Accept Me

Chapter 1

It was just another day at the Swan house (or as Killian likes to call it), which was Killian's new home for the past few months. His wheelchair made it easier for him to move around than in his apartment. Emma's house was spacious enough to accommodate his every need, and it had plenty of open space and wide doors. All they had to do was install a shower chair and a stair lift.

It wasn't like it happened without his protest. After all, he didn't want to inconvenience her by buying things they didn't need just because he was disabled. Emma, on the other hand, repeatedly assured him that she would do anything for him if it meant he could live comfortably in the house. The statement always makes him smile bitterly. Since the accident almost a year ago, his condition has never been truly comfortable. But he is determined to live a normal life in a wheelchair and will not give up.

However, his existence was not without complications. His constant battle with pressure sores, muscle spasms, and the risk of autonomic dysreflexia is now an almost daily occurrence in his life. Not to mention other embarrassing functions of his body that no longer function as they did prior to the accident.

When he first met Emma Swan, his first thought was that she was way out of his league and would never look at him as a capable man. That she would never look him in the eyes with love.

They weren't strangers; Emma and he attended the same high school before he moved back to Europe for university. Killian stayed in his little birth town for a while, aspiring to be a mystery writer. He never had grand plans to change the world; instead, he wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps and do what he loved most: write.

He was doing well; he had completed the first draft of a novel when the car accident occurred after only a few months back in the States; a drunk driver hit him on his way home. The doctors told him he was lucky to be alive, but after learning about his permanent injury, he questioned his good fortune. He was in the hospital for months, followed by rehab and physiotherapy. He had no idea what his physiotherapist was trying to accomplish - it was obvious he would never be able to walk again. He later discovered that these exercises were designed to keep the muscles in his legs from atrophying.

As a result, he stopped writing entirely. He just didn't feel like putting words together when his life was falling apart.

He had to discover for himself what his new condition entailed on a daily basis. He could barely use his arms, due to her injury being high on his spine. The issues with his bodily functions, specifically bladder and bowel management, were his least favorite aspect of his hospital stay. The doctors told him he wouldn't be able to control any of them, and that even emptying his bladder or bowels required outside assistance. Even though the nurses tried to get him on a bowel program schedule, he was constantly fighting incontinence. In the end, he had to wear adult diapers frequently to keep the mess at bay.

Nathan, his nurse, stayed with him after he was released and was on call 24/7 to assist him and make his life easier. His apartment was not exactly wheelchair accessible, and he didn't have the funds to install a lift.

Then he ran into Emma at the hospital while he was waiting for his doctor's regular check-up.

She was in the waiting room as well, her arm bandaged and bleeding. They recognized each other and began talking as if the previous few years had not occurred and they were back in high school. He discovered she was working as a bail-bonds person, catching bad guys who skip their bail. She was always more of an action kind of lass, always looking for the next adventure. She later decided to drop out of university and start her own PI firm. She returned to Storybrooke and settled in the house she always imagined one day living, near the beach.