Chapter 4

Back at the hospital Regina was taken care of. Emma stayed with her. Dr. Whale checked her wounds and redid some of his earlier work. Regina just sat there, she just wanted to get it over and done with. She was so tired, so exhausted. Emma seemed to notice her mood and uncharacteristically didn't utter a word. The drive home was done in silence as well.

'You need help?'

Regina didn't answer, got out and walked up to her front door. She opened it and slammed the door shut without ever saying a word to Emma.

'Ok, I guess not' Emma stammered. She had screwed up big time. It scared her that Regina hadn't even uttered a single word. Emma would have welcomed a threat, the mentioning of ripping her heart out, the removal of her head and that sort of stuff but none of that. This silence was even scarier.

The following morning Robin reported his findings to Snow and David. He told about the Ice Monster, Regina defeating that one but getting hurt in the process. How Emma had taken her to hospital and since he hadn't heard from both ladies he presumed all was well. Snow kept glaring at him throughout the conversation.

At that moment Emma came down and confirmed everything Robin had told them. Emma quickly reassured Robin, Snow and David that Regina had been taken good care of. She didn't mention the awkward goodbye when she had dropped of Regina.

'ok, so you have finished the clock tower, looked at the ice wall, so now what can you do. Oh, wait, Grumpy needs assistance in the mines' Snow said. Robin nodded, he thought that was fair.

The following morning Robin stood by Regina's Mansion, he was debating whether or not to go in and see if she was alright. However he wasn't sure due to Henry's reaction the other day. He decided to wait and see if he could catch up with her during the day.

Regina had woken up after a painful induced night. Her shoulder was hurting, her face was throbbing and she had an headache to match. She groaned. A soft knock was heard before her bedroom door was opened.

'He, Mom' Henry whispered. 'you awake?'

'Well I am now' She answered. 'Oh, sorry' Henry murmured. 'Henry, it's ok. I was already awake'

'how are you feeling'

Regina considered lying but decided against it. 'Lousy' She mumbled.

'You're going to stay in bed?' Henry climbed onto the bed and seated himself next to his still completely buried in blankets mom.

Regina thought about it and Henry could hear a muffled 'mmm that's not a bad idea' heard below the blankets.

'Why not' Henry said 'You've already done enough for this town, you can take a sick day'

Regina thought about it, why not. She figured, like Henry said, she had earned it and with the way she felt right now. Screw them, she would stay in bed today.

'You're right, not going anywhere today' She said. Henry's face broke out in a smile. He had been worried a lot about his mom and today she was going to take some time to herself. He was one happy camper.

Henry pampered his mother that day, he took care of breakfast and made sure that the kitchen was once again tidy just in case she did come down. He had run out to get her favorite magazines. He called Granny's to order lunch and while he did he also ordered diner as well. This way they had the entire day ahead of them.

Regina did everything in slow motion that day, there was no other way since her shoulder was killing her. She looked in the mirror when she finally did finish her bath ritual. She sucked in a breath, she looked horrible but she had no energy to fix it with her magic. Today was about purely about relaxing and spending time with her son, to hell with everything else.

She came down to a wonderful smell, chocolate chip pancakes, an entire stack of them in the kitchen. Henry was more than happy when he saw that she did indeed eat more then she normally would have. She slowly lowered herself against the backseat of the chair, she let out a sigh and rubbed her belly. Henry had made sure a soft pillow was situated against the backseat of the chair so she would feel hardly no pain.

'Now that is what I call a breakfast fit for a Queen'

Henry was glowing with pride on such praise.

Meanwhile back at the Mayor's office a tiny little que was forming. Regina's secretary didn't know what to do, where was the Mayor. Regina had missed several appointments and was nowhere in sight. She had tried calling the mayor but it went straight to voicemail and in the end she had called Snow, who was now on her way to see if Regina was at home.

Snow knocked on the door frantically, what if something had happened but much to her relief Henry opened the door.

'Regina OK'

Henry lifted his finger to his mouth indicating Snow should be quiet. 'She is asleep in the living room. I talked her into taking a personal day. We just had lunch, she didn't have a very good night'

'Oh' said Snow following Henry towards the living room. Regina had fallen asleep during the first movie they were supposed to watch but Henry didn't mind, his mother needed it. Snow carefully went back to the front door. She was a little taken aback by Regina's injuries, it was worse than she had imagined. Henry escorted his grandmother silently back to the front door.

'Henry, I'll take care of her appointments this afternoon, you take care of your mother' Snow murmured. She quickly gave Henry a quick peck on his cheek. 'She has more than earned it'

Henry nodded. 'If you come across Robin tell him not to visit. He is not welcome here anymore. We also do not appreciate it when he camps out here in the garden. I will call the Sheriff on him next time that he does'

Snow nodded silently, still impressed by the extent of damage that Robin had done. Henry and Snow said their goodbyes and Snow headed towards Regina's office. She dealt with the visitors as best as she could, she rescheduled several appointments to next week so Regina could heal in peace. Snow wasn't in the mood to take any crap from anyone and the visitors realized that the moment she told King George he could sit on it and she would have said more but Grumpy stepped in before she did some irreversible damage.

'What has gotten into you'

'I am sorry, Leroy. I just needed…I went to see Regina'

'Oh' Grumpy said. 'How is she'

'She's hurt. She went to help and she got hurt' Snow closed off the office, told Regina's secretary that she could go home for the day. 'You know Leroy, she is really changing but if these things keep happening to her I wouldn't blame her if she does slip up and lashes out again'

TBC…