A/N: Hello again everyone! I hope December is treating you all wonderfully!

This chapter comes later than I was hoping partly because Mrs Lucky and I took the kiddos to Disney World for a few days. It was my first time there, and watching the faces of the little ones was priceless. Things are going better here; her cancer medicine has arrived and she's begun taking that, so hopefully things only get better from here. Thank you so much for all the well-wishes you expressed. They mean so much for me to read!

Laurathechef is the best beta I could have asked for. Thank you so much for the awesome help!

As always, the author claims no ownership of anything that might have appeared on television, and anything resembling any real events, people, or places is entirely coincidental.

On to the fun!


Chapter 7: Uncomfortable Transition


"What do you mean she's ready to leave?" Regina blurted into the phone.

Viktor chuckled at her surprise. "You didn't think she'd be in the hospital forever, did you? Despite everything else, she was in phenomenal shape before putting herself to sleep. Getting stabbed is no joke, but her body has healed itself beyond all my expectations. If nothing else sets her recovery back, she can be discharged tomorrow and continue her physical therapy on an outpatient basis."

"Tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."

Regina heaved a sigh. "I wasn't ready for this."

"Well, then I suggest you get ready, because Emma will be out of the hospital in twenty-four hours," Whale snarked before hanging up, reminding Regina that as professional as he could be regarding his patients, Whale was still a bit of a jackass to just about everyone else.

Her phone clattered down onto the kitchen counter with an echo that sounded around the empty room. Panic suffusing her entire being, Regina did the only thing she could think to do and teleported to the Charming's loft in a swirl of purple smoke.


It was a mark of how used to each other they'd grown that none of the three people around the table flinched when she appeared in their kitchen. Indeed, she even materialized directly above a chair, looking for all the world like she was just popping in for dinner.

"We need to talk," she declared without any other preamble, looking Snow in the eye as the other woman cut up some chicken and peas for Neal.

With a sigh, Snow finished her task and put the plate in front of her son. "I suppose we do."

"Emma will be discharged tomorrow. Have either of you explained what will happen to her when she is?"

David looked over. "No, we've been waiting for the right moment but every time we try to bring it up with her, she changes the subject."

"She does that whenever I try to ask her about what she remembers," Henry chimed in, wolfing down his own chicken.

"Chew and swallow before speaking, Henry," Regina admonished, repeating a refrain from long years around a different table. He gave her a cheeky grin in response, knowing he was sharing the same memory.

"So how in the world am I supposed to talk to her? How do I answer the questions she'll inevitably have when we drive past this loft?" Regina pleaded, gesturing around.

"You tell her the truth, Regina. You're True Loves, after all. You should be able to be honest with each other. Tell her that she needs peace and quiet in order to rest enough for her recovery and that with Neal, she's not likely to get any of that here," David answered, "Whatever you do after that is up to you, but I think you're going to need to put most of the effort into forging a new relationship. She's got to be pretty skittish."

Regina rolled her eyes. "I figured that much at least, shepherd. I just don't know how to talk about the deeper aspects of our situation with her. We weren't on good terms before she went to sleep."

"Just be yourself. She's not going anywhere," Snow soothed, "as long as she feels safe."

"As long as she feels safe," repeated the older woman, "Great. I just need to figure out how to make her feel safe," she mused, getting to her feet and walking around the small kitchen area. Looking up the stairs, she caught sight of the door leading to the room Emma shared with Henry for so long. The idea formed in her mind in less time than it took to dash back to the kitchen, kiss her son goodbye, and teleport herself back to the mansion.


The next day, Emma was resting her sore muscles after physical therapy and thinking about her life since she'd woken up in Storybrooke General Hospital. Instead of a 1980s-era hospital room (though the work Regina had done in getting upgraded equipment was paying off) her room had come to resemble a rain forest with all the arrangements of flowers, get-well wishes, edible arrangement baskets, and stuffed animals of all kinds sent from the townspeople.

Making her stay even stranger, once she'd been cleared for solid food she'd expected to have to choke down crappy chicken nuggets, pasta, and other similarly bland fare from the hospital cafeteria. The first night she'd prepared her stomach for one of the worst meals she'd ever had when the orderlies rolled in with a tray of covered food that smelled like it had been prepared in the kitchens of Mount Olympus itself. When the covers had been removed, she'd been treated to the best lasagna she'd had since the last time she'd been welcome at Regina's house for dinner. The noises she'd made upon trying the food were enough to get the orderly to scurry out, face redder than his scrubs. She couldn't bring herself to care enough about the potential embarrassment; so fast was she stuffing her face.

Ham and cheddar omelets had followed the lasagna, with hot paninis for lunch, and the best open-faced pot roast sandwich she'd ever had in her life. When she asked the nurses if this was how all the patients were fed, they just shook their heads and said that this was a special case where the food was delivered hot and fresh with orders that it was to be given to her directly.

She didn't know what to make of it all, so rather than focus on whether the town wanted her to get better because she was the Sheriff or because she was Snow and Charming's daughter, she instead thought about her life at the hospital.

For ten days, she'd had settled down into a comfortable routine. Sessions with Archie in the morning in her room led into afternoon physical therapy sessions with Gus. After the torture was over, she rested her body in the bed either watching TV or sitting and talking with whomever was babysitting her.

As Archie had predicted in one of their early sessions it became easier and easier to open up to her parents when she saw how committed they were to helping her recover, even though she stayed away from the topics that would truly lay bare all her faults and failings.

Likewise, they avoided the elephant in the room: why she had put herself to sleep. It was as if they were making a conscious effort to repair their friendship before they fixed their familial relationship. It made the healing easier.

Then there had been Henry. They picked up right where they left off, as if the kid was just keeping her company in the hospital after getting her appendix removed. He joked with her, told her stories of his latest adventures at school, and generally kept things light. She was never more grateful for the kid's crazy perception than she was in those moments. There was enough baggage between her and her parents that he left the adults to handle all the crap while he got to have fun with her.

They'd hinted at her being able to go home sometime in the next few days, but for once Whale was being tight-lipped about the details. It was almost as if he didn't want to get her hopes up in case something should come up to set her recovery back so she couldn't go home.

Going home. The thought started a ball of dread growing low in her stomach. Snow had said that they'd had to let her apartment go while she was asleep, so her belongings, such as they were, were back at the loft. She'd still be on an island in the midst of a constant stream of chaos with her parents and…their baby. She still couldn't say his name. Faced with so much motion and craziness, she would do the only thing she really could and withdraw into her thoughts. Her scary, scary, thoughts.

The last place she wanted to be was alone in a crowd with her thoughts.

In the midst of her concerns, the door opened and instead of Henry as she'd come to expect, she saw Whale enter her room. "Hi, Emma."

"You're not Henry," she said, still stuck on that point.

"There's that famous Charming wit," Whale retorted, but the glint in his eye told her he was teasing, "Today is going to be a little bit different. We're discharging you."

Emma hoped her eyes didn't look as wide as they felt. "You're kicking me out?" she blurted.

Whale shook his head, furrowing his brow slightly as he looked at her chart. "We're not 'kicking you out'; we need the bed space for people who really are sick. You've healed enough for us to send you home. You can take care of your physical therapy on an outpatient basis from here on."

A streak of cold ran from her kidneys to the backs of her knees as the dread she felt start earlier grew at an alarming rate. "Home."

"Home. With your parents or your apartment, or wherever," he confirmed, looking even more confused, "Aren't you excited? You were asleep for six months and now you get to spend some time with your family again."

"Yeah, my family," she said in a quiet voice, "So when does the party start?"

"Right now, ma!" Henry exulted as he bounced into her room. "We're getting you out of here!"

A crowd followed. Now filling the small room were Henry and her parents along with Whale. David and Snow were beaming at her, but also sharing little looks between themselves that had her wondering what they were doing.

As much as she disliked the hospital bed and everything that came along with being in a hospital, she was dreading the idea of sleeping on a couch at the loft. Still, she figured that after everything she'd put her parents through ever since she'd used the Sleeping Curse on herself, she owed it to her parents to be the best daughter she could.

"Great," she tried to exclaim, hoping the false enthusiasm was enough to convince them. "So when do we head back to the loft? I guess my old room is N – the baby's now, so I'll be on the couch?"

Snow and David shared a look. "No, not exactly," the teacher responded.

Confused, Emma looked from one to the other waiting for some explanation. Her heart sank as the implications began to sink in – they didn't have space for her in their lives. Despite all their warm words and promises, her parents weren't going to follow through. "Well, I guess I can get a room at Granny's or something. That's what I did when I first got here during the Curse."

Dead silence reigned for a heartbeat before Snow and David fell all over themselves trying to explain what they meant while Henry jumped up, trying to tell her how much they wanted her to be there, but his voice was lost to the ruckus spreading in the small room.

In the midst of the din, a voice sounded clear and strong. "What your mother means to say is that you'll be coming to stay at my home, Ms. Swan."

Emma turned and for the first time since the disaster at the Rabbit Hole she laid eyes on a strong, confident Regina Mills, heels click-clacking her way into the room.


After her entry into Emma's room, David and Snow had made their excuses and took their leave. Henry followed them out, saying that he wanted the chance to get to play with his uncle.

Leaving them alone together for the first time in months.

She hadn't said a word to Regina since her family members had left, refusing to even maintain eye contact. The idea of being a charity case gnawed at her, but in her condition, she was in no position to offer any arguments. She was literally homeless, and although it wasn't the first time in her life she'd been that way, Emma was still feeling more pain than she'd admitted to the doctors or therapists.

After an uncomfortably long period of silence, her regular nurse Kristi came in with her discharge papers. Still she couldn't bring herself to engage Regina in conversation.

She noticed the older woman taking notes during Kristi's instructions on what to do and not do until she was fully healed. That was probably a good thing as Emma barely heard the words as she tried to digest everything that had happened that morning. When she moved to take her discharge paperwork from the nurse the other woman was quick to snatch them away, storing them for safekeeping in her purse.

"So, I guess I need to take care of the bill now, or something?" Emma asked the nurse.

"Oh no, Princess. That's been taken care of already," Kristi replied, brushing off the concern.

Emma pursed her lips, looking down at her hands again. "I guess I'll make sure to thank my parents for that, then."

Focused as she was on her lap, she completely missed the look Regina and the redhead shared.

Shortly thereafter, Regina had left the room, murmuring something about meeting them outside. Emma protested the wheelchair when she saw it arrive, but gave up the fight. Hospital rules were hospital rules.


"I appreciate that this is a bit uncomfortable for you, so I wanted you to know that my home is yours for however long you end up staying there," Regina began, needing to say something to break the awkward silence in her Mercedes.

Emma took a chance to look at the Mayor when she wouldn't be caught, noticing the lines around the woman's eyes and cheekbones more prominent than she remembered. Something had happened while she'd been asleep and no one really told her what. Snow had hinted that Regina's fight with Rumple was brutal, but her mother never went into detail on exactly what happened between the two. Whatever had happened while she was under the curse had obviously taken its toll on the brunette, who was even now putting herself out to house her while she recovered.

"Thanks," she breathed, not having the words for all she wanted to say.

The rest of the ride passed in silence.


The feeling that her parents didn't want her around during her recovery wouldn't leave, no matter how hard she fought to clear her mind. Despite all their promises that they were going to be around to care for her, and rebuild their relationships, when it came time to take her in, they made excuses.

And here she was, going to live at the house of a woman whose last interactions with her were to call her a waste of space and almost physically strike her. A woman who was under no obligation to her was opening up her house.

Despite all the times she'd been over to the mansion for any number of reasons, Emma felt the building's imposing presence grow with every inch they grew closer. Butterflies manifested in her stomach and started dancing around. Regina was going to a lot of trouble for her, so she had to be on her best behavior and not cause her host any trouble.

When she pulled up to the front entrance, Regina put the car in park and turned it off. Hands trembling ever so slightly, Emma mimicked her action of unbuckling her seat belt and reaching for the door handle. "Wait, Emma! Don't get out yet. I'm supposed to help you in and out of seats for a few days, remember?"

Waving her left hand, Emma leaned over and put most of her weight on her right arm as she opened the door. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me. Been getting in and out of chairs my whole life."

Even as she said it, her still-healing stomach muscles protested the strain. With pain shooting up and down her abdomen, Emma's arm gave out and she crashed to the ground. Regina was by her side in an instant, rolling her over and lifting her baggy tee shirt to check her wound site while Emma moaned in pain.

"Damn it, Ms. Swan! Why couldn't you listen to me for once in your life and just wait for me to help? You could have torn your muscles! You're not ready to twist and bend like that yet! Weren't you listening to the discharge instructions?" Regina berated, fear driving her anger as always. The idea of losing the blonde to something as foolish as a simple fall horrified her, and her need to protect was stronger then ever.

"Didn't…think…it…would…be…a…big…deal…" Emma grunted around the pain.

"Don't do anything. Just lean back against me and let me lift you," Regina said, sliding her arm under Emma's shoulders and lifting her to her feet as gently as she could. "It is a big deal. If you're going to heal properly, you're going to have to stop trying to do everything yourself."

"Fine," bit out Emma, still fighting off the waves of agony in her abdomen.

Regina took Emma's left arm and guided it across her shoulders. "Lean on me," she instructed as she threw open the front door with a wave of her magic. It was awkward supporting the weight of the taller woman, but somehow they managed to get into the mansion, up the foyer stairs and into the living room without more than a gasp here and there from Emma.

"Have a rest here on the sofa while I go get your stuff from the car. Here's the remote," Regina offered, handing the device over, "watch whatever you want. After I get cleaned up a bit, I'll make some supper. Is there anything in particular you're in the mood for?"

Emma offered a halfhearted shrug. "Whatever's easiest for you."

Regina furrowed her brows in confusion at Emma's indifference, but shook it off and left the room.

When she came back from the car, Emma was seated on the sofa in exactly the same position she'd left her in, staring at a blank wall without moving a muscle. The only telltale that she was even alive was the soft rising and falling of her chest as she breathed.


A/N: And there we go! Thoughts? Reviews and constructive criticism are the best Christmas presents there are :) I hope that whatever holiday you celebrate brings you nothing but joy this season!