Thank you to everyone that left a review on the past couple of chapters, you make me want to continue to write this story even thought I might not be a fast writer. This was suppose to be the end of the story but after some reviews I am trying to add some more chapters!
I would also like to thank my Beta Lord Xena for her always making some time for me and my stories!
I hope you like this chapter, its a little longer than any other one but this couldn't be split up! Please let me know what you think of this chapter and if I really should continue or leave the story where it ends right here :)
Happy weekend and great readings!
Chapter 4
BEEP
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'That is annoying,' Emma thinks.
BEEP
BEEP
'What the hell is that?'
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Emma tries to open her eyes, but notices she's not able to. She also notices two other things;
1. Her body is feeling heavy and painful.
2. She hears people whispering, including a voice that sounds familiar to the ears.
She tries to open her eyes again, but this time she can only see through the cracks of her eyelids. She makes out a figure sitting next to her bed. Emma can feel the warmth of a pair of hands holding onto hers. Again, the mumbling sound makes her try to focus more on her surroundings.
Something is said by another figure standing at the back of the room, next to a chair where another figure is currently sitting. Emma cannot, for the life of her, understand a word that is said or see who the figures are. But when a sob comes from the person next to her, her hand is lifted upwards, and soft lips are pressed down on her knuckles, she knows immediately who the person sitting next to her is.
Regina.
The lips are on her knuckles remain for a pretty long time, but then again, everything moves slowly at this point. When her hand is placed back next to her body, her hand is still held onto by two very soft hands, Emma squeezes them. It isn't a hard squeeze because she has no energy at all, but it is something. And Regina notices because before Emma can register what is happening, she can hear the mumbling become louder.
It takes Emma some time to really understand the mumbling and for her brain to turn them into words. Her eyes are also slowly becoming more open and she can now see something.
Now sitting on her bed, on her right-hand side, is not a vague figure anymore… it is Regina. The woman is blocking the bright lights for which Emma is grateful, her dark brown hair has fallen around her face, her eyes are bloodshot like she had been crying for a while. There are cracks in her lips and her voice is becoming clearer now.
"Emma?"
Emma can see Regina's eyes are looking at her own.
"Emma, can you hear me?"
While one of the woman's soft hands keeps a strong grasp of Emma's right one, she can feel the brunette's free hand as it softly makes contact with her left cheek.
"Emma?"
Is asked again. All Emma can do is let out a whimper, the pain getting more noticeable now and her throat is burning.
Emma sees Regina turn her head around to the figure in the back of the room, "Mother, get the doctor."
"Of course," and the standing figure, whom Emma now knows is Cora, walks out of the room. The figure in the corner seat is no longer leaning casually into the chair anymore, but is on the edge of his seat. Slowly, Emma feels panic sneaking up on her and she is about to go into panic mode.
"Sweetheart?" Regina asks Emma again. "Can you hear me?"
All Emma can do is squeeze the brunette's hand a little. Her eyes are coming back into focus and Emma can see Regina has stopped looking for signs of life in her eyes.
There is a small smile on Regina's lips, "Hi." The velvet voice says to her. That is all she needs for the panic that Emma feels rising, to calm back down. Emma tries to smile at the beautiful brunette sitting next to hear, leaning over her to look Emma in the eyes. Only Emma notices she can not smile, so she just squeezes Regina's hand again.
"It's okay," Regina comforts. "You're okay now." Regina's thumb slowly moves back and forth across her left cheek.
Not even a second later, Emma sees three people entering the room. One up front is Cora, and she takes her place next to the chair again. The second one is the doctor Emma guesses, and a nurse is following him.
"Alright," Emma hears the man's voice. But Emma cannot bear to look anywhere else other than the brown orbs whom are focused on her. Still holding onto the warm soft hand, as well.
"Let's get the tube out first," Emma hears the doctor tell the nurse, and a head appears above her.
"Hello Emma," the doctor says. "My name is Doctor Whale. You've been with us for a couple of days now and we have a tube for breathing placed in your mouth. We are going to take this out first, alright?"
She frowns. 'A couple of days?' Emma thinks, but before she can think of anything else, the doctor orders her to cough really hard. So Emma coughs, and with a swift motion, the tube is out of her throat and she has to cough some more, shooting straight up off the bed right away. And not a second later, Regina is sitting next to her once again, making circles on her back while still holding onto her hand.
"It's okay, you're okay." Emma hears Regina whisper into her ear.
Emma looks into the deep brown orbs and they show pain and fear. Emma squeezes Regina's hand and lets her head slowly fall into the crook between Regina's neck and shoulder. Taking some deep breaths and the warm hand on her lower back that is still making circles, is enough the make Emma calm down.
"Miss Swan," she hears a male voice behind her. Pulling her head away from the warm soft place it's nestled in, Emma turns to look at the side where the voice is coming from.
The doctor explains he needs to check a couple of things, like her blood pressure, the response of her eyes against light, and her breathing.
It only takes about five minutes, then Doctor Whale clears his throat. "Besides the obvious broken left arm and two fractured ribs on the left side as well, everything is looking good."
Emma sighs with a small smile, feeling a soft hand slip into her non-broken arm one. She squeezes Regina's hand. "We want to keep you overnight for now, but most likely you will able to go home tomorrow."
A smile creeps onto Emma's face, "that's good." She nods.
"However," the doctor continues. "It is important that you take it easy, those ribs will not heal if you run around all day." He says on a serious note and Emma nods. "Got it." With a nod towards Emma and the family entourage, he leaves the room.
The room stays quiet. Emma sits up against the head of her bed with a pillow. Her hand continues to be held by Regina. In the back of the room, stands Cora, and next to her is Henry, sitting on the chair.
Emma sighs to herself, her head falling slightly backwards. The man has come all the way home from his business trip because they are all under the illusion she's going to propose to their daughter. The fight comes back to Emma, the reason she went out drinking and guilt hits her hard.
'What was I thinking?' Emma thinks. But before she can finish the train of thought, someone interrupts her.
"All right," Henry says with one of his small smiles on his face. "Let's give these ladies a moment, shall we?" He asks, but everyone knows it's not a question.
Cora walks up to her bed and drops a kiss on the top of her head, a kind smile on her face, and the older woman walks out of the room. Henry gets up from his chair in the corner, and walks up to his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulder, however his gaze was fixed on emma. "I intend to stay home for a two weeks, Emma." He tells them with his kind voice. "Let us know if you need anything, all right?"
And Emma nods with a smile, "Thank you". Her voice is raspy from the breathing tube that had been in her throat for days. And with a nod and a kiss to the top of Regina's head, the older man walks out of the room.
When the door falls closed, Emma squeezes the brunette's hand. "Regina, I'm so sorry." She says, but it comes out more like whine.
"Oh Emma," Regina says, as she leans in and Emma feels two lips being pressed against her forehead. "We didn't know this would happen." She whispers. Emma feels the lips slide down and being pressed against her right cheek.
Emma misses the heat as the brunette pulls away slightly, their eyes locking. "I am sorry, too. I should not have walked away. You were trying to apologize, but I was just so angry about what you said."
"I know, I shouldn't have said those things. I guess we both do crazy things when we're angry," Emma smirks a little.
Regina tries to repress her smile, Emma can tell, by the way the woman presses her lips into a thin line. "I do believe the saying is 'doing crazy things when you're in love' darling."
Emma smiles, she pulls her hand away from Regina's. Emma sees Regina gulp and her smile falls, but when Emma pushes a dark string of hair behind the other woman's ear, Regina's features soften once again. "Yes, that too." Emma whispers. They hold each other's gaze, the air thins a little around one another and Emma can see Regina slowly lean closer to her.
There is a loud noise outside the room, someone yelling for a nurse and the women's eye contact, breaks. Emma lets her hand fall back down her mattress and tries to reach for Regina's hand, but the woman stands up from her space on Emma's bed.
"They… um," Regina clears her throat and Emma frowns, the woman looks nervous and she almost never does. "They gave your belongings to me while they were looking at the broken bones." Regina says, but it's said in a soft tone.
Emma's eyes follow the brunette's hands as she reaches for her purse and takes a small plastic bag out. In the plastic see-through bag, Emma can see the jewelry she wore that day, the cash she had in her pocket together with her wallet and keys. Then her eyes fall onto the black box, the black Tiffany's box, which contains a ring. The ring she bought, the ring she is going to propose to Regina with.
When Regina hands her the small, sealed off plastic bag, Emma reaches in for the box right away. "Emma." Regina whispers softly while she takes her place on the chair this time, next to the bed.
Emma doesn't open the box, but puts the plastic bag on the nightstand. "Did you already have that or-?" Regina asks but stops herself from finishing. Emma could tell that Regina was trying to sound like it was a joke, or no big deal.. but they both knew it was.
Emma looks at her with raised eyebrows, "Did you really think I was going to give you a ring that was bought for another?" Emma laughs, but stops only seconds after. A stab of pain covers her left side and Regina sits next to her again within seconds ones again. Emma's eyes are closed and all she can focus on is the pain in that moment.
"Easy there," the brunette coos. "Just breathe, okay?"
And Emma just nods. Trying to breathe and feeling the soft hand brushing her cheek makes her not so focused on the pain anymore.
When Emma opens her eyes again, she sees that Regina is sitting on her bed with a lazy smile, "so, you are telling me, that you went to got me a new ring?" She teases.
"Yeah," Emma smirks. "I went to the city and got you one. Came back to find you later that night but then we had the fight and…" Emma trails off, looking at the box in her hand.
"I know," Is whispered softly.
"I never meant for this to happen," she whispers back. Emma can feel prickles in her eyes.
"I know sweetheart, me neither."
Silence swept over them for a minute.
"Emma," she looks up to meet the brown orbs. "I told my parents what happened." Regina says and Emma hears her voice crack.
Emma's heart sinks, because if Regina told her parents that the whole thing is just a joke, that would mean Regina is sure as hell not going to marry her. That would mean that she got the ring for nothing, maybe she can still take it back? Just tell them she said 'no' and get a refund, pay Cora and Henry back.
Emma is lost in her own train of thought, her throat closing up because over the weekend, she actually liked the idea of being together with her best friend, as more than just friends. Emma feels something heavy hanging in her stomach, something very unpleasant.
She is pulled back to reality by a hand that caresses her cheek softly. "They-" Regina clears her throat. "My parents said they gave you some money, for- for the ring?"
"Yeah," Emma confirms, looking back down at the box again. "I'll give it back to them, obviously." She says with an awkward smile. "Maybe I get the money back if I tell them you said 'no'." Emma mumbles while still looking at the box, not wanting Regina to see the pain in her eyes.
"Em?"
"Hmm?"
"Maybe…"
Emma looks up, sees Regina staring down at her own hands, and swallowing hard. This is behaviour that she rarely sees in Regina. Perhaps only when Cora is asking her 'motherly' questions.
"… Maybe?" Emma repeats.
"Maybe…" Regina looks up, staring back into Emma's sea-green eyes. "Maybe you don't have to take the ring back?"
It is almost softer than a whisper. Emma frowns, looking between the box and Regina, twice. "Why-" Emma has to clear her throat and sits up a little straighter. "Why won't I have to take it back?" She asks, almost in the same whisper. As if… if they talk with a normal volume, the moment will be over.
"Because almost losing you has made me realize some things about us," Regina says, still in a soft voice. "Also, my mother said I was too worried about you for 'just a friend'." She chuckles.
"That's funny," Emma mumbles with a frown, looking away from the brown eyes to remember what Cora had said to her about Regina.
"What is?"
Emma looks back at Regina, "When we had the first fight, Friday…" Emma is surprised to see Regina physically flinch at the mention of the multiple fights they had that day. "Cora came to my place and asked a bunch of questions, about us."
Now it is Regina's turn to frown, "What kind of questions?"
"That," Emma takes a deep breath, "even though we had a fight, if I still wanted to be with you and all that." Emma makes it sound like it was nothing.
"Darling?"
"Hmm?"
"My mother asked me those things as well, after they took you here."
"Was that before or after you told her this is fake?"
Regina takes a deep breath, and Emma can see the puzzle pieces fall into place. "After".
"And, what did you say?" Emma holds her breath, but she knows that if she doesn't ask now, she will never ask at all, and Regina is way too proud to ever come back to having this conversation in the future.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
Emma frowns, "Yes, what?"
Regina rolls her eyes at Emma, "Mom, she came to see you after our first fight, right?"
Emma nods.
"And she asked you if you still wanted to be with me?" Regina's voice is a little louder, and she starts to talk a little faster now as well.
Emma nods again.
"And after that, you went and got the ring." It may have sounded like a question to any other human being, but not to Emma, because Regina knows she is right. Emma sighs, but nods again.
"You came back that night, tried to talk to me. But of course, I fucked it up and started another fight." Regina gazes sadly at the box in Emma's hand.
Emma let go of the box and this time is the one who gently rests her hand on the other woman's cheek. "You had every right to feel angry. You know what I think and say can be completely different from what I really want to say. I fucked up, I should never have said the 'friends who marry because they are alone forever' thing, in the first place."
"But that's just the thing, isn't it?"
"I don't follow, Regina."
"After our fight that night, I went to mom and told her everything." Regina tells Emma. "She was confused and a little disappointed but she asked me if I could ever imagine my life without you in it. I said 'no'." Regina looks so deeply into Emma's eyes, that Emma thinks she might just disappear into a pool of dark chocolate. "She asked me if I still wanted to marry you…" Regina says in that soft tone of voice again, and Emma can see the slight tint of soft pink forming in the other woman's cheeks.
Then the puzzle pieces fall into place for Emma. 'Yes.' Regina had said two minutes ago, a word she did not understand then, but Emma thinks she does now.
The fear creeps up on Emma, the fear of Regina saying 'no' and Emma has misunderstood everything the woman has just explained to her. The small voice in her head tells her that, 'of course you misunderstood, this goddess of a woman doesn't want to be with you in that way'! But she also knows, that if she doesn't ask Regina right now, she will forever be too scared to ask her best friend.
And so Emma takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a second. When she breathes out, Emma takes a hold of the box again, and looks into Regina's eyes. 'I really hope I didn't misunderstand.' She thinks.
"Regina?"
Emma sees Regina suck in a deep breath, "yes, Emma?"
For a moment, Emma gets lost in those eyes again. 'God, this woman is beautiful, we've been friends for so long! So long… ah shit, am I trying to destroy our friendship? No, of course not! So why am I even doing this?' Her face must have given her away so before she can say anything else, Regina has already started talking.
"God damn it, Emma!" Is what pulls Emma back to reality once again. "Just ask me, already!" Regina raises her voice
"Well…" Emma starts. "How do I even know you will say 'yes'?"
"Because I just told you!"
"No, you didn't!" Emma yells back. Regina stands up and Emma is starting to get a little angry now.
"Why can't you just do anything the easy way?" Regina asks and looks down at Emma. "You always have to be difficult with… with…" Regina stutters. "Everything!" She yells out.
Emma sighs, 'what a mess!'
"I just told you five times, yes, and what do you hear? I don't even know if you listen to me at all at this point." Regina continues to ramble on.
"God damn it Regina, shut up!" Emma tries to silence the woman. "Will you-"
"No! I will not! You know what?" Regina turns around to where her father was sitting before he left, and starts to gather her belongings. "I've had enough of this."
Emma sighs once again and takes the box tightly into her hand. If Regina is not going to listen to Emma in a normal way, she has to make her shut up in another way.
Emma throws the blanket from her legs and tosses it to the side. Taking in as deep of a breath as she can with fractured ribs, Emma slowly slides her legs from the bed. She can feel her ribs and she wants to scream in pain. Taking a look at Regina, she still has her back towards Emma and is making grand hand gestures but Emma isn't listening, she just wants to get out of that bed. Emma slowly sinks down to the floor, down on her knees, her left arm in a cast and her ribs screaming for her to get back on the bed. Emma moves her left leg to stand up against the floor, while her right knee is keeping her balanced on the floor.
"…. And I can't believe you!" Emma taps back into Regina's raging speech. "I just, why can't you-" and at that moment, Regina turns around, and goes silent.
Emma sees her eyes go wide when she sees the empty bed. Next to the chair Regina had sat in, the one standing next to the bed, is a blonde mess of wavy hair. "Emma." Is gasped.
Emma tries to smooth out her breathing as Regina almost runs towards her and sits down in front of her. Bare knees on the floor, gray pencil skirt that ends mid thigh, white short-sleeved button up blouse and her blazer is at the foot of Emma's bed.
"Are you okay?" She asks, worried, and Emma smiles slightly. "What happened?"
"Regina?"
Emma doesn't get a response but can see that the brown orbs are searching her own eyes for signs of pain. The small box is between two of her fingers on her right hand, and she tries to grab Regina's hand with the couple of fingers she has free. Her non broken hand being in a cast makes it useless right now.
Hearing Regina suck in a breath as she finally notices the position Emma is in, makes Emma smile, and she feels a chuckle escape her lips.
"Emma," this time it's said as a warning.
"We've been friends for so many years now," Emma starts, but is interrupted right away.
"13 years," Regina whispers.
Emma laughs, "yes, I know, I remember this time." And she sees Regina smile as well. "As I was saying." Emma jokes and Regina rolls her eyes in return. "I just-" Emma stops herself to look at the woman in front of her for a second. "I can't imagine my life without you." Emma speaks gently. "And with everything that has happened the past couple of days, I don't want to even think about not having you here with me."
Seeing a small smile growing on the other woman's face gives Emma the small boost she needs in that moment.
"Regina, will you please stay with me for the rest of our lives? As my best friend, but also as my wife?" Emma asks. There's hope in her voice and eyes as she asks Regina the most important question of their lives. And she just hopes to god Regina will say yes.
Emma has never seen a smile so bright on the brunette's face, her eyes has this twinkle in them she has only seen a few times before, then a small whispers leaves the red lips.
"Yes" Their eyes never leaving each other's.
Emma takes her hand from Regina's and tries to open the small box, but she can't, with one hand.
Regina's soft hands wraps around her own, "Here, let me help."
Emma nods with a smile and Regina holds onto the bottom of the box so Emma can pull the lid up. And as soon as she does, a loud gasp comes from Regina.
"Oh my god, Emma!" She says in shock.
Emma grins like a maniac and takes the ring out of the box. "Give me your hand, Mills," she says. Emma slides the beautiful big diamond ring, with small diamonds going down the sides of the ring, onto Regina's ring finger. Her own smile as bright as the sun.
Trying to stand back up is harder than she thought it would be, almost falling over straight into Regina. But the other woman just giggles. "Let me help you, you fool".
Regina's arms wrap around her waist and helped her up. Now standing opposite and in each other's space, Emma brings her hand up to bring a strand of hair (that had fallen into the brunette's face) behind her ear. Her hand lingers on the rose-colored cheek and her thumb moves slowly back and forth. Regina's arms are still wrapped around her waist.
"Emma?"
"Yes?"
"Kiss me."
And so she does. With a smirk on her face, she covers the red-colored lips with her own. And Emma has never kissed lips that are that soft before. When she feels Regina smile into the kiss, she takes advantage and slips her tongue into her fiancé's mouth. Wrapping her hand around Regina's neck, as she hears a moan escaping the brunette's mouth when her tongue licks the roof Regina's mouth.
Acting like the boss that she is, Emma feels her tongue being pushed back into her own mouth by Regina's. But as soon as the brunette's tongue enters her mouth, it leaves again. Emma feels her disappointment leave her body when she feels white teeth biting down softly on her lower lip. All Emma can do is smile.
When Regina lets go of her lip, Emma peppers the woman with small kisses. On her lips, on her cheek, down to her neck below her ear, and pulls the woman into a hug with her one good arm. She feels the arms around her waist tighten and a relaxing sigh come from Regina. "I love you." Emma whispers in her ear.
Emma feels a kiss being pressed to the nape of her neck, "I love you too. Don't scare me like that again, okay."
"Never."
A knock on the door makes them pull apart slightly, and when Cora's head appears in the doorway, Regina almost runs towards her mother. Emma laughs out loud when Cora's face shows nothing but shock for the first second, but it soon turns into a smile of her own and hugs her daughter back.
"I can assume everything is all right, then?" Emma hears Henry's voice from behind Cora, and even though she can not see the man yet, she knows he has a smile on his face. Regina nods and hold out her left hand for her father to see the beautiful ring placed on her finger. "Oh my" Her father exclaims. "It's beautiful, my dear".
Emma smiles and sits back down on her bed, she's never been this happy in her life but she can honestly do with a nap now with everything that has happened in the past 30 minutes.