Long time no see, guys. So I had this inspiration for this fic ever since i first heard the song, but it took a while to get it where i wanted. But here we are now, so hey enjoy!

Thanks Geli for the beta-read.

So desperate to find a way out of my world and finally breathe
Right before my eyes I saw, my heart it came to life
This ain't easy, it's not meant to be
Every story has its scars

It is the cries that drew him in first.

Dr. Robin Locksley had been roaming down the halls of the hospital, having just gone out of the ER, and had been on his way to his office, to have some time to clear his head. Only, he had heard some whimper, soft whimpers, coming from one of the rooms and he'd gone to investigate.

To his surprise, he finds a boy, about seven or eight, sulking in a corner and crying. His first thought is that child must have been in pain, the whimpers had been what had allowed him to deduce that. But upon further inspection and closer proximity, he finds that the boy in question isn't really in pain—nothing physical anyway.

"Are you lost?" he asks the young boy, who startles from where he is crouched in the corner, crying with his arms hugging his bended knees.

The boy looks up at him with watery eyes, lips pouting, and nods slowly. He doesn't speak, only hiccups, and Robin offers him a soft smile before extending his hand and offering it to the young child. The boy hesitates a bit, but in the end, takes his hand, and lets him help him up. Robin watches as the boy dusts off his bottoms from dust and dirt.

"Are you a patient?" he asks the young boy when he finally looks up. It is late, around eleven pm, and he is much too young to be ghosting the corridors without supervision. Also, visitors are only allowed until midnight.

"No," the young boy stammers, hiccupping as he reaches up to wipe his eyes. He breathes in deeply and takes a step back, as if remembering that he isn't supposed to talk to strangers. Wise boy.

"I'm Robin, I'm a doctor here," Robin offers, holding out his hand for the boy to shake, which he does, reluctantly.

"My name is Henry," the boy finally divulges. "I'm visiting my mother."

Ah, that's why.

"Are you now?" Robin asks with interest. "And how did you manage to get yourself lost, Henry?"

Henry looks at him with trepidation, biting down on his lip and fiddling with his thumb before sighing. "I wanted a snack, but my Aunt Mary Margaret was busy talking on the phone, so I took bills from her purse and tried to get a snack on my own. But I cannot find my way to the cafeteria, and now I can't find my way back."

Robin smiles amusedly at the little culprit, what a sneaky little thief he is. "Alright, do you know which floor it was?" The boy shakes his head, making Robin frown. "How about your mother's name? We'll just go to the reception and ask, hmm?"

Henry seems to like the idea as he nods and smiles, a little, though a bit strained and a bit watery. He sniffs. "My mother's name is Regina Mills."

…

It doesn't take long at all for them to locate the whereabouts of Henry's family, and it comes as a relief when they step inside the lift and Robin presses the button for the 4th floor.

Robin and Henry had gone to the cafeteria first before they walked to the reception. Robin offered to buy the boy some snacks, which Henry declined at first, but his hunger won out in the end, and he'd agreed to let Robin buy him a muffin and a juice box, and had gladly munched away on it as Robin watched him while sipping his coffee. The boy had been a delight, completely polite and kind, regaling him of the stories of his adventures, his favorite superhero and what superpowers he wishes to have. Robin, being an expert to child talk himself, had played along, and told him of his childhood fantasies too. After that, they'd gone to the reception where Ruby had been stationed for the night. She told them where Regina Mills' room is and had given Robin far more detail than he's asked.

Henry's mother, Regina, is in a private room, and apparently is under a coma. She has been for quite a while now, and though there is not much brain activity going on, she breathes on her own and requires no life support. Robin supposes that that is a good news, considering.

Henry stands beside him in the elevator restlessly, eager to be back with his family, and quite possibly had been scared off for a long while about being loss. Robin cannot quite blame the child, the hospital is rather large, and quite daunting. Hopefully, that would mean that Henry wouldn't be running off again anytime soon.

They make their way to room 407, and immediately, both of them see a short woman with black hair and incredibly pale skin pacing up and down the corridor, cellphone in hand and looking quite worried. Robin assumes that the woman is the aunt Henry had been talking about, and he pities her, he has an idea how she must feel at the moment, considering he himself had experiences of having a child lost under his watch. His own son certainly likes to wander off as well at the very young age of four years.

"Aunt Mary Margaret!" Henry yells in delight as he charges down to the woman who looks up at them, the relief that crosses her brown eyes palpable. Henry stops just right in front of the woman and wraps his arms around her middle while the woman also wraps her arms around his shoulder.

"Oh Henry!" Mary Margaret exclaims, sighing in relief. She pulls away long enough to look at the child. "You scared me! I thought you were lost. I had your Aunt Zelena on the phone and she was ready to come here and behead me for losing you!"

Henry looks contrite as he gazes back up at his aunt. "I'm sorry, Aunt MM. I was hungry and wanted to get some snacks, I just couldn't remember where the cafeteria was," he says before looking back at Robin, finally remembering his savior. He walks over to where Robin stands and pulls him by the hand. "But Dr. Locksley found me and helped me find my way back!"

Mary Margaret looks at Robin with amazement and gratitude, offering her hand to the doctor which Robin shakes. "Thank you, Dr. Locksley, for bringing my nephew back. My sister and I had been losing our minds with worry. I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard," she tells him. "I hope he hasn't inconvenienced you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Robin tells her and then shakes his head. "And no, not at all" He looks at the boy with a soft smile, reaching down to ruffle the boy's head, making Henry grin at him. "He is a good boy, your nephew."

"Thank you again," Mary Margaret says, before she holds her phone up. "If you'll excuse I need to call my fiancé and my sister, tell them I have Henry here." She turns her attention to the little boy. "Don't run off, please." At Henry's solemn nod, she walks away.

Henry looks up at Robin and smiles at him. "Would you like to meet my mom?" he asks, and though Robin knows that Regina is under a coma, he agrees, letting the child have his way. What could it hurt, anyway, to talk to a woman who is under an indefinite sleep?

After all, there is a chance that she might actually hear them.

Henry all but drags Robin inside the room, and takes him near his mother's bed. Robin's sight falls onto the woman lying limply on the bed. Her breathing is even and she looks peaceful, and if Robin would only let himself admit it, Regina looks quite beautiful.

"Hey mom," Henry says, as though he is talking to his mother. "This is Dr. Locksley, he helped me today. He is really kind." He then looks up at Robin and waits, to which Robin only responds with a questioning look. "Talk to her, say hi," the boy urges.

Robin feels awkward, but agrees nonetheless, and he leans down a bit to talk to the sleeping form of Regina Mills. "Hi, I'm Dr. Robin Locksley," he says, fidgeting a bit. "I helped your son today, but it's no bother because he is such a nice little boy." He then turns to Henry who he finds has an approving smile on his face at his actions. He smiles back at him. "I must go now though, I'm afraid, I am on call, after all."

The boy frowns but nods, telling him goodbye and thanking him once more for delivering him safely to his mother's side.

"No problem, my boy," Robin says with a smile. "Just don't run off again, anytime soon, okay?"

The boy nods enthusiastically. "Will you come visit again next time?" he asks.

It takes Robin by surprise, but he nods, and smiles at the boy. "Of course, Henry," he says. "You be good, okay? I'll see you around."

The boy smiles back and nods again, before waving at him goodbye as he walks out the room. He finds Mary Margaret still on the phone, and so he only nods at her and smiles in parting. The woman returns his smile, mouthing thank you to him once more, before saying goodbye.

…

Robin finds himself on the fourth floor.

He doesn't know why, and he is quite surprised himself, but he wanders off to the fourth floor, a bouquet of flowers in hand. He is nervous, though it doesn't really matter. He is just visiting he tells himself, keeping his word to Henry.

On the back of his mind, he knows that it isn't the exact truth.

He stops just at the door of room 407 and raises his hand to knock, though it does take him a while before he does. He breathes in deeply, exhaling through his mouth before he lets his fist knock on the wooden door. It opens and he is met by a different woman, this time a redhead who now looks at him questioningly.

"Hi," he says nervously. He clears his throat. "I'm Dr. Robin Locksley, is Henry Mills here?"

The woman looks at him suspiciously just as the boy in question rounds the halls and yells his name.

"Dr. Locksley!" he exclaims excitedly, crashing his tiny body on to Robin's leg. Mary Margaret is just behind him, telling his already dashing form to be careful. "I knew you'd come and visit!"

Robin reaches down to ruffle the boy's hair. "Of course," he says.

Henry smiles up at him and lets go of his leg, just as Mary Margaret reaches them finally. She offers her hand. "Hello, Dr. Locksley, nice to see you again," she says with a soft smile, and Robin extends the same sentiment before they push their way inside Regina's room, the redhead only staring at them in confusion. Mary Margaret turns to her. "This is Dr. Robin Locksley. He was the one who found Henry." She then turns to Robin once more. "This is my sister, Zelena Greene."

Ah.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Greene," Robin says as he offers his hand and smiles at the red head who nods, shakes his offered hand and smiles back.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Zelena says. "Thank you for helping my nephew."

"No problem," he tells her, because it's true, he quite enjoyed his time with Henry.

"Is that for my mom?" Henry then pipes up, pointing at the flowers he holds in his hand.

Robin nods at him and hands the flowers. "I thought she might like it," he tells her, and Henry nods his agreement with enthusiasm, taking the flowers from him and thanking him for it.

He smiles fondly at the boy before his gaze falls to the woman who still lies on the bed, eyes closed, consciousness still far out of her reach.

He sighs internally.

He really does want to see her eyes.

…

He comes back to Regina's room. And then back again, again and again until he isn't sure if he's doing it for the boy who he has come to adore, or he is doing it for himself.

A few weeks have gone by but still shows no kind of change on Regina, and it is disappointing, but he tells himself that if she hasn't given any sign of waking up any time soon for the past four years, then what makes him think that she would, suddenly now?

It isn't logical, he knows that, but he hopes—hopes for the boy who longs to finally see his mother walking and talking again, for Regina's sisters who he's found out to have been devoted and committed in waiting until she wakes up again, and for Regina herself that she might open her eyes and start her life again.

"She got into a car crash when Henry was three," Mary Margaret divulges to him one day, "She was so stressed and was grieving. Her fiancé, Henry's father, Daniel, had gotten murdered just a week prior and Regina had been stricken by grief. I suppose she hadn't seen it coming, but also the driver was drunk. He died upon collision, having swerved after hitting my sister's car and then hitting a lamp post himself."

Robin had nodded empathically, he had no idea how it had happened and had often wondered.

"If you don't mind me asking, how come Regina's name is Mills and yours is Blanchard," he had asked her then, wanting to know more of Regina and her family without really knowing why. "I know Zelena is married that's why her name is Greene."

"My father married their mother when I was eleven," Mary Margaret answers with a fond smile. "Regina was fifteen then, and Zelena was seventeen. I never did grow close with Zelena until recently, after what happened with Regina, but Regina had always been the big sister I have always wanted to have."

He'd known a lot about the woman who had no idea of his existence from then on. He'd found out that Regina works, or at least used to, as a bank executive, had graduated from Stanford, likes jazz music. Henry had even told him that Regina loves apples and makes the best turnovers in the whole wide world. Robin supposes that Henry barely remembers, but has kept holding on to the memories of his mother, the last ones before she'd fallen under a coma.

Robin feels like he knows the woman already, even though they had never had a conversation with each other. He feels something, some sort of a connection to her, feels a pull that makes him gravitate towards her.

And now, as he watches her son and his son, Roland,(who he has introduced to Henry a week before to have someone he could play with), play with each other, he wishes she is awake to see it too.

…

It is late.

Mary Margaret has excused herself to get some coffee, Henry had long since gone home with his Auntie Zelena, and Robin had been left alone to watch over the lady who is basically a stranger to him, but he feels like he knows so well by now.

He watches her face, watches the peaceful way she sleeps, and hopes that she wakes soon so she could see her son, what a wonderful boy he has become. He's taken over her case, too, upon Zelena's request, their family having grown rather attached to him, as he is with them.

It is rather curious how one little event could ripple and make a wave of new events that has now led to his life changing forever. He doesn't know how he can leave now, it seems too late to pull away, and he's in too deep, caring so much about this woman and her happiness, even if it all seems impossible right now.

It's taken him awhile to realize that he is quite invested with the woman he doesn't quite know, or rather who doesn't quite know him. And try as he might, he can't really stop now.

So he stays, he talks to her, too. He asks her to wake, it doesn't matter that they are strangers to each other, what matters is that she gets a chance to see her son, who he knows she'll be quite surprised to find has grown up exponentially since she'd last laid eyes on him.

He touches her hand, sometimes, stroking her soft skin and tells her that she might not know him, and he might not know her apart from the stories he's heard from her sisters and her son, but he knows that everyone deserves a second chance, especially her, and he believes that.

And he sits beside her now, watching her, asking her again to wake, much time has passed, and really, she needs to see the wonders of the world, all she needs to do is come back to it. He holds her hand, having since lost the need for logical explanation why he acts this way, or for explanations why he seems so drawn to her. He is here, now, right beside her, and that is what matters.

He keeps his hope replenished all the time.

He is lost in his thoughts when he feels something tapping against his hand. He looks down and finds her fingers moving, finally, and hope swells in his chest, combined with delight. Precaution seems to have been banished at the back of his mind, and he waits, waits and waits until her eyelids flutter. He dials Mary Margaret's number (she's given it to him when she'd offered to take the boy out for ice cream one day) and calls her. When she picks up, he tells her of the good news quickly, before turning back his attention to the woman waking just before his eyes.

Her beautiful brown eyes open and she stares up at him hazily, before reaching up and clearing her throat. The rasp lets him know that she is parched and he reaches for the water sitting on the bedside table and helps her drink it. She takes small sips, before pushing it away, and then once again staring up at him.

"Who are you?" she asks croakily.

"I'm Dr. Robin Locksley," he tells her coolly, failing to mention that he's been holding vigil on her bedside for the last few weeks, waiting along with her family for her to wake. His emotional attachment is inconsequential to the good news that is happening right before them. "Do you remember who you are?"

…

It takes a while of adjustment.

Regina has been taken aback by the fact that she's been in a coma for more than four years, and had missed out on so much of her son's life. She is a bit disoriented, and rightfully so. But all in all, she's taken her situation quite well, healing nicely, and adjusting to her life quickly. She had even thanked him for helping her son when Henry had told him. Even better, there had been no apparent cognitive and mental effects.

She'd gone to therapy, too, trying to make use of her limbs once more. She has been so excited to live again, having been awakened after a long coma and finding out that she's missed out on a lot, doing wonders to her outlook in life. She has been devastated by the loss of her fiancé, but she understands it now, accepts it and is now more than willing and ready to get back on her life for her son.

Robin finds though, that because Regina is awake, it means he's not able to visit her as freely anymore without making her uncomfortable. Sure, he visits still, his son having grown fond of Henry and Regina, but his visits when he's alone had been put to a complete stop.

He supposes it's not too large a sacrifice if it means seeing her smile again.

Though, he can only stay far away for so long, and after a few weeks, he finds himself wandering to her room again. It is empty, and Regina is asleep. She must have sent her family home. And since she's awake now and would be going home in a matter of days, there really is no need for her sisters to be there at all hours of the day.

He opens the door quietly, not wanting to risk waking her. He feels like a creep, but tamps that feeling down. He wants to say goodbye, or something of that sort, the urge to be close to her overwhelming him.

He takes the seat beside her bed and takes her hand in his.

"I'm glad you are awake, milady," he whispers into the silence, hoping to God that she won't hear him, not that it matters. "Or rather, that you've awake from your coma. Your family is delighted, and so am I. I hope you find happiness now, with your son and your sisters, and your life. You've changed mine in a way that I could not explain, and I could never forget that, or you."

He falls silent for a while, just staring at her before he squeezes her hand he rises from his seat. He presses a kiss against her forehead, not really knowing why and not bothering to know. And then, he begins to walk away.

"It's you," he hears before he reaches the door, and he knows it's her, she's awake, and how horrifying that is for him. He swallows before he turns, ready to utter apologies for being a creep. Before he could begin though, she speaks, "It's your voice." She sits up and rests against the headboard.

That puzzles him and he tells her so.

"When I was in a coma, there was a voice. It kept leading me back home, asking me to wake because I needed to see my son. The voice had always said in great detail how wonderful my son was and that I deserved a second chance, I just had to open my eyes to see it," she tells him, and his eyes widen in wonder.

He doesn't know what to say.

"It was your voice," she says with equal wonder, before she smiles up at him, gazing at him with watery eyes. "I…thank you, Robin."

He walks by her bedside once more and takes her hand in his. She takes him by surprise though when she grabs his coat and pulls him to her, kissing him and stealing his breath away. He stares up at her before the urge to kiss her again overwhelms him and he nips her by the waist, taking her lips in his in a heated kiss.

"You led me back home," she tells him when they pull away. "Thank you for being my remedy. I don't know how I could repay you."

Her simple but overwhelmingly sincere 'thank you' suffices, and he tells her so.

It really is not a problem.

Fin (2/5/16)

a/N: I had planned to make this a multi chap, but i think it's fine. Let me know what you think though!