Regina sat at her desk, she was looking through some of the expense forms for the town. There was a knock on her office door. Her head was pounding from reading all day so she used her magic to open the door. She flicked her wrist and the door swung open. Emma was stood in the doorway holding a file. She lifted her eyebrow as the door had opened by its self.
"I think magic is making you lazy," Emma said, as she walked into the room and placed the file on Regina's desk. Regina looked at her then looked back to her paperwork.
"Miss Swan, I distinctly remember you using your magic last week to clean your bedroom, which our son had to tell you to clean," Regina said in reply to Emma's comment on her ability to stay active. She tried not to give away her smile in hopes Emma wouldn't notice her laughing.
"I'm a busy woman. In between being the Saviour, the Sheriff and one of Henry's mom's. I don't get much time to ..." Emma said trying to defend herself. Regina interrupted her.
"Pick up your unmentionables? Regina said. She couldn't stop the smirk that came to her face the moment the sentence left her mouth.
"He didn't?" Emma said her face turning a faint red the more embarrassed she got.
"Oh, he did. He tells me more than you think he does. Now that he trusts me. He even told me what color they were and I've got to say I was surprised. Henry, however, was a little scared by the incident" Regina said now laughing at Emma's embarrassed blushing face. Emma decided she needed to change the subject.
"Anyway, I brought over the file you wanted," She said pointing at it, trying to change the subject before Regina said anything else about what Henry said to her.
" I asked you to bring this file over two days ago" Regina's voice making its way back to its commanding resonance. She was used to Emma's disliking for paperwork, that didn't mean she wouldn't grill her every time it was late. She knew that Emma couldn't sit at a desk for more than five minutes.
" Well it wasn't ready until today, so I couldn't have brought it over until today," Emma said. Regina let out a pained groan. Emma wasn't sure if it was because of her disregard for Regina's need for everything to be organized or because the woman was in pain.
"You OK Regina? I promise next time I'll try harder to get the files here on time" She said now convinced from the pained expression on Regina's face that it wasn't about the files.
" I have a headache. I've been doing these files all day and the people in the town might be from a book but none of them know how these should be done. Your mother is the worst she adds in which child used the pencils. I need to know how many they use, not the life story of the person using them." Regina said shaking her head. Emma laughed slightly at Regina's words about Snow.
" She loves those kids and you're just stressed out. You need to go home and rest before you go blind. You might even be getting Henry's cold from last week" Emma said. She was surprised to feel anxious about Regina being ill. It shocked her as much as it did Regina.
"I'm not sick Miss Swan, just merely tired. If I don't finish these, the whole town is behind for a week. It is hard to catch up. I have never been sick, not once in all the time I have had Henry. A headache's of course, that was bound to happen in this town. It's just a tension headache, I'll be fine by the morning." Regina said not convincing herself because this headache was evil. More Evil than her other persona. Well, it hadn't killed anyone...yet..
"OK, Regina I'll go along with it for now. But if I know anything about you, It's that I have never seen your skin that color before." Emma said, noting that Regina's face was extremely pale and the woman didn't look at all comfortable.
" Go Emma I'm fine" Regina weakly waved Emma off. Emma just gave her a look of disagreement and left.
Regina tried her best to concentrate but the pain in her head was getting worse. She was beginning to wonder if it was just headache after all. She heard about something called a migraine that was supposedly a lot worse than a headache. Her stomach was a little unsettled. She tried once more to focus but when her eyes began to hurt once more she gave up. Maybe Emma was right, she needed her bed.
She got up slowly from her office chair and picked up her coat. She walked out the office explaining to someone along the way that she was going. She didn't pay enough attention to who it was to know if they would tell someone. She got into her car and drove home slowly trying her hardest to avoid any slight unwanted movement. She got to her house and went to get a glass of water to take up to bed with her. She changed into her warmest pajama's and climbed into bed. Instantly she fell asleep.
Regina was awoken by a knock on the front door. She checked her the time on her phone it was 10:30. She had slept longer than she had wanted. Although her headache had calmed down it still sat in her head making every step downstairs agony. She tried from her place on the stairs to open the door. It didn't budge. She huffed then went to open it herself.
She opened the door and saw Henry and Emma stood there.
"I was just dropping him off. You didn't meet us at the diner earlier so I guessed you had taken my advice. I took him back to mine for a while but I thought should drop him off with you so he can sleep in his own bed." Emma said. She took in Regina's appearance and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth." I never pictured you as a DC fan" Emma commented. Regina stood in her doorway dressed in a Wonder woman all in one and she had a blanket draped around slightly like a cape.
"To be honest Mom I never thought you would actually wear it," Henry said throwing his head back and laughing. He had gotten it as a joke Christmas present for her. He never thought he would be lucky enough to see his mother actually wearing it.
"It looked warm and I'm freezing." She was still shaking even though she had her pajama's on and a thick blanket wrapped around her.
"Emma said you might have caught my cold. I told her she was wrong but I don't think she was Mom. I think you already have it. Your face is super pale and well you look like your barely managing to stay upright" Henry said walking inside with Emma who closed the door behind her trying to keep the warm air in the house.
" I promise I am fine Henry, It's just a bad headache." She said not wanting to appear weak in front of her son.
" Regina you looked after Henry when he was ill. It's our time to look after you. We are just making sure you get better." Emma said unsure how Regina would respond to her willingness to help her.
" You would do that for me?" Regina said taken back by Emma's hospitality towards her. Did Emma Swan, the Saviour just say she would be her nurse? That brought a small smile to Regina's face.
" Gina you are family, we look after our family. You are sick and we as your family want to look after you" Emma said now sure Regina was getting more used to the idea of someone helping her. The brunette could be stubborn but Emma knew if the cold was as bad as it looked, it wouldn't be hard for Regina to give in a little.
" Well, I'm telling you I am not sick. I will be fine in the morning you will see" Regina insisted unsure about Emma being the one who brings her back to health.
"OK, but if you get any worse call me and I'll come with supplies and stay with you until I know you are getting better. I'm not so sure Henry would know what to do. He usually just gets given a couple mouthful's of medicine and he's right as rain in a few days. An adult cold is a whole new thing to him and probably you."Emma said. She gave Henry a hug and ruffled his hair.
" Night Mom see you tomorrow." He said as he ran upstairs to get dressed.
" See you in the morning buddy" Emma shouted up after him. Regina winced at the loud sound. Emma noticed.
" Good night Gina. Drink plenty of water and um..." Emma stared she checked her pockets and pulled out a couple of mild painkillers she kept on her in case. she held them out to Regina who took them confused.
" Take those they are painkillers they should help with your headache, at least enough that you can get back to sleep," Emma said knowing it had to be bad if Regina was showing her pain.
"Thank you, Emma." She said taking the painkillers gratefully. " Good night I will call if it gets any worse." even though she wasn't sure if she actually would. Having Emma look after might become uncomfortable. Emma just nodded and smiled at her. She walked back towards her bug and got in to go home. Regina waved her goodbye as she drove off. She shut the door quietly and made her way back upstairs. She took the tablets that Emma had gave her and then went to check on Henry who was sat up in bed doing homework that he probably should have finished by now.
"How much more have you got left to do?" She asked hoping the boy wouldn't be up all night finishing his work.
" Just this piece and I'm all caught up. I did most of it at Emma's" He said as he pulled his attention away from his work and towards his ill-looking mother. He patted the bed next to him so Regina would sit down. She looked a little wobbly as she sat down and put her arm around Henry who leaned against her.
" Mom if you are really ill please let me and Emma look after you. No one should be ill all alone." He said looking at his mother. "Your skin is a little too hot. I think you are really sick Mom and that means you need to rest." He looked worried and almost a little lost. He wanted to take away the pained expression that kept crossing his mother's features but he knew there wasn't much anyone could do for a cold. " Go back to bed Mum don't make yourself feel worse for me. I will be fine" he assured her, knowing she was worrying more about him than herself. Regina nodded slowly.
"Ok, ok I'm going to bed but, you better not stay up late finishing your work. You have school tomorrow and it's already late." Regina said as she tried to lift herself off the bed an Henry had to help her stand " Good night sweetness, I love you" She said. She bent down to kiss his forehead.
"Night Mom, I love you too," He said and smiled sweetly at his Mom who smiled back at him. She left the room slowly and made her way back to her warm bedroom. She crawled into the bed and closed her eyes. Emma's painkillers had finally kicked in and she was suddenly very grateful to have Emma around. She slowly sunk into sleep.
Emma had gotten back to her house faster than usual. The late hour meant almost no cars on the roads. If there was one thing Emma hadn't gotten used to in Storybrooke, it was the quiet nights. She was used to running around late at night chasing criminals or suspects. Storybrooke seemed to have an unspoken curfew that almost everyone acknowledges unless there was an emergency. She usually used the free time to hang with her family but it was a weekday and everyone was in bed when she had gone back. As she walked into the flat she tried to stay quiet hoping that she wouldn't wake her parents, who were bound to be asleep by now considering it was almost eleven. She made herself a hot chocolate and went off to her bed. She got dressed in her pajama's and got into bed. She checked her phone as she sipped her drink. She decided to send Regina a text:
Hey Regina, text me in the morning if you're not feeling any better and I will bring some medicine for you. I don't think you have been ill in maybe forever so I want to make sure you are OK and that you don't just use magic to get rid of will be pissed if you wish your's away and he has to suffer through being sick.
Emma x
She sent the text and settled down to sleep for the night. In her head she made a mental list of things she would have to bring for Regina to get better:
Lot's of tissues
vapor rub
cold and flu medicine
magazines? (which weekly... vogue?)
The list faded as she fell deeper into her slumber.