Emma goes thump in the night

Nahbois68 wanted a oneshot of Emma getting really ill and needing Snow to take care of her or talking to her about a neglectful foster home. Both I say!

Thump.

Snow awoke with a jolt. What had that noise been? The shock of the noise had woken her up pretty quickly. She looked to the side to see that Charming was still asleep.

"Charming." She whispered, shaking him. "Charming, wake up." He grunted, letting her know he was now awake. "Didn't you hear that thump? It sounded like it came from upstairs." David sat up, stretching.

"It'll probably just be Neal. I'll go put him back to bed…"

"No, it's ok." Snow said, feeling a little guilty for waking him. "I'm totally awake now anyway. I'll get him."

By the time Snow had walked to the other end of the bedroom, David was already back asleep. Snow made her way upstairs. She popped her head into her son's room, about to give him a telling off for being up so late, but he was fast asleep. She backed out of the room, puzzled. What had made that noise? A soft whimper made her ears perk up again. That had definitely came from her daughter's room.

Snow tiptoed back out of Neal's room and across the hall to Emma's. Again, she peaked her head in. She looked to Emma's bed and saw she wasn't there. Her heart sank a little when she saw her daughter huddled in a ball on the floor, shivering. Snow quietly entered the room and walked over to her.

"Emma?" She whispered. "What are you doing on the floor?" Emma with great effort moved her head and squinted at Snow.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, panicking. "I- I didn't mean to wake you up. Please don't make me leave…"

"Hey, hey, shh." Snow said, stroking through Emma's hair. Snow could tell Emma wasn't properly awake. "Emma, it's me. It's mom. I'm not going to make you leave honey. I just want to know why you're lying on the floor. I'm worried that you're hurt." Snow explained softly. Emma sniffled.

"I woke up, and I didn't feel so good. I wanted to go to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face, but as soon as I stood up I felt dizzy. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor." Emma told her. Snow felt her forehead, she was indeed burning up.

"Oh sweetie." Snow said softly. "I think you're sick. Come on, let's get you back into bed…" Emma was shaking her head furiously.

"No, no!" She shouted. "I can't be sick. Nobody loves sick people." She said, trying to tug away from Snow. Snow started to connect the dots. Obviously as some point in her childhood, possibly more than once, Emma had gotten sick and been told she was too much hassle before being sent back to a group home. It made her blood boil to even think of someone treating her daughter like that. But she couldn't think about that just now, she had to get Emma sorted.

"Emma," Snow said softly. "I don't care if you're sick, I will always love you. Your father and I both will. Now come on," She said, grabbing Emma under the arms gently. "Let's get you back into bed and get some medicine down you."

Snow managed with little struggle to help Emma off the floor and assist her back to bed. Once she was safely back in, Snow went down to the kitchen. She came back up to Emma's room a few minutes later with the medicine, a glass of water and a cool, damp cloth. She came over and placed the cloth on Emma's forehead. "That should help your temperature." Snow explained. She then placed the pills in one of Emma's hands and the glass of water in the other. "This should hopefully start to make you feel better." Begrudgingly, Emma shoved the pills in her mouth and took a large sip of water to swallow them. Snow smiled at her.

"There, that should begin to help soon. Do you need anything else?" Snow asked. Emma looked down and shook her head.

"No, but thanks. I'm sorry I woke you up. That wasn't fair. I'll make it up to you…"

"Emma," Snow interrupted her. "You have nothing to make up for. It's my job to take care of you, ok? Now, settle down and get some sleep. I'll come check on you in the morning, ok?" Emma nodded, lying back against the pillow, the pills already making her drowsy.

"Night mom." She murmured, half asleep.

"Night Emma." Snow whispered back, before tiptoeing back down to her own bed to sleep herself.