I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, trying to calm my nerves. It was just dinner, with Emma. I had had tons of those before, albeit they were with Henry, never just the two of us, but it was the same thing right? Emma Swan, the woman I had been pushing away (sometimes physically, other times just giving her the cold shoulder) because I knew there was something growing between the two of us. I had always felt something fluttering in the pit of my stomach when I saw her, but I had just pushed it aside thinking it was just some sort of rage. No one had ever made me feel like she had, wether it was just dropping Henry off at the mansion, or defending me in front of the angry mob when the curse had broke, I knew she was trying to go out of her way for me. She had always said it was for Henry, but there was always a shimmer in her eyes, telling me it was for more than just him.
I took a deep breath, faltering in my anxious pacing as I exhaled, thinking about what was going to happen if Emma decided she didn't want to do this. It had been nearly an hour since she had left my house in a rush, alarm etched in her face, as much as she tried not to show it. She had promised me that she would be back in exactly thirty minutes, but that time had come and gone. A shiver ran down my spine as the memories of past lovers, even Daniel, played on repeat in my brain I had been abandoned more times than I could count, dragged along like a children's favourite blanket, and pushed aside by so many people in my life; including my parents. I thought the intruding blonde sheriff was going to be different than all the others. But why would she be? After all these years, I was damaged goods, the Evil Queen, no one had ever wanted me.
The woman's voice I had been lusting over the past few minutes echoed in my head, scolding me for calling myself the Evil Queen. She had never seen me as her, I had always just been Regina. The woman who was mayor for a small town in Storybrooke, even after the curse broke, she had defended me for all her worth. She had been the only person to ever do that for me, not even Graham had done that. He had just done whatever I asked of him, not paying any attention to what he was doing.
A shuttering sob ripped from my lips as I sat down on my bed, giving up on my pacing. She wasn't going to show back up, she had realised on her drive to where ever, that she could never like (let alone love), a woman like me. She was most likely sitting on the couch in Snow and Charming's apartment, trying to forget all about me. In my brain I could see her sitting next to Henry, who was playing some video game she had gotten him for his last birthday, trying to focus on him, and not me. I started to list everything that I knew was wrong with me in my head, when my cellphone cried out from across the room. A hint of anger rose up in me, thinking it was Emma calling to tell me that this was a mistake. That the promise she had made me was fake, that she had changed her mind about the whole thing. "Miss Swan, I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone," I snapped into the receiver, without even looking at the caller ID.
My thumb was hovering over the 'end' button, not wanting to hear what she had to say. I was about to press it when a voice, not Emma's, rang through from the other side. It sounded pained and urgent, "Regina?" It was the young waitress from the diner. I couldn't bring myself to answer, I knew something was wrong. All my thoughts of Emma giving up on me flew out thus window upon hearing the other woman's voice. "There's been an accident," she sniffed. "Emma's in the hospital," her voice was shaking, like she was trying to stop crying in order to make this one specific call. "It's bad, Regina. You need to get down here." I could hear yelling on her side of the call, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. There were beeps and yells of random things, making me wonder how bad the accident really was.
Pulling my phone away from my ear for a second, I took the time to quickly compose my voice. My body was still racking with nerves, making my whole body feel like it was on fire, but I knew that didn't matter right now; all the mattered was what was happening with the woman I had pressed up against the wall nearly an hour ago. I refused to let the young woman know what I was feeling at the time, it didn't matter who she was. Forcing myself to push the device up to my ear again, I answered, "I'm sorry Ruby, but I don't understand why you are requesting me at the hospital. I-" I was cut off before I could keep rambling on. I knew if she hadn't had stopped me, I would have continued talking about anything other than the blonde at hand.
"She was leaving the diner to come pick you up and take you on your date. She had been here picking up a picnic lunch for the two of you, and then she was going to take you to the lake towards the edge of town. As she was leaving," the other brunette sniffed again, as she finally stopped crying. The noise in the background had slowly gotten fainter, now you could only hear a few less-panicked voices. "She was crossing the street, and didn't see the car coming. They hit her dead on, Emma's in bad condition."
My voice was anything but composed when I spoke up again. Knowing that the blonde had actually planned something special for me was the only thing on my mind. Shaking my head, I remembered that the woman was laying on a hospital bed across town. "What happened?" Images of the blonde head of hair bloodied by the accident, sprawled against the White of the hospital dress came flooding into my brain. I could practically see her laying in the middle of Main Street, limbs all battered and torn, I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, forcing myself not to think about that.
A very familiar scream came from the other side of the phone, informing me that Snow White had just arrived at the hospital. I could hear the sobs and cries grow softer as I presumed Ruby walked out of the building away from the grieving family. "Sorry," the woman said after a moment. "Snow, Charming, and Henry just arrived." She sounded regretful, like she didn't know if she should be talking to me all of a sudden. I almost repeated my question, but she finally spoke up. "She's been in a coma since she was brought to the hospital. Doctor Whale said he saw no brain activity on the test he did." You could hear her clear her throat, "she's also got a broken leg, in two different places, and a fractured arm."
"Do you know who hit her?" I questioned without pause. The anger started to rise from deep within me. Who ever did this to the blonde was going to get more than the Evil Queen side of me; they were not going to get away with this. I was standing in the middle of my room when I realised I needed to go to the hospital, not just for the injured woman, but my son as well. Ruby had said that he had arrived with his grandparents, and I could only think of how he was reacting. I made the few steps across the room, phone still held up to my ear, and pulled out a pair of jeans and a tank top. I didn't know how long I was going to be there, and I wanted to be as comfortable as possible.
When the waitress spoke up I had almost forgotten that I was still taking to her. "We don't know, it wasn't a car that I recognised. They hit her and ran, I think they were from out of town," the line went silent for a second before she pushed a few more words out, "You need to be here Regina," and then it went silent. I clicked end and closed my eyes, holding the electronic device up to my chest, steading myself. I exhaled, and made quick work of changing clothes, and forcing myself to drive to the sterile building.
The smell of disinfects and bandages hit me the second the doors opened to the building. I had pushed aside all my fears on the car ride there, for in myself to walk and act like I was just there to pick up my son and leave. I didn't want anyone else knowing what 'Miss Swan' and I were doing earlier. I chuckled to myself thinking that I was acting like some sort of teenager dancing around their unsuspecting parents. I saw Henry sitting in the middle of who he called his grandparents, on the other side of the waiting room. There were nurses bustling back and forth between rooms, making it hard for me to cross the short distance to my son. The heels I had thrown on as I was leaving the house, clicked against the clean tiled floor, alerting the staff, and everyone in the room, of my presence. I saw a few doctors whisper to each other before scampering out of the room, when they saw who had just entered.
"Mom!" Henry sobbed when I was a few feet away. It pained me to see him crying like that, and it wasn't long before I was attacked by his small body melting around mine. He was already crying, so when I reached down to gather him into my arms, I felt his salty tears stain the black tank top I was wearing. I lifted him up easily, trying not to cry along with him, he wrapped his legs around me, not daring to let go.
"Sssshhhh," I whispered into his hair as I moved away from the Charming family, and sitting down on a bench just big enough for Henry and I. I hadn't even looked at the Saviour's parents yet, so when I did manage to peel my eyes away from my broken son, I saw them crying into each other's arms. I turned my attention back to the sobbing boy in my arms, and mumbled telling him everything was going to be okay, and that we jut needed to wait for her to recover. I had lost track of time rocking Henry back and forth, trying to comfort him, that I didn't even notice that Ruby had sat down next to us. I had Henry sitting in my lap, his arms wrapped seamlessly around my neck, trying to get any sort of comfort from me. I only noticed the younger brunette when she placed a hand on his knee, making both of us look up at her.
I had been for it my own tears away, hiding the few that did fall in my son's hair, but when I looked up I knew there were tear tracks down my cheeks. I had never cried this much in one day, I began to wonder what Emma Swan had done to me. "She's still in surgery," she whispered, rubbing small circles on my ten year old's knee. I nodded, turning back to hiding my tears away from public view. Henry was still crying, and I could faintly hear Snow sobbing a few feet away from me. I felt Ruby's hand move from his knee, to my back, rubbing soothing designs, trying to comfort us both.
Henry had fallen asleep a few hours ago, crying himself into exhaustion. I had stopped crying about the same time, and the waitress still hadn't moved from her spot next to us. It was nearly eight o'clock, and Emma was still in surgery. Doctor Whale had come out a few times to inform the, now full waiting room, what was happening. The town had heard of the accident their saviour had been in, so chairs were overflowing with caring citizens, wanting to know how they could help in any way. There as ready a room ready for the blonde when she was out of surgery, already filled to the brim with flowers and gifts. No one had sat near Ruby, Henry and I, but made sure when they walked in, to go give their condolences to Snow and her annoying husband.