I'm just going to apologise in advance for any medical inaccuracies. It's all about the drama ? ﾟﾘﾂ?. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Also going to give warning, I'm going to start my work block tomorrow, so you probably won't see an update for another ten days. If you do Yay. If not, it will just be work tying me down. Will definitely get back to it on my days off. So yeah, once again I hope you enjoy.
"Where am I?" "Who are you?" David tried to communicate; his mouth would open but no words would come out.
"Sir" he soon heard. A male's face now hovered above his "my name is doctor Whale and you are in hospital. That tube in your throat is stopping you from talking. It's there to help you breathe and cannot be taken out as of yet"
David closed his eyes. He was confused, his memories a fog.
"Sir" he heard again, prompting him to once again reopen his eyes. "Sir are you able to blink for me" David complied "now can you blink twice more" David again followed the orders. A flash of light then crossed David's eyes, before the doctor suddenly disappeared from his view, only to return mere seconds later.
"Sir" he said once again. "Can you squeeze my hand?" He felt a slight warmth in his left hand, but nothing much else. He tried but to no avail.
"Hmmm" he heard coming from the doctor "do you think you could attempt to lift your left arm up?, now the right?" All David managed was a slight shrug of his shoulders. David was now concerned.
"Hmmm. Sir. Do you think you can blink once for yes and twice for no" it appeared to the doctor that pen and paper was no longer an option. David blinked once.
"Sir, do you know your name?"
He blinked again once.
The doctor nodded. "Sir I'm going to go through the alphabet, I need you to blink at me each time we reach a letter of your name, until it's spelt out, do you understand?"
David blinked once
"Ok" the doctor continued until they had the letters D.A.V.I.D. "David. Your name is David?" He confirmed.
His patient blinked once.
"How about a last name. Do you have one?"
David went blank. Last name? He couldn't remember his last name.
"Do you remember your last name?" Whale enquired.
David blinked twice for no.
The doctor nodded "Do you remember what happened to you?"
Once again David blinked twice
"Do you remember anything from before coming here?"
David paused for a moment, as he tried to recollect anything, but nothing came to mind. He blinked twice again for no.
"I see" said the doctor before continuing "David, about three weeks ago you were admitted to Storybrooke's local hospital. You were found on the side of the road, alone and half freezing to death. Upon your arrival we found that you had suffered a severe blow to the base of your neck. Your spine had been damaged. Our surgeons stabilised and fused the damaged region in an attempt to decompress the compromised nerves"
David's eyes widened.
"Because of your state of unconsciousness, we didn't know the full extent of the damage to your spinal cord" the doctor paused for a moment "this is most likely the reason you were unable to squeeze my hand and lift your arms"
David felt his heart beat rising.
"However, this doesn't mean you won't regain any further function. You have only just woken up from a comatose state. It just might take a while, with a bit of rehabilitation and determination, to retrain those muscle functions and motor control. Do you understand?"
David blinked once
"Good. So don't fear the worse just yet"
David felt a slight amount of relief, enough to slow his heart rate, but not enough to remove his fears.
"Doctor Whale" came another voice, David was sure that this one was female.
"Nurse?" The doctor responded
"Mayor Mills, she's here"
Doctor whale nodded in acknowledgment, before looking back towards his patient and excusing himself "I will be back momentarily, David"
"Madame Mills" Whale greeted "glad you could make it here so quickly"
Regina had not been here for small talk. She had one question and one question only "does he remember?"
"He remembers his name" Whale paused for a moment. Regina could feel her heart almost jump out of her chest "however that's about it"
The answer wasn't good enough "what do you mean?"
"He only remembers his first name, no last name. Neither does he remember what happened to him, or a thing else before waking up here"
Regina nodded as she bit her lip, her hands firmly on her hips "I see"
"Our John Doe is now a David Doe. Other than that, there is nothing more we know as to his origins"
Regina felt a weight off her shoulders as she inwardly sighed in relief.
"One more thing, Madame mayor" the doctor continued "our David Doe has limited motor function. The full extent of his injury won't be known until further monitoring and rehabilitation"
"And this means?"
"Essentially" the doctor explained "as of current he is paralysed from the shoulders down"
Regina's eyes widened.
"However this may improve. With rehabilitation, determination and some support, he may regain further functions".
Regina had slightly been taken aback. She was silent for a moment until she asked "what does this have to do with me?"
The doctor replied simply "everything. You are his emergency contact after all. He still doesn't remember who he is, other than a first name, so as far as we know, he has no family. He's going to need someone, who better than the woman who saved him herself?"
Regina's brows furrowed
"How about, before you say no, you go in there and meet him"
"Fine" Regina said in surrender, her palms slightly raised "I will talk to him" although she preferred not to. An awake Charming was an unpredictable factor to her curse, which brought her a sense of uncertainty.
"Good" Whale said simply "it's all I ask. Although, one more thing Madame Mayor"
"Yes" she snapped, her patience growing short.
"David has a tracheostomy" he noticed a confused brow raise "a tube to the throat that assists in breathing" he simplified "which means he's unable to communicate verbally. However he can reply to yes or no questions via blinking, once for yes and twice for no"
Regina nodded, before heading to into David Does room.
Regina's heart almost stopped at the sight. For some reason he looked different from his sleeping self. He almost reminded her of a lost puppy. The only reason she agreed to the doctors request, was so she could see the Prince's suffering up close and personal. She had always despised the husband of Snow White. He had been no Prince, no matter how much he pretended to be so. He would always be a Shepard's boy, and nothing more.
"David" she said, hiding her disgust "I hear that is your name"
He blinked once. She gave a half smile that didn't quite reach her ears.
"My name is Regina Mills, Mayor of this town, Storybrooke. I was the one who brought you here" she informed. "Be assured, you will be attended to with the best care Storybrooke has to offer" she gave the political bravo speech "this I will see to"
David's facial expression changed, although she couldn't quite make out what he was thinking.
Regina had avoided the hospital for almost a week. The good doctor had left her with more than one voice message on her phone. But she had been too busy, she had to watch the little wretch Snow, well Mary Margaret. To her surprise, since David had awaken, the younger brunette hadn't stepped into the hospital once.
Her phone rang once again, and once again she ignored it. However she did listen to the voicemail left behind. Her lips pursed and brows furrowed. The doctor had informed her that it was ok if she did not want to contribute to David's rehabilitation, that with her position as mayor she was probably to busy anyway to do so. But then he mentioned that he would ask a particular young, short haired brunette volunteer, if she would like to instead. Regina had been far from thrilled at this idea. She had to seperate the pair, she couldn't risk Snow White ruining her happiness once again. So she decided that, despite having to spend time with the insufferable man she despised, the alternative was much worse. So she called back Whale, apologised for being unavailable, and then fully committed to the role of David Does emergency contact. Although she felt as if she needed to shower afterwards.
"David" Regina said as she plastered on a fake smile "I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to visiting this past week, but I'm afraid it's just been too busy down at city hall. We have a fundraising ball coming up, I had to attend to the finance side of things. I hope you can forgive me"
David blinked once.
"I'm glad" she said, as she took the seat beside his bed. "I hope you have been good"
He blinked once again.
Regina found her mind becoming blank. She cocked her head to the side, biting her bottom lip in thought. She didn't know what to say. So they both sat in silence. She must have been there for an hour, sitting beside him, both watching the contents of the tv. Against her will a small chuckle came out once in a while. Then eventually she left, and to her surprise she wasn't left with the need to shower. Maybe she thought, because she didn't actually talk to him. Although remembering who the former prince was, she doubted he had much intellectual to say anyway. It was better that he stay silent.
David didn't understand why the woman visited. To his knowledge she saved his life (if he could call this living) she didn't owe him anymore. Yet, even if he could, he wouldn't tell her to leave. Her presence, he couldn't explain why, became somewhat comforting to him. Something he could rely on. She visited everyday, at the same time. Sometimes she came with paperwork, other times she only brought herself. And as of late, she started to converse sometimes it's one sided, other times it had been work related. She'd asked for input on certain things, all in a yes or no format. And sometimes, when she got really frustrated, she would rant, than apologise. If he could, he would tell her that there is no need to. He was more than happy to listen. In his mind, it was better than the gossip he'd hear from the passing Nurses and doctors gossiping about both their own love lives and their patients. His limbs may not work, but his ears still did. He couldn't help the smile that would grow on his face as she entered his room.
Regina didn't understand why, but for some reason she started looking forward to her visits to the Shepard boy. He offered something new. And while it didn't negatively affect her, she was going to take it while she could, even if she didn't understand exactly what it was. Once again as she entered the room, he gave her a toothy grin. "Well, somebody is happy" she pointed out.
He blinked once.
"Although I hear there is good news in order"
His brow raised
She cocked her head to the side "don't pretend as if you don't know" she mocked scolded.
He looked to the wall, as if to pretend he didn't know what she was referring to.
"I see. You want me to say it for you"
He blinked once. His eyes had a playful glint.
"The doctor tells me you have been cleared. You are now well enough to start your rehabilitation program"
His grin grew wider.
"Hmmm. That grin is troubling"
He blinked once.
And as usual she sat in the spot beside him, only moving once the care staff performed there pressure area cares, and when they done that she only moved to the opposite side, that way she faced the way he was looking. They soon fell into a comfortable silence as she began to bury her head into a pile of paperwork.
Some weeks had passed, and David had progressed in his rehabilitation program, he had regained some function in his arms, but had no dexterity in his fingers. He was still weak however, and still had a lot of work to do in re-strengthening and training his muscles.
It had been a Monday morning, 10 am sharp and Regina was there visiting on her regular schedule. Like usual she sat in the seat beside him and continued with her usual routine, paperwork, venting, asking his opinion, then lunch. She always had a salad. He didn't know why, to him her figure was perfect, maybe the salad was how she kept it that way, but then he remember that's the salad dressings usually have as much calories as fries themselves. He wondered if she knew that. Now he was hungry. He would kill for a burger and fries, but until he got the approval for the tracheostomy to come out, and further testing in his swallowing ability, he would be stuck with the slush (that's what he called it) that they pumped directly to his stomach. Not quite as satisfying, he thought.
Sometime had passed, and for some reason, he couldn't quite explain why, he reached out towards her. His outer forearm resting on her shoulder. She looked up towards him. Her brows both raised. He only wanted to thank her, for being there when no one else was. She must have understood, because she cocked her head and gave a half smile, before saying "you're welcome". However it must have been too sudden, because quickly after that, she was standing from her seat, she apologised and left for the door. If he could feel his stomach drop, he tried to call out for her, but the tracheostomy made it impossible to vocalise. He then attempted to wiggle out of bed with the limited functions he had, but was still too weak to do so. He had to watch helplessly as she left, all he wanted to do was say he was sorry, he didn't mean to scare her away. But his ability to do so, along with soo much more had been taken away. It was just something else to add to the list.
Regina went about business as normal. Signing paperwork, and reading through the petty complaints of the towns folk. Then suddenly, she felt slight weight on her shoulder. She looked up to see that it had been David's arm. He gave her a look of sincerity, his eyes gentle, he was thanking her, this she new. She gave him a half smile and responded "you're welcome" he smiles back. But she feels something she can't quite describe. Internally something in the back of her mind, her heart, is telling her to run. She tries to fight the urge, but she finds her hands start to shake. She gives in, reluctantly standing and excusing herself, leaving abruptly. She gives one final glance back. She sees David, he appears distressed and she feels terrible, but her feet move anyway.