Chapter 2
Emma sat in Granny's and couldn't understand what had just happened, less than 5 minutes ago she was sitting having a nice breakfast with her son and roommate then all of a sudden she was being asked on a date and Regina dragged Henry out of the diner and to the car. Emma didn't see the point in chasing after Regina because it would just end up in an argument and she wasn't really in the mood for one. Emma stood up, said her goodbyes to everyone and made her way towards the station. After a very slow walk to work she finally arrived, she sat down in her office and put her feet up on the desk. Emma really hoped it was a slow day, after about ten minutes just staring into space she decided to make herself a cup of coffee. Emma walked over to the kettle, grabbed her cup and was just about to boil the kettle when her phone went off. She walked back to her desk and didn't expect to read the text she had just received.
I told Henry it would be OK to stay at yours tonight as long as you don't mind. I know it's late notice and I'm sorry I didn't ask you beforehand but I didn't really think it would be a problem.
Emma wasn't really sure what sort of alternate dimension she had been sucked into or even if this was in fact Regina and not Henry trying to play his mums off against each other.
Is this actually Regina Mills?
Emma placed her phone back on the desk, walked over to the kettle and made herself a nice hot cup of coffee. She walked back into her office and sat down just as her phone pinged again.
Miss Swan, who else would it be? Is it okay for Henry to stay at yours tonight? I suggest you answer rather quickly otherwise the offer will disappear.
Emma knew that was really Regina and even though she was curious to find out what had brought this on she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to spend some one on one time with her son.
Yes, I would love for Henry to stay over tonight. I only asked it if was you because It's not something I ever expected you to ask me.
Emma was really excited to spend the night with Henry because it's something they had never done.
I'm glad you said yes because Henry is really looking forward to it. Could you please pick him up from school as I'm working late? He has to be in bed by 8:30pm
Regina had kept to her word by about not keeping Henry away from her and that surprised Emma.
Regina I know when OUR son has to be in bed. Are you going to drop clothes off to mine or do you want me to grab some from yours when I pick him up from school?
Emma sat staring at her phone, ten minutes went past and Regina hadn't replied to the message and Emma hoped she hadn't changed her mind.
Pick some up from mine, you know where the key is hidden. Tell him I love him and I will see him after school tomorrow.
Emma couldn't believe that Regina was letting her have Henry overnight she was a bit confused. Regina was clearly up to something or had she actually changed her ways. Crap her date was tonight, Emma totally forgot about that and now she would have to cancel it. What are the chances that Regina knew her date was tonight and didn't want her to go on it. But how would she have known because she had dragged Henry out of Granny's before a time and date had been arranged. Emma wasn't even sure why she had agreed to go on this date when it was so obvious she had feelings for Regina even if Regina only wanted her for sex. Emma wasn't even sure why she had started sleeping with Regina and they do say if you're going to dance with the devil you're going to get your fingers burnt. Regina was worse than the devil and the past year had been a complete year of mind games, the only upside was that Regina was amazing in bed. Emma started to imagine her and Regina having sex just as Mary-Margaret walked through the door. "Mary-Margaret, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Mary-Margaret walked over to Emma with a bag from Granny's. "I bought you a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch" she replied.
Emma grabbed the bag from hand and looked at the clock "it's lunch time already, I didn't think I had been sat down for that long" she sighed.
Mary-Margate took a seat across from Emma and smiled. "Is everything ok Em?". She took her sandwich out of the bad and took a bite. "This is so good, eat yours before it gets cold."
"Yes, I'm fine just didn't sleep so well last night" she sighed.
"Is Henry staying the night at our place?" she asked.
"Yes I'm picking him up after school."
Mary-Margaret finished her sandwich and put the rubbish in the bin. "So Henry wasn't making it up then."
"Wasn't making what up, the fact that his evil mother is letting him stay with me" she giggled.
"That's great Emma, I have to get back shall I tell Henry you will meet him outside school?" she asked.
"Yes please" she replied. Mary-Margaret left the station and Emma still had 3 hours until Henry finished for the day. Emma decided as it was so quiet today she might be able to squeeze her date in before she picked Henry up. She picked up her phone and no matter how hard she tried to type in the number she just couldn't do it, all Emma could think about was how Regina would feel. Emma stood up and decided she needed to end this once and for all.
Emma climbed into her car and drove over to the Mayor's office. She parked outside and just sat there for a little over an hour. Emma didn't have a clue what was wrong with her, she never got like this over a woman or anyone for that matter. It was like she was under Regina's spell, she was starting to sound like Henry. She finally got up the courage to get out of the car and she walked up to Regina's office. Emma smiled at her secretary and barged into the office. Regina looked up from her computer and smiled at her. "Everything OK Miss Swan?"
Emma walked over to Regina's desk and sat on the chair opposite her. "NO Madame Mayor everything is not OK!" she snapped. Emma couldn't believe she had finally found her voice and she could sense Regina was just as shocked. "The only reason you told Henry he could stay at mine tonight was because you knew I had my date."
Regina leaned forward and raised her eyebrows, Emma guessed that Regina didn't realise her date was tonight. Regina slumped back into her chair and sighed "Emma I didn't know your date…"
She slumped back into her chair and sighed "Emma I didn't realise your date was tonight how about we rearrange when Henry stays. I don't want you to miss out on your date."
Emma couldn't believe how genuine Regina was being and she didn't want to break Henry's heart by rearranging. "Regina it's fine, I will rearrange my date I can't cancel on Henry" she replied. Regina smiled at Emma and for some reason Emma felt it was a different smile. This one seemed filled with love rather than the one she usually has which is normally an evil smirk. "Regina may I ask you something?"
"Of course you can Emma."
Emma sat forward in her chair, she went to hold Regina's hand but she moved it away. "Why did you decide to let Henry stay tonight if it wasn't to sabotage my date?" she asked.
Regina leaned forward and this time she was the one to grab Emma's hand "the reason I am allowing Henry to stay with you tonight is because he is my son and I will do anything to see him happy. The way you interacted with him today and the way his face lit up this morning when I asked did he want you to walk him to school made it clear to me that you are his mother as well and I can't keep him away from you" she admitted.
"Regina that is the sweetest thing I think you have ever said" she replied. Emma let go of her hand and stood up. She was about to walk out of the office when she said something that she didn't expect. "Regina, I think I have feelings for you" she muttered. Emma couldn't believe she had just said that, she didn't even give Regina chance to say anything she just ran out of the office.
Regina wasn't sure if she had just heard right, did Emma say she had feelings for her. Regina knew that when Emma got scared the only thing she knew how to do was run. Regina didn't know whether to find Emma and tell her she felt the same or just leave her to work it out by herself. Regina decided she needed a drink, she walked over to the drinks cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whisky she had been hiding. She had promised Henry a couple of years ago that she wouldn't drink unless it was a special occasion but she thought that finding out the woman she loved, loved her back was a good enough reason to have a drink. She poured herself a small glass and got back to work, she was supposed to attend a town meeting at 5pm and she needed to finish her proposal for the new playground. Regina poured herself one last glass of whisky and placed the bottle back in the cabinet. She picked up her phone and rang Emma, she really needed to speak to her and clear this up.
Emma you can't spring that on me and then run away.
The voice on the end of the phone wasn't the one Regina was expecting.
Mayor Mills, it's Doctor Whale here. Emma and Henry got into an accident. Henry is fine just a few bumps and bruises but Emma is in surgery; she has internal bleeding and swelling on the brain.
Regina tried to hold back her tears.
Doctor Whale I will be there as soon as I can. Would you mind keeping an eye on my son until I get there.
Regina didn't wait for his reply, she hung up the phone, grabbed her car keys and mad her way towards the car. Regina opened the door of her car and all she could think of is that karma had well and truly screwed her, the woman she has feelings for tells her she feels the same and then gets into an accident. She climbed into her car and made her way towards the hospital. It was a good job the town didn't have a deputy sheriff because she was going 30 miles over the speed limit but she didn't care her safety didn't matter. She arrived at the hospital and parked her car not even bothering to lock it.
She walked through the door of the ward to find Henry sitting by an empty bed, he ran over to her and she pulled him into a hug. "Mum this is all my fault" he sobbed.
Regina knelt down in-front of her little boy, pushed his hair out of his eyes and wiped away his tears. His eyes were the double of Emma's, a light green and often turned dark when he was angry whereas Emma's turned dark when she was aroused. She grabbed Henry's hand and led him over to the waiting area. "Darling this is not your fault, now sit down and you can explain exactly what happened."
Henry let go of Regina's hand and started to cry again. "I…didn't…feel…well…in…school."
Regina tried her hardest but she just couldn't understand a word he was saying. "Henry, you need to try and stop crying so you can tell me what happened.
She pulled out a tissue and handed it to him "here wipe your tears sweetheart, Emma is going to be fine so there is really no need to get upset."
Regina didn't have a clue if that was the truth but she needed to reassure her son and that was the best way she knew how. Henry took the tissue off her and wiped his tears away. After he had stopped crying he did something Regina never expected, he climbed up onto her lap and placed his head on her chest.
"I didn't feel well in school so Mary-Margaret asked Emma to pick me up. We were driving to our house to grab some clothes, Emma seemed like she had been crying so I asked her what was wrong and she said nothing but I didn't believe her so I kept asking her. She looked over to tell me to give her a minute of peace and she would explain, then a dog ran out into the road Emma swerved out of the way and we drove into the wall of the library" he sobbed.
Regina couldn't believe that he thought it was his fault when if it was anyone's fault it was hers. "Henry it's not your fault, it was nothing more than a terrible accident and like I said Emma will be fine."
Regina wanted to explain to Henry why this was her fault but before she could Doctor Whale signalled her to go and speak to him. "Darling can you sit here for just a minute, I'm just going to see if Doctor Whale has any news."
Regina walked towards Doctor Whale and he led her towards his office. "Is everything OK?" she asked.
Whale sat down behind his desk and sighed "well Regina I don't quite know how to say this but Emma is showing minimal brain activity, there is a chance she might not wake up."
Regina tried but she couldn't hold back her tears. Why was this happening to her, less than an hour ago she was ready to tell Emma how she felt about her and now she might be burying her. "Regina why don't you take a minute, compose yourself before you go back out and tell Henry"
She sat in the Doctor's office thinking exactly how she was going to tell her son that his birth mother might not make it. She knew Henry wouldn't be able to cope with burying Emma and to be truthful she wouldn't be able to cope either. Regina decided it was best not to tell him the whole truth. She was holding out hope that Emma will wake up and she will get the chance to tell her how she felt. Regina walked out of the office and slowly made her way over to Henry.
Henry ran up to Regina and grabbed her hand. "Mum, Emma is out of surgery. What did the Doctor say, is she going to be OK?"
Regina looked at Henry's face and decided he was too young to know the truth. "Henry, Emma is in a medically induced coma so her brain can heal. It's going to be a few days before Doctor Whale can try and wake her." Regina knew she should have told him that Emma might not wake up but she just couldn't find the words. It was time for Regina to be strong for her son because if she shows a sign of weakness then Henry would know she was lying. That's another thing him and Emma shared, the superpower to tell when people are lying. Emma could always tell if she had lied to her and it drove Regina mad.
"Henry, I've arranged for Mary-Margaret to come and pick you up, you need to get some sleep" she sighed.
She knew he was going to fight her on this one and want to stay by Emma's bedside. That was one thing they had in common, they are both stubborn as hell and could spend hours arguing over him staying up late, by the time he had given in and was ready for bed he had stayed up way past his bedtime.
"NO MUM, I WANT TO STAY HERE" He shouted.
Regina grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto her lap. "Henry please, you won't be no good to Emma if she wakes up and you're exhausted. I promise I will stay here with her and call Mary-Margaret the moment she wakes up."
Regina opened her bag to check if she had left his present in there or a home but as luck would have it she left it in her bag. "Darling, I bought you these for being such a good boy in school, how about you take one walkie talkie to Mary-Margaret's and I have the other one here. So as soon as Emma wakes up I will radio you and you can come straight over."
He grabbed the walkie talkie off her and smiled ever so slightly. "You promise not to leave Emma's side for a second" he asked.
"Henry I promise. Now off you go, be good for Mary-Margaret and I love you."
Regina watched as Henry walked out of the ward, she walked over to Emma's bedside and took her hand. "Emma if you can hear me, please know that I am IN love with you. You can't die. We have so much we need to do, like go on a real first date, tell Henry that his Mums want to be together like a real family, please Emma come back to me."
Emma just had to live. Regina knew that if Emma dies a piece of her will die too. Emma makes Regina want to be a better person and their lives together had just began so no way could it be over so fast. Henry was always banging on about how TRUE LOVES kiss could wake any sleeping person so Regina decided to give it a go. She leaned over and kissed Emma on the lips but nothing happened, she stared at her for five minutes but still nothing happened. Regina leaned back in her chair and decided to get some sleep.