Chapter 2

They all appeared in the hospital in a cloud of purple smoke in front of Dr. Whale. Snow ran up to him with tears rolling down her cheeks, her voice frantic.

"Where's Emma?"

"She's fine. She's in room eight right over there!" Whale pointed to the room right behind him.

David ran up behind his wife, looking to Dr. Whale.

"So, she's going to be okay? She's going to live?" asked David.

Dr. Whale just stared for a few seconds as if trying to gather his thoughts before replying.

"Yes, she's going to live. Although, if Gold didn't bring her here when he did, she would've died. I removed the bullet that punctured her lung. Once she wakes, she'll be in pain, but she will be fine. It will take her a while to fully recover, but she's young and strong and will make it out of this unfortunate incident without any consequences, since the bullet went straight through and it didn't touch any other vital organs."

Snow and David felt more at ease, their panic slowly fading. Snow thanked Dr. Whale and turned to Neal, thanking him as well for ensuring Emma wasn't left there to die.

Dr. Whale interrupted Snow's praising of Neal to ensure that everyone had his full attention.

"Please understand that I am not sure when Emma will wake up. It could be a few days or just a few hours. We never really know when a gunshot wound is this bad. But I can assure you that she will wake up, eventually."

Regina could feel her heart slowly breaking at the thought of Emma lying there in that hospital bed. She guessed that if Emma had already awake she would be trying to get to Neverland to find Henry. But at this point, it looked as if Regina would be going alone.

The idea personally didn't feel right to the brunette because Emma always followed right behind her, especially if it involved Henry. This time she wouldn't be following behind her at all.

Regina wasn't sure if she should wait until Emma woke or not, since this could take hours or days or weeks, but she knew that she couldn't let anything happen to Henry. She would get him back if it were the last thing she did. So once Regina knew Emma would be alright, she started making her way out of the hospital to go to her vault and prepare for the journey to Neverland.

Snow noticed Regina leaving and immediately followed after her.

"Where are you going, Regina? Don't you wanna see Emma first?

Wouldn't Henry want you to see Emma?"

Regina turned around and looked annoyed that Snow followed her, and frankly, she was, but she was also heartbroken about Emma. Truth be told, she couldn't bear seeing Emma lying there helpless in the hospital bed. It would make her try and heal Emma when she knew that if Gold couldn't heal her, how would she be able to? Throughout her life, ever since she learned how to use magic, she had used it mainly for evil purposes only. How could she even remotely think that her magic could be any good to heal the Savoir. She wasn't sure what to do, but she certainly wasn't going to let Snow or anyone else see her broken. So instead, she did her best to look like she didn't care for Emma and that her only intention was to save Henry.

"Look, I don't need to see Emma. I made sure she was okay. That is what Henry would've wanted. Now that I know she will survive, I'm going to find a way to Neverland to save Henry. I know there is a magic bean somewhere. I had one in my office, and someone stole it, and I know exactly who. So that is my biggest concern right now. Getting that bean and saving Henry."

Snow looked baffled for a moment. She felt like there was way more to this than just saving Henry, but she didn't dare ask about it.

"Okay, then what? You get the magic bean, and you go alone? I don't think so, Regina. I won't leave Emma, but you can't go alone to Neverland. You had never been there before, it's uncharted territory for you. You could fall right into a trap. Someone should go with you."

"I don't care what kind of traps they may have. I will always find Henry. If David or Neal want to tag along with me to Neverland, then so be it, but I am not wasting another second to get that bean."

Regina then turned around and started walking off, but right before she could get too far, she heard Snow ask, "Who stole the bean?"

Regina turned around again, looking even more annoyed than a few seconds ago.

"Hook did! But first, I need to pick up a little potion from my vault."

Snow now looked confused.

"What potion? What are you going to do to Hook?"

"Well, that's not your concern, now is it? You want Henry back? Then let me handle this and let me do what I do best. I'm getting that magic bean, if it is the last thing I do!"

Snow wasn't sure what to say next, so she shut her mouth. But she felt that whatever Regina had planned for Hook wasn't good. She knew Regina was trying to be good for Henry, but she also knew that she'd kill for Henry if things came down to it. Snow was alarmed. She ran back inside the hospital to her husband, who was now in the room with Emma. Before she even spoke, she looked at her daughter lying there on that hospital bed, eyes closed, breathing calmly and steadily, and seeing Emma like this broke her heart in two. Tears again started to stream down her face. Only this time, she also had worry written all over her tear-stained face, and David could tell something was wrong.

"Snow? What is it? Is it about Emma? If seeing her like this makes you this upset, I can stay and watch her as you go home and maybe relax a little, and I'll call you as soon as I hear something."

Snow then looked to David, tears still falling down her face.

"It's not just seeing Emma like this. I feel hopeless, not being able to do anything. But I know she will be okay. I trust Dr. Whale. But what I don't trust is Regina. She's in pain and I know from experience that she can be erratic, evil and dangerous when she's in a state like that."

David now looked concerned. He walked up to his wife and put both hands on her shoulders to make her feel more at ease.

"Regina? What about Regina? When I saw her leave and you following after her, I figured she just needed a heart-to-heart or something. But if she's planning something bad and you might know what it is, then you have to tell me!"

"I don't know what she's planning on doing, but she said that Hook stole a magic bean she had in her office, and she's going to get it back. She said she's going to her vault first to pick up a potion before going off to find Hook and that bean he stole. I fear Regina is going to use the potion on Hook. I feel like whatever that potion is may kill him. I'm not sure, but I don't trust her."

David then looked to his wife with even more concern than before, obviously not trusting Regina.

"I need to go after her and find out what she's planning then. Are you okay to stay here and be by Emma's side if she wakes up? One of us should be here when she wakes up."

Snow nodded her head in agreement as David practically ran out of the room to find Regina. So naturally, the first place he would go looking for her was her vault. Especially since Snow had just told him that the crypt was where she was going. At some point on his way to the vault he decided he would go to Neverland with Regina. If Snow didn't trust her, he should tag along in the rescue mission to make sure Regina didn't go off the rails and create more chaos. When Regina felt threatened or felt wounded she could be a ticking bomb waiting to detonate. Going into an unknown realm was already dangerous enough, to add more unnecessary troubles to the situation. On his way there he played all kinds of scenarios and arguments in his mind, preparing for Regina's refusal of him joining her in the journey to Neverland. What he never expected was Regina's reaction to his offer to tag along.