Despite how much he tried, Robin couldn't control his breathing. The sound of the heart monitor echoed in his ears. Even after the rush of hospital workers left, his unconscious wife quickly hooked up to a machine, the panic remained inside of him. Her skin was as lackluster as the white sheets beneath her.
The nurses explained that she was extremely malnourished, and was around ten pounds underweight. He struggled to get words out, to formulate responses, mostly because he thought things were getting better. With everything going on, he felt especially foolish for believing such a thing- she was tearing herself down, slowly and painfully.
The silence was absolutely killing him. He couldn't avert his eyes from his wife, and each passing second only caused his worry to increase. The only way to divert his anxious thoughts was to put the blame on someone else- Zelena. She was down the hallway, laying in the same comatose position as Regina was. He hated that one person had the ability to destroy their lives so drastically, and he hated that she made him give her a second thought.
Noticing her begin to stir, Robin quickly came to her side, catching her glance as her eyes fluttered open. He tried to prepare himself for the tough conversation they were about to have as she came to, her heartbeat rushing when she realized the situation she was in.
"Hey, hey," he soothed, gently taking her hand in his, "you're okay."
She looked down and noticed the IV in her already bruised arm. "What happened?" She asked, her voice tense and rushed.
"You passed out."
"I don't need to be here- she's still out there... I can't be here."
Attempting to sit up, she was met with a firm but gentle resistance from her husband.
"You can't go anywhere just yet- you need to rest. Zelena still isn't awake last I checked. We have time."
The softness of his tone was no match for the nervous cocktail stirring around inside of her. Her look of confusion quickly turned cold.
"You're really going to leave me like this? In Florida, with the psychopath who ruined our lives just down the hall?"
Robin sighed heavily. "You're sick, Regina, and you need to get better."
"I'm fine," she persisted, her jaw clenched, "we have work to do and I can't be stuck here."
"The doctor says it isn't safe for you to even fly back home. You need at least a few hours of rest and IV treatment so you can get your levels up."
Her anger melted into hot tears as she realized that he was right. Her sickness terrified her, especially since she thought it was something she had under control.
"Trust me, I wish you didn't have to be here- I hate seeing you like this," he told her, wiping her tears away through blurry eyes of his own. "We'll get through this, I promise."
She held onto him and wept, her body frail and shaking with each breath intake. Robin hardly noticed one of the nurses enter the room, not until the nurse began setting up more infusions in the machine beside her. After what felt like an eternity, whatever had been administered to her began to take effect- her grip on her husband lessened and her tears stoped at a standstill on her cheeks. With the last of her strength, Regina begged him to stay with her, over and over again until sleep overtook her.
Robin then spoke with the nurse about what their next few steps would be, though it seemed what whatever the man said went right over his head. Eventually he released his grip from her hand and forced his glance away from her, finding the sadness too much to bear.
Despite his wife's parting words, he left the room once the nurse assured him that she would be taken care of. Without a plan in mind, Robin marched down the hall, his anger increasing with every step, until he was at Zelena's door. He opened it before he had any time to second guess himself and walked in.
He was met with a startled and confused gaze from Zelena herself. The two of them remained silent for a few seconds, the shock of it all hanging in the air. There were so many things to be said, a lethal mix of memories and emotion. With Regina's life on the line, however, he chose anger.
"You're here," Zelena managed to get out, her voice strained. A smile dared to show through her stoic expression- her message to Caroline was successful, even if it was a complete shot in the dark. She wasn't alone.
"Caroline... is she here?"
"No, we didn't let her come."
"Where's Regina then?"
She couldn't keep the wariness out of her question. From the moment she regained consciousness in the sterile white room, she thought about what she would say to her sister after everything that was done, if she was willing to give her a chance. When Robin didn't respond, she could tell he was resentful.
"What is it?"
"She's been admitted here," he said, his jaw clenched tightly. "She's been sick ever since you trapped her in that damn castle. I- I didn't realize how bad off she was, or else I wouldn't have let her come."
Her eyes widened, extremely confused. "How is she sick?"
That was a conversation he wasn't capable of having with her. "All of the chaos you brought, what it's done to our kids, those awful memories you forced her to relive- it's all gotten to her."
The once formidable evil queen getting hospitalized for stress didn't seem to add up in her mind, though she wasn't about to say anything in front of him. Perhaps years of motherhood had really turned her soft enough to crumble at the slightest of things.
"Is she going to be okay?"
What she really meant was, "will I get the pleasure of arguing with her soon?"
"Of course she will," Robin responded quickly, "she just needs some time."
Then, a thought pierced through her foggy memory, making her remember what she had planned to say if anyone came to her rescue. "Do you know where my things are, everything that I came here with?"
Robin narrowed his eyes, unprepared for the sudden change in subject. "The nurse said it was all at the police station."
"Do they know who did this to me? I was driving across town when someone crashed right into me. I really need to see my things, I'm worried that-"
"Regina's lying in a hospital bed too!" He cut her off, his voice raised, "and it's your fault. You're the one that did this to her."
"What do you want me to do, apologize?" Zelena shot back, annoyed that he wasn't listening to her, "what good is that going to do? Why don't you go back to waiting helplessly by her side instead of bothering me with your childish games."
He began pacing across the room, feeling like a caged animal. Against all the frustration he was feeling, Robin knew there was some truth to what she was saying. There were larger things at stake.
Blowing out a sigh, he faced her again. "Why did you leave as soon as we got to Storybrooke?"
She let out a spiteful laugh despite how much it hurt her chest to do so. "I wasn't about to stay and be persecuted by your entire town."
"Caroline was hurt that you left."
"She was back with her family, I doubt she spent much time worrying about my well being."
"How did you chose Florida, of all places?"
"I drove until I felt like stopping," Zelena said, matter of factly, "and the food is amazing here. One thing I realized right away about this world is how gullible people are- they'll believe in anything that makes them feel better about themselves. People just wait for someone to tell them what to do so they don't have to think on their own. It truly is sad."
"So what, you scam people for a living?"
She shrugged. "I just talk, and some people listen. At first I was just on the street, then a spot opened up at the community center. I started getting donations, things continue to pick up, and just when I had enough to get my own place, someone tries to kill me."
Robin had a lot of questions, but somehow he wasn't too surprised by what she was saying. "Who do you think it was?"
"I don't know of anyone from this world that would want me dead- that's why I need to look through the things I had with me and see if everything is still there."
Preparing himself for what the answer could possibly be, Robin gave the woman a look. "What would someone want to steal from you?"
She took a deep breath, remembering when they all found the mysterious mansion. "Cora's wand."
He took a second to process what he heard, the anger returning once again. "You took the wand?"
"It was my mother's!" She shot back, her fists balled tightly. "Jesus Robin, don't scold me like I'm one of your children."
"This is bad," he spoke, beginning to pace again, "this is very bad. It had to be someone from the Enchanted Forest, who else would know how powerful that wand is?"
"Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions," she reasoned, "maybe it's still there and this was just an accident-"
"We're all living double lives from a different world, there's no such thing as accidents for us."
Just then, his phone began to ring in his pocket. Robin saw the call was from his brother and immediately answered.
"Hey, I don't know how to tell you this..." Will began, sounding extremely nervous through the phone.
"What is it? Are the kids ok?"
"Everyone's fine! We're uh, here at the hospital waiting area. They say you need to come down so we can get visitor passes."
"What?" He snapped, wanting to throw his phone across the room, "I told you to keep everyone calm until we got back!"
"I know, I'll explain everything once you get down here. Can you hurry? The kids are starving, everyone's exhausted-"
Robin ended the call before Will could finish his sentence.
"Are they all here?" Zelena asked, not bothering to hide the excitement from her tone, "we need all the help we can get, you know that."
"Roland and Caroline aren't coming in here unless I say so." He told her, starting for the door.
"Find a way to look through my things," she said quickly, "please, Robin. This is all beginning to scare me."
He left the room, not having the heart to convey with words that he too was terrified. They were all in danger- someone tried to murder the Wicked Witch of the West, and that was only the beginning.