AN: Hey! So this is the last chapter, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to publish it. Thank you so much to all of the reviews, follows, and favorites. You made my day everyday. Happy reading!
Chapter 10:
"So this is date number three?" Emma casually said as she walked into Regina's apartment. The table was set up with two seats and what looked to be like an incredibly well cooked meal.
"You've been counting, Miss Swan?" The brunette suggestively raised her eyebrow at Emma.
"I usually just count to three." Emma punctuated her statement with a wink causing Regina to turn a deep shade of pink. The blonde then leaned in to kiss her when Regina's pager suddenly went off.
"Sorry I'm on call tonight." Regina's motion to grab her pager was interrupted by Emma's hand covering hers.
"Can they wait just a moment?" Emma once again leaned in for a kiss but Regina quickly chanced a look at her pager.
Eight year old male. Vomiting, light-headedness, confusion, minor hand tremor, and loss of peripheral vision.
The symptoms sounded too familiar. Regina's face immediately paled when she remembered who it had been with those symptoms. The new symptom terrified her.
"Where is Henry tonight?" Regina quickly asked.
Regina couldn't get scrubbed in fast enough when they arrived at the hospital. In the car she had been assuring Emma that Henry would be alright and that they'd handle it but now was the moment to find out whether her words were lies or not and she was scared to face it.
When she entered the room Dr. Nolan pointed to the MIR scan beside the young boy. Pituitary tumor, Regina want to slap herself for not thinking of it before. It explained the flux in his pH completely independent of the antacids.
"Hi Henry," she said as calmly as she could to the boy, "I'm going to fix you all up now, alright?"
"Okay," he answered, and then added, "Why am I awake? Aren't people supposed to be asleep during surgery?"
Regina had to smile at his curiosity, "We want to make sure that we don't touch any of the wrong places in your brain. And we need you to be awake to tell us. Do you think you can do that?"
Henry smiled wide excited to be able to help out. It sent a shiver down Regina's spine, she had to keep that boy smiling.
With a deep breath she cleared her head and proceeded to fix her oversight. The little mop headed boy had to make it out of the OR alive and tumor free. There was no other option.
Regina felt the weight of the world being lifted off her shoulders as she exited the OR. She had completely resected the tumor and Henry would be fine.
Emma stood tensely in the waiting room. She practically pounced onto Regina when she saw her walk through the door.
"Regina, what happened? Is Henry going to be okay?" the blonde's voice was an octave higher than Regina was used to hearing. Her eyes were tearing up, she was being prepared for the worst.
"He had a small tumor growing on his pituitary gland, which is what caused his reaction a few weeks ago. It again caused the same reaction but more extreme this time around. He was rushed into surgery which I performed. I managed to resect the whole tumor and Henry hasn't suffered any damage."
It wasn't until the last word left Regina's mouth than Emma finally relaxed. She fell back into her chair muttering, "He's fine, He's going to be fine..."
Regina took a seat next to her. She reached out a hand to comfort the blonde when she was crushed in a hug. Emma held her very tightly for a long moment.
When Emma pulled away, she looked deeply into Regina's eyes and just above a whispered she said, "Thank you."
Behind Regina stood a broad man who chose this moment to clear his throat and interrupt their moment. Both women's heads shot up at the man. Regina's eyes widened as she realized that the chief of surgery had been standing behind their rather intimate moment.
He looked down at Regina and sternly asked, "Dr. Mills, may I have a word with you in my office?" She muttered a yes sir in response. He proceeded to walk towards his office expecting Regina to follow.
Before leaving Regina turned to Emma and held her hand a moment, "You can go see Henry in his room and I'll be there soon."
"Umm alright," was all Emma managed to get out. She had just been on an emotional rollercoaster and had no idea what was going on now. With that Regina followed the chief and Emma headed to Henry's room.
"You didn't think to run a MRI." The chief only raised his voice slightly but because of his usual calm demeanor this sent chills down Regina's spine.
She tried to keep her composure and answered, "The results of the metabolic panel suggested it was simply a reaction from the antacids which his mother confirmed she had given him."
He simply shook his head at her, "You're lucky you got the tumor out, Mills. That was a rookie mistake, an attending like yourself should never miss something like this."
"Yes Chief." Regina nodded. Her eyes didn't leave the floor. She knew they were watering and full of worry and the chief of surgery could not see her this way.
But he was a bright man, he didn't need to see her eyes to know how she was feeling. He let out a sigh, "I can see you have a personal affiliation with this boy so I'm going to have to recommend a few days off. If you don't heed the recommendation I'm going to have to make it a suspension." The chief gave Regina a slight smile and she nodded in response, muttering a quick thank you and exciting the room.
As Regina approached Henry's room she saw a second blonde in the room talking with Emma. Regina stood frozen for a moment terrified as to what Maleficent might be saying about her. She stood a moment longer waiting for Maleficent to finally exit the room before approaching it apprehensively.
When she entered the room both women let out a soft Hi.
The room was silent for a moment.
Regina finally broke the silence, "Why were you talking to Dr. Page?" She tried to sound casual with the question but it came out rather stiff.
"She was just asking how I was doing, you know, from my surgery." Emma motioned to her scar. Regina had forgot in all the excitement of the past few hours that Maleficent had been Emma's surgeon.
"Oh right," Regina responded, and then added, "Did she umm mention me?"
"Well yeah," a small smile broke out on Emma's lips, "She was kind of the one who told me to pursue you in the first place."
Regina is slightly taken aback by the answer, "She did?"
"Yeah, why do you seem so surprised?" Emma gave Regina a questioning glance.
"Well umm she's my last ex." Regina didn't look up mildly terrified of how Emma would react to this news. They had told each other all about their exes so Emma knew exactly what had happened between them.
"So that bitchy surgeon who told me to pursue you is the ex who you cheated on." Emma spat out in a huff. She had known Regina had cheated but to know that they worked so closely together struck a nerve.
Regina is momentarily shocked at Emma's sudden burst of anger. She lets out a pout in response, "she cheated on me first."
"Oh sorry I didn't realize you were five." Emma is trying to keep her frustration on low key. While her confusion about the surgeon's advice is raking her mind. Nothing is making any sense.
"Our relationship was toxic. We were both worse people in it than we are out of it." This calmed Emma significantly. It would explain why Dr. Page had said what she did. Maybe they had one of those break ups that really were for the better.
At that moment Henry stirred and Emma couldn't think about Regina's ex, she just wanted to hear Henry's voice and ensure he was okay. The room was slightly suave for the sound of Henry's rustling sheets. He woke up for a brief moment, his eyes fluttering and a whispered "Mom", before he went back to sleep and the room fell silent again.
It took a moment before Emma realized that the quiet sniffling sound was coming from Regina. The blonde turned around to see the usually so well put together surgeon crying quietly. Emma immediately stood up and went to comfort the woman, all angry thought out of her head.
"Regina it's alright. Henry's fine, you did it, you fixed him." Emma reached out to comfort Regina. She placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Regina relaxed at the contact, then she let out a sigh and turned to face the blonde.
"It's not alright." She stated, "Suppose the tumor had grown. He could have died all because I was distracted."
"Well I am pretty distracting," Emma joked, "Besides he's alive and healthy, and that's what matters. Look anyone can make a mistake at work and when they do there are consequences, hell my mistake got me shot." Regina looked deep into Emma's eyes, she could feel the strength of her words. She leaned in and their foreheads met.
Regina closed her eyes and just above a whisper she asked, "What if I do it again? And that time the result is worse."
Emma tilted the brunette's chin so that their eyes met once again. "You won't. Because you'll never forget this." She spoke profoundly and the words resonated with Regina. They stared at one another for a moment longer, then Emma smiled, "But for now, Dr. Emma is going to have to prescribe some serious bed rest, or some not resting in bed."
Regina laughed. The tense doctor finally let herself relax as Emma put her muscular arm around her shoulders. Maybe this was all she had ever need; a little tender loving care and more importantly, Emma Swan.