A Twist Of Fate

Chapter 14

I don't like that I have to leave my daughter at daycare but that's what needs to happen. I need to go to work and she needs to interact with others. I take Angie to the town hall daycare center and they assure me everything will be fine. I believe them because if anything happens they have to deal with me and Regina at the same time, and from knowing Regina as long as I have it's never good to be on her bad side. I eventually leave to start my first shift at the high school. I walk into the school and go to the security office. They give me a walkie-talkie and tell me just to patrol the halls on each floor. There are three floors and 5 other security guards. 2 for each floor. The first day went by without anything at all happening. I wasn't expecting much to happen anyway. I went here and it's usually boring. A few weeks later it was the last week of August and was the last week of summer school. After Labor Day the regular school year would start. On the last day of summer school a bad altercation happened on the floor I was patrolling. Some kid named Will Scarlet found out that he didn't pass summer school. He didn't take it well and he was prepared for it. He had a gun and he was ready to use it. As I walked by room 114 I heard shouting so I walked in to see what was going on. "Hey Mrs. Walker is everything ok in here?"  Just her look told me no. When I started here they gave me a panic button with a GPS attached to my belt so I wouldn't have to use my radio. I pressed it immediately. I looked at the kid and saw the gun. "Whoa. Hey kid. Whatever you thinking of doing, it's not worth it".  "How the hell would you know?"  "I know because not to long ago I lived so far away from everyone that loved and cared about me, and if you do the wrong thing right now the same thing is going to happen to you".  "Look lady, you don't understand. If I flunk out of school again that's it. Everything is over".  "But it's not. Your so young right now anything is possible". He shakes his head. "No. No it's not. She needs to change my grades now".  "I promise you will be ok. Put the gun down".  "NO!!!  CHANGE IT NOW!!"   "Give me the gun and she will change it".  "No. I want to see it".  Mrs. Walker nods and grabs a pen and some white out. She covers his grades and puts in new ones so he gets a passing grade. "See that Will. Everything is fine now. Give me the gun and you can leave here free and clear". As he goes to hand me the gun he hears commotion from the hallway. And pulls back. Shit. I think to myself. These small towns are anything but inconspicuous. "What the fuck was that out there?"   "It's just the other kids leaving their last day of summer school. That's all". I can see he doubts my words right away. "It's ok Will. Please give me the gun so no one gets hurt". As I say that I reach for the gun and as he's about to let it go the door busts open and Will's gun goes off. All of a sudden the atmosphere changes for me. I can't feel anything and I can't hear anything. I loose all control of my legs and drop down to the floor. I lay back and I see my beautiful daughter and then she's suddenly gone. I blink my eyes again and I see my wife. My beautiful Zelena. She takes me in her arms and I can finally feel her again. The feeling of Zelena's arms wrapped around me doesn't last long as she starts to drift away from me but I hear her say "Tell Angelica I love her".
When I woke up I was in the hospital. I really don't like this place. My wife never left here. Why am I here?  I look around and see my dad sleeping in the chair next to me. I don't want to wake him up but I need some information. I croak out the words "Dad. Dad wake up".  He's startled a bit but he's right by my side. "Hey sweetie. How do you feel?"   "Crappy dad. Where is my daughter?  Please tell me she's ok".  I ask as tears pour from my eyes. "She's absolutely fine Emma. Regina has been taking very good care of her".  "So my baby is ok?"   "Yes Emma. She fine. She misses you, but she's fine".  I take I a moment to process what my dad said. "What happened, how long have I been here?"   "Emma you were shot in the abdomen at close range. You lost a lot of blood. You've been in a coma for 2 weeks now".  More tears fall from my eyes as I remember what happened in that classroom. "Did anyone else get hurt?"   "No Emma. Your a hero. Most people are calling you the savior now. If you hadn't alerted the staff things could have been worse".  I shake my head. "No dad. Those fuckers made it worse. Will heard all the commotion outside the room and freaked out. I had it all settled he was giving me the gun when they busted into the room and the gun went off. If they had just waited for my all clear, everything would have been fine".   "Emma that's ridiculous. Why would they just burst into the room?"   "Because dad. They haven't had proper training. I trained in Boston which is 100 percent different from Storybrooke. I've had swat training, and hostage negotiation training. Dad these people up here don't have to deal with shit like that".  "Emma you need to talk to Regina and Sheriff Hunter about some proper training so this never happens again". I nod as a nurse comes in. "Well our savior is finally awake. How are you feeling?"   I shake my head. Savior. Really?   "I feel achy and tired. And hungry".  My dad laughs at the last part. "That's my girl". He says with a laugh. "Ok dear. I'll page your doctor and tell him to come check on you and he will give you something for the pain and I can check into what diet he wants you on while you are here ok?  So try to relax. I'll be right back".  The nurse leaves and I look at my dad. "Dad can I please have some of that water?"  "Of course sweetheart".  He fills the plastic cup and hands it to me. I take a few sips of it and the coldness feels good on my throat. I hand him back the cup. "Dad. I'd like to see my daughter. Please call Regina and ask her to bring her".  "Emma. I don't know. You just woke up".   "Dad please. I'm the only parent she has left. I want to see my little girl. Please".  He nods and takes out his phone. He calls Regina to tell her I'm awake and that I want to see Angie. The call ends and my dad tell me that they will be here soon. While I'm waiting for Regina and my daughter, the doctor comes in to examine my wound and asks me on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad my pain is. I think a moment. I tell him it's between a 3 and a 4. He writes a few things down on my chart and says my wounds are healing well and that he will order a mild pain reliever to help with the pain. He leaves and about 15 minutes later Regina walks in with my daughter in her arms. I instantly cry. "Oh my baby girl. Come here. I missed you so much". Regina walks over to the bed and Angie reaches out for me. It hurts a bit to pick her up but I don't care. I give her all the kisses I can and then she snuggles into my neck and chest. I close my eyes and enjoy the moment. Regina sits on my bed and watches us. I open my eyes to see her smiling face. "How has she been for you Regina?"   "Well she's been missing you, but other than that she's been a complete angel for me".  I look towards my daughter who still has her head on my shoulder. I look at the clock and it's her nap time so I whisper. "You've been an angel for auntie Gina?  You are such a good girl. I love you so much Angelica. Thank you for being good while I couldn't be there for you".  I kiss her head. "I think she fell asleep Emma". Regina says to me. I think she's right because her body feels like dead weight on me. "Want me to take her to the couch to sleep". Regina asks. I shake my head. "No. Not yet. I want to hold her for a while please".  Regina nods and that's when my father gets up. "Ok sweetheart. I've been here all night. I really need to go shower and sleep. Well unless you want me to stay".  "No. Thanks for being here dad. Go get some rest. You and mom can come back tomorrow morning. Tomorrow dad".   "Yes Emma. I get it. I'll keep your mother home till tomorrow". He says with a laugh. He kisses my cheek then Angie's head. He says his goodbyes and leaves the room. Then it was just Regina, me and my daughter. "Regina thank you so much for taking care of her while I was in here".  She puts her hand on Angie's back and rubs it a bit. "It was no trouble at all Emma. I loved it. She really was so good. Well you know, except for when it came to eating. How can a child be so messy".  We both laugh and that's when my stomach area starts to hurt. "Oh Emma I'm so sorry. Here let me take the baby please and lay her on the couch". I nod and she carefully picks up Angie. She goes over to the couch and lays her down. She then takes off the back cushions and puts them on the floor in case the baby rolls over. She also tucks a small pillow near her to help prevent her from rolling off. Wow she's really great. "Thank you for all that Regina". She smiles at me and then comes to sit in the chair my dad was in by my bed. She moved it a bit so she could see the baby and also be close to me. "I'm so sorry this happened to you Emma. Can you tell me what went on in that classroom?"  She takes hold of my hand to give me comfort then all of a sudden her mother walks into my room. "Thank goodness I found you Regina. Robin and I have been looking all over for you. You missed your date last night and he's not a happy camper".   "Mother this is not the right time. Please leave and I'll talk to you later".   "Regina this cannot wait any longer. He wants to marry you. You need to take him up on his offer. That's what's best for you".  "Mother leave now". Regina shouts and wakes up Angie. Cora could care less that her granddaughter was there. She's such a douche. Cora lets out a huff and leaves. Regina goes to pick up Angie and tries to calm her. "Here Regina. Let me take her. Go deal with your mother. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in a relationship with someone. I'm sorry if I halted that at all". She hands Angie to me and she lays down on my chest and falls asleep. Regina quickly goes on the defense. "No Emma. I'm not seeing anyone. My mother wanted me to date this idiot. I agreed because I had nothing else to do, then you ended up in here and I started to take care of Angie".  "It's ok Regina. Thank you for all that you have done. You deserve a life now. Go live it".   "Emma my life is here now. I want to be here with you and Angelica.  Please don't shut me out".  "What about this guy Robin?"   "Robin is nothing that I want. I want you, and I want Angelica".  She seems shocked by her words and so am I.  "Regina what are you saying?"   "Fine. I'll put it all out there. I still love you Emma. I always have and I always will. I know you are still grieving my sister and so am I, but I hope that when you are ready to start to move on I hope that you would consider me as an option. I love you Emma".  "Regina I love you too. I started feeling it a few weeks ago. I fought it because it felt wrong, but it's not. We had to go through so much to get to this point. Let's not fight it any longer".  She moves forward and presses her lips to mine and it absolutely feels like the right thing. Regina moves back and smiles at me. "I love you Emma".  "I love you Regina".