AN: Wowwwww, so that's how I get a response. Threaten to kill one of the main characters? ;) Anyway, thanks so much to those who've reviewed and thank you to Sandra. Your betaing skills are pretty fantastic. Okay so I haven't really outlined past chapter 5 so I'm going to go ahead and give "Hooked on a Feeling" a ballpark range of 10 chapters, but we'll see if the muse decides otherwise. Enjoy chapter 6! ~Kate

An ambulance slams on its brakes and two men rush out of it in a dead run. Emma's in Killian's arms and while he doesn't want to let her go, he knows they're going to be the ones to help her. Allowing them to take her and gently set her on a gurney before loading her into the back of the vehicle, he's bombarded with questions.

"She was hit by a car?"

"Yes!"

"What is her name?"

"Emma Swan."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-eight." He rakes a hand through his hair while they ask him more questions, and he's unable to take his eyes off of her chest, making sure it continues to rise and fall, that it continues to keep her with him. "Please, may I go with her?"

Hot tears are currently coursing down Killian's face and his vision is blurred. The ride to the hospital feels like an eternity, and while the paramedics are doing everything they can to keep her stable, her color has gone pallid. The evidence of the hit-and-run is swiftly beginning to show, her bruises vibrant against her ashen skin.

"Swan," he chokes out, squeezing the hand that doesn't look injured (at least, he hopes it isn't), "I swear on all that is holy that if you leave me I will never forgive you." By some miracle, she opens her eyes at his plea but he can see nothing but pain in them.

"Emma," one of the paramedics says quickly, trying to get her attention before she loses consciousness again. "My name is Thomas…can you hear me?"

She nods once, wincing as tears fill her eyes and she seeks out Killian.

"Are you hurting?"

Killian nearly lays into the imbecile, it's clear to anyone that Emma's in pain. Still, he doesn't because that wouldn't mean well for her.

"Do you know why you're in the ambulance?"

She nods again and then tries to speak, having realized he's holding her hand. "Killi-"

"I'm right here, Emma." He swallows hard and wipes the tear marks from her face with the back of his hand. "Quiet, please, just rest…" He shifts his attention to one of the other focused medics in the vehicle. "How much longer?"

"Five minutes."

"We're almost there then." His eyes slide back to his blonde light to give her a reassuring smile, but her eyes are closed. She's lost consciousness again and his heart hurts more than he could ever begin to describe. "Stay with me, love."

When they finally arrive to the hospital, there is a doctor already waiting for them and he rushes toward him. "She was struck by a car," he tells the man quickly.

"We're going to do everything we can for her, but I have to ask you a few questions." He holds up a clipboard with a stack of papers. "Are you going to be able to fill out the majority of this paperwork? Are you family?"

"We are dating…she's my girlfriend." Emma Swan is so much more to him than that, but he can't lie and tell the man that they're family. It isn't good form, but he understands, and he knows the information he's given isn't enough for him to be privy to updates on her health, so he throws in the one secret he'd kept from everyone, save for Milah.

"Then I'm sorry, but –"

"I plan to make her my wife."

Apparently that's enough information at the moment to allow him to remain as close as possible to where they are going to work on Emma. The doctor motions him to the waiting area to take a seat on one of the uncomfortable looking chairs.

More time passes, but he isn't certain on exactly how long he's been sitting there. It could have been an hour or it could have been six, but it feels as though Emma's been in surgery for much longer than need be. He hasn't heard a word on whether or not she's alright. Killian's trying his best to stay optimistic, that no news is good news, but he's beginning to lose his patience.

All he wants is to see her.

Before he gets the chance to stand when he's had enough of silence, a blond doctor walks out wearing scrubs and a hospital mask. He slips it down to his damp neck, and it's clear to Killian that he's spent a lot of time and energy trying to fix his Emma.

"What can you tell me?" he asks shakily, trying to pretend the frown on his face is strictly due to exhaustion and not anything else. "I have to know something, anything, please just tell me what's happening."

"You're her fiancé?" the man asks, wiping the sweat from his brow. When Killian nods because he wants nothing more for it to be true and if…when Emma survives this, he'll make it so, the surgeon stares at him solemnly and Killian can feel himself slipping away without a word having to be said. "She coded twice."

He pales. "Which means what, exactly?"

"You have to understand that the fact Miss Swan even survived the initial impact of the accident is nothing short of a miracle. However, she came in critically injured, Mayor, with multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm, and severe internal bleeding that was leaking into her abdominal cavity."

"No," he breathes, feeling like his heart has come to a stop. "Please, tell me…"

"She's alive, Mayor," the surgeon tells him with a tired smile. "It'll take a while for her to fully recover, but she will recover." Relief washes over Killian in massive tidal waves and he's about to cry from joy until he asks, "But due to circumstances, I have to ask…were you aware of your fiancée's pregnancy?"

The first thing she's conscious of aside from the fact that she is awake, is how much everything hurts. Literally everything hurts, from her head to her toes… and what the hell is happening right now? Where is she?

Beep….beep…..beep….

And that's going to get old real fast, she thinks, realizing she's in the hospital.

"Don't move."

She forces an eye open and is blinded by bright florescent lighting and there's a blurry figure in front of her. Panicking (she knows every one of these beds has a call button), she discreetly reaches for it until a gentle hand covers hers.

"Oh, Em …"

Her vision starts to clear and there's Ruby, watching her with teary eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?"

If only she remembered, because try like hell as she might, the last thing she remembers is having Killian chase after her, and then nothing. Everything goes black and then the next memory she has is waking up in a whole helluva lot of pain.

"Don't answer that," her best friend quickly says before Emma can tell her that she doesn't recall, and then she's aware of how sore her throat is. "You have one of those throat thingies to help you breathe, sweetie. I'll be right back because your doctor's going to want to know you're awake."

Half an hour later, Emma's rubbing her throat and trying her best not to cough. Doing so will cause just another wave of pain that she'd sure as hell like to avoid.

"Killian said there was an accident…that you were hit by a car and the driver just took off."

The doctor has removed her breathing tube, and Ruby is rehashing the previous night's events. Tears are streaming down Ruby's cheeks and Emma wants her to stop crying already. She's never been that sentimental of a person, but she's in pain, and the fact that Ruby is also hurting is only making her feel worse. At the mention of Killian's name though, she perks up the slightest bit.

"Where is he?" she rasps out, when they're temporarily left alone because the doctor needed to look for a tech to bring in equipment. They said it was required to "check on her condition."

Her face falls and Ruby sniffs, wiping her face. "He said…he said that now that I was here you'd still be in good hands, but that he needed some time. He didn't say much else beyond that…"

She wishes he hadn't left, but she understands. It's been a long, long day…it's nearing midnight, she'd been in surgery for six hours and is fighting sleep once again, and can only imagine how exhausted Killian must be after spending the entire night by her side.

"Miss Swan," another woman all but bounces in, chipper as all get out, and asks, "How are you feeling?"

The fact that she's even asking the question is enough to make Emma want to smack her but she shrugs and tries to ignore the pain she feels with the movement.

"We're going to just do a quick little update to make sure both of you are still on the mend."

Emma gives a little nod, and doesn't realize the lady's word choice until she's turning on the ultrasound machine.

She'd said 'both.'

Oh, Jesus Christ on a cracker.

"Both?" she asks, her voice still hoarse and yet managing to jump an octave. "I'm –"

"About five weeks pregnant, Miss Swan."

"Holy hell," Ruby shouts, and then she's throwing her arms around her, managing not to squeeze too hard but Emma still winces because now she understands exactly what Killian meant by needing some time. He'd found out before she did. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because I didn't know," she splutters, turning fearful eyes on the other woman in the room. "I had no symptoms…I just ended my period, I'm not…. I can't be…especially not after…"

"It's normal to bleed in the beginning, and since you're still in the early days it may be why you haven't experienced symptoms…and as for the accident, Miss Swan, that baby is meant to come into the world," the ultrasound tech says quietly and with a gentle smile. "It survived a brutal thing…you both did, and that's a miracle if I've ever seen one."

Her doctor speaks up before she can say anything in response. "Emma, you both have survived the night, but the little one still isn't completely out of the woods just yet, so you need to be sure that you go to extra lengths to ensure its safety, okay?"

"Yes," Emma nods quickly, feeling a tear roll over her cheek. "Absolutely, of course."

"Do you have someone you can stay with?"

Her first thought is Killian, but then her second thought shoves him out of the way. He left her. He needed time…whatever that meant.

"That would be me," Ruby speaks up, tightening her hold on her hand. "Best friend at your service," she winks and Emma laughs tearfully. "And you're going to be treated like a queen, like it or not." Not, she thinks, but she isn't going to win this argument. Not when she hurts too damn bad to try to convince her otherwise.

"Great," she grumbles, giving a small smile and when the tech places cold jelly on her bare stomach, she flinches.

"Sorry, it's cold."

"Noticed." Ten seconds later she's staring a tiny screen where the doctor is pointing out a small blob that she quickly realizes must be her developing baby.

"Oh, Emma…" Ruby's crying again and Emma's heart is expanding astronomically for this life that took her completely by surprise. "That's your baby!" she squeals and then, dammit, she's crying too. She isn't sure how to feel about any of this, and the one person she needs to lean on ran.

Three Weeks Later…

"Emma?"

Her best friend is pounding on the bathroom door, and she'd open it if she could keep her head out of the toilet long enough to do so. Her ribs are healing, still sore though and now after emptying her stomach's contents she feels like she did when she first woke up in the hospital.

She goes to respond when she feels the next round coming, and she grips onto the porcelain as Ruby rushes in and pulls back her hair.

"This can't be normal, Em," Ruby tells her as soon as she leans back against the wall of the tub. "You haven't eaten in days."

"I can't keep anything down." She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm starving one minute, and the next, the thought of food makes me feel nauseated…how do women do this?"

"Well the doctor did say it would end around the 12 week mark, right?"

"Another month," she nods, carefully getting to her feet and deciding on a shower while her stomach is calm – she isn't sure how long it's going to last.

After showering, she wraps a towel around herself and Ruby follows her with a damp washcloth into her bedroom. Normally she'd feel smothered, but right now she's too sick to complain and honestly she feels grateful now more than ever not to have pushed her best friend away. She's all she has these days since a certain blue-eyed man vanished into thin air when she needed him most.

"Have you talked to him?" Ruby asks, seeming to have read her mind.

"Nope," she swiftly replies, taking the cool cloth and throwing it over her face.

"Does he know about the baby?"

"Do you think I haven't tried contacting him? I have, Ruby, he hasn't answered any of my calls."

She swallows back the tightness she feels in her throat because of the truth she wishes was a lie. She'd tried calling him, multiple times since coming home from the hospital, and since every time she'd tried, failing, she'd finally given up on attempting to reach him. She never left a message telling him about her pregnancy, only that they needed to talk as soon as possible, and that she loved him.

Strangely enough, even with the returned silence, she still doesn't doubt his love for her. She believes he's fallen in love with her completely, but maybe the stress of what had happened to her in the hit-and-run had been too much for him. He'd lost his father, and maybe he was too afraid of losing her too, and that's why he left.

That thought's a lot more comforting to think about than him just skipping out because he simply didn't want anything to do with her anymore. It just hurts because he's gone M.I.A. for a month…

"Well," Ruby starts carefully, "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. I don't think he'd just leave town…I mean he's got more than just a responsibility to you, but to the city also. Have you tried visiting him?"

"When I can't stay out of the bathroom for longer than ten minutes?"

"Good point."

"No," she sighs, removing the now warm wash cloth and setting it on her nightstand. "No, I haven't tried visiting him but I will need to get back to work soon. When I do, he'll be there, and he won't be able to run."

Ruby's phone vibrates and she smiles, looking down at the screen. "Jefferson thinks you should come out with us tonight…get you out of the house."

"What if –"

"If you start feeling sick, we'll bring you home. It won't be the end of the world. We care about you, okay? Sue us."

She nods, and slowly sits up so as not to jostle her sensitive stomach. "What did you two have in mind?"

Her friend's smile widens even more.

Luckily, all they have planned for the night is a movie night at Jefferson's place. Popcorn, beer (well, beer for them, she'll be drinking tea), and a few comedies. Jefferson chose Dumb & Dumber, Ruby chose Mean Girls, and she chose The Hangover.

They've already watched the movie about the two well-meaning idiots who accidentally get involved with criminals, and are now halfway into Ruby's choice. Emma's been carefully sipping at her tea, thankful that her stomach has stayed calm long enough for her to relax with her best friend and her best friend's guy.

At first, it was awkward because Ruby kept trying to keep Jefferson's hands off of her so as not to make her feel awkward, but eventually she gave up and Jefferson wrapped an arm around Ruby and pulled her close. He hasn't tried anything since, and he's still being a gentleman…for once. Emma is grateful.

When Cady is about to learn Regina only pretended to talk to Aaron so that she could steal him back, there's a knock on Jefferson's door. She feels tension fill the room in three seconds flat. Jefferson's eyes are trained on Ruby, Ruby's on Emma, and Emma's eyes are locked on the door and she's feeling her heart begin to race.

They set her up.

"You two are unbelievable," she grumbles, sinking into the cushions and bringing her knees up to her chest. There's nowhere to go so she may as well be as comfortable as possible while whatever is about to happen, happens.

Jefferson gets to his feet, dusts the popcorn crumbs off his lap and lets Ruby run to her side while he moves for the door. "Don't hate me," she pleads. "This was the only way I knew how to get you both to talk to each other."

"Have you been talking to Killian?"

"Jefferson's been doing most of that, I'm just the match…fixer. I'd say maker, but y'all did that all on your own."

She hears a low voice, and again, she knows who it belongs to. She can't hear what he's saying, only Jefferson's words. "I want to let you in here, but you can't upset her."

A grumbled, unintelligible response.

"You left her for almost a month, man…and without an explanation. That does damage." She watches Jefferson sigh heavily, before nodding and backing away from the door. "She's watching a movie."

She braces herself, for what she isn't sure, but when he comes into the room all of her resolve crumbles and she clenches her jaw hard, swings her eyes to the ceiling to keep her tears from falling.

"Emma," he says weakly. The tone of his voice is just barely enough to make her look at him…and it hurts and she moves her focus back to the ceiling and then to her knees, picking at the fleece blanket she'd grabbed five minutes through Mean Girls.

Ruby places a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezes and Emma nods to let her know that it's okay that she leaves her alone with him. Ruby and Jefferson go into the kitchen on the far side of the apartment so she and Killian can have privacy, though she isn't sure how private it's going to stay when all she wants to do is scream at him for leaving.

"That's quite the gash you still have on your forehead, Swan."

Yeah, well, it isn't as bad as the gash in my heart is what she wants to say, but she keeps her mouth shut.

"How are you?"

"You disappeared for three weeks. How do you think I am?"

Killian winces and she sees the muscles in his jaw tick, and as her eyes flit up to meet his, she notices the dark circles under his eyes and it looks like he's been almost as miserable as she's been.

Almost.

"I deserve that," he says quietly, and this time she finds his gaze and holds it. "You have no idea what I've been going through, Emma…after the accident…I'm so happy that you're alive, that you're alright."

"Where'd you go?" She just wants to cut through the bullshit.

"I needed time, to collect my thoughts."

"For nearly a month?" She scoffs. "I hope you have them organized chronologically and in alphabetical order."

One of the corners of his mouths tilts up in a half smile. "You'd think, wouldn't you?" He takes a step further into the room and frowns at the way Emma tenses. "I don't even know where to begin with my apologies."

"You left me when I needed you, Killian. I got hit by a car, and you left."

He stiffens and shakes his head adamantly. "I stayed with you until the paramedics came –"

"Yeah, and then you left."

"Let me finish," he growls, like he's frustrated.

Well, you're not the only one, buddy. "Fine. Go on."

"I rode with you in the ambulance, I sat in the waiting room – for hours – not knowing a damn thing on your…condition…" she notices how he hesitates at the word and she wonders then if he knows, "and when they refused to tell me anything I told them I planned to make you my wife so that they'd tell me what the bloody hell was happening with you…also so you'd know that you weren't alone, that you had a family."

Her heart hurts at the thought because she wants to believe him, that he'd become her family during their relationship, that he wanted more with her, but the only family that's been by her side since she woke up is currently pretending not to listen in on them whiel she's in the kitchen.

"Some kind of family you are, you don't abandon family. You're such a hypocrite!"

"Me?!" he gawks at her before laughing shortly. "How so?"

"You talk about how I shouldn't run, that I should stay and fight, but at the first sign of something you can't handle, you turn around and do the same damn thing, Killian, what the hell?!"

"Emma," he snarls, "they told me that you'd flat-lined, more than once. For thirty agonizing seconds before the bastard finally told me you were alive, I felt like I couldn't breathe! And they wanted to run more tests, do another X-ray to check for anything they might have missed during surgery, but they couldn't, because you're pregnant."

He did know.

And he still left.

"And again, I couldn't pull any air into my lungs because I never imagined that life. I didn't want to be a father before finding out, and then I listened to the doctor explain the possible complications that could stem from whoever it was who threatened to take you away from me, and I was adamant that I still didn't want to be a father because I could lose you to this pregnancy, Emma. Did the doctor explain everything to you?"

"She said the baby was healthy," she cries, not bothering to hide her breaking heart. "She said that so long as I take care of it, and myself, we should be fine."

"She neglected to tell you that you're high-risk?" His blue eyes spark with anger.

"No." She wraps the blanket tighter around herself. "She told me right before I left, to remain calm, to take care of myself, but that I'd be fine." She wipes her nose. "I'm still waiting for the part where you explain why you left me alone at the hospital."

"I didn't leave you alone. I made sure Ruby would be able to stay with you."

"And she's been with me ever since."

"I'm glad to hear that, love." Hearing him call her that shreds her heart even more if it's possible, and she wants him to just end it because only then will she be able to stitch it back together. "Emma, I told you why I left. I needed to gather my thoughts. I needed to think long and hard about what my life was at that moment, and what it would mean if you continued to be in it. Also I had to think about what it would turn into if you were no longer a part of it."

Here it comes, she thinks. He's going to break up with her, but now that the moment is coming she can't let him be the one to do it. She feels like she's the one who needs to cut those ties. "I get it, it's over, Killian. I'll turn in my resignation letter effective immediately." She barely registers the shaking of his head, but she can't continue to work with him, not now. Not anymore. "I'll be sure –"

"Emma –"

" – to leave your files and messages –"

"Love, please I don't think you –"

" – somewhere you can easily find them, and I don't expect anything from you where the baby is involv–"

"Swan!" he shouts and she shuts her mouth, staring at his mildly annoyed expression. "You keep interrupting me." He takes a step closer. "I had to think about what my life would become if you were no longer a part of it…and I couldn't even fathom it. For weeks, I made the attempt. I was sure that if you were going to hide a pregnancy from me, then that should have been enough to leave you right then and there…" he continues on and it's leaving her baffled. He thinks she hid it from him? "Honestly, Emma, don't you think I deserved to know? Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I didn't know!"

He blanches. "What do you mean you didn't know? How could you not know?"

She shrugs. "I just didn't know, Killian." She takes a shuddery breath and flinches as she tries to stand a little too quickly to meet him eye-to-eye. She gasps and reaches for her side – broken ribs hurt like a bitch – and he's quick to rush to help, gingerly supporting her with an arm around her waist. "Thank you," she says, grateful for the support, secretly enjoying the feeling of his hands on her again, "Look…I found out after I woke up…I really thought the dizziness was from when I was sick." She laughs shortly. "Guess I was wrong."

"Also," she says, "It really kind of pisses me off to know you think so little of me, that I'd hide something like this from you. I wouldn't do that."

"I feel like a damned fool."

"You should." She grimaces, part pain and part nausea, and then reaches for the arm of the couch, carefully lowering herself back down to it and again letting Killian help. "Have they found the person who ran me over yet?"

"Not yet," he says and she looks at him to find his jaw clenched hard and rage in his eyes. "I'll find whoever did this to you, love. I promise they won't get away with it. Have you called the cops yet? To give an official statement?"

"I've been a little preoccupied, sorry." She catches him eyeing her still-flat somach, unable to determine the look in his eyes. "Besides, I don't remember anything about the actual accident at all."

"That's perfectly fine."

"It is?"

"Yes, because I officially reported the hit-and-run myself, too. Still kicking myself for not looking at the license plate, but I gave them all the details I could remember about the black Porsche that hit you."

"When did you do this?"

"On the first night I spent at home while you were still in the hospital. I couldn't focus on anything other than you and who could have done this. I have my suspicions, and if it's Cora who tried to take you away from me, she's a dead woman."

"You won't do any such thing," she argues weakly, putting a hand on her stomach. "If it was Cora then…" she pauses, and then takes a deep breath when her stomach rolls.

"Emma?" she hears him ask as she closes her eyes.

She shakes her head, unable to answer, and then rushes from the living room and into Jefferson's bathroom with a hand clamped over her mouth.

When she's finished, she's vaguely aware of someone rubbing circles on her back while resting her arm on the toilet seat. "Thank you, Ruby," she mumbles, resting her cheek her arm. The hand pauses and then it moves up to her neck, before she hears his voice.

"I'm sorry." Killian presses his lips to the back of her head. "I am so sorry for what you've gone through this past month…I never wanted you to feel abandoned, I just wanted to get my head on straight so I don't mess this up."

"What do you mean?" she says, and her gaze finds his as he leans forward to look at her. "You don't want this, Killian. You still haven't made up your mind."

"That's the thing, Emma…I believe I have."

AN: Thanks so much for reading, and please review (they are to me what Hershey kisses are to a chocolate addict)! ~Kate