Chapter 4
The alarm clock started going off at 6:30am, Emma rolled over and hit it, then noticed something at the foot of her bed. Regina was there, dead to the world. She stayed, the thought made Emma smile. Then she went back to bed.
"Mom, Henry came running into the room. I'm going to be late for school, you need to get up or do you want me to call gramps."
"I will take you hold on a second let me wake up." Regina said, getting up.
"Are you coming back," Emma asked looking up at Regina
"Do you really need me to come back and check on you? I think you will be fine until Henry gets home. Henry was only sick for a day you should be feeling better. " Regina said, then looked down at Emma who was about to protest.
"Fine I will be back after I drop him off to look after you. No more of your stupid shenanigans Miss Swan, you will stay in bed and drink plenty of fluids and start to feel better. " Regina took Henry to school then, stopped at her mansion to freshen up and then she headed back to Emma's. What is wrong with you, you hate that woman. This is so solely to trick her, into letting me have more time with my son. Get on her good side then I can get what I want. Regina kept telling herself that the whole way back to Emma's apartment. It was the only way she could justify her new interest in helping Miss Swan.
Regina let herself into Emma's with a key Henry had given her that morning. She went to Emma's bedroom but the she was missing. Regina shook her head she had only been gone an hour and already Miss Swan was up to no good. She then started to search the rest of the apartment. She walked into the bathroom to find Emma in her underwear. That would have bothered her enough except the she was holding a bath towel to her left hand, and it was stained red with blood. Regina rushed over to where Emma was standing.
"All you had to do was stay in bed." Regina said grabbing Emma's hand to examine the damage.
"I didn't know if you were really coming back or not and I was feeling better."
"Why is your hand bleeding and where are your cloths." Regina said shaking her head in disbelief.
"I was um, well, um I don't really know what happened. I got up to get a glass of water, then the glass fell and I tried to clean it up and got a little dizzy. Then I sliced my hand open." Emma said looking down at Regina, who had already started to wash the cut, and was wrapping it with a clean towel. "You told me I needed to stay hydrated; I was just doing what you asked."
"This is pretty deep, you might need stiches. And that still doesn't explain how you lost your shirt and pants on the way to the bath room." Regina said making Emma hold her arm above her head, as she applied pressure.
"Can't you just make it magically better?" Emma said with a lopsided smile on her face. "I mean you're a witch isn't that what you do."
"No, I will not, I promised Henry I wouldn't use magic any more. It will serve you right to get stiches for being so senseless." Regina said
"Really not even just a little spell, so I don't have an ugly scar for the rest of my life." Emma tried to do her best puppy dog eyes. "Please," She was begging.
"No I am not breaking my promise to our son for your vanity. Now go get dress and let's take a trip to the E.R." Regina said pushing Emma back to her room.
"Oh come on we both know if we go to the E.R. the whole town will find out and then Charming and Snow well be back here. Yelling at you and wanting your head on a pike for something you did not have anything to do with. Can't you just use a little magic and have the whole thing over and done with.
"Nope." Regina said pushing Emma into the bedroom and then helped her put her shirt on.
"Come on, I won't even be able to zip up my own jeans let alone use my gun for weeks." Emma said as Regina was helping her get her pants on.
"I am not using magic, I don't care if mommy and daddy think I hurt you and I don't care if you can work or not. Regina said, as she had to zip Emma's jeans up for her. "Maybe you could find looser fitting clothing, heaven forbid you not wear your skin tight jeans."
"Look at this, I won't even be able to dress myself come on." Emma said practically pouting.
"Do you really think I care, I have been restraining myself for almost 2 months and I'm not going to blow it on anything do you hear me." Regina said taking Emma's good hand and pulling her out of the room and down the hall.
"You know Snow is so going to blame you when she finds out." Emma said on their way out the door.
"Not the first time, won't be the last time." Regina said with a wicked smile. Regina took Emma to the hospital. Emma got her hand stitched up and Dr. Whale said she could not work for a week.
"You know, you could have just healed me. Now I'm going to have to miss even more work." Emma said on the way back to her apartment.
"Well you could have just stayed in bed until I got back." Regina said not taking her eyes off the road. "And now Miss Swan you are going back to bed, before you injure yourself anymore."
"Now you're treating me like a child," Emma said with arms crossed. "I feel much better today." Emma said looking out the window.
"If you didn't act like one, I wouldn't treat you like one." Then Regina decided to change the subject. "What happened to your clothing?"
"It's all a little foggy I used my shirt when I cut my hand, but the details of everything else are kind of a burr. All I remember is you yelling at me for bleeding and being naked, which I wasn't. And even if I was it's my house." Emma said smiling over at Regina. Then just like clockwork, her cell phone went off and David was flipping out. She reassured him she was fine and that they did not get into a fight. Emma calmed David down and they drove the rest of the way to Emma's in silent.
"There are days when I look at you and all I see is Snow, but yesterday and today you are nothing but Charming." Regina said as they walked into the apartment.
"I like to think I am just me," Emma said as she flopped down on the couch. Regina walked past her and into the Kitchen.
"Oh my god," Regina yelled out and Emma got up to see what all the commotion was about. Regina had already started to pick up the mess Emma had left. Blood was all over and there was still glass on the floor. Regina saw Emma and made her go back to the sofa and sit down.
"What did you do in here?"
"You don't have to clean up my mess." Emma said starting to protest but Regina stopped her.
"Well I am not leaving it for Henry to see and you have already done enough damage to yourself. So lay down before you hurt yourself again." Regina then finished cleaning the kitchen. When she was done, she brought Emma some O.J. and made her drink it. Emma tried protest but Regina made her drink it anyway.
"You like torturing me." Emma said smiling up at the brunette.
"Oh yes, getting you a drink and making you sit down. Clearly I am back to my evil ways." Regina said rolling her eyes.
"You don't seem so evil to me. More like your still stuck in adolescence, and still learning to share and play nice with others. No adolescence is too old, kindergarten maybe." Emma was not sure why she felt a need to start a fight with Regina after she had been so nice to her lately. Everything was getting so weird and she needed to stop whatever was happening between them. Emma needed a normal hate filled conversation for once.
"Miss Swan, I am glad you are feeling better." Regina smiled at her, not taking the bait.
"Really I give you a great jab and nothing, you're slipping. What happened to you, not even one bitchy snarky or mean comment? I mean you could have at least called me a name or something. Or made fun of my IQ, you love to insult my intelligence. "
"Perhaps your right, I might just need to grow up and learn to share. Playing nice never really worked in the past for me though. In the world I came from nice meant weak. Men controlled everything there you had to be ruthless in order to survive. Nice here means something so radically different. Everyone is so angry about being here but I really love this world. You can be nice and be strong in this world, look at you." Regina said looking Emma in the eye. "I mean if I had been nicer in the first place maybe you would have just left. I gave up everything for the curse and now I have nothing. I keep blaming everyone else but you were right, the only person I have to blame for this mess that is my life is myself." Regina looked so deflated.
Oh no, she is doing it again. She is making me feel things I should never ever feel for the person who ruined my life. And raised my amazing son, who took care of me when I was sick and rushed me to the E.R. when I cut my hand. She could have used magic but she promised Henry she wouldn't. No, no, no, I can't be having these thoughts about her. Emma thought Start a fight, keep going, make her hate you.
"You know it wasn't Snow's fault that your mother is a nut job and killed Daniel right? At some point you're going to have to come to terms with that." This was Emma's last chance she knew Regina had a blind spot for her mother. Why else would she put Snow through so much?
"She promised me not to tell Cora, Snow knew Cora would hurt me if she found out. You weren't there. You have no idea what happened. She is your mother and you will always take her side, just like everyone else. You have no idea what it's like. Cora was horrible; she did terrible things all the time. Snow was my friend, and I saved her life. She couldn't even keep one secret. Snow should have known not to trust her. It would have been better if Cora ripped my heart out. No instead I went slowly insane." Regina said starting to get angry; tears were running down her cheeks. Emma pulled her into a hug.
"Listen to me; she can never hurt again, ever. She is a world away and even if she wasn't you have me now. I won't let anything happen to you or Henry. I promise no matter what, I will never let your mother or my mother hurt you again. Snow was just a kid at the time she had no idea what Cora did to you." Regina tried to get away but Emma would not let her move.
"I hate you so much. You just don't understand anything." Regina said crying and beating on Emma's chest. Emma just continued to hold her tight.
"I know and I hate you too. But I am still not going to ever let anything happen to the mother of my son." Emma said pulling Regina closer to her. Regina cried until she was all out of tears. Regina fell asleep in Emma's arms. Emma watched her sleep for a long time before falling asleep too.
