more angst...let me know what you think xoxo
The bright lights of the emergency room glared off of the team of doctors in white coats as David's heart pounded in his ears, making him feel lightheaded. He stood by helplessly as he watched them rushing to give Regina blood after how much she'd lost. He tried to focus on what they were saying but the voices seemed to swarm in between glances of her lifeless body on the table before them.
He felt sick. He felt angry. He felt scared. Even heartbroken. He was torn in each direction, wanting to be with Regina but feeling like he was losing time to find their baby. Or where to even start. His head throbbed, chest ached, stomach churned. They'd barely allowed him into the room with her, one of the male nurses had even started to deny him entry when he chased after her crash cart. David had pushed past him, though, and was quickly forgotten as they all worked to save her.
"Is she going to make it?" He asked, seemingly ignored as he stood them, "Is she?!" He yelled louder, running his hands through his hair in frustration, feeling like he was about to lose it.
"We're doing everything we can," Whale said over his shoulder at David with a grim expression before turning back, "She's lost a lot of blood, it looks like she hemmoraged when she gave birth." He then muttered orders to his nurses who responded immediately to prep Regina to be examined.
"Sir you'll have to step out now," A nurse addressed him reluctantly, gently taking David's arm when he found he couldn't even reply. His eyes never left Regina as the nurse escorted him out of the room until the door was shut. He tried catching his breath through the anxiety as he leaned against the wall beside the door, sinking down it to sit and wait.
"David," Henry ran down the hallway breathlessly, skidding to a stop near him. "My mom? Is she okay?" He fell down onto his knees in front of him, tears in his eyes. Granny had brought him to the hospital when Killian called to let them know they'd found Regina, Emma explaining to him in the waiting room before he'd took off running down the hall.
David lifted his head from where it hung with his arms braced on his knees, hands in his hair. He looked up to lock gazes with Henry, seeing his own desperation reflected in Regina's sons eyes. Words caught in his throat when he tried to reply, not knowing what to say.
"Grandpa?" Henry swallowed hard as tears started to roll down his face.
"I don't know, Henry," David choked out, pulling his grandson against him into a tight hug as they both broke down over the woman on the other side of the wall.
Hours passed and the day had turned into night, though Emma hadn't stopped since they got Regina to the hospital. After she'd secured David and Henry there to keep watch over the Mayor, she had returned to her search for her baby. She tore through Zelena's house mercilessly, emptying every cabinet and drawer she could find, kicking down every door. Something had to be here, some clue of what Zelena had done with the child.
Emma steeled her emotions, suppressing them with every kick to every cabinet door and swipe of every counter top. Who knew where Zelena had gone? Did she somehow have the last magic bean to allow her to escape back to Oz? Was she hiding somewhere in their realm?
The sheriff bit her lip brutally hard as she hit the wall beside her with the side of her fist, trying to keep her tears at bay. The image of Regina's limp body in her father's arms on the way to the hospital burned in her mind. Something about seeing her friend, the strongest woman she knew so weak and drained, shook her to her core.
What would they do if they lost her? It made her stomach sink and a sob threaten to escape from her mouth. Everyone would fall apart in her absence. She was the rock in their strange little family, the one they all turned to for guidance. Not to mention that just when Regina had found happiness, when she was about to have everything she'd ever wanted, it was yet again taken from her in a cruel, barbaric way.
"Hey, hey," She heard Killian's soft voice coming up behind her, stopping her fist from making contact with the wall again as she turned and latched onto him.
"I can't lose her Killian," Emma broke, her feelings coming to the surface at the touch of his comforting embrace, "She's my best friend, we can't lose her. When we found her she was so close to death even I couldn't save her," She sobbed into his neck, feeling his hand come up to cup the back of her head as he held her tightly.
"You can't give up Emma, you know she's a fighter," Killian murmured near her ear, "Regina will pull through and we'll find that babe. I spoke with David a little bit ago and she's stable, she hasn't woken up yet but she's stable," He reassured her, though he couldn't promise her much more. Regina's body was weak and had been through a lot of trauma and blood loss, as well as emotional distress.
"We've gotta find out where Zelena went," Emma straightened up, wiping her face as she tried to regain composure, "If Regina wakes up and knows her baby is still missing...Killian I don't know if she'll want to get better," She said, swallowing the knot that had formed in her throat as fresh tears welled in her eyes at the thought.
"We'll find the child, love," He cupped her face, "Let's keep looking."
David felt Regina's hand move in his own, waking him from where he'd fallen asleep at her bedside. He was sitting in the chair, arms and head leaning on the bed when he'd drifted off from exhaustion and worry.
The doctors had her stabilized, the hemmorage stopped, and Whale had told David that it was up to Regina now to wake up. He hadn't left her side since they'd let him back in the room. She was cleaned up, the bloody nightgown gone and replaced with a hospital gown, IVs and monitors on her arms and chest instead. Her lip was purple and bruised from her bite marks, her eyes opening when he lifted his gaze to her.
He watched her wake up as her eyes shifted over the room tiredly, registering where she was. She looked down where his hand held hers before her gaze found his. He could tell the second she remembered what had happened, watching the heartbreak play out on her features. Her brow creased slightly, brown eyes glossed with tears and bruised bottom lip held in her teeth.
"Where is she David?" She whispered, her voice gravely and hoarse as the tears took her ability to speak plainly, large drops rolling down her cheeks almost instantly, "Did you find her?"
"No," He choked out himself, holding her hand tightly, "I brought you here. Emma and Hook are looking for the baby...Regina what happened?" He wiped his eyes quickly before taking her hand in both of his, watching her struggle to find words.
"My sister...she started my labor," She shifted her head to the side, not being able to look at him, "When I woke up we were in her basement and I..I had our baby, and then she took her," A silent sob wracked her weak body as David stood from the chair, gently sitting on the bed and laying down beside her. He took her into her arms, allowing her to bury her face in his neck as she cried, his own tears falling down his face into her hair.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you," He murmured brokenly into her hair, his hand on the back of her head cradling her to him, "I'm sorry Regina." The guilt he felt for letting them be in harms way threatened to consume him, sheer anguish eating away at him. The thought of his child being away from them, being ripped away from Regina, it was all too much.
"I couldn't protect her David, I was powerless," She sobbed, frail body shaking in his arms, "It's my fault."
"No it isn't baby, it isn't," He whispered, closing his eyes to try to be strong for her. They had to stop talking about the baby like they'd never see it again; he had to change the subject. His heart skipped a beat when he realized how she'd addressed their child, "It was a girl?" He smiled weakly as he asked, "What is she like Regina?" Wonderment swirled through him at the idea of having a daughter with this woman, though the underlying pain of reality remained.
"She's so beautiful," Regina lifted her face, her eyes puffy but full of love as she spoke of their little bundle, "Dark hair and your eyes," She swallowed hard, a weak smile playing on her lips, "I've never seen anything so perfect."
David studied Regina for a long moment, picturing in his mind what their precious daughter looked like. He was right after all, it was a girl. "We'll find her," He said firmly with a serious expression, "I'll do whatever it takes."
"I failed her already," Regina's head bowed in shame, "My magic...it wouldn't work," She whispered as she ran her hand down over her abdomen to try to heal herself, glancing up at him when nothing happened, "It's gone," She said sullenly, "I can't even heal myself to go find her. How am I supposed to take her back from my sister?"
David looked at her for a moment before pulling his phone out of his pocket, "I'm having Emma come and try to heal you, and then we're going to find our baby together." He said firmly, allowing no room for doubt.
The door came open then as Henry bolted in with a loud whisper of, "Mom!" As he made his way over after peeking in the window of the room to see she was awake, "I was so worried." His tall and lanky frame came to hover over her in a beautifully concerned manner.
"Henry," Regina smiled with tears steaming down her face, holding her arms up for him as he leaned in to give her a gentle hug. Twelve hours ago she thought she may never see her son again, wouldn't get to watch him grow up. He held onto her in the hug for a long moment, "I'm fine sweetie, I'll be fine," She murmured as she kissed his head before he straightened up.
"Emma's on her way," David nodded as he put his phone back into his pocket after the brief phone call, "Are you ready to find your little sister?" He asked, looking up at Henry who instantly put on a brave face.
"Yes, I know she's okay, I can feel it. Don't worry mom, we'll find her," He turned an earnest look to Regina who wiped her eyes in response before he added, "Family always finds each other."