Author's Note: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters. Just a fan.
Note: This is an AU that changes things from the point where Regina was tossed through the clock tower.
Emma entered the hospital room. It was late as usual. Her routine rarely changed.
She would come in, ask the nurses if there was any change that day, they would say no and she would go into the room. Sometimes she was there for one minute, sometimes she was there for hours. On two occasions she had fallen asleep in their uncomfortable chair, where she kept her nightly vigil.
"Henry is planning on coming to see you tomorrow, or maybe the next day," Emma said to Regina who was lying still in the bed. "I know it's been a while since he's visited. Funny really since there was a time when I would have to drag him from this room to get him to go eat and change clothes. But I think after awhile he got a little disillusioned when you didn't immediately wake up."
She took Regina's hand but didn't look at her.
"He was so sure you would wake up if he kissed you, even though I tried to explain to him that this wasn't a curse. I mean, he didn't even know who you were outside of the mayor until Tink finally figured out way with Belle's help to lift the memory spell. The first thing he did was insist I bring him here. But how do you explain head trauma and a coma to a 13-year-old boy who believed in fairy tales and happy endings."
"I wish he still believed."
She paused.
"I saw Robin the other day. He asked about you. I am sure he knew, everyone knows, but he atleast asks. You won't believe who he is seeing. Ruby. I know it's hard to picture but she does really well with Roland."
She sat there for a little while in silence. Not for the first time, she wondered why she put herself through this.
"I was thinking about taking a trip. Nothing major, just go to Boston or New York for a week, you know get out of town. I wouldn't be gone long and maybe I'd come back with something more interesting to talk to you about other than the daily crime report and the gossip I hear the diner. I mean it's not like a week is a long time. Before you realize it, I would be back. Henry would probably be up for it, although we'd have to schedule it around school. Hard to believe he is a freshman now."
She fell back into silence again. There she had said it. She had given Regina the warning that she wouldn't be here every night. And maybe when she got back from her vacation, she wouldn't come to see her the first night. Maybe not even the second. It's not like she owed Regina anything, she told herself.
She stood up to leave. She walked part way to the door before she turned back. Going up to the bed, she bent over and kissed Regina on the forehead like she did every night.
Emma didn't move to leave immediately. She stared down at the woman who merely looked like she was sleeping. Taking her hand again, she held onto to it.
"Daniel was your first love. It doesn't mean he has to be your last," she said softly. "I need you to wake up Regina. Please just wake up. I can't keep this up. I can't keep coming here and seeing you like this. I understand why Henry never wants to come here. Life is still moving. It's happening all around us, except in here. And you are trapping me here with you. I can't …. I can't be trapped here like this. I have a job, a child, responsibilities. I have a life. And I would have … I would have shared it with you."