Regina has been in a coma for a year and Henry visits her in the hospital.
Mother's Day
Henry Mills walked into the room for what felt like the millionth time. In his hand was a glass vase with a bunch of little yellow flowers inside. However these weren't just ordinary flowers you would find at the grocery store. These were special.
When Henry was little, his mother would take him to the stables to care for the horses. He even picked one out and named him Storm. They would often take his horse out to the pasture behind the stable and let him eat the grass there. One day as Regina and Henry were walking Storm through the pasture, they stumbled upon a little patch of dozens and dozens of bright yellow flowers. Ever since then, little Henry would insist they would take Storm to the flowers quite often, and it soon became Regina and Henry's special place. He would visit that memory often. It brought him the kind of comfort that was difficult to come by these days.
People would wonder why Henry would constantly bring his mother these simple flowers over and over again. They would wonder if he knew that these flowers were just weeds that had grown over the places no one had bothered to tend to or keep the grass cut. Of course he knew that. But they would always hold a special place in both Henry and Regina's heart. And he knew that if Regina were to open her eyes and see these flowers on the table beside her bed, she would smile. And that was a good enough reason for him to keep bringing them to her.
Placing the vase on the table beside the bed, he lowered himself into a very uncomfortable chair he had grown so accustomed to sitting in. Along with the vase on the table were a birthday card and a Christmas card, both from Henry.
"Hey mom," his voice resonated through the quiet room. No one could deny how much deeper his voice had gotten in the past months. He was nearly sixteen after all.
"Can you believe that it's only been a year since the accident?" He sighed deeply when, instead of hearing a response that he so desperately craved, he only heard silence. He never would have thought that he would miss hearing his mother telling him to not leave his shoes on the stairs or to eat his vegetables. He also never would have thought that the Evil Queen could be taken out by something as simple as a drunk driver. His heart sunk a little deeper in his chest. He took one of her limp hands in his strong sturdy ones. "Yeah, me neither. It feels like so much longer."
Exactly one year ago from that day, Regina Mills had gotten into a car accident on the way home from the office. The result of the crash was that she went into a coma. The doctors said that they didn't know how long until she would wake up.
"Everyone misses you," he said, feeling tears prick his eyes. "I know I tell you this a lot, but I miss you more and more every day. And I know that you're still here, but it doesn't feel like it sometimes. I thought it was supposed to get easier after awhile. That's what people have told me anyways. I still haven't decided whether they were just lying to me or if they actually believe things will get better. Because, Mom, nothing is going to get better without you." A warm tear slid down his pale cheek. "I'm tired of pretending like things are going to get better."
"Emma's struggling. She's trying her hardest to raise me by herself but you can tell she misses you, even if you two weren't the closest. Snow tells me stories about how you used to take her riding at your old castle. Remember how you used to take me riding too? I miss that."
He sighed and wiped away a fallen tear. "She tells them to baby Neal too. He's getting big so fast. He's almost two now, you know? Even Gold misses having someone to argue with, though we don't see much of him anymore. Everything is falling apart without you. Life isn't nearly as enjoyable as it used to be."
He unconsciously started crying as he was telling her this and he hastily wiped away the fallen tears. He had shed so many tears sitting in this same chair during the past year. Every time before he came into her room, Henry would make a promise to himself that he wouldn't cry. He'd broken that promise almost every time. And then, when he would leave the room, he would promise himself that this was the last time he would cry for his mother. Because crying didn't solve anything and only made him look weak. He had lost count of how many times he would cry himself to sleep in Emma's apartment because he missed his brunette mother so much. He would dig his nails into the palm of his hands when he would get on the school bus to stop himself from breaking down and crying because he remembered the countless times that Regina would walk him to the bus stop. Now he didn't even know if she would ever wake up again. He never appreciated her until it was too late. Never realized how lucky he was to have her as a mom until she was slipping away. And the worst part was, he couldn't do anything to bring her back to him.
"I don't know if you can hear me, Mom, but if you can, I want you to know how sorry I am. Sorry that I don't have better stories to tell you other than ones about Snow and Charming fighting over where Daniel should have his birthday party. Because I know that these stories are probably boring you to tears. Sorry that I never told you how much I loved you when I still could. Sorry for being an ungrateful little brat. Sorry for making you think that I didn't care about you. Sorry for not appreciating you enough."
He was struggling to stop crying. His voice was shaky and his eyes were now red and puffy. He knew that the hardest part was still yet to come and he needed to clear his head in order to do it properly.
"Emma tells me that I should try to move on. She says I spend too much time at the hospital, which is probably true. Snow tells me that I should hold onto the hope that you may wake up one day. But it's been a year. And while a part of me will always hope that you wake up so I can tell you all of these things over again, another part of me knows that I need to start living again. Because I haven't been really living like I know you would want me to. Life has been going on all around me but all I can seem to do is stay in here with you. Time doesn't seem to pass in here."
He looked over at the clock on the wall. 4:37.
"I joined the soccer team. Coach told me that since I'm pretty fast I should try out. I did and I made the team. My first practice starts in twenty minutes."
He stood up from the chair, his muscles already starting to ache. He brushed a piece of hair that had fallen in her face back behind Regina's ear.
"This isn't goodbye, Mom. I have to hope that you are going to wake up one day and I can tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me. But I also have to try and start living again. I know it's what you would want."
He leaned down and pressed his lips to his mother's forehead, giving her a gentle kiss.
"I'll visit you soon, okay? I love you, Mom." He walked towards the hospital door, ready to leave. Only this time, he didn't promise himself that he wouldn't cry again. He accepted the fact that he was broken without his mother. Holding back tears didn't change how broken your heart was. It only made the pain harder to bear.
Before he walked out, he turned back on his heel and gave one last longing look to his unconscious brunette mother.
"Happy Mother's Day, Momma."
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