A/N: I do not own the rights to the characters in this story. AU fic, no magic. Inspired by The Vow. Hope you enjoy!

"It's all my fault." It came out a barely audible whisper, but it managed to get the Nolan's attention. Which might have had something to do with it being the only thing to pass Emma Swan's lips in the last twenty four hours.

"Emma, don't say tha—"

"I drove her away." A little louder this time. A little more aggressive.

Mary Margaret sighed, resting a comforting hand on Emma's upper arm. She couldn't bare seeing her friend in this state; eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and hair a mess, slumped over the kitchen island with a wedding photo tucked beneath her arm and a half consumed bottle of whiskey perched before her.
Twenty two days had passed since Regina stormed out, slamming the door in her wife's tear streamed face. They'd had their disagreements throughout the years, but never had they fought like they did on the gusty winter night. Emma wrongly accused Regina of leading on her co-worker, Robin. Regina screamed her defence. Emma cursed. Regina threatened to leave. Emma begged her to stay. Henry hid in his room, hands covering his ears. And Regina packed a bag for the night.

"Where will you go?!" Emma croaked, looking out at the howling wind. "You can't drive in this."

"Kathryn's." Regina strode straight toward the door with a mask of steel, not sparing the blonde a second glance. "Take care of Henry."

"Regina, please." Emma sobbed. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm an idiot. We can talk about this. Just—just don't leave."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know!" The darker woman snapped, fingers curled around the door knob. "But what I do know is that I can't spend the night here. With you."

And just like that, she was gone. Emma didn't sleep that night. She considered calling Kathryn but the storm prevented her from doing so. She sent Regina's closest friend a text the following morning, asking if her wife was ready to come home, but the response from Kathryn only confirmed the worst; I haven't seen Regina since Friday. Is everything okay?

Emma's heart sank and her throat closed up. Police discovered Regina's car at the bottom of a lake later that day with both right hand windows shattered, but empty inside. They searched the lake for three whole days but no success - no body found.

Emma remained hopeful for the first week or so, for Henry's sake mostly. But as the days went by, and the amount of times she heard "We'll let you know if we find anything" increased, the blonde fell into despair. Henry moved in with Mary Margaret and David for a few days before the couple became concerned about their friend and took turns staying over at Swan-Mills household.

"You need to eat something." David tells the blonde, sliding the bottle of liquor from her reach. "You're going to make yourself ill. This isn't fair on Henry."

"Where is he?" Emma grouches, wiping her eyes.

"I put him to bed." Mary Margaret answers, taking a seat on the couch. The phone rings and all three look between one another for a moment before David goes to answer. This happened every time they got a call. Emma had almost ripped out the landline once or twice.

"David Nolan speaking. No, this is her friend." Pause. "Yes, yes still here. Ok, we'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you." The fair haired man hangs up, mouth hanging open agape.

"What is it?" Mary Margaret asks hesitantly.

"They found her." He responds, tone laced in disbelief.

Emma blinks. "Wh-what?"

"They found her." David repeats. "Regina. They want us to go and verify that it's her."

"Is she- ?"

"She's alive."

David broke the speed limit as he and Emma made their way to the hospital. Mary Margaret decided to stay home and look after Henry, phone glued to her hand. The blonde felt her heart beating a mile a minute, making her way inside the hospital.

"Hi. We're here for patient 25." David informs the woman behind the front desk. The woman the police had found lying face down in the mud carried no identification, therefore was referred to as a number.

A nurse arrives, leading the duo to a room at the end of the corridor. Emma freezes in front of the door, the room number 16 seemed to be swirling. David takes her hand, squeezing reassuringly.

"You okay?" He asks softly.

Emma nods, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Let's do this."

David pushes the door open and both step inside. The room was dimly lit and the curtain was drawn half way so only the patient's bottom half was visible. Each step toward the bed felt like a hundred. One more step and she knew.

Emma fell to her knees, a string of sobs erupting her throat. David threw his arms around her, hushing. He knew too.

"It's her." The blonde states in a whimper, eyes glued to her sleeping wife. "It's her."

The doctor strolled in moments later, clipboard in hand and wearing a badge that read Whale. "I gather you recognize this patient?"

The pair nod, Whale continues. "That's a relief. She was brought in a couple weeks ago, I was afraid she didn't have any family or friends to contact."

"So, how is she? David queries.

"Physically, she's fine. Perfectly healthy and as you can see, barely a scratch. Though mentally, there may be a few problems. She seems to be suffering from what we call retrograde amnesia. In most cases, it's mild, and all that's forgotten are the past few hours leading up to the injury

Emma swallows, blood running cold. "Is this one of those cases?"

"I'm not saying it's permanent." Whale quickly responds. "But at the moment, she has absolutely no recollection of the past.

TBC, Thoughts? (: