That One Second

Chapter 11

Emma's heart hadn't stopped pounding rapidly. It'd been a few minutes since the ambulance had arrived, but Henry still lived.

He was unconscious, but alive.

Emma had held his hand during the entirety of the ambulance ride and Regina had clasped the other hand tightly, both unable to say anything. Cora had come to the park to pick up Hope, in utter stress and worry. She'd wanted to come along to the hospital as well, Emma could see that, but they didn't want Hope near Henry for now.

He was severely injured. Henry hadn't looked out when he'd wanted to grab the ball from the road and the car had been unable to brake at the last second.

Emma had felt the need to yell at the driver, yell at everyone in the park, yell at the whole world, but she'd kept quiet, apart from the loud sobs that left her throat.

In the hospital, Henry was immediately placed in a room with several doctors. They first tended to him as much as they could outside the operation room, but they quickly informed Emma and Regina that they needed to run some special checks.

Emma had nodded profusely. She and Regina hadn't been allowed to come with them, so she'd plopped into a chair and started crying again. Seeing her boy like that was more painful than anything she'd ever experienced in her life.

She reached out to grab Regina's hand and pulled it close to her chest. Regina was sitting on the chair beside her and she rested her head on her wife's chest, which was moving quite a bit, giving Regina's constant crying as well.

"I should've watched them for fuck's sake," Emma said and cried softly. "I've been far too self absorbed. I could've prevented this all."

Regina moved Emma's head away from her chest to look her in the eyes. "Stop that, right now," she said. "You couldn't do anything about it. I didn't watch them either. It's just the worst fucking timing of everything, nobody could've foreseen this, but putting blame on people doesn't change anything. This isn't your fault."

Emma thought she wanted to say more, but Regina broke down crying again. They hugged each other tightly. Emma knew Regina was the only one knowing exactly what she was going through right now. They feared Henry's life. There was a good chance he wasn't going to make it, given the state he was in and Emma didn't think she'd survive a child's passing.

There were so many worries flying through her head, so many thoughts and emotions that it was starting to make her feel numb.

"You really quit your job?" Regina asked, when both their sobs had silenced.

"Do you really think I want to talk about that now?"

"I need to think of something other than our son being operated in the next room."

"I don't want to think about anything," Emma replied sternly. She was holding Regina's hand and squeezing it tightly. As everything regarding Henry was still uncertain, she needed Regina by her side. Regina put her hand on top of Emma's and they stayed still like that for a moment. Neither said a word, but Emma didn't feel the need to start a conversation, at all.

Emma felt like they'd waited ages before the doctor came back to the room. The woman looked quite nervous, which caused Emma to feel a sob breaking through again. It couldn't mean anything good.

"We can't say anything for sure, now. He's broken a few ribs and his wrist, but it's mainly his heavy concussion that's worrisome. For now, he's still at a stage that it can go in any direction, but I hope that in a few days, we'll be able to tell you more."

When Regina burst out crying again, the young doctor gritted her teeth uncomfortably and left the room. "How did this happen?" Regina asked softly. "How can lives change so much in just one second?"