A/N: I know this is a short one but it's just the bridge between the last scene and the next one. The next one will be longer, I promise. Also, just so you all know, this accident isn't the one mentioned in the summary. That one is still coming. This was a last minute idea but I think it will help the story move along better. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All aspects of Once Upon A Time belong to ABC and the show's creators.

Emma roused when an oxygen mask was secured over her face. It pushed air into her lungs, making her chest rise uncomfortably. Her shoulder stung around the shotgun shells with each movement, pinching enough to force tears out of her eyes. She tried to raise her uninjured arm to brush away the tears before someone noticed but her arm wouldn't move. A belt secured it flat to her side. Secured her to the bed she lay on. Where was she?

Everything above her was blurry, and not just from the wetness that gathered along her lower lids. Emma felt like her eyes had taken a vacation. Or maybe her brain had. She did feel kind of out of it. She tried to force her eyes open wider, to focus more. Come on Emma, figure out where you are.

She was in a metal box, strapped to a gurney. An ambulance. Yes, that's what it was called. A pressure bandage was secured over the wound in her shoulder. The gauze was already soaked through. A trickle of blood ran out from under it across Emma's chest, catching in the dip above her windpipe to form a little puddle. The EMTs had cut her shirt open to get at the spot where the bullets were still lodged inside of her. Emma groaned at that, the sound getting caught halfway up her throat. She was going to have to get a new one made now. Thanks a lot paramedics. A heart rate monitor beeped erratically beside her. That probably wasn't good. She turned towards it to watch the unevenly spiking line. That definitely wasn't supposed to look like that.

Sitting beside the machine was a man she knew. Tall, broad shouldered and blonde, wearing a police uniform that was soaked in blood. David. Of course he would ride in the ambulance with her. He looked panicked, his eyes red rimmed and his face pale. Emma hoped she didn't look that bad. David looked like he was going to pass out from worry. Maybe he should be on a gurney with oxygen too. He held his phone between his two hands, as if it was his only lifeline, his knee bouncing up and down as they drove.

"Dave?" she mumbled, testing out the name, trying to see if she was correct. He turned immediately, bending towards her face. Bingo.

"Hey, Emma. You're doing great, sweetheart. Keep it up." He grabbed Emma's hand and gave it a squeeze. Emma mumbled something in response. Not even she was sure what she had meant to say. She just felt that David had needed some form of reassurance that she was alive. For now a quiet voice murmured in her head. Emma forced herself to focus more on David than the pessimistic voice crooning about her imminent death. "I called Mary Margaret. She's on her way to the hospital now with Ruby. They'll be there when we arrive. Can you stay awake for them?"

Probably not. Emma made a noncommittal sound. Mary Margaret was going to kill her when she saw the bullet wound. Sleeping through the panic the holes in her shoulder would cause was a much better alternative.

"Is there anyone else you want me to call?" David asked, giving her hand another reassuring squeeze.

Was there anyone left to call? Yes, yes there was someone. But who? She couldn't get her head to focus on the name. Emma knew he needed to be there. She needed to know he would be waiting for her when she got out of surgery. But she didn't know how to ask for him. What to call him. It was becoming harder to focus. She was getting dizzy just trying to picture the man's face. Eyes as blue as melting glacier water floated across her mind's eye. The Harry Potter theme song began to whistle in her head. This guy had something to do with the movies. Emma started to hum along. Maybe David would be able to figure the puzzle out for her blood-loss addled mind.

"What's going on with her?" David's panicked voice echoed off the walls of the small ambulance. Emma kept humming, the sounds growing more insistent. David had to understand. Emma couldn't do this without him.

"She's going into shock," the paramedic who had been riding in the back with them replied. A blanket was thrown over Emma. The warmth was better. It helped her focus.

"Hold on, Emma. We're almost there," David begged. Emma wished he would be quiet so she could focus. The name was coming to her.

Blue eyes. Scruffy face. She was his favourite girl. Yes, it was coming back now. But so was the blackness, creeping up like a disease, blocking out David's body and his surroundings. The warmth of the blanket was starting to fade off, being replaced by an extreme light-headedness. Emma fought to focus. She was so close. So close. The man had walked in on her once, being beaten. He'd taken her home with him afterwards and bandaged the spot where her skin had broken open under the belt, fed her supper because she wouldn't get any if she returned that night. He protected her. She felt safe with him. The name hit her like a ton of bricks.

Emma opened her mouth to tell David who she wanted him to call but the movement was too much for her weak state. The blackness swallowed her whole before she could even utter a sound.

A crying sound woke Emma next. She pried her eyes open and the first thing she saw was Mary Margaret leaning over her, tears streaming down her face. Ruby stood behind her, face pale. They were at the hospital, just coming through the ambulance bay doors. The blanket still covered Emma but she was freezing. At least the heart rate monitor had stopped beeping now that she was disconnected. The sound of that and the crying might have been the end of her.

"I'm okay," Emma whispered. Mary Margaret reached down and ran her hand across her cheek.

"Stay strong, Emma. We'll be right here, the whole time."

Emma was pulled away from her friends as the paramedics ran her down the hallway, someone shouting for help taking her to the OR. Mary Margaret's words echoed through her head. There was someone else she wanted here. She'd remembered on the ambulance. Who had it been? The name slowly started trickling back as they arrived in the OR.

The doctor leaned over her, sticking her with an IV and shooting some liquid into her vein. Anesthetic. Emma could feel it working almost immediately. No. She needed to tell them who she wanted to be waiting for her.

"We'll fix you up, Miss. Swan. You sit tight and we'll see you in a bit." The doctor's voice grew muffled and slurred.

The blanket was removed and the nurses started prepping Emma for surgery. Emma filled her lungs with air as the sleep pulled her down into a painless oblivion. She needed to get the name out. It was now or never. She was able to utter one word before the medication took its full effect.

"Killian."