Captain Swan-The Heart Never Forgets

CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes: So I've been on haitus for a while now, but I'm trying to get back into my fanfiction stories and finish my wips. I've been writing original stories, and the longer I'm away from my wips, the harder it is to get back into them. My muse is very finicky and she wanted to write this story and I'm hoping she will let me finish my other wips in return. 

This one is like the Vow with a dark twist. And no, she doesn't forget Killian, but there are other things/people she forgets that will slowly be revealed. I don't want to say too much, no spoilers! Hope you enjoy! And thank you everyone for your patience while I try to get back into my other wips! I appreciate you!

Emma

Hushed voices and steady beeping—rhythmic and persistent—are the first things I hear when I wake. But they sound muffled and so far away, like I'm trapped behind a pane of frosted glass. And my eyelids are like lead as they flutter open, battling against the sterile, white light piercing the veil of darkness.

My eyes flit from corner to corner like a desperate butterfly seeking an exit in a jar with no lid. The room spins slightly, a carousel of muted colors and shapes that refuse to settle into anything recognizable. I blink rapidly, trying to clear my vision, but it's like peering through water—everything is distorted, distant.

I'm a castaway in my own body, adrift on a sea of white that seems to stretch out endlessly beneath me. There's a chill shooting through me, as if the very air is leaching warmth from my bones.

Where am I?

The thought doesn't quite morph into words, it floats in the fog shrouding my mind.

But something tells me asking the question out loud won't do any good. Something tells me I'm nowhere close to home.

"Emma?" A voice cuts through the fog in my head, slicing away some of the confusion.

The world swims into focus, the figures in front of me taking shape, and I find myself surrounded by familiar faces—my mother's gentle gaze filled with unspoken worry, my father's stoic expression.

"Ma..?" My voice emerges as a croak. "Da...?" I try to call out, but it's hard to form words when my brain feels like it's stuffed with cotton.

"We're right here, sweetheart." Mom's voice trembles with relief, her eyes—mirrors of my own—brimming with tears.

The touch of her hand on mine pulls a relieved sigh from my chest. But my breath snags in my throat as I catch sight of the IV needle taped to my arm, a clear tube snaking beneath the blankets, tying me to a bag of liquid.

What happened to me?

"Hey, pumpkin," Dad chimes in. His smile is warm, yet it doesn't banish the chill creeping up my spine.

"Wha...?"

"Take it easy, princess," my dad soothes, his hand finding my other one on the bed sheet. He's always been the calm one, the rock in any storm.

A man in sky-blue scrubs steps up beside them, his face kind yet somber. "Emma, I'm Doctor Whale. You were in a car accident. You sustained some serious injuries, and we've had you in a medically induced coma to help reduce the swelling in your brain."

A car accident?

The swelling in my brain?

"Induce a...coma?" I echo, my mind wrestling with the concept. The words scrape out, dry and rough, as if I haven't spoken in ages. How long have I been asleep? What day is it? How bad was it?

"Your body needed to rest so your brain could heal," Dr. Whale explains. "It was necessary given the severity of your injuries."

My parents nod gravely, confirming his words without speaking. As I try to sit up, pain lances through me, sharp and unyielding, forcing me back onto the pillows.