"David Nolan is no father. He bred his children with expectations that they would carry on the family name, nothing more. He did not spend time with them nor did he show them any affection. For a while, I had hoped I had been a good influence on Emma, but as it turns out, her demons were far stronger than I had thought." He said.
"So you spent time with her?" She asked watching her father nodded his head in yes. "How come I never knew about this? I was with you nearly every evening?"
Henry laughed lightly, "Well, I didn't want to get you involved just in case David Nolan tried anything. I had two nights a week I said I was working late. I would order takeout and have it ready as Emma would come to sit by the cooler like clockwork." He took the now empty tumbler from his daughter's hand and placed them back in the trolley. "Regina, Emma has made many mistakes, but she is far from being anything like her father. Henry connects with her in a way he can't with anyone else. You can't take that away from him."
Regina chewed her bottom lip, "What am I supposed to do? Let him run around town with her? Look at what happened today."
She watched as her father's eyes softened again, "And had Henry not been there, his friend could have died. That girl needs positivity in her life." He started for the door but then paused, "She's not bad, she's just lost. Don't keep her from Henry. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."
Regina sighed heavily as she watched her father leave the room. Everything in her wanted to hate this woman. She had felt for so long that the Nolan's had done everything to destroy her happiness. Well, David Nolan, it seemed. She could hear Henry's voice in her head from their phone conversations and she knew he had been happier.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she released it she took one last glance up at the morgue window. She thought back to what she would have been doing sixteen years ago. She was an intern for a Houston hospital. She shook her head and walked back out into the hallway.
SQSQSQSQSQSQ
Emma's eyes fluttered open. The bright white glare from the light above her was blinding which caused her to flinch. She let her eyes dance around as they attempted to adjust. She wasn't sure where she was. As she went to move her arm, the motion was stopped. Her both of her wrists were tied to the railings of the bed.
She looked down seeing the blue flower like dot designs on the gown and realized she was at a hospital. Her heart sank. If she was here, then her father was somewhere nearby. He would be waiting to tell her how much she had screwed up and what a huge disappointment she was.
The door creaked open slowly and a dark-skinned woman with pink hair stepped through. She smiled at seeing the blonde, "Oh, good, you're awake. Dr. Mills will be thrilled to hear that."
"Why am tied up?" Emma asked. The last time she let someone tie her up, it was by one of the girls that wanted to change her. They had told her they loved her and when she couldn't say it back, they left her naked and tied to the four post bed. If it hadn't been for housekeeping coming in, she would probably still be there.
She walked up to Emma and untied the restraints. Then she took the blood pressure cuff and began sliding it up the blonde's arm,
"Dr. Mills restrained you a few hours ago so that you didn't hurt yourself."
"Can you hold off on telling my father I'm awake? I really can't deal with him right now." The blonde sighed
"Your father? As far as I know he doesn't know you're here, and honestly, I hope it stays that way." The woman said as she pumped the cuff up then placed her stethoscope at the bend of Emma's elbow.
The blonde was confused. How could her father not know? Obviously, this woman knew who she was by the comment. Emma took a deep breath and quickly regretted it as a huge wave of pain shot through her side causing her to wince.
"Easy there. You have a couple of cracked ribs, so you're going to be very sore for a few weeks." The woman said as she released the air from the arm cuff and slid it back off of the blonde's arm.
"Where am I?" Emma asked.
"You're at Family Practice. The doctor will be in shortly to see you." She said as she gathered her stuff up.
"Wait! Where's Henry? Is he okay?" She suddenly remembered. She hoped with everything in her that the kid was okay.
"Henry is fine." A familiar voice said from the doorway causing the blonde to look up.
The gorgeous brunette stood looking down and scribbling something onto a clipboard.
A second of panic shot through Emma's chest as she gasped and then winced in pain again, "M-Mrs. Locksley."
Dark brown eyes glanced up at her, "It's doctor, and Henry is back with his father."
Emma let out a breath of relief, "Oh thank God." She lay back onto her pillow.
"Thank you, Millie," Regina said walking up to the bed. "I think Miss. Nolan…"
"It's Emma." The blonde corrected.
Regina paused, tilting her head slightly, but then said, "Emma, is going to need some more meds." The pink haired nurse nodded her head and smiled as she went to retrieve the medication.
Hearing the woman's voice say her name made her stomach flutter slightly. What was it about this woman? She didn't know her, but yet she felt drawn to her. She had never had another woman affect her this way. She found it difficult to speak, or even think when she was near.
Her mind switched to Henry. She could only imagine how angry the older woman had been. Especially finding out that a Nolan had been running around with her son.
"I'm sorry about Henry. I didn't know" Emma started.
"There's no need to apologize. I'm well aware that you did not intend to get jumped in an alley. However, I can't say that I am comfortable with my son spending time with you." Regina said as she stepped closer to the blonde.
"I would never hurt him, or let anyone else hurt him." Emma defended. "He's a great kid. And we have fun." She knew the last part sounded like she herself were a little kid, but she couldn't help it. The boy brought the kid out in her, something neither of them had had many chances to be.
Regina ran a light finger across the blonde forehead to check the cut above her brow. "I had told him that he was no longer allowed to hang around you." Emma frowned as her eyes fell downwards. "However, by his reaction, I know he won't obey me on this one." She paused, "I don't know what it is about you, but you seem to have lit something in my son."
Emma could tell the brunette disliked saying those words to her, "So, does that mean he can hang out with me?" The blonde gave a hopeful smile.
"Of course it does ugly duckling." A man said.
Emma looked up. After a moment, the realization hit her as to whom Dr. Mills was an instant tear welled up in her eyes, "Dr. Mills? I didn't know you were the Mills they were talking about.
The blonde didn't notice the curious look that Regina gave to the younger woman and the man.
"The one and only." He smiled as he walked over and leaned down to kiss the blonde on the forehead. He stepped back and put his hand on Regina's shoulder, "This is my daughter, Dr. Regina Locksley."
The blonde's eyes grew wide, "Your daughter? Wow." She swallowed. He had told her that he had a daughter when she would come here as a kid. She didn't imagine her looking like that.
Henry chuckled, "Yes, wow."
Heat flooded the blonde's cheeks and she knew she was blushing. She didn't mean to say that out loud. Regina already hated the Nolan's and now she had one drooling over her. Emma shook her head and gave a silent sigh.
"Shit. I need to call Anton. I'm supposed to be at work." She looked over at Regina, "What time is it?" Emma said glancing around at a clock.
"It's after eight, ugly duckling. I already spoke with Anton. He knows you're here. He said that he would swing by after the club closed." Dr. Mills said resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Emma started chewing on her thumbnail. What were they going to do? They couldn't let these guys get away with this, but at the same time, they couldn't attract any unwanted attention. What they did to Emma was surely going to start a war for her brother's crew. If she remembered correctly, when they were fired up, discretion went out the window.
A soft warm hand slid over hers, moving her fingers away from her mouth. Emma looked up to see that it was Regina, "That is a nasty habit Miss- Emma. If you keep doing that I might be tempted to restrain you again."
The blonde's breath caught and she swallowed hard. She knew that the woman wasn't flirting, but Emma had a very vivid imagination. She was picturing the brunette tying her to a bed, but it wasn't this one. Regina had one of those voices that could bring the greatest of people to their knees. Emma fought a slight chill that ran up her neck. This woman had to be the sexiest creature alive.
Someone's phone pinged causing everyone to look around, "It's me." Regina said as she took a couple of steps back to read her text. Emma watched the older woman roll her eyes as she texts back to whoever it was. She found herself finding every little thing she did fascinating.
Suddenly the cell phone in Regina's hand went off playing the song you are my sunshine, "Yes son, she is." She huffed.
"She needs to rest and" Emma could only guess that Henry had cut her off.
"Fine. I will ask her." She turned towards the blonde, "Henry wants to talk to you, but if you are not feeling-"
Emma interrupted, "Sure." She said with a slightly dopey smile. She hadn't realized that the nurse had injected the medication into her I.V.
Regina sighed, "Okay, but don't keep her long Henry she needs rest." With that, she passed the phone to the blonde.
"Hey, kid?" She said smiling.
"Hey Em. How are you feeling? Mom told me they broke your ribs." She could hear the frown in his voice.
"I'm tough, no worries. How are you doing? What did your dad say?" She asked with concern.
"I'm fine, and dad never knew anything. He thinks you dropped me off." The boy said.
Emma could hear in the kid's tone he would rather be anywhere but with his sperm donor. "Hey, maybe soon we can go back to the zoo. If you behave that is." She added.
"Behave? What are you talking about? I never get into trouble." He defended.
"That's funny, by the sounds of it, you gave your mom some trouble today." She said.
There was a pause, "That was only because she said I couldn't spend time with you anymore."
"And what did you do when she told you that?" She asked not knowing the full story, but she wasn't going to let him know that.
"I told her that she couldn't do that, that you were my friend." He defended.
Emma glanced up noticing the brunette watching, "Didn't you tell me your mom has been stressed out lately?"
"Well, yeah, but she wasn't going to let me see you." He tried to justify again.
The blonde could see the strange look that crossed the older woman's face. "Yeah, but you don't tell your mom what you are or are not going to do. You should always listen to your mom. One day she won't be there and it will be too late." Emma hid the small crack in her voice.
"Yeah, okay." He said. "I didn't mean to yell at her. She wouldn't listen to me so I got mad."
"I hear you kid, but maybe you should tell her that." She said with a small smile.
"I will. I'm glad you're okay Em." He said softly.
"Me too kid. I'm going to give you back to your mom now and I'll talk to you later. Maybe she will give me my phone and we can text later." She said looking back up at the watery brown eyes of the beautiful woman.
"Deal! Bye Em." He said and she could tell he was smiling.
She passed the phone back to the brunette who let out a breath of air, "Hey Honey."
The woman walked away from the bed as she listened, "I know Honey."
"Of course I forgive you. Okay. I love you too and I will talk to you tomorrow." She said ending the call and slipping the cell back into her lab coat pocket. Emma noticed her swipe a quick hand under her eye and then she turned around, "He said he will text you after his bath."
Emma's eyes were getting heavy. She was sure it was the painkillers the nurse had given her. At least she couldn't feel the pain in her ribs at the moment. She blinked a couple of times but she couldn't fight the feeling. After a second she was consumed by darkness and all of the noise died out around her.
