"Robin? Robin!" Esme said, struggling to conceal her own tears. She studied his face but all she could see was pain; his eyes were winced and his mouth was moving slightly but he was struggling to get any words out. All she could do was hold his hand and hope he would come to again. He didn't. Their moment was cruelly taken away by the doctor.
"What happened?" he said, as he swanned in, immediately checking Robin's pulse and talking to him, even though he didn't answer.
"I..I dunno," Esme said, wiping her eyes. Tears were beginning to sting them but she didn't want the boys to see.
"He just started grumbling," Henry said, placing his hand on Esme's shoulder. He knew that this had all been tough on her; her world had been turned upside down and, although she tried desperately to act like she was taking it all in her stride, gaining an entire family and the situation they were now in was hard. Henry was also aware that he had missed something just now; in all of this time, throughout all the arguments, all the travelling, the evil aunt, the dark one, all of the information that she was drowning in, Esme never cried. Not once.
"Well, i see no physical change now," the doctor explained.
"What? But he was talking just a-" Esme began.
"And although that is a sign of him waking up, that doesn't mean its going to happen right this second" the doctor said, sympathetically.
"Do you know how long will it take?" Henry asked, all too aware that Roland was now up and their conversation needed to end pretty quickly.
"That could take hours, days, months or years. We just don't know," he said. He could see that this wasn't the answer they wanted, but he had found lying to patients typically caused more harm than good in the long run. He saw the looks on both Esme and Henry's faces and felt pity; Roland was too young to understand, but Henry fully understood the severity of the situation and, although he wasn't sure what the deal was with her, for weeks he had watched Esme look after these two young boys, but she was struggling. He knew it and Henry knew it.
"Hey Ez, how about i take Roland to stay with Will. I'll be right back, okay?" Henry said, rubbing her shoulders.
"Why don't you stay with him too? You need sleep too squirt, you have school in the morning." Esme said, looking at him with a fake smile on her face. Trying to tear Henry away from this hospital room and getting him to go to school were the toughest things to get him to do and now that she finally got him into a routine, she didn't want what happened tonight to ruin all of that.
"Ummm.. how about I come back here after and still go to school on the morning, okay?" Henry said, with a cheeky smile. Roland was now on his back and when Esme nodded in agreement, Henry kissed her on the cheek and promptly left to go to Will and it wasn't long after this that the doctor left too, concluding that the groans and grumbles that Robin made were simply signs of weaning him from the medication.
Once Esme left alone, she took a moment to herself and closed her eyes. She didn't really know what she wanted to do; she wasn't particularly sad so couldn't cry, she wasn't happy so couldn't smile and there was no part of this situation that was funny so she couldn't laugh either but she wanted to do something. The last few months had been hectic and she felt as if she had only got over one hurdle when another one came at her and she didn't have any break in between; she was functioning, but now living. She became a big sister and a daughter all in the space of one day but instead of being able to ask all of the questions that she had, her long lost parents were now in medically induced comas which she accidentally caused by breaking their compelling enchantment they were placed under for decades; maybe it was funny.
Esme had always thought that she didn't really care about family; back in Messene she always new that she had no family and once Zoe made it her mission to hunt her, finding one was never an option. But now that it was a reality and they were lying here in-front of her, she felt..odd. She wasn't sure how to be a daughter or a sister, she'd never been one before, so she was scared. She knew she felt happy, spending so much time with Henry and Roland as their sister was the best few weeks of her life, but she was also angry. Angry that she couldn't have been there for them from the beginning. Angry that she couldn't have the same kind of relationship with Regina and Robin that they had. Angry that that had been taken away from her and she was sent to a place with no love, no support, no anything. But, mostly, she was confused. Who was she angry with? She couldn't be any with Regina and Robin; they had been compelled. Was the person who compelled them Zelena? If it was, why? If it wasn't, who was it? Should she be worried about this person making a reappearance into their lives? She felt odd because, even though she felt so much, feeling it all of once made her feel numb and she hated it. But if this is how she felt, how must Regina and Robin feel? She slowly opened her eyes and looked at them both.
Robin, although slightly paler, simply looked as if he was sleeping. Whatever pain he had been in a mere moment ago seemed to have eased during the doctors examination and Esme was pleased; he was too sweet a man to be in such pain, although Esme felt like she sometimes didn't give him enough credit. She had it in her head that he was somehow weak; she felt that because he had no magical ability he stood no chance against a magical enemy. But this was unfair. She had come to realise that he not only lived but thrived in the enchanted forrest for years; Esme knew because she had read his story. He had dealt with the death of his wife Marion and single handedly raised and protected their son, Roland. He dealt with falling in love with a villain and then losing her again and again before finally protecting her with his own life in a battle he was never going to win. He had given food, shelter and love to a complete stranger when he could have sent her away; he was a good, kind, strong man. Esme was never sure why, but she always had a connection with Robin. He was a joker; he made her laugh when she was exhausted from practicing with Regina, he brought out a goofy side of Esme she didn't even know she had, he made her feel her age and not like she had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. If he had been awake now, she knows he would be making some silly joke just to make her smile, if even for a moment. She looked at him and thought about what he had done for her and resolved that she would do the same for him. As she stared at him, she realised he would be angry she was focusing so much on him and not on his love, so she stood up, kissed him on the head, and shuffled the chair to look at Regina.
As she held her hand, Esme looked at the woman who was once so strong and worried about how frail and weak she looked. Regina, although not particularly warm, astounded Esme. Although she did so begrudgingly, Regina did agree to help her, fully aware that a total stranger would gain full access to all of her deepest, darkest secrets. So, although initially they didn't particularly like one another, Regina had trusted Esme and in return, Esme trusted Regina. Then, as their weeks of training went on, Esme gained an insight into the torment Regina faced and she gained a whole new perspective from which she viewed her; even though she suffered all of these heinous things, she injured it and was now a better person, a good person. She was resilient, strong, powerful and, above all, protective. She protected everyone and everything she loved with all of her soul and that was because she fought tooth and nail for every single one of them; a trait Esme deeply admired. Even for all her misgivings, Regina was an incredible mother who loved Henry, and even little Roland, with every bone in her body. Esme hoped that, one day, she would get the opportunity to make Regina as happy or as proud as those boys did. She wasn't sure how, but she wanted to be a good daughter; she wanted to protect her family the way Regina did, she wanted to love her family as deeply as Regina did and she wanted to be as strong and reliant as her mother. Although she looked fragile now, Esme knew that the strong woman she was before was under the surface and she vowed to get Regina, and Robin, back.
As she made this vow in her head, she heard another groan from Robin. Esme bolted up so quickly she was by his side in seconds, and she was glad that she was because he began to open his eyes. She took his hand, because he looked in pain again, as he slowly began to try to talk.
"I…I…" he began, but his throat was dry and stopped him from completing his sentence. Esme waited patiently, not wanting to push him at all, hoping to prevent him falling unconscious again.
"I..re…member…you.." he said, and squeezed her hand.