OK, I got finished work earlier than expected so you guys get this but there will NOT be an update tomorrow...
As always please review (although the site is being funky again and not showing my reviews I still receive them by email and I appreciate every one so please carry on, I'm sure the site will have the issue fixed before too long)
Enjoy
:)
Archie pushed through the door not long before lunch time, Mary-Margaret and Junior were still sleeping soundly but Henry and Emma sat between the beds on the hard hospital chairs.
"Hey Archie" Henry greeted standing up to give up his seat
"Hello Henry" the Cricket replied with a nod then he looked to Emma "Miss Swan"
"Thanks for coming" Emma said with a genuine smile "I know you're busy and I just want you to know that I really do appreciate this"
"No problem" he replied with a smile before sitting in Henry's chair "How has he been? Belle said that he was refusing to talk"
"Yeah he was but I got him to speak to me for a short time earlier and he chatted a bit with Henry when he first arrived but he's been sleeping pretty much since then"
"I see" said Archie looking to the bed "And how did he seem? When he was talking to you I mean"
"Confused, hurt... he's missing Hook but I think there's more to it. I take it Belle told you about Devin?"
"She did" he replied with a deep frown
"I don't think that's completely sunk in yet though. He did however say that he did it to save Hook, Devin was going to kill him and Junior did the only thing he could to stop him BUT he said that he still lost his Papa anyway. I think he feels like he's let Hook down somehow, that he should have been able to stop this happening"
"Hmmmmm" Archie pondered "When I spoke to him at the pool house that was the overruling feeling that I got from the boy. He wanted to make his Papa proud but more than that, he wanted to keep him safe and that is something no five year old should have to deal with. I think this unique bond that they have... had... they had... it clouded things. Junior was feeling emotions that no child should have to, he knew exactly how Hook was feeling, he could feel his fear so naturally he wanted to protect him from that. Junior is a special boy in more than just the way he arrived. I have no doubt that he will get through this, he has all of you here with him and that goes a long way."
Emma smiled at Archie but she turned quickly to the bed as Junior stirred, she watched as he winced a little then peeked open his eyes. His little lip gave a tremble when he looked at her and she was on her feet in seconds stroking her hand down his cheek.
"Hey what's up kid?" she whispered. He gave a little sob, his hand came up to his chest and she got her answer "I know, I know but you're alright. Momma's here"
She wanted more than anything else to pull him up into her arms and just hug him tightly but he still had in all his lines so she couldn't. Whale had assured her that a nurse would remove them all this morning and that a physical therapist would be in to fit Junior with crutches later that afternoon. She soothed him for a few minutes and she seriously thought he was just going to go back to sleep until Henry stepped up to the side of the bed too and it was like someone had just flicked on a light when he gave a huge grin.
"Henry!" he cried out as his eyebrows shot up
"Did you forget I was here?" Henry laughed
Junior gave a little sniff , he scrubbed his hand across his face wiping away his tears then frowned and said "I did, where is Grandma?"
"Sleeping" Henry said nodding his head to the other bed before grinning "But look who's here to see you"
Emma smirked, her kid had just saved her the trouble of bringing up Archie's visit. Emma stepped back as Archie stood up with a smile.
"Hello young man"
"Archie!" Junior cried out then he was struggling to sit up, Emma wondered what he was doing until he craned his head over the side of the bed and asked in an excited voice "Where is Pongo?"
Without missing a beat Archie dug in his pocket and pulled out an envelope "Dogs are not allowed in hospitals Junior but he made you this and told me to tell you that as soon as you are home he will come to visit"
Junior lay back on his pillows and took the envelope grinning widely "He made this for me?"
"With a little assistance from a Cricket, yes" Archie replied winking at Henry
Junior opened the envelope and pulled out a card with a picture of Pongo on the front, Junior beamed at it then opened it up and read aloud.
"Get well soon Junior. Lots of love and kisses. Your friend forever, Pongo"
He held it up to Emma and cried out "Look Momma, he has put his paw mark on it"
Emma giggled taking the card in her hand and looking in it "That is cool, say thank you to Archie for brining it in."
"Thank you Archie" Junior beamed taking the card back and reading it again to himself.
Emma was just preparing herself to tell Junior that Archie was here to talk to him about what happened in the clearing when Junior left her dumbstruck as he looked up at the Cricket and spoke.
"My Papa is gone Archie"
"I know" Archie replied stepping closer to the bed "Do you want to talk to me about it"
Junior gave a little nod then a sigh lifting his hand to his chest again "I miss him... from in here"
"OK... so what can we do about that?"
Junior suddenly smiled "We can talk about him, then he will be here too"
"That's right" Archie replied with a smile "Just like you talk about Liam"
Junior suddenly gave a deep frown "I want to talk about MY Liam... NOT the Liam who tricked me. He was a bad Liam, he lied"
Archie raised an eyebrow but just carried on "Well that's alright too Junior. You can talk about who you want to"
Junior suddenly looked to Emma "Do you want to talk about Papa with us? It helps, I liked talking with Archie about my Liam, he makes it feel alright"
Emma was suddenly fighting back tears of pride and she smiled widely "Sure Kid" she turned to Henry "You want to join in? I'm sure you've got more than a few tales of the mischief that you two have gotten up to"
"Do I ever" Henry grinned jumping up on to the end of Junior's bed and crossing his legs "There was this one time that Killian and I were at Granny's and he..." He suddenly trailed off and looked at Emma with a giggle "Maybe that's not really a story I should be telling"
Emma just raised a brow and said "We'll talk later kid"
Henry laughed and so did Junior, the difference in the kid was amazing, his little face was full of happiness as he spoke of his Papa and Emma found herself grinning.
Killian would be so proud... the smile slid from her face as she thought of him.
She missed him... but she wasn't going to dwell on that. Hopefully Junior would be out of here tomorrow, Belle was dropping off the books at the Jolly and once they were home she knew that she would do everything she could to find a way to bring Hook and her Dad home.
"Momma?" Junior's voice brought her out of her musings and she looked down at him with a smile
"You want to hear a story about Papa and Grandpa?" she asked with a smirk
"Aye" he replied lying back on his pillows with another wince but once he was down he smiled at her "Tell us Momma, I want to hear"
"Well... it all started with a pink bear and ended with your Grandpa having the most hilarious drawn on moustache you could ever imagine."
"Tell me... tell me" he yelled out and his eyes were dancing with happiness so Emma settled herself on the bed next to Henry.
Henry suddenly giggled and pulled out his cell "I have a photo of Pink Bear but you can't tell Papa that I showed you when he gets back, he hates it."
A few minutes later he turned the cell to show Junior and Emma watched as the kid grinned from ear to ear "Papa is cuddling a pink bear"
"Yip" Emma said then lent in close and whispered "I've still got Pink Bear, Papa thinks that he managed to get rid of him by putting him in the trash but I found him and saved him. What do you say to when we get back to the Jolly we dig him out and we can use him to keep a journal of all the fun things we get up to until Papa gets back?"
"How?" Junior asked with a frown
"Well, we can take him places we go like Granny's and while we're there we can take a photo of us enjoying ourselves with Pink Bear. We can print the photos out and once Papa and Grandpa get home we can show them all the things that we did so that they know that we were not sad that they were gone... because we know that they would want us to be happy, right?"
"Right" Junior agreed with a nod but then he frowned "Are we going to the Jolly when we leave here?"
Emma nodded "Yeah Kid, I thought it was about time we went home. Is that OK?" He nodded but Emma could tell something was bothering him "What's up Kid? Talk to me."
"I will just miss all my books and things, that is all" he said but then pulled a smile to his face "But I want to go, I don't want to go back to the pool house... not ever"
"You won't have to" Emma soothed taking hold of his little foot that was close to her "But you know that Gina is going to take all your books and other stuff to the Jolly, right? It's your stuff Junior, it moves with you"
"Truly?" he asked with a wide smile "All of it?"
Henry suddenly looked very serious and said "Well she's going to take MOST of it... everything except your penny whistle"
Junior suddenly deflated but he didn't complain he just said "That's alright, I will still have more things than I ever have had in my whole life"
Henry grinned and jumped off the bed then headed for his back pack, he was back in a second holding up the whistle "Mom... My Mom, I mean Gina can't take your whistle to the Jolly because I already brought it here, I thought you'd like to have something that reminded you of BOTH Liam and Papa"
Tears were in Junior's eyes as he looked at Henry in awe "Thank you Brother, thank you"
Henry handed it over and Junior clutched it to his chest like it was a solid gold bar, it was a simple tin whistle but it meant more to this little boy than anything else that he owned...
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David felt like the abominable snowman as he trudged his way along the trail... or what he thought was the trail. The snow had covered everything up and he was struggling to see where he had left the traps the night before. Eventually he found one but all it had in it was snow. With a sigh he pulled it free, cleared it out before setting it up again and setting off to the next one. This process repeated itself several time until FINALLY he pulled out a trap to find a bird about the size of a chicken frozen to death inside.
"Oh thank God for that" he sighed out pulling it free.
He reset the trap, grabbed the chicken bird and headed back up the trail. He was about half way back when he thought he heard a noise again, he looked quickly to the side and sure enough he caught a glimpse of movement. There was someone watching him. Instantly his heart was racing, was it the Lost Ones?
Not willing to hang about to find out but also not wanting to lead the person straight back to the cave David headed off of his trail a bit, he slipped behind a large bush and waited to see if anyone would follow. He stood for what seemed like forever but no one came and there was no more noise. He sighed in relief before stepping out and heading back. The snow had stopped but it was thick on the ground and his makeshift boots were doing little to stop his feet from feeling very very cold. He stumbled and nearly fell a few times then just as he was heading up the final bit of track he stood on a boulder or something equally as hard beneath the snow surface and fell with a thump into a large tree. He was just lying there cursing his luck when something fell out of the tree and hit him in the head.
"GOD" he yelled out "Is everything just out to get me?"
But when he pulled himself back up he gasped in a breath when his eyes fell on an apple lying in the snow. Instantly he was looking up to find a tree full of the fruit.
"Well I'll be damned" he said with a grin "Chicken and apple... I've had worse"
He practically ran the rest of the way back, he ditched the chicken bird near the fire so that it would thaw then grabbed a large bowl. He gave Hook a brief glance but he was still sleeping so David just ran back outside and down the trail again towards the apple tree. He filled his bowl in no time at all and as he made his way back to the cave to picked up one of the apples and took a huge bite. The flavor was intense and he breathed in a huge breath as his eyes fluttered with pleasure.
"Best apples ever" he mumbled then gave a chuckle "Sorry Regina"
In no time at all he had stripped himself out of his bear clothing and pulled his blanket poncho back on. He really wished he could make a soup for Hook but there were no vegetables so he'd just have to try and get the Pirate to eat some of the bird once he'd cooked it but he had plenty of apples and he knew he could get some juice out of them. At least that would give Hook some much needed sugar for energy so he got to work. He grabbed another sheet and cut off a few squares before chopping up some apples. He put the chopped up apples onto the squares then tied them up. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and put the first sheet pocket inside then started mashing up the apple with a spoon, it was so juicy that in no time it was just pulp in the sheet, he picked it up and used his hands to squeeze the cloth and watched as the cloudy juice flowed into the bowl. Once the first one was done he tipped the juice into a cup and repeated with the second, he did this four times and grinned when he had a decent amount for Hook to drink.
"Hook" he said sliding himself onto the edge of the Pirate's bed "Come on, I've got you some apple juice"
Hook stirred, opened a bleary eye and croaked "Apple juice?"
"Yep and it is delicious"
Again he brought his hand to the back of Hook's head to help him drink but gave a frown of concern when he felt the sweat in his hair and the heat that was still radiating off of the Pirate. He brought the cup up to Hook's lips and nearly laughed when the Pirate got the first taste. His eyebrows shot up and the next thing David knew was Hook's hand was coming up to help tip the cup so he could get more.
"Slow down, there's plenty more. Take your time, I don't want you to choke" David said quickly trying to pull the cup away but Hook was determined and David just chuckled when he lay back on his pillows and licked his lips. "That good huh?"
"Aye" Hook replied with a smirk and David was happy to see him open his eyes and look about a bit
"You want more?"
Hook shook his head but looked back at David "Can I have some water though, I'm still thirsty. Bloody mouth feels like badger's arse"
"Nice" David chuckled but he got up and took the cup over to the running water and filled it before heading back over and helping Hook drink it down. "Better?"
"Aye, thanks Mate" Hook let his eyes slide closed for a minute and David thought he was going back to sleep but he opened them again "I take it you found food then"
"One bird" David pointed at the bird that still lay near the fire "It was frozen solid so dinner might be a while"
"Frozen?" Hook asked with an eyebrow high on his head
"Yeah... the weather just got crazier. It snowed overnight, it's about three foot deep out there"
"SNOW!" Hook exclaimed "Bloody hell David, what is going on here?"
"I have no idea" David said back "But hey, I got to make a snow suit out of Tink's furs and a couple of blankets. Worked quite well too, all except my "boots" those sucked, my feet were FREEZING"
Hook gave a smirk but he had closed his eyes again and David could tell that he wanted to go back to sleep so he just pulled himself form the bed and headed back across to see if the bird was ready to be plucked yet.
"Thank you" the Pirate suddenly said and when David looked across he could see Hook still had his eyes closed "You are always there when I need you. As much as Henry has become Junior's Liam you have become mine... Brother"
David gave a smile "I never knew my Brother but from what I heard he was a complete ass... I always wanted to know what it would have been like to know him. Now... now I don't care. You are my James... Brother."
He heard Hook give a long sigh but the conversation was done, Hook went back to sleeping and David went back to cooking.
And outside the snow began to thaw...
