SO I'M REALLY SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. SCHOOL VACATION IS OVER, SO I'M THERE ALL DAY AND CAN'T WRITE. SOME OF YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THAT I RECENTLY HAD SURGERY, AND I'M STILL NOT FEELING 100%. LAST ON MY EXCUSE LINE IS A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. THAT SAID, THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY AUNT. I'M ALSO WORKING ON A STORY TO POST ON , WHICH IS A LOT HARDER TO WRITE THAN THIS. I UNDERSTAND THIS STORY HAS BEEN NEGLECTED, AND I APOLOGIZE. I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO'S STUCK WITH THIS THROUGH EVERYTHING. YOU GUYS MEAN SO MUCH. IF I HAD MORE TIME I'D THANK EVERYONE INDIVIDUALLY.
DON'T OWN IT.
As Snow and Doc approached the door to Regina's room, he stopped.
"What's in there is grim, Snow. Even Grumpy –not that he's ever optimistic- he seems even glummer than usual." He warned.
"It's fine." Snow assured him. Sighing, Doc opened the door. On the heart monitor were little spikes, but each one seemed to come slower than the one before.
"If we take the bullet out, we might be able to save her." Doc didn't need to put the other scenario into words. Snow looked Regina up and down, noting her skin seemed paler than her own, and there were more tubes and wires than she could count attached to her.
"Do it." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. She should have her chance at happiness, too." Then they heard footsteps running down the hall, and an instant later Henry and Emma were with them.
"Oh my God!" Henry gasped when he took in the sight of his adoptive mother.
"She's gonna be okay, Henry." Emma placed a protective arm around his shoulders, as if she could shield him from the cruelties of the world.
"We're going to do everything we can, alright?" Snow bent down to his level, not that it was too far down.
"You're not- you're not doing this just for me, right? You actually want to save her?" Henry's voice wobbled while he spoke, all of the hatred he previously held practically vanquished.
"Of course we do." The brunette said in such a sweet voice, it made Henry believe her. He pried himself from Emma and walked to the bed.
"I don't hate you. I mean, I hate what you did and stuff, but… Something inside you must be really broken to be so evil. I don't think you are. I just think your true love got ripped from you. Without true love, you end up like Grandma did after she drank the potion. When you wake up, we'll see if Rumpestiltskin still has some bottled true love left. I'm sure he'd give it to you if we promised to let him be free." Henry grasped her hand, a tear trickling down his face. "I'm sorry." He whispered. All of a sudden there was a shrill beep, and Doc all but shoved Henry out of the way.
"We gotta get her to the OR now. I need some help in here!" Doc yelled. Happy, Grumpy, and Bashful came in, and they began wheeling her down to the operating rooms. Henry flung himself at Emma.
"It's gonna be okay, Kid." She said, rubbing soothing circles on his back like Graham had done for her. He hiccupped. She shot a nervous glance at Snow, sending out a silent SOS. All the brunette did was give half a smile, signaling she was doing the right thing. "Let's go back to the party, okay? We have to make sure the guys didn't make too much of a mess. Actually, we'll be lucky if they didn't burn the castle down." She suggested.
"Okay." Henry nodded and sniffed. They started walking back, but he never let go of her hand. When the three of them returned, the smell of burnt something was being covered by the smell of freshly baked pizza, which was surprisingly tasty.
"I can't believe you didn't burn it." Emma muttered.
"I think the five of us did a pretty good job." Thomas declared.
"I was standing by with the red fire thingy just in case." Alexandra said, her little voice bringing a smile to everyone's face.
"How's Regina?" James asked.
"In surgery." Snow replied curtly, putting on a mask of indifference; she was still mad at him.
"She'll be fine, though." Emma grasped her son's hand. "If Regina's one thing, it's stubborn. She won't leave you." Just then Alexandra gave a tiny yawn from her position on her father's lap.
"Well, we best be going, I think." Ella said. "It's much past Lexi's bedtime." Though she was half asleep, the toddler still managed to pout.
"Henry should be going to bed, too." Emma said.
"But I-" He started to protest.
"No ifs, ands, or buts." Emma gave him a stern look.
"Fine." Henry knew better than to argue and trudged up the stairs to brush his teeth and change.
"Thank you for everything." Ella said, hugging her best friend. "And good luck. No one wants to see the Queen alive, but… She shouldn't get the easy way out."
Snow offered her a small smile. "Everyone deserves a chance at redemption." Thomas hoisted Alexandra over his shoulder, careful not to wake her.
"We should do this again once everything calms down." Thomas said.
"We should." James agreed. A horse neighed outside.
"Oh, Spot's getting antsy. Tom, we really must go." Ella said.
"Spot?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Lexi named him." Thomas explained. With that, the family left, leaving the Charming's to themselves.
"Well that was certainly eventful." Snow said, watching out the window as the carriage rolled away. Visibility was poor as it was raining, and soon it disappeared. Thunder clapped and everyone jumped.
"It's like the world knows something terrible is happening." James said. Henry came down the stairs, pajama clad, and flung himself at his mother. Emma was used to it by now and no longer stiffened when his arms wrapped around her torso.
"Don't get poetic on us again." Emma mumbled, subconsciously smoothing Henry's hair down. No one spoke for a few minutes.
"I guess I'll go get an update on her condition." James said.
"I'll come with you." Snow grabbed her husband's hand.
"I'll stay here with them." Graham said. Without another word, James and Snow set off to their destination. Emma leaned her head on him, that seemingly perpetual frown once again on her face.
"I wasn't going to make you go to bed, Henry. You know that, right? Not with your, with Regina…" She struggled for words.
"I know." Henry smiled. She felt it against her stomach.
"Do you want to hear a story?" Emma asked. "It isn't like any of your fairy tales –truth- but I think you'd like it."
"Sure." Henry chirped, and hopped on the couch.
"May I take part in story time?" Graham questioned.
"Yes." Emma smirked. They took a seat on either side of Henry. "I'd start off with once upon a time, but that's how every story starts." She glanced nervously at Graham, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "Kid, I'm gonna level with you. I suck at telling stories."
"Don't tell a story, tell the truth." Henry said.
"I can try that. How about I tell you something that happened when you were in my stomach?"
"No."
"About what then?" She asked.
"My dad."
Emma's smile faltered. "I already told you about him."
"You lied."
"I did not."
"You're not the only one with a superpower, Emma." Henry said. "I deserve to know who my father is. Why can't you tell me? It's not gonna matter anyway, he can't come here!" Henry yelled.
"Because I don't know who he is either!" Emma all but screamed, tears welling in her eyes. She swallowed, keeping them at bay, her eyes pleading with him to drop it. Of course he didn't.
"Am I just the accident of some stupid idea you had?" His voice still held anger, but at least it had gone down a few octaves.
"We're not talking about this tonight." She said. "Let's at least wait until your mom wakes up."
"She's not my mom." Henry reminded her. "And I'm going to take that as a 'yes'." He stood up.
"No, Henry, wait." Emma grabbed his wrist. "I'm sorry I lied to you. I just don't think it will do anyone any good if they know, okay? You're a smart boy, Henry. I know you can understand that." Henry studied her face, trying to figure out if she was lying to him again. But he did understand, and he saw the turmoil and anger and pain, and ultimately the regret that plagued her face.
"I do." He said.
"Good." Emma smiled, and squeezed his hand.
"But tell me one thing. What was he like?"
Emma sighed. "He was a bad man, Henry. Nothing like Graham."
"Okay." He pondered this for a moment. "Thanks."
"You're not scarred for life are you?"
"You asked me that when I found out I was born in jail. The answer's still no."
"You're more than any mom has the right to ask for, Henry." She pulled him into a hug.
"Okay, we have news on Regina." James and snow came bustling back into the room.
"Good or bad?" Graham asked.
"Well, she's out of surgery and she hasn't coded again. She isn't out of the woods, either." James said. Henry visibly relaxed.
"See, Kid? It's gonna be okay."
AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY IN POSTING THIS. IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE FIRST AUTHOER'S NOTE, I KINDLY ASK THAT YOU DO. THANKS!