CHAPTER FOUR: DIZZY UP THE GIRL
(In which Emma is dumb and dizzy and not much else happens.)
Confusion and furry battled for dominance as Emma was left in Granny's parking lot, trying to make sense of everything Neal had said. It boiled down to Milah being his mother, but that made no sense. Why hadn't he told her that after their encounter with Hook in New York? Why hadn't Killian told her in Neverland when he was waxing poetic about Neal's artwork? Well, it was a bit incestuous, she had to admit. Perhaps not quite as unsettling morally speaking as hooking up with one's wife's murderer, but this was Storybrooke, the Enchanted Forest in modernized microcosm, and when in Rome...
Really, where did Neal get off pinning this all on her? He'd left her to rot in jail pregnant. He'd ignored that post card. He chose to use dark magic without thinking of the price! And, okay, so had she, but she didn't really have a better choice with the time travel or the Dark One thing thanks to his father!
Barking startled Emma out of her fuming and she turned to find Pongo dashing through the front yard of the Inn, Dr. Hopper being yanked forward. He let go of the leash, but barreled into her, jabbing her rather painfully in the hip with his umbrella before spinning them in an awkward dance to keep them both upright.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Emma!" Archie apologized. "It's that darn stray cat! Are you all right?"
Emma glared and rubbed her leg. "Well, you nearly dislocated my hip, what do you think?" she told him snappishly and started to walk away, but her leg was tingly and she stumbled.
"Are you sure you're all right?" asked the shrink.
"I'm fine," she grunted, trying to push away, but stumbled again, her vision suddenly swimming with a wave of vertigo and nausea. "Shit."
"Oh, gosh. Why don't I help you into the parlor. Sit down a bit? You wouldn't want to risk falling in your condition!"
Emma found she couldn't really argue, hard as it was to even stay upright, and so she allowed Archie to escort her up the wooden steps and into the parlor with its Mommy & Me clutter.
"I'll just get you some water," Archie told her while easing Emma into a chair.
She wanted to tell him not to bother, but uttered a "thanks" while lowering her head between her legs to try to stop the spinning...
AN: Emma, always over doing it. Archie, ever the bumbling but kindhearted doormat.
Next up: Mulan!