By the time Regina had made it three straight days of being reasonably awake, she was ready to leave the hospital. Even if it meant escaping in the dead of night which was beginning to fear would be the case.

"I'm telling you Dr. Whale is keeping me here as some sort of torture. This is payback," Regina said.

"Or he is a doctor and he knows better than you, when you should be discharged," Robin said. "You seem to forget you were in a serious car wreck and you were in a coma."

"He put me in the damn coma."

"And took you off it and you still didn't wake up right away. This is the first day you have been able to talk and breathe without constantly wincing in pain. And that is probably out of pure Regina Mills stubbornness."

"I am not stubborn," Regina said aware that while her breathing had improved she still had pain.

"Ok, you aren't stubborn. There I am sure you feel better now. Besides Dr. Whale said he would re-evaluate you tomorrow and make a decision about possibly letting you go home."

"I feel useless lying here thought. And someone even told my secretary not to bring any work here for me to do. When I find out which one of those city council members did that they will be lucky if I don't firebomb their home."

Robin laughed at her every growing frustration. "You will not be firebombing anyone's house and you know it Madame Mayor. You finally have a level of trust with most of the people in town and you aren't going to ruin it. Secondly, Emma was the one who spoke to your secretary, a move I frankly agree with. You are supposed to be resting not working."

"A little work isn't going to hurt me."

"Probably not but I'm not sure you know how to do a little work so why don't you try and relax and let people who care about you take care of you."

She gave him a smile. "I do appreciate it you know, you stopping by here to see me every day, keeping an eye on Henry. It means a lot to me to know I have someone I can rely on."

"Well don't tell anyone because it will ruin my reputation as a super stud, but I like being here for you."

"Super stud? You are trying to acclimate to this world. Although I highly doubt anyone refers to themselves as a super stud."
"Maybe I will start a trend," he winked at her. "So I do have bad news for you."

"It couldn't possibly be worse than my current circumstances."
"You know how Dr. Whale said you'll have to use a wheelchair at first and stay off that leg for a couple of more weeks?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly.

"Emma sort of made a good point about your house not exactly being wheelchair friendly." Regina's eyes narrowed immediately. "Now don't freak out when you see it, just remember it's temporary."

"What is temporary?"

"Henry, Emma and I simply moved a few things around, stored some other stuff and installed a temporary, emphasis on temporary, wheelchair ramp."

"You installed a ramp. A ramp at my home. The only way this doesn't sound like a bad thing is if it is made of marble and matches the architecture."

"Plywood."

"I think I will just stay here at the hospital. It's not so bad."

"We both know that isn't going to happen."

"I suppose I can put up with it. It's not like I will be traveling in and out much."

"That's the spirit. Like I said we'll through this. We've got things really well figured out. Henry is on laundry duty, Emma is going to stay at the mansion for the duration …"
"What!"

"Emma, she's going to stay there with you until you're up and navigating on your own."

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"Why not? I thought you two had buried the hatchet with all that past stuff."

"Yes we have but … "

"She has been here just as much as I have. She's worried about your well-being too."

"I know, it's just …"

"Come on, you can't seriously think you can handle living there with just Henry. You need an adult around. Emma makes perfect sense. She's Henry's mom too, she's a she so you know um no embarrassment there if you need um any help with um stuff. It'll be ling having an extended slumber party."

Regina wasn't surprised when Emma showed up a little later in the day – but was surprised she was not with Henry as usual.

"He's at a friend's," she said when Regina asked.

"Oh." She and Emma hadn't been alone together since she had woken up. And after that first time, Regina noticed she was never there as the same time as Robin either.

"Miss Swan, there is no need for you to stay at my home during my recovery. I will be fine."

"You know I hate it when you call me Miss Swan," she said sitting down. "Just like I am sure you don't like the idea of me taking care of you, but maybe we are both going to have to suck it up because I've already moved some personal stuff into the guest bedroom upstairs although it's not the bed I prefer sleeping in."

Regina looked away from her. "You're sheriff so you're practically on call 24/7 so you getting up to respond to an emergency at 3 a.m. would hardly be conducive to my resting and recovery."

"As mayor, you know those kinds of calls don't happen very often," Emma countered. "Argue all you want, but I'm going to be there. I'm going to do whatever you need me to do."

"I need you to not make this more complicated than it already is."

Emma moved forward and took Regina's hand in hers. "Hey look at me," she said and then waited for Regina to face her. "I am not trying to make this hard on you. This isn't about what happened between us. That is all on me, I get that. But you can't do this alone, and I'm not going to let you do this alone. I was at the scene Regina. I had to … I had to watch as they tried to get you out of that car, and it wasn't a quick process. You were trapped in there and I … I needed you to open your eyes and you didn't. So you're going to have to put up with me because I have to know you are going to be ok."

Regina tried not to take a deep breath from the emotions that hit her, but she couldn't help it and the pain shot through her still sore midsection. She turned away and let go of Emma's hand. It took her a moment or two to get her breathing back to a non-pain filled state.

"Maybe some assistance will be needed," she conceded.