Walking in Darkness

Chapter 16

Regina

Once Doctor Cameron leaves, Emma beckons to me, so I sit down on the edge of the bed and look at her expectantly. She looks a mess. Her face is tear-stained and her make-up has smudged everywhere; she's worn the same hospital gown since she was admitted, because she won't let anyone help her get changed and won't admit she can't do it herself; and her hair probably hasn't been brushed since then either. It looks like it did when I met her in the alternate universe, except worse.

"We have to give the bark to Gold and get my dagger back," she states, dragging me from my thoughts. She still isn't really ready but, if I tell her that, she'll just ignore me.

"I'll go and grab your parents and then we can discuss it, OK?" At some point, we also need to tell her about Hook's plan, but I think we should focus on one thing at a time and I want to tell the Charmings before they let something slip.

I magic myself to the Charmings', fill them in quickly and take them back to the hospital, reminding them again not to tell her about Hook's plan yet.

"Mum, Dad. How are you?" I roll my eyes at the fact that she asks after her parents when she's the one in the hospital bed with multiple injuries.

"We're fine. We need to work out a plan, probably with your doctor, to minimise the damage to you." She sighs and calls Doctor Cameron using the phone next to her bed.

Minutes later, she comes in, smiling at me when she recognises me.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry, nothing. We need your input on a plan." I explain the whole thing to her as quickly as I can, trying not to convolute it too much.

"That's complicated." I can almost her the cogs in her brain turning. "I can get you a wheelchair for this afternoon. As long as you're back by this evening it should be fine." Emma smiles, appearing happy to be part of this. "But," Doctor Cameron continues, crushing Emma's hope slightly, "you can't be part of the plan to get your dagger back. You can just give him whatever it was and then come back."

Emma

At Doctor Cameron's last statement, I go to protest but she shakes her head, telling me it'll be useless. I lay back on my bed. I have to agree. The longer Gold has my dagger, the more likely he is to use it again.

"OK. Fine. We go now." Doctor Cameron calls for an automatic wheelchair, and it turns up a couple of minutes later. She carefully helps me into it and shows me how to use it before waving us goodbye.

"Tell whoever's on the desk to page me when you get back. Don't try and get into your bed until I'm here to help you." All of these rules are going to defeat the object of going in a minute, but I don't argue.

We head straight to Gold's shop. I think Mum, Dad, and Regina have a plan, but they've left me out of it. I go in the front and find him stood behind the desk. He laughs when he sees me.

"Well, what happened to you, Dearie?" I want to punch him in the face for laughing at me, but Doctor Cameron's rules stick in my head. DO what I cam to do and get out.

"Doesn't matter. I got what you wanted." I hand him the sheet of bark off the willow tree, but he seems uninterested.

"I asked you a question, Dearie. We wouldn't want to force the answer out of you, would we?" Damn. I'm going to have to answer. Otherwise he'll go for the dagger, and ruin our plan.

"My Dark side crashed our car on the way to Virginia, reopening my head wound and breaking my arm. Then she set fire to Pocahontas' village and some of her angry friends followed us back here and attacked. I re-broke my arm and got shot in the side. Somehow the arrow wasn't poisoned." I finish and the mantra of rules almost loses the battle against my anger when I notice the smirk is still on his face.