What is this part 13 now? I dunno, but here it is. The thrilling conclusion that we made you wait far too long for. XOXO ~the so very tardy gusenitsaa and xhookswenchx
It was the last place she should be, sneaking around the hospital. But maybe since it was the last place she should be, perhaps it’s the last place Fiona would look. Fiona was looking for her now, the whole town was looking for her. Her face was on signs, plastered on every street corner. Escaped from the loony bin, dangerous. Dangerous. After what she’d seen in that room Fiona had the nerve to call her dangerous?
She’d been at his window for only a few moments before they’d injected him, but he didn’t call for help. Why didn’t he call for help? He’d just watched her, the hint of a smile on his face until… She shuddered at the memory. The sound that came from him then, she was certain would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.
She grabbed the key from a hook on the wall as she slipped soundlessly past the night guard, knowing full well that he drank beer with his dinner and was nearly always fast asleep by this time. The halls were dark, but she knew the path. These halls were the boundaries of her world and she could navigate them with her eyes closed. Finally she reached the door, hesitating for a moment before looking through the window. What if he was gone? What if she’d moved him? What if she was too late?
She stood up on her tiptoes to peek through the window. He was still here, but pale and still strapped to the cot. Her momentary relief evaporated like smoke. She unlocked the door and opened it quickly, hoping it would not creak. It didn’t, and she closed it behind her so the guard wouldn’t notice anything amiss if he woke for his rounds.
She crept closer and reached for his cheek. “Killian-” Emma murmured, “Killian, what did she do to you-” His skin was hot to the touch, so abnormally so that it startled her out of her timidity in a moment. She moved quickly then, finding and removing all the straps that held him down.
“Killian?” she called nervously, shaking him lightly. Her eyes dropped to his hand where the orderly had injected the substance that had caused him such pain. Even now the skin was inflamed and red. Vicious burns traced the veins of his hand and up his arm beyond where his shirt sleeves covered. She reached tentatively for the sleeve to see how far the burns went when suddenly he started. He sat up rapidly and grasped her wrist in an iron grip. For a moment he just looked at her as though not quite understanding what he was seeing. “I’m not dead,” he whispered under his breath. There was a look of disbelief on his face and he cocked his head to one side, “I’m not dead?” he repeated, the statement more a question.
“You’re not dead,” she said, a small giggle of relief escaping her. “You are kind of hurting me though-” He glanced down in surprise and released his grip on her wrist. “Emma-” he whispered.
“We have to get you out of here,” she said quickly. “I’ve got her keys, we can run-”
“Where is- ” he tried to speak louder but his voice came out hoarse and he coughed. “Where’s Henry?”
“At home, probably, with-” she froze for a moment then shook her head. “She’s his mother too, Killian. Whatever she may do to us, she wouldn’t hurt Henry.”
“You don’t remember?” he said quietly.
“I remember enough.” Emma pulled out the keys and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists. He winced as she carefully pulled them loose, fury rising in her eyes when she saw the burned skin underneath. “That woman is a monster. We can leave town, she won’t find us. We’ll come back for Henry when the search has died down.” Emma tugged on his arm to try to get him to come with her but he shook his head.
“Emma, you have to get out of here. She’ll have some way of knowing you’ve come. ”
“Are you insane? I’m not leaving you here!”
“I’m not. I’m not mad, and neither are you. But I can’t leave. If I leave while Fiona still has Henry-” Black smoke filled the room and Killian jumped to his feet as the Black Fairy appeared behind Emma.
Emma turned, her face a mask of confusion, “How did you get h-”
She ignored Emma, and approached Killian, a pair of syringes in her hand. She glanced down and saw that he was unchained. “You know what happens if you fight me, Jones. It’s you or the boy. Consider your next move very carefully.”
To Emma’s shock, Killian didn’t so much as flinch as Fiona injected him with one of the two syringes. For a moment nothing happened, and Fiona turned her attention to Emma. “I’m done playing games,” Fiona seethed. “You’ve forced me to this.”
Behind her Killian stumbled back and sank to the ground. Emma rushed forward and knelt at his side as he gasped for air.
“What did you do to him?” she cried.
“Simple muscle relaxant of some variety according to my friends here at the hospital. Has nasty effects on one’s ability to breathe though.”
His breathing began to slow again and for a moment Emma dared to hope the medicine had worn off quickly, but it continued to slow until he was barely taking in air with each breath. Killian was squeezing her hand hard, his mouth opening soundlessly as he tried to speak to her. He couldn’t seem to get enough air to speak. “It’s okay”, she whispered, tears blurring her vision, “don’t speak, just breathe.” He reached for her, brushing his thumb across her cheek even as his breaths came shallower with each passing moment. Then his hand went limp and Emma looked up at Fiona in a panic. “Fiona, please don’t do this.”
“He’s bad for your recovery, Emma,” Fiona said sternly, her voice a facade of gentleness. “and things that are bad for your recovery are bad for Henry and have to go. You understand-”
“He’s not bad for my recovery, Fiona,“ Emma insisted desperately. “I’m not causing trouble! I don’t believe, I don’t!” She turned back to Killian and noticed in horror that his small jerky breaths had finally stilled completely. “Killian,” Emma cried, “Killian, no…come on-.”
“Prove it to me, then,” Fiona said. “Burn the book and I’ll let you save him,” she held up the second syringe, “with this.”
“Let me?” Emma cried, enraged. “You’re insane. He’ll be gone before I pass your little test.” She knelt over Killian and pressed her lips to his, pinching his nose and blowing air into unresponsive lungs. “Come on, Hook, come back to me.”
Emma froze, the name echoing around in her mind for a moment before suddenly the dam broke and buried memories came flooding to the surface. She turned on Fiona, and without a moment’s hesitation shoved out with her magic, knocking Fiona back against the wall.
“How dare you!” Another burst of magic slammed into the black Fairy again. Emma’s magic was like an out of control riptide, all power and no control, but it was enough. Fiona vanished before Emma could hit her again and Emma realized in horror that she might have destroyed the antidote. She knelt next to Hook again; he was ashen and his lips were turning blue. So much of the time in the hospital had been a false memory, but still her magic still felt rusty with long disuse, and using it to heal felt like it would take a bit more finesse than using it to slam someone up against a wall. She held up shaking hands over Killian, willing him to breathe, but there was nothing.
She scrambled to her feet and across the room to the wall she’d slammed Fiona into, searching desperately for the syringe that might save Killian’s life. She found it, smashed and empty in the corner of the room. The door crashed open and Emma raised her hands defensively, prepared instantly for Fiona or more of her goons.
“Emma-” David charged into the room and wrapped her in a tight embrace, “Emma, you did it.”
“Not quickly enough-” she whispered weakly.
Emma’s safety assured, David finally looked up, noticing Killian with a quick intake of breath.
“There’s a syringe,” Emma whispered, voice high and panicky. “Fiona had a cure but it’s gone and I don’t… I broke it.”
“Fiona wouldn’t have saved him, Emma. If you hadn’t broken it I still wouldn’t have trusted it- Your magic, can you-”
“I tried. Why can’t I just fix it?” she asked quietly. “When he was hurt by Hades I just… wanted him to be better so he was.”
“Maybe… things work differently in the underworld. Maybe you just need to give yourself time. Stay with him, keep trying, I’ll find a doctor,” David said and was out the door only a moment later.
She hurried back to Killian’s side, her hands shaking as she tried to access something in her magic to fix this… to make him better. Nothing came and her hands dropped. She took a deep breath, pressing her lips to his she forced his lungs to expand once more. Again and again.
“Don’t you dare,” she whispered between breaths… “You promised me-”
She heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway and suddenly the room was filling with people and someone was pulling her away from Killian. She clung to him until she heard her father’s voice in her ear:
“Let them take care of him, Emma.”
The moment she let go, she lost it. Even with her father’s reassurances, and an embrace that was supposed to be comforting, she crumbled. They were loading him onto a gurney and all she could do was watch, her mind a turmoil of Not again. Please, not again.
She followed him back to the main wing of the hospital and Killian disappeared behind a set of doors. She fought as he left her sight, only vaguely aware that her father was trying to talk to her, trying to hold her back but it was of no use. She struggled until David had no choice but to let go, Heavy sobs wracked her body as she crumpled to the floor, unable to catch her breath.
“How long has he been like this?” “Did he ingest anything?” “Is he prone to seizures? Blackouts?”
The slew of seemingly unrelated questions came at her in a rapid fire and for a moment she said nothing. The nurse stepped closer, recapturing her attention,
“We need your help to save him.” The words were like a magic balm to her mind and she straightened.
The nurse nodded. “How long had he been without oxygen before we arrived?”
“A… I’m not sure… a few minutes?”
“And what caused the respiratory distress?”
“He was injected with something, she said it was a muscle relaxant?”
“Did she tell you what kind of muscle relaxant?”
“Did the injection have any unique color or appearance? Did it appear to cause pain when injected?”
The questions kept coming, each faster than the one before it and when the nurses questions finally slowed Emma was able to ask her own.
“Is he going to be okay?”
The nurse smiled gently. “We’ll do everything we can.”
“What does that mean?” Emma asked desperately.
“We’ll let you know when we know anything more.” Her father caught her arm and pulled her close, cradling the back of her head gently.
She glanced down at her left hand where her wedding ring had been and her heart clenched. It was gone. Safely back at the house or lost in the curse she couldn’t be sure- Only one thing was certain… Fiona never would have touched him if she hadn’t known what he meant to her. He wouldn’t have remembered anything, but he would have been safe.
“This is my fault-,” she sobbed.
“Fiona is the one who hurt him,” David reminded her, “And he is going to be okay.” His words were more confident than they’d been just moments before, but she still couldn’t believe them. Her father hadn’t been there. He hadn’t watched as Killian fell to the ground, hadn’t seen his eyes roll back into his head, felt his life slipping away- “This is not your fault,” David whispered in her ear.
“Isn’t it? This is the price he pays for being in love with me. That he keeps paying. He’d be better off-”
“Don’t,” David interrupted sternly. “He’d kill me if I let you finish that sentence.”
“Emma?” Doctor Whale’s voice came from behind her and she spun. “He’s not breathing on his own yet, we’ve got him on a ventilator. Do you know how long he went without oxygen?”
Emma shook her head, “I can’t… I don’t know for sure.”
Whale nodded, ““Unfortunately there’s no way to know what damage was done until he wakes up.”
“You can come on back, we’re going to give him some medicine that may reverse his condition. If he wakes seeing a familiar face may calm him.”
Emma nodded and Whale led her back into a small room filled with machinery. Killian was lying in the bed in the middle. The doctors had cut away most of his shirt to place sensors and she could now see the path of the burns clearly now up his. She clenched her jaw.
“Do you know what happened there?” Whale asked her, following her gaze.
“Another injection, earlier. I don’t know what it was.”
“My best guess is potassium chloride.” He turned to a nurse, “Better get some blood tests and a haemodialysis kit ready too. Let’s start out with 10mg Edrophonium and a SIMV of 12, see if we get a response.”
Emma opened her mouth to ask what he meant but a nurse moved forward with a needle. Emma shifted toward her, the impulse to keep that needle away from him overwhelming for a moment. David caught her arm and pulled her back. “Emma, they’re helping; remember?”
She nodded, embarrassed by her impulse and dropped her head onto her father’s shoulder, her hand clasping his tightly.
The nurse gave the injection, watching the screen of the ventilator carefully for a response.
“Mark 5 minutes and try again.” More machinery brought into the room, more nurses. The room felt too small and Emma backed against the wall trying her best to stay out of the way. They repeated the dosage twice more before a chance in the beeping of the machine got Emma’s attention, and the nurses as well.
“We’ve got a spontaneous breath,” the nurse said.
“He’s breathing?” Emma couldn’t help but ask the closest nurse.
“We’ve got a pattern,” The nurse called, “low volume but he’s breathing on his own.”
“All right,” Whale said stepping away from the bed. “Get his dialysis set up and keep him on SIMV12 until we’re sure. ”
Emma leaned back against the wall, eyes closing in relief. David squeezed her hand and led her to a chair near the wall, “Sit down, Emma. I’ll be back soon. I need to go find your mother.”
“Mom… I’m so sorry, I… I forgot- And Fiona, she’s still-” Her eyes widened in sudden horror, “Henry, I need to find-”
“Shh, It’s all right. I ran into Snow when I was bringing the doctors. She went to find Regina and Henry.” He kissed the top of her head. “Keep an eye on him, I’ll handle everything else.”
She couldn’t sit for long, a nervous energy drove her to her feet and she paced the room, back and forth, always returning to his side. After a few minutes she received a text message from David and she finally felt as though she could breathe again.
Henry’s fine, with Regina. Fiona is dead, Gold.
Emma sank against the side of the bed, careful not to sit on any tubes. Killian looked like a marionette, strung up between the ventilator and the IV’s and the dialysis. But his color was better now, the ashy blue tinged skin was returning to its normal tone as she watched. His hair was a wreck and she reached for his face, brushing the mussed strands gently from his eyes.
His eyes flickered open and she smiled, relief surging through her. “Killian?” He tried to move, reaching for the tube with a look of panic in his eyes when he found his arms were restrained. They were soft cuffs and the burns on his arm were wrapped carefully but Emma still winced and grabbed his hand when he tried to pull himself free. “Killian stay still, please. Trust me. Don’t try to talk. The tube is helping you to breathe, okay? Just until the drugs wear off. ” She squeezed his hand again, the other hand brushing across his cheek gently. “Promise me you won’t pull out the tube so I can take off the cuffs?”
He nodded and she released the wrist restraints to his obvious relief, His eyes implored her with questions he couldn’t speak but with her memories had come her ability to read him.
“I remember, Hook. And Henry’s safe. Fiona’s dead. I’m sorry I didn’t remember sooner, I left you with her when I could have stopped this-” He squeezed her hand and turned it over so her palm was facing up. “What are you-” He began to trace something onto her skin and she stopped.
She smiled and squeezed his hand wishing she could kiss him properly.
“I love you too.” His eyes were drifting closed and she leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She wasn’t certain how much time had passed when she heard a soft knock at the door. Snow and Henry were peeking into the room and Emma shot to her feet, hurrying to them and hugging Henry.
“You alright kid?” she asked, pulling away and looking him over.
“Fine, Mom. I was with Regina when the curse broke.
“Is Killian okay?” Snow asked quietly, looking nervously past Emma to the bed.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Snow said, digging into her pocket. “I went to your house and found-” she pulled something out and held out her hand. Emma glanced down and saw two rings in her palm. Their wedding rings.
Tears blurred Emma’s eyes as she took the rings and hugged Snow tight.
“Thanks, mom. I thought they might have been… Just thank you,” Snow nodded.
“Killian?” Henry said excitedly and Emma spun. Their voices must have woken him. His eyes were full of relief at seeing Henry safe and sound. She pushed the call button and Dr Whale arrived soon after with a nurse in tow.
“Morning, Captain,” the doctor said, “Let’s se if we can’t get that tube out shall we?” They turned down the pressure to ensure he could breathe on his own and the nurse removed the tube. “Your throat may be a bit sore,” Whale commented, “that’s normal. Best to keep talking to a minimum for a while.”
Killian nodded and Emma hurried back to his side.
“Look what Snow found,” Emma said, showing him his ring, hers was already safe on her finger. She took his hand and slipped the band back onto his finger where it belonged. He nodded gratefully to Snow and then looked towards Henry.
“You alright, Henry?” he asked, “She didn’t-”
Henry shook his head and grinned. “She came after me after the curse broke but I was already with Regina. It didn’t go well for her.”
“Good lad,” Killian said turning back to Emma, “I’d like to go home-” he said quietly.
“I’d like that too,” she replied.
Emma glanced over at Whale who nodded, “Just make sure the bandage on his wrist gets changed every day, and let me know if there’s any sign of infection there or at the puncture sites. Somehow I doubt the black fairy was concerned about sterile needlestick techniques.”
Emma nodded but Killian was already sitting up, eager to leave. Snow had already slipped out of the room while they were talking, presumably to get the car and by the time they made it to the front entrance she was waiting out front.
Henry bolted out of the car when they arrived home, to find out if the curse had done any damage to his video game collection, most likely and Snow’s gaze followed him.
“If you guys would like some privacy, David and I can have Henry over for dinner?” Killian shook his head quickly, and Snow glanced at him. “I know you’ve been through a lot, no one would blame you for wanting some quiet?”
He shook his head again. “Fiona bought my compliance with threats against the boy,” he admitted, “if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather him remain nearby.” Snow nodded and gave Killian a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving and Emma led him towards the house.
“I believe it’s tradition to carry the bride over the threshold,” Killian commented, pausing and pulling her back from the doorway.
Emma raised her eyebrows, glancing at his bandaged arms. “You cannot be serious, Whale just re-bandaged your arm.”
“I’m quite serious,” Killian insisted, “I do not intend to let the black fairy steal any more from us than she already has.” He held out his arms to her, “Guess you’ll just have to patch me up first.”
Emma shook her head, “I tried,” she admitted, “earlier when you were- I can’t. My magic is… I don’t know, temperamental right now.”
He offered his wrists to her anyway, “I believe you can do it. It’s that or rebandage them when we get inside, I’ll accept no alternative.”
She held out hands that were suddenly trembling over his wrist, trying to call to her magic as she once was able to. Nothing.
“Relax, love, you’ve got this,” Killian said quietly and Emma closed her eyes trying to find the spark that had once come so easily. It took longer than normal but she found it and called it to her, hands steadying as a familiar glow shone in his eyes.
“That’s it, Swan. I told you, you’ve got this,” she couldn’t see the healing beneath his bandages but he could feel it, the residual burning melting away under her touch. He scooped her up before she’d even dropped her hands and she laughed, using her free hand to open the door for him as he carried her over the threshold. He dropped a kiss to her forehead before setting her down inside.
Ahhh! The thrilling conclusion!!! I love it, my dears!!! Thank you so much for sharing this wild ride with us all and for sharing it through my blog! I love you guys so much!!! You’re the best!!!
And for anyone who might’ve missed a part or just wants to check out the whole story in its entirety, check out this master post :D
