Storybrooke Hospital, 1:30 AM
"What happened?! Where are they?!"
The former bandit princess flew into the main doors of Storybrooke general, diaper bag flying behind her, pushing Neal's stroller as though it were an Indy 500 race car. One of the nurses immediately went to the distraught woman, but Snow's wrath quickly made her backpedal almost immeditately.
"Doctor Whale!" the nurse said, glancing over at the blond man in crisp white lab coat who was currently speaking to an orderly, mumbling about medication. Whale sighed, steeled himself and made his way over to the woman,
"Mary Margaret..." he began with a professional soothing tone, but one sharp look from the princesses face made him shut up.
"Doctor Whale, please... David and Emma...Henry... are they ok?" Snow pressed on, struggling with Neal who was beginning to get fussy. She quickly bent to pick up her newborn son, and began rocking him gently, but earnestly.
Whale gestured to the large family room with his clipboard. " Mary Margaret...please this way...you... you don't know?"
Her stomach began to perform the most extraordinary feat of acrobatics at this point in time. With fear snaking through every pore of her body, she struggled to meet the doctor's ever increasing worrying gaze.
"Know what?" she asked in a deathlike whisper.
Whale gently took Snow's arm and led her into the room, closing the door behind him as Snow settled baby Neal back into his stroller and sat down in one of the large chairs in the room. It was cold, but it wasn't from the lack of heat, and she began to rub her arms when the goosebumps began dancing along her arms.
Whale pulled another chair closer to her, and settled himself gently down into it, laying the clipboard at his feet.
"It's not...just your family..." Whale began, eyes gently meeting Snow's to make sure she was listening to her properly.
"Not just Emma, or David, or Henry...?" Snow asked again, sounding weak in her disbelief. " Whale... I need to see them...I need to know what's happened."
Whale ran a hand through his hair. "Your husband, daughter, grandson...stepmother..."
"What's wrong with Regina?!" Snow blurted out. Neal gave a whimpering yell, and Snow soothed him, apologizing.
Whale watched Snow's outburst for a moment, debating on what to tell her next, or exactrly...how to tell her exactly.
" David, Emma, Henry, Regina...Killian I believe his name was? Ruby, Mr. Gold...they're all here at the hospital."
"Killian? Ruby? Gold?" Snow's mouth was dropping so far, she was surprised it didn't unhinge from her jaw at this point.
"Tell me what's wrong!" she finally exploded, Neal gave a sharp cry.
Whale sighed. He was dreading this part.
"We don't know." he admitted with a heavy sigh.
Minutes ticked by like hours. Snow heard the radiator hum in the background, her labored breathing sounding as though she'd just run ten miles through the forest.
"You can't tell me... what's wrong... with my family... or my best friend?! WHERE ARE THEY?!"
Whale winced, holding up a hand to calm Snow down before security would make themselves known. Not that it would stop her at any rate.
"Under observation. We're keeping all of them in one of our largest rooms. Even I'm not entirely aware of the details..."
"Tell me what you know." Snow pressed, fishing around in the diaper bag for Neal's bottle, which the baby happily took with a pleased gurgle.
Whale picked up his clipboard from the floor, turning a page. " Leroy was actually the one that found David. He and Clark were driving home from Rabbit Hole, and they saw him passed out by the side of the road."
Snow's hand flew to her mouth. "David... oh god. Charming..."
Whale didn't answer, but remained at a respectful silence to allow Snow to compose her self. "Leroy got David into his truck, but went to investigate further. From his reports, David was delirous, but was mumbling Emma's name. Leroy found Emma, Killian, and surprisingly Regina, and Gold a bit farther into the woods."
"Why were they in the woods?" Snow asked. " There was a storm outside!"
Whale shook his head. "Once again, I'm afraid I can't say. Clark discovered Emma's car, and Henry was inside passed out in the backseat, and Ruby was in the driver's seat, passed out as well."
Snow shook her head in growing disbelief. "I don't...understand..."
Whale nodded slowly. "I can understand your frustration." he took a moment, waiting on Snow's silent cue to finish his story. "Well, as you can see...with such an influx of people, we had all of them transported here. Unfortunately, David, Emma, Henry, and everyone else that Leroy and Clark found are suffering from the same symptoms. Delirium, fatigue, and memory loss..."
"A spell? a curse?" Snow asked with a lump forming in her throat.
"I don't know. If it is, none of them can tell me or my staff anything." Whale said with a genuine regret in his voice. "With the storm making the telephones and everthing glitchy, it took longer than expected for me to get a call out to you."
"Thank you Doctor Whale." Snow adjusted Neal in her arms. " I don't...I can't...I'm having a hard time... understanding this...but at least...I know now."
Her brows furrowed. "Gold is here too? That's impossible... he's the Dark One! He can't get sick or..."
"But he can be affected by magic." Whale said with a somber tone. "and it has affected him as much as it has the others."
"What sort of curse... are we dealing with... if it can take down... Mr. Gold..." Snow whispered fearfully.
"To be fair... we don't even know if it is a curse..." Whale said in a soothing tone.
"But what else could it be?" Snow asked back, weakly. "Oh... Granny and Belle? Did you get in contact with them?"
"Yeah. Granny and Belle are actually with them now. Leroy picked them up once the storm began to lessen. He offered to come get you, but one of my nurses managed to get a call through to your place."
"I'll kiss that man when I see him." Snow said. "He saved my family."
"He's a good guy." Whale agreed.
"He is." Snow said with a quiet sincerity. A fire awoke within her, and she shakily got to her feet, gently putting Neal back into his stroller, the baby fast asleep from his earlier bottle.
"Now, Doctor Whale...I'd like to see my family."
David looked eerily similar in which the first dark curse was cast over twenty-eight years ago. Her husband remained silent and still, save for the constant hum of machines that was taking his vitals, and the slow steady beat of his breathing.
But he was alive. They all were.
They were grouped in two rows in the largest room the hospital had, evidence of it becoming a makeshift observation room. David lay still and silent in his hospital bed, Henry on his left, Ruby, and Killian on his right. Emma, Gold, and Regina were laying in beds across the room, under tighter circumstances considering their powerful magical abilities. All of them looking deceptively peaceful in their beds, silent and unmoving.
"Looks like they're just sleeping."
The smell of french vanilla drifted from Snow's left, and a hot cup was immediately placed in her hands.
"Belle." Snow said, turning to face the younger woman with such relief she nearly burst into tears. The princess turned pawn shop dealer, wife of the Dark One himself met Snow's gaze unflinchingly, but her eyes were glossy with unshed tears.
"I keep thinking this is all some horrible nightmare...and they'll just wake up...that Rumple will...wake... up..."
Her carefully guarded mask slipped, and soon Snow as pulling the younger girl into her embrace, whispering soothing words and rubbing her back gently.
"I know...I know..." Snow said. She broke the hug a moment later, and Belle wiped her eyes, putting on a brave smile.
"I've been watching them." Belle said quietly, her quiet bravery shinning through. "Well, not just me, Granny's been here too. Almost brought her crossbow. We take turns, making sure everything is alright..."
"Thank you Belle. That means...everything to me."
The princesses walked amongst the row of beds, looking at the ill forms of the people they loved most.
Snow paused at David's bed, running gentle fingers through his hair, and kissing him softly on the lips. Her husband didn't stir, and Snow squeezed his hand gently.
"Come back to me. I'll find you." she promised, looking down at him with love in her eyes. She glanced over at her grandson's motionless form, then to her best friend, both laying there weak and motionless.
Belle stood by Gold's bed. Her husband, the most powerful of all magic users was laying there in a coma state, and she had no clue how to help them.
"I don't know what to do..." Belle whispered. She gently moved a strand of hair from his eyes, glancing over at Emma's equally still form, and then to Regina. "I don't know how we can help any of them."
"Faith. Hope." Snow said, remembering what David said to her all those years ago. "Now is our time to be strong. We have to be. It's hard, trust me, I know. The waiting, the watching, the worrying."
"I do indeed." Belle said with a quiet nod.
Snow touched Ruby's arm tenderly, before going to Killian's bed. She knew the ex-pirate loved her daughter more than anything, and it pained her to see someone to courageous, so fearless, in such a weakened state, alongside her brave and beautiful daughter.
"We'll be strong for them now. Family finds each other. This family will find each other." Snow said, joining Belle by Gold's bed, and casting a look to Regina's still form.
"I've called Robin." Belle said. "He's worried, and he'll be on his way as soon as possible."
"Good." Snow said. "We need to be together, all of us, more than anything."
"Doctor Whale said...they've lost their memories, that they were...suffering from some sort of delirium..."
"That's what he told me too." Snow said, reaching out to stroke Emma's blond curls. "Emma...wake up... please..." she begged, but her daughter made no response.
A thunderous crash shook both princesses from their inner thoughts, and a loud yell came from the hall.
"What the hell?!" Snow said, whirling instinctively to protect Belle and the other occupants of the room. Footsteps pounded hard on the floor.
"Snow. Belle!"
"Granny!" Snow said, going the older woman. Granny bore her grief silently, bowed yet unbroken, a fire in her eyes.
"This lot strong right here." she murmured, casting a glance at her granddaughter's form in her hospital bed. "Ain't no curse that can lick a prince, a pirate, savior, a wolf, a queen, believer, or the dark one himself."
"We well get through this Granny." Snow reaffirmed, but her gaze was worried. "what's all the noise outside?"
"Dunno. But just in case whatever's attacking might come back, I figured I'd run back here to protect em' best I could."
Snow's eyes filled with unshed tears, and she gratefully grabbed the older woman's hands in thanks with a smile.
"Just doing what's right..." Granny said with a huff. "You girls be careful."
"We will Granny. " Belle promised, and went to the door. Snow followed moments later, peeking her head out.
"Someone! Help!"
Belle and Snow stared.
"Elsa?!" Snow said in disbelief.
The hallway was filled with ice, some nurses, doctors, and even a few patients had crashed to the floor, and in the middle of the winter wonderland, stood the young Queen of Arendelle herself.
"Belle! Snow! I need help!"
Snow and Belle looked at each other. On the one hand, happy as they were to have her back in Storybrooke again, the grave desperate look on her face spoke volumes.
"Of course we'll help!" Snow said, gently stepping towards her. " But first, you need to calm down..."
"I'm trying..." Elsa said shakily. "But I need to get them help first."
"Who?" Belle asked, joining Snow.
"Anna and Kristoff." Elsa said with a shaky breathe. " Please. They're so sick. I didn't know anywhere else to turn too."
Snow and Belle looked at each other, before looking at Elsa with a shared sadness.
"Emma...Emma did so much for us..." Elsa pleaded. " Can she help me?"
Snow's heart lurched. "Emma's...not herself. She can't... help at this moment." she had no clue how to deliver that piece of news. "Where are Anna and Kristoff?"
"The mansion where we all sent through the portal to go back to Arendelle." Elsa said with lump in her throat.
"Ok. I"ll drive you there to get them." Snow held Elsa's hands in hers.
"We'll get through this. Family will always find one another."