Hi! A new chapter, yay :) I dont think there's much left on this story, but we'll see. Either way, I hope you enjoy :)

Regina was walking down the street, a purse in one hand and her phone in the other. She was late to the reception. She had already texted Kathryn and she was fine, since the cause was Emma. She felt sad about being away and all she wanted was to be there for her, but now she was here and Emma was going through a big surgery without her. Maybe she should have been more steadfast about being there, but Emma was a soft spot for her and she would do anything she asked her to. She looked down at her phone again as she went around a corner and couldn't stop before she bumped into the person coming at her. She yelped and expected to hit the hard pavement, but felt strong hands grabbing her before she had the chance to. Regina opened her eyes and looked into familiar eyes. She blinked a couple of times, and felt her stomach fell when she recognized the person in front of her.

"Regina, it's been a while"

"Daniel…" She breathed. She found her footing again and quickly straightened her clothes. He smiled at her with what she used to think as charming, but it definitely did nothing for her now.

"How have you been?" He asked as she put his hands in his pockets. Regina straightened her back and crossed her arms. It put him off for a moment before he collected himself again.

"I've been great" She answered shortly not at all wanting to talk to the man, it only brought back memories she wished to forget. She looked down at her watch, sighing as she was getting later and later.

"Well-yeah, that's great" He scratched his neck awkwardly. He cleared his throat. "I've missed you" Her eyes sprung up to his with a glare.

"Don't, Daniel. I really don't want anything to do with you, and if you don't mind it, I have a reception to attend" She stepped around him and continued her walk down the street.

"I'll talk to you another time then" Daniel yelled and smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and hurried to the building where the reception was happening. She knew it was only a rehearsal but she hated being late. She should have accepted her parent's offer of a ride. They were bound to be there too, but Regina had some things to do first and had said she would meet them there. Regina gave her coat to girl in the wardrobe and went into the ballroom. She quickly spotted her friend and made a beeline across the room, smiling politely to people she knew.

"I'm so sorry, Kath" Regina kissed her cheeks.

"Its fine, Regina. Just don't let I happen at the real reception" She chuckled "OR at the wedding. I need my maid of honor and I really don't want Frederick's sister to take over that part" They both chuckled and looked at his sister, who acted like she was the most important guest of all time. Kathryn rolled her eyes at her.

"I definitely won't and hopefully I won't bump into Daniel again" Kathryn gasped and looked at her.

"You met Daniel? I thought he moved away!" Regina shrugged and grabbed a glass of champagne from a bypassing waitress. She quickly emptied its content. Kathryn raised an eyebrow at the move. "Well, apparently he moved back and I don't want to talk about him today. It's your day and I don't want to bother with my problems" She smiled and sat down the glass. Kathryn nodded appreciating it. They talked about some relatives, Kathryn had her problems with and people they weren't very fond of. Regina did her round and talked to a few of the other guest and met her parents before they were seated at the tables to begin dinner. She quickly checked her phone, but no texts from Ruby about Emma yet.

Emma felt herself wake up slowly and her eyes fluttered before they opened. The bright light from the ceiling caused her to briefly close her eyes again. She squint her eyes and made out two hazy outlines of people sitting next to her bed. She couldn't quite make out who they were.

"Gina…" Emma whispered. One of the two people stood up and walked closer to her bed. She chuckled heartily.

"Not exactly. Welcome back, Em" Emma looked up and saw a smiling Ruby. Emma blinked a couple of times and finally the fog in her mind seemed to disappear and she offered a small smile in return.

"Where am I?" Emma asked confused. It wasn't the same room as before.

"You're in intensive care" Belle said as she rested her arms on the bars of the bed. "You took your time waking up and they were getting a bit worried about you" Just as Belle was finished a redheaded nurse stepped into the room.

"Ms. Swan, you're awake" She picked up the chart "How are you feeling?" She stepped around the bed and checked the machines and the IV drop.

"I'm tired" Emma mumbled.

"Understandable. Are you in pain?" Emma nodded. "I'll give you some pain medication and then get some sleep, alright? I'll check up on you later" She smiled and pushed a button. Emma immediately felt relaxed and her eyes began to droop again. The nurse talked quietly with Ruby and Belle and then left the room. It wasn't soon before Emma was long gone again. For the second time Emma's eyes fluttered open, but this time there was no light to hurt her eyes, only a small lamp was on. It brought a dull, dark orange glow to the room. The only sound was the constant beeping from the heart monitor beside her. She looked at her side and noticed a small figure sitting in the chair, sleeping. She smiled at Belle, glad that someone was there for her. She felt the slight ache on her chest and remembered why she was there in the first place. She lifted her hand and slowly felt her own chest on the left side. A lump appeared in her throat and she felt the tears fall down her cheeks. It all felt so real now. Before it was only talk and plans, but now it was real. She let out a muffled sob as she tried to be quiet for Belle's sake. Emma closed her eyes tightly but when she felt cool hands on her arm, she looked up into Belle's kind face.

"It's going to be alright, Emma" She said soothingly. Emma couldn't stop crying and Belle did the only thing she could think of the moment. She jumped into her bed and wrapped Emma up in her arms and held on to her as she cried her eyes out. She spoke low soothing words into Emma's head to console her and soon Emma's crying slowed down. Belle listened to Emma's slow breathing and was sure that she had fallen asleep. She could move from the bed, but thought that Emma needed this closeness, and since Regina wasn't here, Emma would have to settle with her. Belle kept her arms around Emma all night, and soon fell asleep herself.

"How is she?" Regina asked immediately when she picked up her phone. She had just entered her house and now stood in the kitchen with a glass of water. She had waited and waited to get any kind of messages from Ruby, but none had arrived, so when said person decided to call, she cut to the case.

"Hello to you too Regina" Ruby chuckled. When Regina didn't say anything, Ruby's chuckled died and she sobered. "It went as it should, and Emma is fine. She's sore, and she has only been awake once while I was there, but I talked to her doctor and she said it all went very well and they removed the whole lump and her breast without complications. They didn't say anything else"

Regina sighed in relief and ran a hand through her hair. "Thank god" She muttered lowly.

"She asked for you. It was the first thing she said when she woke up" Ruby tried to say something comforting, but didn't know it had the opposite effect on Regina.

"I should have been there. Not in this stupid little town" She hissed the last part out. "I know she's fine, but it should have been me who was there when she woke up" Regina whined, and she never did.

"I know" Was the only thing Ruby said, nothing else as she let Regina get her frustrations out. It was clear for Ruby to hear that Regina was a bit intoxicated and she kept listening until Regina was too tired to talk anymore. She repeatedly yawned and Ruby swore that she at some point had fallen asleep. "Regina, it's late and I think you should go to bed. I promise I'll call you if something happens and I'll make Emma call or text you when she's awake, alright?"

"Alright" Regina mumbled and they said their goodbyes. She stood up from the chair and walked up the stairs quietly. She sighed as she finally lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. The sun was setting and of course the light was peeking through the curtains. Regina groaned and turned around to hid her head under the quilt and at last fell asleep. She woke up two hours later, by her mother knocking on the door. She mumbled something and her mother stepped into the room.

"Are you still sleeping?" She asked and pulled the curtain up. Regina groaned and hid her head further, avoiding the light at all cost.

"I don't want to get up"

"How old are you again?" Cora asked and placed her hand on her hip. "There's breakfast and your father is waiting for you" She said and left the room. Regna groaned again and sat up groggily. She just wanted to sleep, but her mother's is law and she didn't want to start something. She stood up and after making herself presentable, she went down the stairs and into the kitchen where her parents was waiting for her to join them.

"You look tired, honey" Her father said smiling.

"I talked with Ruby last night and I lost track of time" Regina said tiredly as she reached out for the coffee.

"How did it go with Emma?" Cora asked. She had waited for her daughter to say anything last night, but she guessed she just didn't know beforehand.

"Emma made it through with aces. Ruby told me she was sore, and she has been sleeping a lot, but they removed it all"

"Thank god" Her mother sighed relieved. Regina smiled at her mother, happy that she had taken so quickly a like to Emma. It was a relief that her parents were fond of her and accepted their relationship. They talked a bit more about Emma and what to come and soon breakfast was eaten. Regina excused herself to make a phone call to Emma, hoping she was awake to pick up. She wanted to hear her girlfriend's voice.

"Hey Gina!" Emma's overly excited voice sounded through the phone.

"Hello Sweetie"

"It's my Gina!" Emma's not so quiet voice said. "I miss you. It's not so fun to be here without you. I slept with Belle last night!" Regina frowned at this

"Excuse me?" She heard some commotion and Emma whining that she wanted to talk to her 'oh so sweet girlfriend'.

"She didn't mean it like that, Regina" Belle's voice said quickly. "Emma woke up last night and she was crying. I think the whole thing dawned for her and she just reacted. I was there and I comforted her. We fell asleep as she cried. That's all. Emma! Stop it!" Regina listened, grateful that Belle was there for Emma. She focused again as Belle spoke to Emma. "Don't pout like that, you're not a child" Regina couldn't stop laughing as it seemed so surreal. "She's on pain medication. Dr. Basset decided to turn up for it as the first doses didn't seem to work as it should. This is the result" Belle groaned and soon Regina heard Emma's voice in her ear again.

"I love you soooo much! Like very very very VERY much" Emma gushed into the phone.

"I love you too, sweetie. I just wanted to talk to, but it seems like I should call you later"

"NOO! I want to talk to you"

"I want to talk to you too, honey, but I think you need to rest and then I'll call you later, alright?" Regina tried. It wasn't like she didn't want to talk this Emma, because she was very fun, but a sleep deprived Regina couldn't quite handle it at the moment.

"Okaaay. You promise?" Emma's voice had turned all childlike. Regina chuckled.

"Yes, I promise darling. Now, go rest" Emma hang up the phone before Regina had even finished the sentence. She laughed down at her phone and shook her head. She walked into the kitchen where her mother was.

"How was she?"

"Medicated" Regina chuckled. Cora looked odd at her before it dawned and joined with a small laugh. "I think I'll go rest an hour or two and then we could go to lunch?" She asked hopefully. She knew her mother was a tad busy around this time.

"That sounds lovely, honey. I'll go to the office and then we can meet at Granny's at one?"

"That's perfect" Regina smiled and kissed her mother's cheek before heading upstairs to get some rest. At one 'o'clock Regina was standing in front of Granny's, waiting for her mother to join her.

"Hello Regina" Regina shut her eyes at the voice, before turning around and plastered a very fake smile on her face.

"Daniel, what are you doing here?" She asked "And why are you talking to me?" Daniel lifted his bag of food.

"Granny's are the best, you know and I told you I would talk to you later, remember?" He smiled too sweetly for Regina's taste. She sighed heavily and looked around for her mother, hoping she would appear soon before turning back the man in front of her.

"Daniel, what do you want from me?"

"Firstly I want to apologize" Regina arched an eyebrow at him "and then I want to ask you out, you know, to talk about the good old times" He smiled again.

"That's definitely not going to happen and your apology is not accepted and never will be. You don't even deserve me talking to you and frankly, I don't even know why I'm doing it. You left, Daniel and you never even considered my feelings in all of this. You just wanted your fifteen minutes of fame and I must say you definitely got it. I never heard anything from you or of you" Daniel scowled at her as she smirked "You failed and now you came running with your tail between your legs back to this little town, where you're still some kind of famous, just so you can relive it again. Am I right?" Daniel looked at her with a hard expression on his face and she had heard how the paper bag had crumbled under his tight crib. "I don't want anything to do with you. I have moved on and have a beautiful girlfriend, whom I love very much" It wasn't necessary to add the last part, since it doesn't matter what he thinks about it. She just wanted the last low blow. Call her a bitch, but he deserved it.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, dear" Regina heard her mother say from behind her. "Sorry, I'm a little late. A meeting ran late and I couldn't get out of it" She kissed her daughters cheek and looked at Daniel. She glared at him and stood defiantly in front of her daughter. "Ah, Daniel, I heard you were back in town. Your little stardom didn't last, hm? Oh, well that's how it goes" She got a little dig at the man who broke her daughter's heart. "Are you ready, dear? I'm starving" She asked her daughter and smiled. Regina nodded and walked along with her mother into the diner, past a fuming Daniel. He was about to speak when a glare from Cora stopped him. He closed his mouth shut and went on his way with heavy footsteps.

"Thank you, mother" Regina said as they sat down at the table. Cora patted her hand.

"Any time, dear. Any time" Regina smiled at her and they both ordered and enjoyed lunch together.

Emma was feeling better and they had cut down her medication for now. Even though she had been operated two days ago, they wouldn't let her go home just yet. The possibility of infection was bigger at home the first days, than at the hospital, so Emma was bound to the bed, doing nothing at all, much to her dismay. She had talked quickly with Regina and since it was Kathryn's wedding day, she didn't have the opportunity to talk a lot with her. Regina had laughed and made a bit of fun of her behavior their last talk. Emma was mortified, and that made it even funnier for Regina. By the end of the conversation, they were both laughing hard.

"Miss Swan. It's time for your checkup" Emma rolled her eyes. Checkup meant pain, since they had to poke at her chest or what they decided to do. The nurse following him, smiled to her sweetly.

"Are you ready, Emma?" She asked.

"Do I have a choice?" She muttered as the doctor pulled away the blanket from her chest area. The nurse patted her hand knowingly. Dr. Basset had a day off and instead it was Dude McIdiot, who was treating her. From the beginning he was rude and made uncalled remarks at her. Emma rolled her eyes again and wished that it was over soon. She felt him poke and pull at places that weren't necessary but she kept her mouth closed. He hummed a few times, but didn't say anything else, before moving to the end of the bed and picked up her chart.

"It looks fine. The nurse will change your bandage" He said and left the room. Emma scowled at him, but turned to the nurse and looked apologetically at her.

"Don't worry, honey. He's an idiot. Let's get this over with and then you can get your lunch" She smiled and began to undress Emma. A short time later, the nurse pulled the blanket back over her. "Here you go. I'll get you something to eat" She smiled and went out the door. Emma sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't quite go around the hospital yet, because it had to heal properly and Emma didn't want to cause any unnecessary damage.

"Hi, Em" Ruby said and sat down in the chair. Emma nodded and continued solving the cross word, she had picked up from the table. Ruby heaved a sigh dramatically, when Emma didn't look at her. Emma rolled her eyes behind the paper. Another sound pierced the quietness, and Emma put the paper down.

"What?" Emma said annoyed.

"Jeez, don't be mad. Just continue your old woman magazine" Emma rolled her eyes again. They might get stuck at this point. She pulled the paper back up and concentrated on the puzzling words. They sat in silence for a minute when Ruby sighed loudly again. Emma threw the paper on the table and looked at Ruby again.

"Seriously, what is it?!"

"I'm sad"

"Haven't noticed" Emma mumbled and got a glare in return. "Alright, what are you sad about?"

"Dorothy is mad at me and she won't talk to me"

"What have you done?" Emma asked knowing that it probably was about something Ruby had said or done.

"Who said I have done something? It could be her!" Ruby exclaimed with raised hands. Emma looked sternly at her. "Yeah, yeah it was me. I might have made fun of her baby pictures" Emma smirked. "I told her that her nose was a little big when she was smaller, then she got really mad and kicked me out" Emma laughed at her.

"Rubes, how do you think she would react when you make fun of her like that? You know she had some issues about her nose and you didn't make it better. She probably felt self-conscious" Ruby scratched her head before it dawned on her. She stood up and raced out the door without a good bye. Emma just smiled and shook her head. She sent a quick text to Regina and then continued her cross word.

'I love you so very much' – E

Regina smiled at the text and quickly sent one back, before putting her phone away. The ceremony had gone very well and luckily no one had interrupted it. Even though, no one would. Regina smiled at the laughing newlyweds, who were occupying the dance floor. They looked so happy and it made Regina warm, that her friend had found such a great love. She smiled and raised her glass at them, when Kathryn looked back at her. She thought immediately of Emma and the wishes she had for them. She had already found that great love in her, funnily enough it took them so long to get there. She laughed silently at the thought and swallowed the last of the drink. She felt her phone vibrate and looked at the short message only containing a small heart. The only thought that came into her mind was that, she's going to marry that woman.