Rotten Souls

part 21

His bloody body was laying on the cold street. He couldn't move a muscle, he couldn't react to Emma's screams, he couldn't spell a single word. He just kept laying there and shut his eyes.

After a few seconds Emma's screams transformed to an unbearable noise in his head. She kept calling his name while shaking his hands to wake him up, but he could no longer open his eyes and look at her terrified face and reassure her that he could hear her.

The sound of his name turned to something not familiar. Emma sat on her knees and kept shaking his cold hand screaming to Neal to call an ambulance.
"You know that guy?"
He asked in a shaky voice.

"Does it matter? He's hurt."
She screamed almost breathless.
"Of course it does. He got shot. We need to inform the police Emma. Knowing something about him can help us."

He said while pressing the numbers of the local hospital to call for help. The other line answered and a nurse started asking informations about the place they currently are and the incident.

"I'm the fucking sheriff of this town. I know nothing for this man except his name is robin."
She said to Neal with her eyes watering. The truth is being a sheriff was not easy.

She had to be alert for almost anything happening in storybrooke. And protecting storybrooke is not an easy job. So many things happening daily, including curses, magic spells, demons, witches and beasts.

Her brain was messed up. She felt like that helpless orphan she once was. Feeling useless trying to figure out what to do with her life. Except now somebody else's life was counting on her help.

She placed her hair behind her ear and kept calling his name in case he could hear her. Neal pressed his hands to robin's chest and started pressing it.
"Get out of the way."
He told her and pushed her back.

Emma screamed loudly at him.
"He's not drowning! He got shot!"
Neal sat Buddha style on the street next to robin rubbing his face.
"We need to calm down. We need to face this situation with calm."

He adviced Emma and told her to take deep breaths.
"Regina could know who he is."
"How?"
"She's the mayor of this town. She is supposed to know everyone. We are a small town and the most of the people living here were once tortured by her. She has to know a few details about him."

Neal smiled relieved and got his phone out of his jacket and handed to Emma.
"Call her."
He said in a deadly serious voice.
Emma grabbed the phone and dialed Regina's number but couldn't press the green button to start the call.

"EMMA!"
Neal said loudly to shake her.
"What?"
"You need to be fast. He needs help."
"I just don't know what to tell her."
She answered hesitant and cleared her throat.

Her palms were getting sweaty, her forehead too. She was clearly nervous to call Regina even thought it would be about something professional.

"Emma please just call." Neal repeated showing robin's bleeding wound. Emma pressed call and let the line ring.

Regina: hello?
Emma: hi. It's Emma...
Regina: oh Emma... is everything ok?
Emma: no. There's an incident happened not far away from your house and I need information for that man. Can you meet us at the hospital?
Regina: uh sure. I'll be there in five.
Emma: thanks.

Emma hung up the phone and placed it back in her pocket when she heard the sirens of the ambulance screaming loudly approaching them. Two nurses stepped out of the vehicle and placed robin on a stretcher to move him easily.

Emma stepped on the ambulance with Neal and shut the door behind them. They immediately started for the hospital. The nurses placed a mask of oxygen on robin trying to keep him stable.

They reached the hospital and put him in the surgery immediately to take care of his wounds. Emma was sitting on the couch at the waiting room breathing heavily next to Neal who had just brought coffee.

"Are you nervous for him?"
He asked whispering.
"I'm gonna sound selfless and stupid but I'm not that nervous about him. Is just... seeing Regina after what happened is going to be a little awkward."

"Think about it as a professional encounter with her."
Neal adviced her once again smiling.
"Its not that easy. Every time I looks inside her eyes I can see all that sadness eating her up. Can't even accept that this is my fault."

Emma answered desperately.
"And how is this your fault?"
"I was so hard on her at the trail. She chose to free her rapist for the sake of her child and instead of encourage her for her straight, I blamed her and pushed her away."

She finished her sentence and heard Regina's heels approaching them. That walk of hers was copied inside Emma's memory. She had an unstoppable walk, full of power and dignity.

She stepped in front of Neal and took off her coat placing it on the couch.
"So... what's going on?"
She asked not daring to look at Emma right in the eyes.
"As we were walking down the street, we heard shootings. And then a shot guy was trying to walk towards us but he ended up fell on the street."

Neal explained as Emma was trying to gather her thoughts.
"And what do I have to do with him?"
Regina asked.

"Since we witnessed the sound of shooting, and I'm the sheriff of this town I gotta find out who did this. I need information for this guy. Thought since you're... "

Regina stopped her and continued.
"Since I'm the evil queen and have tortured everyone here might know him."

(To be continued)