Crash Course

A/N: I like this : )

Chapter 1- Crash, Bang and Bleed

October 11th, 2011-

Emma stood motionless, tears threatening to fall as she watched the love of her life walk away from her. Her clenched fists shook slightly as the sharp point of the diamond ring cut into the palm of her hand. It was a ring she had had made especially for the stubborn brunette. A ring which promised a life time together, one which would finally end the crash course they had been on for so many years. Sadly, a ring which Regina would never know about as she wobbled away, with tears streaming down her face.

Emma watched her go, knowing this was truly the end. She had missed every opportunity presented to her for the last ten years, every second of which she had loved Regina Mills with all her heart.

Rain slowly began to fall, seeping through the blonde's white shirt, and snaking down the back of her neck. She stood unmoving, tears finally falling as Regina disappeared from sight. After what felt like hours, Emma's muscles finally gave way and her legs wobbled violently.

Painfully, she dragged her feet towards her car, numb hands slipping over the yellow metal dumbly as she tugged at the door handle. She wiped at the droplets of water on her face, unsure if they were tears or raindrops.

The drive back to her hotel was deafeningly silent, the only sounds around her were the heavy beating of rainfall on the little car. Emma barely acknowledged the chirpy receptionist as she stormed through the pristine lobby, puddles of water following her like a shadow.

Finally, slumped against the door of her room, Emma prepared herself to properly let go, to scream and cry the night away until her voice was gone and no more tears could fall.

But she didn't.

Emma just stood there, leaning against the door while emerald eyes wandered unfocused around the room.

After sometime she pulled herself away from the door, fingers, slowly warming up again, tugged at the zip of her small bag. She hadn't needed much when she took the spontaneous trip down to Maine.

Rummaging around for a while, Emma tried her best not to look at the small ring that now lay upon the bed, glinting at her. Nimble fingers suddenly stopped as they connected with worn leather.

Emma wrapped her hand tightly around the object and pulled it free from the bag, her bloodshot eyes sorely staring down at the tattered diary. It was very thick, filled with added pages and pictures of the past.

It fell open easily as she flattened her palm, the red ribbon indicating where she had last left it. Emma flicked through the pages to the marker, running the tip of a finger across the still fresh ink on the page. Ten years of her life were captured in this diary, every key moment up to this very day.

Emma turned her body around, leaning her still soaking back against the headboard of the bed as she flicked back to the start of the diary. A picture was pasted onto the first page, the first one she had taken upon her arrival in the Alps. Slowly turning the old paper over, her eyes read the first line she had ever written in the diary.

"Today marks the day shit truly went down…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

December 18th, 2001

Go to the alps they said. It would be fun they said.

For the first ten days of her trip, Emma's father had been right, the Alps truly were spectacular. Every day she had hiked up a new mountain trail, and skied down the others. Emma had enjoyed the height of French cuisine, visiting the same adorable bakery each morning and dining like a queen in each of the restaurants in the valley town. Though the true highlight was the amount of steaming fondues she had indulged in besides the roaring fire of her shalley each night.

Yes, the Alps had given her everything it had promised. But, like every aspect of her life, good things just don't seem to last.

A sudden gasp for air was the first sound to penetrate Emma's ears. Had she gasped? Honestly, the blonde didn't know. Where was she? Another question Emma wasn't sure she could answer.

Heavy rainfall on her face was the only thing Emma could focus on. It was refreshing, seemingly washing away her troubles. She felt blissful, the air was crisp and cool, the rain on her face was hard, but not bothersome.

This was nice, Emma felt like she might just lay here forever.

A pained scream nearby broke the daze Emma had been trapped in. Emerald eyes flew open in panic as the desperately searched her surroundings. Dark storm clouds stretched for miles above her, rain hurtling down from them.

She lay on her back, the ground beneath her was hard and uneven. Emma tried to remember where she was. She had been driving up the mountain, back to her shalley. She had spent the evening in the local pub, hurling darts at the wall, pretending the board was Killian's stupid face.

It came back in a flash. The angered phone she had had with Killian only hours before, during which he had revealed the relationship he had been having with his best friend behind her back. Who tells a girl that? Over the phone?!

Angered, Emma had gone down to the town, hoping to forget Killian and his deceit. It hadn't worked, and only an hour later she had found herself climbing back up the mountain in the little hire car. She hadn't drunk a single drop of alcohol while down there, despite how much she loved the European drinking laws.

So how had she ended up here, on her back in the rain?

Slowly, Emma pulled herself up, vaguely aware of the searing pain in her stomach as she forced herself up. The question on how she had ended up on her back instantly left her as emerald eyes took in the burning wreckage of her car.

The metal look mangled and torn apart, deep marks in the earth followed the destroyed car. Emma's eyes travelled up the trail the car had created, though she found she could not see the road she had been driving on.

Another pained scream returned Emma's attention to the situation at hand. The blonde turned awkwardly to see the source of the noise, her eyes bulging further as she spotted another person sprawled upon the floor nearby.

It was a woman, clearly alive by the racket she was making, but obviously hurt. Emma looked down at her own body, eyes fearfully roaming over the blood smearing her clothes along with heaps of mud and leaves. Emma wasn't sure where the blood was coming from, nor did she have anything to stop it.

Gingerly, she flexed her legs, relieved that no immediate pain followed the movement. Arms came next, the left mostly unharmed, several large bruises rapidly forming beneath the torn fabric. But the right ached greatly, a visibly deep cut along her forearm. Emma rolled her shoulders, and neck, listening to them popping and cracking back into place. How long had she been laying here?

Finally, she looked down at her abdomen, dread filling her as she saw the blood seeping from a darkened spot on her shirt. Emma awkwardly touched it, a frown covering her face when she felt metal there rather skin. To her horror she looked around at the scatted bits of car parts around her, two and two going together as she let out a pain groan.

Deciding not to touch it, Emma tried to turn to further inspect the other person. She looked around Emma's age, maybe a little older? Her shoulder length brunette hair was messy and blood stained, a deep gash at the side of her face leaking into her hair. Emerald eyes travelled across the rest of her body, noting the ripped clothing with visible cuts upon olive skin.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, her voice hoarse and frail. The woman turned her head to look at Emma, deep pain in her eyes as she shook her head.

"My leg-" she gasped out, turning back to look at said leg. Emma followed her gaze, finally seeing the large chunk of metal covering the woman's right leg.

"It's okay, I'm going to get you out." Emma promised. The blonde forced her body to cooperate, leaning forward so that she was on her hands and knees. The pain in her stomach was almost unbearable but she pushed through.

Clambering to her feet, Emma wobbled violently, grabbing onto a nearby tree for support. She took a sharp intake of breath, panic flooding her face as the distinct smell of petrol hit her. Emerald eyes fell onto her wrecked car, spotting the leaking fuel tank and the petrol seeping along metal towards the steaming engine.

As fast as she could, Emma stumbled towards the other woman, falling to her knees beside her. The brunette instantly grabbed her, either for support or out of fear.

"It's okay, you're gunna be okay." Emma tried to reassure, eyes darting back to look at her car, the smell of petrol intensifying. "What's your name?"

"Regina,"

"Okay Regina, I'm going move the metal, okay?" Regina nodded and held Emma tighter as she reached over and grasped the metal. It looked a lot like a door, though it wasn't the one on Emma's own car. The blonde looked up briefly, spotting another ruined car about two metres away from them. It appeared to be in better shape than Emma's own car.

"On the count of three," Emma instructed, bracing her arms to pull the metal away. "One, two… three!"

Regina screamed in pain as Emma slowly pulled the metal away, wheezing at the effort of doing so. As soon as her leg was free, Regina rolled away, whimpering as she did. Emma watched as she flexed her leg, testing the damage. The brunette recoiled in pain and let the limb go limp once more as she breathed heavily.

Blood continued to run down Emma's stomach, alerting her to the danger she was still in.

"We need to move," Emma snapped, crawling over to Regina.

"I'm hurt!" She snapped back, glaring at Emma. She didn't have time for this as she looked back at the wreckage, fear almost overtaking her at the sight of flames growing.

Painfully standing once more, Emma grasped Regina under the arms and dragged her towards the other car. She dropped them behind the vehicle, covering Regina's body with her own as the ground violently shook as the other car burst into flames and exploded.

Regina screamed, grabbing onto Emma as more debris showered down around them. She groaned as more metal collided with her, huge chunks landing directly beside them making Regina panic even more.

Hours seemed to pass before Emma finally moved off of the traumatised brunette, who was shaking beneath her.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked again, placing a blooded hand on Regina's own.

"I don't know." She whispered back, her deep chocolate eyes meeting Emma's, tearing brimming in them.

Emma sank back onto her knees, and finally inspected her stomach properly. Gently lifting the ruined fabric, Emma revealed the protruding metal. It wasn't huge, though it was sizable enough. She couldn't tell how deep it was without pulling it out, something that didn't seem sensible.

Regina sat up, her hand suddenly covering Emma's own as she studied the wound. She then looked past Emma and over towards her car.

"I have a medical bag in my boot, do you think you can get it?" Her voice had lost it's harsh tone, something that didn't ease Emma as the other woman inspected her stomach.

"Okay."

It took her sometime, but eventually Emma made it over to the car, thanking every god out there that the boot had been thrown open on impact. Rummaging around, she found a neat medical box, which she brought back over to Regina. Energy seemed to drain from Emma and she practically collapsed back down beside the brunette.

Regina awkwardly pulled her body so that she had better access to Emma's stomach. She instructed the blonde to lay flat on the floor, which she willingly did.

"I'm going to pull it out." Regina announced, grasping the metal firmly.

"Hey! Wait, you sure that's a good idea?!" Emma slurred, her vison turning blurry. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"You're losing to much blood." The brunette mumbled, pulling at supplies from the medical box. "It's okay, I was a med student."

"Whoa!" Emma held a blooded hand up, halting Regina's movements. "Were? You can't tell a person that!"

"If I don't pull it out, I can't stop the bleeding!" Regina snapped, lightly tugging at the metal which caused Emma to wheeze suddenly.

"You have an awful bedside manner? Is that why you're not a doctor anymore? You upset all your patients?" Emma chuckled at her own joke. The laughter was shortly lived as a pained scream filled the air. Regina swiftly pulled the metal from Emma's stomach, sighing in relief that it came out cleanly. The brunette hovered over Emma, frowning at her.

"Not a doctor, med student. And no, that's not why." The blonde didn't reply, instead she lay there limp as Regina went about wrapping the wound.

Sometime pasted as Regina quietly patched Emma up. Her hands shook as she stretched the bandages around the blonde, tying them tightly.

"Emma."

"What?"

"My name is Emma." Emma mumbled, lifting her head awkwardly to look at her stomach. Thick white bandages now covered the wound, dry blood covering the rest of her skin.

"I wish I could say it's nice to meet you, Emma." Regina sighed as she grasped the blondes forearm, running an anti-septic wipe across the skin. "But these are less than idle conditions."

"What the hell happened?" Emma asked, peering up at the ruined car besides them.

"The sudden rainfall caused the roads to become deathly icy. I lost control of my car coming around the corner and crashed into you. The cliff path was too small for two cars to pass one another anyway; I believe we would have collided regardless of ice."

"But my car… how am I alive? How are you alive?" Emma asked, bewildered.

"I came off the road first, I couldn't stop and there were trees everywhere. I jumped from the car and rolled the rest of the way down. The car tipped on the way, the door must have flown off and landed on me." Regina explained as Emma tilted her head to see the long path the car created coming down.

"And me? I don't even remember hitting you." Emma mumbled. Regina thought for a moment.

"You came down shortly after me, flew through the windshield of the car. It must have broken when we collided, you don't look like you went head first through glass." Regina muttered, studying Emma's head. "Were you wearing a seatbelt?"

Emma didn't reply, thinking back to the drive up the mountain. She had blatantly ignored the seatbelt.

"Well for once, not wearing on saved your life. Had you still been in that car you would be dead." Regina noted, sitting back from Emma.

"How's your leg?" The blonde asked, noticing how awkwardly Regina was sitting.

"I think it's broken." She replied, frowning down at the offending limb.

"All my stuff was in my car, my phone and-" Emma stopped suddenly, looking down at her body in fear. Her jacket was gone. Emma looked around wildly, hoping to spot it. "My jacket!"

"What?" Regina asked but Emma ignored her, forcing herself up. "Hey! You need to rest!"

"I was wearing it!" Emma stumbled about, desperately searching was the article of clothing. After a moment or two of searching, the blonde's heart filled with relief as she spotted the jacket among some wrecked car parts. She struggled to pick it up, holding it close to her body for comfort. Emma toddled back over to Regina, heavily sitting back down beside her.

"Red leather? Bold." Regina smirked at the jacket.

"It was my mum's." Emma mumbled, pulling it back on. She felt inside the pockets, finding a single pack of gum, an army knife and one euro.

"Well at least we'll have fresh breath." The brunette stated, amusement in her voice.

"Do you have a phone?" Emma asked hopefully but Regina shook her head.

"I never carry a phone while driving, helps prevent a…" She trailed off, the logic of her reason failing her. Emma arched an eyebrow.

"How did that work out for you?" She asked, the corners of her mouth rising.

"Shut up." Regina grumbled, sitting back against the car and pouting.

"So what do we do now?" Emma questioned, her stomach slowly dropping as their fate became more unclear.

"I don't have a clue."

A/N: You guys ready for a rollercoaster of feels and drama? Cool. Me too. I hope you guys liked this, I really rather do. Please review and tell me what you think and whether I should continue?! And follow for more! Till next time Kids.