Chapter 3

When the paramedics arrived, David had to physically pull her off of him. "Let them do their job."

She turned around and looked her father in the eyes. "I can't lose him." She whispered and felt David pull her into his embrace and she just sobbed into his chest.

"Come on Em. Let's follow them to the hospital." She nodded and he lead them to his truck and helped her in, then he drove them to the hospital.

They were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. "Henry." She whispered. "Where's Henry?"

"Emma. Mary Margaret picked him up. Remember?"

She nodded. "Sorry." She turned to face him. "I can't… I'm scared."

"It's okay." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into it, she fell into a restless sleep. He figured it'd be a good a time as any to call Mary Margaret.

"David? Is that you?"

He sighed. "Yeah Mary. It's me. Listen, can you get someone to watch Henry for you? Emma needs you."

Her heart stopped. What was wrong with Emma? "What happened? Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes. Emotionally, no." He heaved a sigh. "It-it's Graham." His voice cracked at the mention of his friends name. "He's in the hospital. No one will tell us what's going on. I don't know what happened. He and Emma showed up and I went in my office, then a few minutes later, Emma's screaming his name."

"I'll get Ruby or Granny to watch him. How is she?" She asked worriedly.

"She just fell asleep a few minutes before I called."

She took a deep breath. "I'll be there soon." She ended the call.

David looked at the teenage girl asleep on his shoulder and sighed.

XXX

"Graham! Wake up Graham!" The paramedics her giving him CPR, then stopped. "What are you doing?"

One of the paramedics shook his head. "I'm sorry. He's gone." He looked at his watch. "Time of death, 9:21 pm." He turned to Emma. "We'll give you a moment."

They left and Emma crawled over to Graham. "Come back. Please.'

He slowly opened his eyes and Emma smiled brightly. "Some savior you are. You're supposed to save a whole town and you couldn't even same me."

She shook her head. "You… you don't mean that Graham." His eyes closed. "No! Graham! Please! Just open your eyes."

Everything started shaking. What's going on. "Emma." She heard.

"Emma. Wake up. It's just a dream." Mary Margaret told her.

She quickly sat up. "Graham!"

"He's alive Emma, but he's in a coma. He had an aneurysm. They don't know if he'll wake up."

Emma shook her head. "No. He will. He has to." She insisted. "I have hope."

XXX

It's been two weeks since his heart aneurysm. She doesn't talk about it. Anytime someone asks her about it, she changes the subject.

David refuses to let her come back to work yet. Telling her she needs time. She doesn't need time. She's fine.

Emma said she needed some alone time, her son was able to tell that she was upset and it only upset him, so Mary Margaret offered to take him to the new daycare Ashley's opened up with Sean. They gave her a discount because of her help in getting Gold to back off from them.

She was at home, drinking, listening to her music… loudly, and trying to fix the stupid toaster… after breaking it. When Mary got home, she turned the music down, then made her way over to Emma, taking note of the bottle of scotch on the kitchen island.

"Toaster broken?"

Emma nodded. "Sorry. I needed to hit something. I tried fixing it, but… cooking appliances and I don't mix well. I'll buy you a new one."

Mary Margaret smiled sympathetically. "It's fine. Emma-"

"I'm gonna go on a walk. I'll be back in a few hours with Henry." She told her roommate, then left.

XXX

Emma left the apartment and went straight to the station. She got there and was happy to find that it was empty. She let out a sigh of relief, then made her way over to the coat rack and pulled Graham's leather jacket off the hook. She brought the jacket up to her nose, it still smelled like Graham. She went over next to Graham's desk and sat on the floor against it.

She was so deep in thought, that she didn't hear David come inside. "Emma?"

Her eyes snapped up to him and she stood up. "I'm sorry. I know you wanted me to stay home, but I-"

David pulled her into a hug, without even thinking about it. "You miss him. I get it." She merely nodded.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked him.

He chuckled. "You have a very worrisome roommate. She called me, said you were upset, then you ran off. She's worried Emma. You're pushing her away."

Emma broke the hug. "I'm not pushing anyone away. She just worries too much. I'm fine. I'm tired of everyone treating me like he's dead." She hung his jacket back on the rack. "I'll see you later David." She left the station and went to see Graham.

XXX

After Emma left the apartment, and Mary Margaret called David, someone knocked on her door, much to her demise, she saw Albert Spencer, David's adoptive father. "Mr Spencer, come in."

He came around and looked around her apartment distastefully. "I'm sure you know Miss Blanchard, my son is well above you."

"Excuse me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't think I don't notice your flirting with my son. And don't be naive enough to think that he feels the same way. He needs to be with someone of his own level." he told her, then left.

After he left, she decided to go on a walk in the woods, she's learned that it calms her down. She was walking along a path, she heard the cooing of a bird. She followed the noise and found a dove caught in a net. "Oh, how did you manage to get yourself stuck in that?" She helped the dove free itself from the net and picked it up. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor, huh?" She took the dove to the local veterinarian.

She was surprised to see David there. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked while the dove was being examined.

"I've been covering Graham's volunteer shifts." He sighed. "I tried talking to Emma, but she just ran off, I think she went to the hospital to see him, I can't be sure though." Mary Margaret nodded. "She mentioned everyone treating her like he's dead."

Mary Margaret sighed. "I wish I knew how to help her."

After Dr. Thatcher examined the dove, he got Mary Margaret's attention. "Well, the good news is, no broken bones. She was just a little dehydrated, but I got her some fluids, and she should be just fine."

"And the bad news?"

He sighed. "Well, this is a North Atlantic dove. It's a migratory species, very unique among American doves. Now, they tend to form strong monogamous bonds, meaning-"

"-If I don't get her back to her flock, she'll be alone forever." She finished.

Dr. Thatcher nodded. "Well, it's... It's a long shot, but the alternative…" He placed the dove in a cage. "She'll heal, but she won't be happy here."

Mary Margaret nodded. "I'll take my chances. Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome. Good luck." He leaves the room.

David looked worriedly at Mary Margaret. "Mary, there's a storm coming. You really shouldn't be out there."

"Well, the storm is coming tomorrow, and if I wait, she could be lost forever, completely alone. No one deserves that."

David sighed. "Then let me drive you."

She smiled. "I'll be fine David." She picked up the cage and left in her car. David felt guilty, but he followed her. He has to make sure she's safe.

XXX

Mary Margaret was walking in the woods with the dove in its cage in her hand. "Do you hear that? That's your flock!" She stops at the top to a crest looking down at a ravine, then a loud clap of thunder hits, startling her and causing her to slip.

She tumbles down, barely catching herself on a root. She was screaming, trying to force herself back up, but the root was starting to loosen. The next thing she knows, David is holding onto her wrist. "David?"

"Grab my hand!" She does exactly that. "Hold on tight." He told her and started pulling her up. "Come on." She fell into his arms when they made it to safety. "Did you really think I'd let you come out here alone? You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine, thanks." She grabs the cage and continues to search for the flock.

He followed her. "What are you doing?!"

"I came to find the flock!" She stopped, taking her jacket off and putting it over the doves cage.

David then took his jacket off and placed it over Mary Margaret's shoulders. "And I came here to get you before you got hurt! We have to go!" He insisted. "Doing this on foot was not the best plan!" He told her through the rain. "We have to go Mary." She nodded reluctantly. They made their way to an abandoned cabin until the rain stopped. "Why didn't you want me to come with you Mary?" She didn't answer. "Come on Mare. You're worried about Emma pushing us away, but you're doing the same thing."

"David." She sighed.

He shook his head. "You don't want to tell me? That's completely fine. But I'm going to tell you why I insisted on following you out here the way I did." She looked at him curiously. "I can't get you out of my head Mare." He admitted. "The only time I'm not thinking about you, is when I'm worrying about Emma."

"I didn't know you felt that way. I feel the same." She ignored his grin that he was failing to suppress. "I can't focus on anything when I'm around you."

He leaned in and kissed her passionately. "I've been thinking this was all one-sided."

She broke the kiss when she heard the cooing of birds outside. "Do you hear that? Her flock's still out there." She grabbed the dove. "I need to go set her free." She left the cabin and he followed. "The flock, it didn't leave."

"Must've been waiting for the storm to clear."

She lifted the dove from the cage. "Here you go girl. Go be with your friends. You can do it." She pushed the dove up and it flew with it's flock. Mary Margaret laughed with a large smile on her face and leaned into David. "What about Mr Spencer? He's made it clear that he hates me, anyone that's not Kathryn really, but especially not me."

"He doesn't like Kathryn, he likes her father's money. Why do you say he doesn't like especially you?"

She sighed. "He's told me I was no good for you. That I'm… below you. That I'm naive to think we could be together. For a minute, I thought he was right." She admitted.

"He did what? When?" She sighed. "When Mare?"

She closed her eyes. "This morning after I called you. It's not a big deal David."

"I'll talk to him." He promised. "One way or another, he's gonna stay the hell out of our lives."

XXX

Emma was sitting at Graham's bedside holding his hand. "I've been snappy lately Graham, I keep snapping at Mary and David and they're just trying to help." She sighed. "You have to wake up. I can't stand it. People are just treating me like your dead. I keep telling them that you're not and they just… you have to wake up Graham. You have to. What am I gonna do when I break this curse? Face my parents alone? No. You have to be awake. I miss you Graham." She sighed. "I was pushing you away. I was scared of getting hurt. I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm sorry for not letting you in Graham."

XXX

It's been about a month, there's been no change in Graham's condition, she's sure to visit him at least once a week though.

This past week Emma's been getting sick almost every morning. Mary Margaret wants her to see a doctor, but she refuses. Continuously insisting that it's just stress and she's fine. It isn't until the cravings start that she gets concerned. Nausea, cravings, not to mention how often she's been going to the bathroom, coupled with her snapping at anyone that's worried about her. No. She couldn't be. It was only once! Oh God.

Emma went downstairs with Henry in her arms. "Guys?" She said going up to Mary and David who were sitting on the couch watching a movie. "Could you watch Henry for like half an hour? I need to uh… run a quick errand."

"Of course Em. Is everything okay." Mary asked.

Emma nodded and kissed Henry's head. "I love you baby. Mama will be right back, alright?"

"No, mama! Come." He hugged her tightly.

Emma giggled, returning the hug. His hugs always seemed to be a stress reliever for her. "I'll be right back baby. I promise. Stay with Mary and David and be good."

"We've got him Em." She said taking Henry from Emma's arms.

Emma smiled. "Thanks you guys and I'm uh.. Sorry."

"For what?" David asked.

She smiled at him. "Don't pretend that I haven't been snappy with you guys lately. I have, and I'm sorry."

XXX

She rushed to the pharmacy and bought six pregnancy tests. "Please, Mr Clark. Keep this between us?"
He nodded. "You have my word."

She made her way home and went straight for the bathroom, taking all six tests, pacing the room waiting for a few minutes. When she saw all six plus signs, she threw them all out and exited the room with a look of shock and confusion on her face.

"Emma?"

Her head snapped up an saw Mary and David looking at her worriedly. "I'm okay." She said glancing at her son asleep on the couch.

"No your not. What's going on kid?" David asked her.

She couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped her lips. "Kid? One heck of a kid I am. Tell me David, what kind of kid has two kids before she's even twenty?" She snapped. Both of their eyes were wide in shock, not judgement, just shocked. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I'm… gonna go on a walk… maybe see Graham." She pulled the stroller out of the closet, thanking God that Henry was asleep, not wanting to endure one of his tantrums. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

XXX

After walking around for about half an hour, she decided to go see Graham. They were sitting in his room, her beautiful little boy was still asleep. "I know I've already been once this week, but I really need to tell you something, and if… when you wake up, we're gonna need you more than ever. I'm pregnant, we're pregnant Graham. You can't be like everyone else. You can't leave me too. I barely survive being a single mother of one, let alone two." She sighed. "I need you Graham. We all need you." It was quiet for a few minutes. "I'll… see you next week Graham."

XXX

Emma pushed the stroller outside and ran into a wide-eyed mayor. "What happened?" She asked her.

"My son. We had a fight. I… I can't find him." She was so frantic, she didn't even care if it was Emma that helped her find him.

"I'll find him. Just keep looking in places that he might go. Like friends' houses and whatnot." She told her and left in search for the mayor's son.

It was the third place she checked. The castle structure, he was sitting on the edge kicking his legs back and forth, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

She went over and sat next to him. "Hey kid. My name's Emma. This is Henry." She said gesturing to her sleeping son.

"I'm not going home. I hate her." He sniffed. "She's evil. She makes me see Archie because I know things. She wants everyone to think I'm crazy."

"Well kid. I don't think you're crazy. Why'd you run away from Regina."

He looked over at her. "We were fighting about my dad again. About when we came and daddy told me to run but I was too scared. I froze. She took daddy and me to the cemetery. She told me to close my eyes, when I opened them back up, daddy was gone." We wiped his tears away. "She took me to the downstairs in the room at the cemetery and made me drink something. Now I don't get older. I think she killed daddy. She tells everyone that I think daddy's dead because I'm traum-trauma-"

"-traumatized?"

He nodded. "But daddy wouldn't leave me. He loves me." He swore.

God, this was horrible. She killed his father and is making him live with her. "I believe you kid. Wanna know why?" He nodded. She reached down and got her book out of the bottom of Henry's stroller. "You can't keep this, but you can take pictures of it. It's really important to me." He nodded. "Okay. Do you have a camera?"

"No."

She smiled. "Well it's a good thing my roommate makes me carry one around everywhere I go." She said, pulling an old polaroid of Mary's out of the stroller.

She took the first picture, then waited for it to clean up and handed it to him. "Is that big enough for you to read?" He nodded and she proceeded to take pictures of every page. She took pictures of every page, except for the last one. She decided against that. "Okay this last page is important, so when you're done reading all those, let me know and you'll get the last page."

"Do I have to go back now?"

She nodded. "Afraid so kid. Tell me this, do you love Regina? Do you see her as a mother?"

"I don't know why, but I do. I wish I didn't. I said I hate her, but I don't, she's still my mom."

Emma smiled at him. "Because Owen, despite everything she's done, she's raised you. She may not act like it sometimes, but I could see it in her eyes when she couldn't find you, she loves you."

She was surprised when she felt him wrap her arms around her. "Thank you Emma. Can you take me to see my mom?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but promise me something Owen." He nodded. "Don't let what you read about her, change how you feel about her. Promise me?"

"I promise."

They were interrupted by Henry babbling and then he said her favorite word. "Mama!"

XXX

Emma got home a little later than expected. "Hey. Sorry I'm late." She said when she got inside, Henry in her arms and her pushing the stroller with her foot.

David was still there and he took the stroller and put it way for her. "I hear you were a hero today."

She rolled her eyes. "I just told the kid the truth." Thing went quiet for a moment and she put Henry in his downstairs crib. "Where's Mare?"

"She fell asleep a few minutes before you got back. I promised her I would stay until you got home."

Emma nodded. "I'm sorry. I dropped a bomb on you guys then left." She said with watery eyes. He pulled her into a hug, cradling her head. "I'm scared." She whispered. "I'm always scared that I'm doing something wrong with Henry. And now I've got another kid on the way. I'm just scared I'm gonna screw it up." She broke the hug at looked into David's eyes, waiting for a response.

"You're a great mom Emma, I see the way you are with him everyday. And when Graham wakes up, he'll be a great father. He wants kids, you know. He told me once. It just after my divorce with Kathryn. She doesn't want kids, that was the last straw for me, I want kids, I always have. Anyway, I was telling Graham about it and he told me he wants kids too."

Emma smiled. "Really?" He nodded. "Thanks David I really needed to hear that." He was about to leave when Emma stopped him. "Oh, and David?" He turned around. "I'm coming back to work tomorrow. I need something to do. I'm bored out of my mind when I'm not working."

He chuckled. "Fine." He said and left the apartment.

She went into Mary's room and just laid down next to her on the bed, she didn't mean to fall asleep, she just needed to be near her mother, she needed the comfort.

XXX

Regina had been being a lot less hostile with her the past two weeks, since the Owen incident, which brought Emma's stress level down considerably. At least until she was stressing about not knowing where her roommate was.

Mary went to the grocery store three hours ago and no one's heard from her since. Emma and David were getting really worried. "I'll check the pathway in the woods, she probably just took a detour and went for one of her nature walks." She told him, she's not sure if she was trying to convince David or herself that she was okay.

"If you're sure, but please Emma. Call me with any updates."

Emma nodded. "I promise."

XXX

She was driving along the road in the woods, she was so distracted looking for Mary, that nearly hit a man with her car, she swerved around him, but he fell. She stopped the car and ran over to him. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"I think so. I guess I'm just not used to sharing the road this far down the path, I suppose. You're the deputy, right?" She nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here? It'll be getting late soon."

"I'm just looking for a friend." He nodded and started walking away, but he was limping. "You are hurt!"

He shook his head. "It's fine. Just a twisted ankle, I think. I live just a mile down the road, I'll be fine."

"Let me drive you." She insisted. He nodded, relenting. "I'm Emma, by the way."

He smiled. "Jefferson."

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