Zelena's fingers clutched the vial of magic she had stirred to detect Regina's arrival in the Enchanted Forest and which she had been wearing on a string around her neck all this time. The color of the concoction still hadn't changed, robbing Zelena of the hope that Emma and Regina had found a way here and therefore couldn't return Henry's call. She lay in her bed with her eyes open, staring at a cobweb that led from the torch holder on the wall to the window opening and shimmered silver in the light of the moon.
It had been more than a week now and they had nothing to show for it. Sure, they had found a way to activate the wardrobe, only they would die trying. Regina would be thrilled. Sleep was out of the question, so Zelena rose from her bed once more, wrapped her green robe around her and stepped to the window.
The grounds around the castle lay quietly, the sound of the waves almost fading into the background alongside the chirping of the crickets. If it weren't for the dark thoughts raging inside Zelena, it could have been the most peaceful thing she had experienced in recent times. At least since arriving in the Enchanted Forest.
Her heart clenched uncomfortably as she thought of Chad. After she hadn't believed that anyone could ever love her and Hades had finally proved that power was more important to him than she was, he had come into her life and turned it upside down like no one had ever done before. Even though she had been Kelly at the time and had had no idea who she really was, the love and affection she felt for him hadn't changed after Regina had given her back her memories. She didn't know whether to call it ironic that she was now separated from him again, or whether there was a deeper reason why she couldn't seem to have any luck with men.
Zelena's train of thought came to an abrupt end when a knock sounded at her door, which she hadn't expected at this time of day. Turning around, she fastened her robe with her belt and then opened the door.
"Snow?!" she was surprised to find Emma's mother barefoot and wearing a white, silk nightgown outside her room. "What brings you here in the middle of the night?"
"I know you don't like me very much. Can I come in for a moment anyway?"
Zelena stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture with her hand.
"Thank you." Snow entered the small sleeping chamber and leaned her buttocks against the windowsill where Zelena had been standing a moment ago. The waning but almost full moon behind her made her silhouette glow in silvery light.
Zelena took a seat on her bed and eyed her waiting, as she had not received an answer to her first question.
"Henry came to me today and said he hadn't been able to reach Emma, even though they agreed to speak to each other every evening."
"That's right," Zelena nodded, with no idea where this conversation was going.
"I'm worried about my daughter. It's not like her to stand Henry up. She would give her life for him."
"Snow, just tell me what you want from me so we can both go back to our beds," Zelena said snippily, who was already tired of this speech.
"I want you to check on her. You made that potion and went to see Emma and Regina. You could do it again," she actually said directly.
"Do you think that wouldn't have occurred to me already? This spell uses up a lot of power. I can cast it again..."
Snow's face brightened.
"...but I can't do that now. It's too dangerous and I still need my magic for our experiments," the redhead finished her sentence.
"Are the ingredients too expensive? You can have gold, that's no problem!"
"I don't think you've been listening to me. I need to economize on my magic or we'll soon have nothing left to do, is that what you want?" Zelena looked at her piercingly and it bothered her immensely at that moment that she couldn't see Snow's eyes due to the lighting conditions.
"I want you to look after my daughter, that's all," she said quietly.
Zelena sighed. "Get the wax out of your ears, sweety! This spell isn't going to happen in the next few days. Get it out of your head, or find someone else to perform it! Good night!" She went to the door and opened it to show Snow that she was no longer welcome here.
"If this was about Regina, you'd do it right now, wouldn't you?" Snow asked as she stopped opposite her next to the open door.
"Then I would have done it long ago. But unlike the rest of you, I still use my brain now and then!"
Snow looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Don't look like that! First the pirate sets off blindly without even knowing where to go, then Henry wants to use the crystal until his energy is exhausted and now you're standing outside my door insisting that I waste my magic and risk dropping dead in the process? You're all the same: you let your emotions and impulses guide and overpower you. You think I'm heartless? Fine, fine by me. Still, I'm the only one here who doesn't completely lose her head when we run into unforeseen problems."
Snow looked at her for a long time and finally nodded. "Sorry, it was a stupid idea. Good night."
Hesitantly, Zelena put her hands on Snow's shoulders and looked her closely in the eyes. "It wasn't. I'm worried too. As soon as I can, I'll check on her, I promise."
Snow nodded and turned toward the dark hallway.
"Good night, Snow." Zelena watched after her until the darkness of the hallway swallowed her white nightgown.
Emma awoke from the light sleep she had fallen into at Regina's side. It was now dark both outside and in the hospital room, apart from various flashing lights on the monitor and ventilator.
Her first glance went to Regina, thinking that some movement on her part had woken her up, but this was not the case. She was still lying quietly in her bed, but her face didn't look quite as sunken as it had in the evening, as far as Emma could tell in the light.
Shortly afterwards, however, Emma received an answer to the question of what had woken her, in the form of a tearing pain in her abdomen that made her take a deep breath. "No, no, no, you're too early," she whispered desperately, stroking the bump of her belly. But when the next contraction came, there was no longer any doubt: her baby girl didn't care at all that Emma wasn't expecting until over two weeks later.
Emma's gaze slid to Regina; she had secretly hoped that she would not have to give birth to her baby alone again and that she would support her if her husband was unable to do so. But her friend was still unconscious and Emma realized that she couldn't stay here.
She waited for the next contraction, took another deep breath and then made her way out as quickly as possible to look for a night nurse. The large clock on the wall of the corridor showed her that it was half past eleven and before she reached the nurses' room, she had to stop again and lean on a trolley of bed linen before she could continue.
"I beg your pardon," she said quietly so as not to startle the two women in the dark blue scrubs sitting in the duty room with the documentation.
The younger of the two stood up and came to Emma at the door. "Is something wrong with Ms. West?" she inquired, but immediately noticed the beads of sweat on Emma's forehead.
"She's fine, I think, but my baby has probably just decided it's time to explore the world," she said breathlessly, before gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut to avoid waking the whole ward with a scream.
"Mary, bring a wheelchair quickly," she instructed her colleague as she took Emma by the arm and had her sit down on the desk chair first. "Don't worry, ma'am, I'll call the gynecologist on duty and the midwife will take care of you in the meantime," she assured her.
"Don't go to any trouble. And my name is Emma," Emma nodded and, with their help, took a seat in the wheelchair that Mary had just brought. "Thank you. I don't want to keep you both from your work," she explained, before the next contraction came and she preferred to keep her mouth shut again. They were definitely contractions, she could still vividly remember Henry's birth. Nevertheless, she was also worried that her baby wasn't doing well. She was aware that there didn't necessarily have to be signs of an imminent birth beforehand, but she was pretty sure that her spell had triggered it; after all, Regina had warned her strongly to use magic.
"I'll take you to the delivery room, Emma. My name is Maureen," Emma heard the younger nurse's voice breaking through her thoughts.
She nodded weakly and clutched her stomach. "Tell Roni that everything will be okay if she wakes up and I'm not there, please," she asked quietly as she was handed over to the midwife who had been expecting her after the call.
Maureen nodded and, relieved, Emma was now ready to follow the midwife's instructions.
When she came to lie on the bed, had the CTG placed and heard her baby's heartbeat, she was a little calmer for the first time and allowed herself to close her eyes briefly.
"The contractions are already coming at very regular and short intervals. Do you have your maternity pass with you?" the midwife asked her a little later.
Emma nodded and looked over at her jacket, which had been hung over a chair. "In the inside pocket."
While the midwife read, Emma closed her eyes again and breathed into the contractions that she had known were coming regularly even without the information.
"So, your second child. Well, then you already know what to expect," the midwife smiled at Emma, but Emma couldn't return the smile. It was probably better not to know, then she would certainly have been a lot less tense.
"You're not exactly encouraging," she said dryly and twisted her lips into a wry grin.
"Don't worry, you're doing very well. Try to relax a little, if you can. Would you like me to call someone for you?"
Emma shook her head and looked away from her. The situation reminded her too much of Henry's birth. But Regina was here, she reminded herself again. As soon as she felt better, she would no longer be alone with the baby.
xxx
A few minutes later, the gynecologist entered the room, introduced himself to Emma and then performed an ultrasound and vaginal examination.
"Everything looks good at the moment, Ms. Swan. The baby is in position, her heartbeat is strong and your cervix is already six centimeters open," he told her.
Emma nodded to show that she had understood and then gritted her teeth again.
"The intervals between contractions are now less than three minutes, which means it's unfortunately too late for an epidural, if you were considering one."
"That's okay," Emma nodded. "Henry squeezed through down there without anesthetic," she tried to lighten the situation and make a joke.
The doctor smiled briefly and nodded. "Helen will guide you through the birth and I'll be nearby if there are any problems," he assured her before leaving Emma alone with the midwife again.
"Thank you for everything," she said before concentrating fully on the thought that she would probably be a mother before sunrise.