Emma Swan felt terrible.
Not the 'just worked a triple shift on only an hour of sleep' or the 'just got yelled at for the third time today by the mayor for not finishing up the paperwork quickly enough' sorts of terrible. No, it was the head-pounding, blocked sinuses, stinging throat, aching muscles, painfully nauseous sort of terrible that alerted the sheriff to the fact that she'd caught the flu that had been making its way around Storybrooke all month. Whether she'd caught it from Leroy, who'd somehow been even grumpier than usual with the illness, or from Ashley, who had looked nearly as terrible yesterday as Emma felt this morning, she had no idea. Emma hardly had the energy to wrack her brain for the culprit who'd infected her.
Despite the relentless cough and pounding headache, Emma had miraculously dragged herself out of bed and proceeded with her morning at a relatively slow pace. In her youth, it wasn't like anyone had ever paid much mind to how Emma was feeling. She was more than accustomed to simply going through the motions of the day whether she was ill or not, and that was exactly what she'd planned to do today. Dragging reluctant feet to the bathroom of the apartment she shared with her parents and younger brother, she almost didn't recognize her reflection in the mirror. Her fair skin was as white as a ghost, and her sunken green eyes were accented with unflattering dark circles. Matted blonde hair draped lifelessly over her shoulders, and the only colour to her face resided in flushed cheeks thanks to what Emma figured was a fever. Splashing water onto her face in a vain attempt to wake herself up, she made a half-assed attempt at makeup in hopes of looking at least somewhat presentable. Having thrown on comfortable clothes and her familiar leather jacket, she paused by the kitchen as she considered food, but decided against it when she felt her stomach flip in protest. She figured that her parents and Henry, who was at the apartment this week, were still asleep and left without a word, not wanting to linger and accidentally get the rest of her family sick.
Quickly stopping to grab a coffee from Granny's, knowing that she was going to need it, she was grateful when Ruby politely refrained from pointing out how horrible she obviously looked. Not lingering for conversation, she sipped sparingly at the coffee and allowed its warmth to soothe her aching throat.
When she reached the station, she slumped into the chair at her desk with a slightly over-dramatic sigh. David wouldn't be in until noon, she knew, so until then Emma was left to work through the mile-high stack of paperwork on her own and pray that there wouldn't be any monster attacks or other crises. Emma could hardly stand up without feeling light-headed and nauseated, so she was entirely certain that any "saviouring" was out of the question today. Fishing in her pocket for the bottle of aspirin she'd brought with her, she popped her third one of the morning into her mouth and reached up to grab the paper on top of the massive pile.
Three hours had passed, and Emma groaned at the remaining pile of paperwork. She hadn't even gotten through half of it, and knew that Regina would have her head for it later. At the moment, however, she couldn't care less. The aspirin wasn't helping at all and, glancing up at the clock, saw that it would be another hour before she'd be able to unload some of the torturous paperwork onto her father. Folding her arms on the desk in front of her, Emma put her head down, comforted by the darkness that came with shutting her eyes. Just a quick power nap, she reasoned, and then she'd get the rest of this work done.
"Miss Swan!" Emma snapped awake at the sound of the familiar voice.
Craning her neck, she saw Regina standing in the doorway behind her. She was wearing one of what seemed to be the hundreds of pantsuits that she owned, and Emma definitely did not notice how each one expertly showcased the brunette's body. Regina's arms were folded over her chest and she was glaring at Emma with that annoyed look she always seemed to have when she was with the blonde. Seeing Emma in her current state, however, she narrowed her eyes and her expression changed to one of curiosity as she raked her eyes over the sickly sheriff.
"You look terrible," Regina's tone was dry and matter-of-fact.
"Thanks," Emma said with matching sardonicism.
Emma cast a glance at the clock and saw that a half-hour had passed since she'd decided to nap. It hadn't helped; if anything she felt worse than before and the brief slumber had only added to her drowsiness.
Regina moved to pick up what little paperwork the sheriff had actually managed, when Emma broke out into a coughing fit. It definitely wasn't the first of the day, but it left her winded and light-headed.
"Are you sure that you're fit to be working, Sheriff Swan?" Regina asked.
"I'm fine," Emma replied hoarsely before muffling another cough with the crook of her elbow.
"Doubtful," Regina said. "Go home, dear."
"But-" Emma began to argue, but was cut off by the stubborn mayor.
"You're no help in your current state, so you may as well use the day to get better," she reasoned.
Emma, hardly in the mood for an argument with Regina of all people, conceded reluctantly. She stood up wearily, swaying slightly before steadying herself.
"I'll drive you home, you're clearly in no state to do it yourself," Regina's offer came across more like an order, something not uncommon with the brunette.
"Mary Margaret will never let me in like this, not with Neal around," Emma pointed out, earning a bemused smirk from the mayor. "I'll just rent a room at Granny's."
Regina's features seemed to soften a bit with surprising empathy. She knew that Emma's childhood had consisted of constant loneliness, but it hadn't quite occurred to her that every time the blonde had been ill, she'd been forced to deal with it on her own.
"You're in no state to be left alone, Miss Swan. You can reside at my home until you're well," Regina was almost surprised by her own offer, but told herself that it was because Henry wouldn't be happy with her if she left his birth mother to deal with her own flu.
Emma looked as if she were about to argue, but a sharp glance from the mayor silenced her quickly. Two years ago, walking into the mayor's mansion in her condition would have been a death-trap. It was incredible how far the two of them had come; if she were lucky, Regina might even refer to Emma as a friend.
They took the short drive to Regina's mansion in her car; the brunette had insisted that she wouldn't be caught dead driving Emma's "metal coffin on wheels". As they drove in silence, Regina would cast the occasional glance at the blonde, who appeared dizzy and nauseous. Emma's stomach was in knots, but the last thing she was about to do was throw up in the mayor's car. She figured Regina would burn her in seconds for such an atrocity.
By the time they reached the mansion, Emma was green and swaying as she stood. As Regina unlocked the front door and stepped inside, she could feel her stomach doing backflips.
"Where's your bathroom?" Emma asked in a tone Regina couldn't quite decipher.
"Down the hall," Regina answered. "Emma-"
Before she knew it, Emma had hastily rushed in the direction of her washroom. Regina followed tentatively, and when she was within a few feet of the door Emma hadn't bothered to close, the blonde's audible retching met her ears. Having not actually eaten anything since the previous night, Emma was mostly dry-heaving, her stomach crudely attempting to expel the contents it lacked. She was startled, though too exhausted to actually react, when she felt Regina behind her massaging gentle circles into her back as she leaned over the toilet. It was a few moments before she stopped heaving, and she sat back against the wall near the toilet, gazing up at the mayor. Regina gazed back down at her, concern showing through the impassiveness that Emma usually found in her gaze.
"Can you walk?" Regina asked after a brief silence.
Emma nodded uncertainly, pulling herself to her feet with the help of the wall. Regina lead her out of the bathroom, occasionally steadying the blonde when she lost her balance.
"We're renovating the guest room," Regina said suddenly as they made their way at a less-than-quick pace up the stairs. "So, you'll have to stay in mine."
"I can take Henry's room, he's at the apartment anyways," Emma argued. Sometimes, Regina swore the blonde argued just for the sake of arguing, and it annoyed her to no end.
"Miss Swan, if you think I'm going to let you share your infection with our son, you're sorely mistaken."
Emma didn't argue then, if there was one thing she and the mayor could agree on, it was that the wellbeing of their shared son always came first. So, she allowed Regina to lead her to the master bedroom. Taking in the sight, it had a more traditional look than the rest of the house, which wasn't a huge surprise. It was decorated with dull and dark colours, an expected look for an ex-evil queen. Exhaustion set in the moment she lay down in the king sized bed, and it took all of her willpower not to fall asleep right then.
Regina sat at the edge of the bed, providing a comforting presence while still remaining at a respectable distance.
"You're good at this," Emma commented as sleep threatened to overtake her. Her eyes were already closed and she felt like she was lying on a cloud.
"Good at what, Miss Swan?" Regina asked, amusement dancing in her dark eyes.
"Taking care of people," Emma said, her words quiet and slightly slurred as she finally appeared to drift off.
Regina was silent for a moment, considering this. "I've had a lot of practice," she said at last, though Emma was already enjoying a deep slumber.
Figuring that the sheriff would be asleep for awhile, Regina got up from the bed and headed towards the kitchen to make tea. She remembered Mary Margaret and knew how much the pixie-haired woman worried about her daughter, and though she wasn't Mary Margaret's biggest fan, she decided to call her to inform her of her daughter's condition.
"Hello?" Mary Margaret's soft voice sounded as she answered the phone.
Regina, not interested in bothering with polite greetings or chat, got straight to the point. "Your daughter has taken up temporary residence in my home."
"Emma?" Worry was now evident in the other woman's voice. "Is she alright?"
Regina tried not to roll her eyes at the suspicion that was always present in Mary Margaret's voice whenever she spoke to her, especially when the topic of discussion was Emma.
"She has the flu," Regina informed her.
"Does she have a fever? Has she eaten? She didn't try to work today, did she?" Regina allowed the worried mother to fire off her several questions, only half-listening as she continued preparing the peppermint tea. "I'm coming to pick her up."
"In case you've forgotten, you have a baby at home, and unless you'd like to see him with Emma's flu, I suggest you allow me to deal with this."
"You'll take care of her?" Mary Margaret asked incredulously.
"It's not exactly my first rodeo," Regina deadpanned.
With the other woman's agreement at last, Regina hung up and returned to her tea.
When Emma woke, it was to an empty room. She took a moment to remember where she was and the events that had transpired. It must have been past five o'clock, as sunlight was just barely filtering through the window and the room was much darker than it had been earlier. She didn't feel much better than she had earlier, but was thankful when she noticed that her stomach had more or less settled. With the nausea in the past, she now found herself incredibly hungry.
She heard the clicking of heels against laminate flooring and the bedroom door was pushed open. Regina appeared with a tray in hand, and Emma's stomach growled loudly when the scent of soup reached her.
"Hungry?" Regina asked when she saw that the blonde had finally woken.
Emma nodded eagerly and reached out to take the tray from Regina. The soup, which Regina had reheated because Emma had been asleep far longer than expected, was gone within minutes and the blonde rested her head back on the pillow and the soup warmed her body.
"Can we watch something?" Emma asked, her voice still hoarse with sleep. She gestured to the tv on Regina's wall, which was generally unused considering the mayor hardly had time to sit back and watch television.
Regina knew she should get on top of her own work, but found herself agreeing. She retrieved the tray from Emma's lap and placed it aside before crawling onto the other side of her bed and handing Emma the remote. The blonde opened up Netflix, something Regina only bothered subscribing to for Henry's sake. It didn't take long to select a movie once Emma learned that, somehow, the mayor had never seen Titanic. Determined to remedy such an atrocity, she quickly put the movie on and assured Regina that she needed to see it, and expressed that it was undeniably the best movie ever.
They watched mostly in silence, save for when Emma had retrieved her box of tissues from the nightstand and handed it to Regina with the guarantee that even an ex-evil queen would be in tears by the end of the movie. The comment had earned Emma one of Regina's sharp glares.
At some point during the film, Emma had shifted position to rest her head on Regina's shoulder. The brunette had immediately stiffened, a reaction Emma had expected. However, she figured that Regina wasn't entirely opposed to their closeness, for she'd already have given Emma a piece of her mind if she was. Neither of them spoke, and Emma reveled in the comfort she gained just from being close to the brunette. Even through blocked sinuses Emma could detect that familiar scent of apples.
Near the end of the lengthy movie, Emma felt herself growing drowsy once more, sedated by the mayor's comforting scent. When Regina absent-mindedly ran a hand through Emma's long, messy blonde hair, she soon succumbed to sleep with a small smile gracing her lips.