The sounds of alarm echoed around her in her aching head and her eyes burned from the flashing lights that surrounded her as she desperately tried to catch her breath but could only manage one choke after another. Frantically, she raised her hands towards her throat.
"Extubate her, for God's sake, before she does it herself!"
People moved frantically around her until one of them leaned into her field of vision and she felt a reassuring touch from a hand on her forearm. "Roni, I'm going to remove the tube from your throat so you can breathe normally."
These words alone calmed Regina somewhat and the beeping decreased and finally stopped completely after the foreign body had left her throat with a final choke and subsequent cough.
"You'll get a little more oxygen via a mask," she was told, before the rubbery edge cut into her face and she felt her breathing become a little easier. "Rest now, we'll talk later."
Regina breathed as deeply as she could and enjoyed the feeling of no longer having an irritating object stuck in her throat. She was exhausted, but not so tired that she could have slept any longer. She actually felt really good and wanted to know what had happened to her.
"I don't know what to make of it."
Regina turned her head to hear better when she realized that the doctors who had just left were having a conversation outside her room door that probably concerned her.
"That's completely impossible. She shouldn't have woken up so quickly. We didn't even expect her to wake up at all, the EEG showed increasingly fewer spikes and now, within a few hours, she was breathing spontaneously at first and then became more and more alert until we were able to take her off the machine completely. And she has sufficient spontaneous breathing! It didn't take much and we would have declared her brain dead!"
Regina swallowed and there was an awkward silence in the corridor for a while.
"Let's be glad we didn't have to do that."
"I'm the last person who wouldn't be happy about it. But I don't understand it. We definitely need to investigate further. I've never come across anything like this in all my years as a doctor. There are miracles every now and then, patients who were thought to be lost wake up again, that's true. But we're talking about days to weeks and not within half a day."
The dialogue partner sighed and his voice remained serious. "Let's wait for the neurological tests and only then talk about a miracle. If she can't do anything but breathe, then she would certainly have preferred the brain death option."
Their footsteps moved away and Regina turned her gaze to the window. That was a cheerful prospect. At least this time she knew straight away what had put her in this situation: the car that would have run Emma over by a hair's breadth if she hadn't intervened. Regina looked around the room. No Emma. She was almost about to be angry that she had saved her and that Emma had left her here alone when a much more frightening thought occurred to her. Ordinary mortals called it a miracle, but what if Emma had broken the promise she had made to her? What if she had used magic against all precautions? The people here didn't understand magic, but they weren't stupid and if the doctors thought she had been close to death, then that had certainly been the case.
Regina felt a chill run down her spine as she pulled the mask off her face and sat up in bed regardless of her headache.
Hook tapped his fingers nervously against the tankard he was holding. The pub he had visited that evening was relatively empty, with whispered conversations taking place in only two alcoves. The light from the candles scattered around the room cast flickering, ghostly shadows on the walls and Hook watched the landlord wipe the wooden counter with a dirty rag.
Two of the four days he had until the 'Fiery Glow' would set sail back towards the Enchanted Forest with or without him, had already passed. And he still hadn't been able to achieve anything. After the disaster in Moonshine Alley, he hadn't dared to set foot inside. He wasn't a coward, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe that he could fool a mage with a disguise and a fake symbol.
The old man had advised him to look for another way, but he was running out of time and his ideas were limited. There were no more magic beans far and wide, and where was he more likely to find one than in a street full of magical stores?
After emptying his tankard for the third time, he placed some coins on the table and then climbed the creaky wooden stairs to the upper level, where he had taken a room for the night. Without removing his clothes, Hook dropped onto the simple bed, slipped his hand under his head and stared up at the ceiling, where the light of the almost burnt-down candle cast dancing shadows.
He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he had to admit that Henry and Zelena had been right about them staying together. Only, once again, he hadn't wanted to listen and now he couldn't talk to Emma or come up with a solution to the problem. You would think that a pirate would be able to find an item as valuable as a magic bean. Even the crystals had made a big impression on his stepson, even if he hadn't openly admitted it.
The thought of the day they had dug up the crystal popped into his head and with it came the faint memory of a former trade with another pirate. It had been at a time when magic beans were not yet a rarity, but still valuable. He had owned one himself and traded it for the knowledge of where he could find a treasure of gems and gold. The other pirate's ship had run into a storm shortly afterwards and capsized, but Hook was sure that the bean had not been used before.
Meanwhile, Hook sat bolt upright in bed and tried to force his alcohol-fogged brain to think more clearly. The bean must either be at the bottom of the sea, or the pirate had been clever enough to keep it safe beforehand. And knowing him, he had buried the new treasure in his possession in true pirate fashion. If he could find out where it might be, he would be many times closer to his goal than he had been a few minutes ago.
With a slightly lighter feeling around his heart, Hook sank back into his pillows and was asleep within a few moments.
Regina opened her eyes and looked around in complete confusion. She had woken up like this far too often recently for her liking, but at least this time she knew where she was and a glance out of the window told her from the brightness that the morning was still dawning.
"Good morning, Roni."
Regina turned her head and saw Dr. James beside her bed. "Good morning, Doctor," she replied and ran a hand over her forehead to brush back her hair, catching it on a thick bandage. Only then did she notice that two other doctors were huddled in the corner of the room, busily scribbling away on their notepads. Regina raised an eyebrow at the sight and her gaze slid back to the doctor she knew. "What is this, am I a research subject now?"
"Let's put it this way, your case is of great interest to the medical profession. You've come back from the dead, so to speak, although that was probably a bit much to start with; you were unconscious for a few minutes after you must have been confused and tried to get up."
Regina nodded, remembering all at once what had made her want to get up. "Well, when I'm back from the dead and feeling so well, there's nothing wrong with a little excursion, is there?" She swallowed the words that were still burning on her tongue. How dare he call her confused, like an old woman with dementia?
"That wouldn't be very advisable. Besides, we need to carry out a few tests first to make sure that everything is physically okay with you."
Regina groaned and was about to object, but then thought better of it. They would be doing their tests after all and if she just went along with it, it would be over quicker. So she made an inviting gesture down to herself.
After all sorts of tests on her reflexes, speech, memory and physical functions, she was taken for a cranial CT scan, for which she had obviously booked an annual subscription, given how often she had been in there over the last few weeks.
When she was finally back in her room and had been certified that everything was in order according to the circumstances, she was overjoyed. How she hated that phrase. 'According to the circumstances'. In other words, she felt like shit, but considering that her organs were about to be removed, she was alive and well.
The door opened and Regina's eyes fell on the young nurse she remembered from the night. "I'm glad to hear that your examinations all went well," she said and Regina couldn't help but notice that she was trying for a friendly smile, but it seemed forced.
"Well, I am too. But I doubt that you came here to tell me that," Regina said, looking her up and down. "But while you're here, perhaps you'd be kind enough to help me into my wheelchair?"
"Ms. West, considering the circumstances..."
"Yes, of course, I have to stay lying down and all that, I thought so. But you see, I'm fine and I won't betray you, I promise. I just really need to see my... find out something," Regina explained, doing her best to keep the impatience out of her voice.
"It's not just about bed rest. I have to tell you something first. The young woman who was with you... Emma?"
Regina's gaze shot up and lingered on her lips. "What about her?"
"She came to us last night, she went into labor and I took her to the delivery room," she explained slowly.
Regina's tension did not ease after this statement, rather the opposite. She felt the pain in her head intensify into a strong roar. "Is everything all right with the baby?" she wanted to know in a panic. Stupid, stupid Emma! She knew she was rebellious, but she had always thought she was smarter.
Maureen nodded quickly. "The baby's fine. I'll take you to see the little one if you like."
An eyebrow shot up before Regina could stop it. Why would she take her to the baby so willingly after forbidding her to get up? "What about her?" The toneless question echoed in Regina's head as if someone else had asked it and not herself.
"She's fine, she's alive and well. You can see for yourself, I'll take you there!"
"I don't want to know how the baby is! What about Emma?"
The nurse lowered her eyes and that was all it took for Regina to tear the covers off herself.