Yeah - I'm still stuck in my house with my leg burnt, and so is Emma. I have plenty of ideas to write about, so if you guys don't mind, I'll publish them little by little... Eventually we'll return to their normal relationship, or will we?

Other than that, thanks for reviewing and following, it really makes my day to know that people are actually enjoying the story!

Hugs,

M

It had been just one day since she visited the hospital for the check up. It hadn't gone as Emma expected. First changing her bandages had taken forever because the dress was stuck to her skin and they couldn't just pull it off since the hurt skin would be even more injured; so Whale had to do it with patience, and it had hurt - like hell. Second, just when she thought that the undressing would be the most painful part, Whale had cleaned her skin with some antiseptic cream that had itched her. Third, she still couldn't shower, nor walk, and of course, she couldn't work either. She couldn't do anything by herself. Not even stand from the toilet.

"Emma?" She heard Regina calling her from the other side of the bathroom door "Are you alright, dear?"

'Damn it.'

"Everything is alright," Emma muttered as she study the possibilities she had to help herself to stand up.

The towel hanger: it was the only thing within her reach that could help Emma to pull herself up. She reached for the metal bar and doing a pull up, she managed to stand from the toilet seat. However, she didn't count on the fact that her body weight was too heavy for the towel hanger to bare, and the metal bar detached from the wall. Even though the blonde was fast enough to extend her arms and preventing herself to fall, the towel hanger didn't have such luck, and the sound of the bar hitting the floor alerted Regina.

"Emma?" Regina knocked the door and tried to enter. "Emma?"

"Fuck," Emma whispered staring the mess she had made in less than two minutes. "I'm fine," she told Regina. "I don't know if your bathroom is, though" she muttered.

"Just open the door, Emma," Was she really worried about her? Or maybe she didn't want to face the consequences of having a dead body in her bathroom.

"You are not going to like this," Emma replied as she made her slowly way towards the door. It hurt so badly to walk.

When she finally opened the door, Regina studied the blonde, checking if Emma was, in fact, alright. When the brunette confirmed that Emma fine she proceeded to scan the bathroom. Her eyes stopped at the towel hanger on the floor and unconscious, she raised an eyebrow.

"I'm really sorry," Emma said shyly. Regina looked at her, she had never pictured Emma as a shy person.

"It's alright, dear" the brunette didn't give it importance and slid her arm around Emma's waist to help her walk with more ease. "I was planning on remodelling the bathroom anyway,"

"Great!" Emma said between moans of pain "More drilling!"

Regina pursed her lips into a smile and gently placed Emma on the couch "Are you ok?"

"No," Emma replied with a sad tone.

"Can I get you something?"

"A new leg, maybe?" Emma smiled at Regina, the brunette sat next to Emma and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Everything hurts so bad. My back hurts from laying, I can't have my computer with me because it gets too hot and hurts the injury, your iPad and my phone are great, until they run out of battery and there's nothing good on the TV. I know bed rest sounds like heaven but it's hell."

"We can play something," Regina suggested.

"Why, Miss Mills, you never stop teasing, even with my fragile state!" Regina raised an eyebrow. "I'm kidding, what games do you have?"

"Do you know how to play Rummikub?"

"Are you kidding me?" Emma grinned at the brunette "Of course I know how to play, I'll kick your ass,"

"Well see about that," Regina replied standing up and getting a deck of card from a box that she had still not unpacked. Emma looked at the box, she always pictured Regina as a perfectionist, and perfectionists never left things unfinished - specially unpacking. "It is not my box," Regina explained, guessing Emma's thoughts. "It's Daniel's, the guy you met some time ago,"

"The asshole one?" Emma asked, even if it was obvious.

"Have you met any other guy?" Regina asked, but before Emma could reply with a sassy comment she reformulated her question "Have you met any other guy in my apartment?"

Emma smiled at the new question, Regina was getting good at reading her mind and thinking fast. "No, I haven't,"

Regina rolled her eyes but smiled at Emma and walked towards the sofa were the blonde was resting. She moved the living room table closer to the sofa, so it would be easier for Emma to play and sat on the floor, in front of her opponent. Good thing she was wearing pants. The brunette shuffled the cards and dealt fourteen for her and fourteen for Emma.

Emma had to admit it, Regina was a better player than she had imagined, but that didn't mean that she was not giving Regina a good fight. Their points were close, Emma winning, but just by a bit. Every time Regina shuffled Emma commented on her skills; the blonde was awed by how Regina shuffled, she did it the professional way, like the dealers on the casino. Regina couldn't help but to smile at Emma's fascination, she was as easy to impress as a kid.

Their game was suddenly interrupted by Emma's phone. It rang. And ran again.

"Aren't you going to pick up?" Regina asked and Emma didn't reply. "Aren't you at least going to see who is calling you?"

Emma said something to herself and picked up her phone. Unknown ID. She raised an eyebrow, wondering who was calling her. She never got unknown ID calls.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Is this Emma Swan?" she heard a male voice on the other side of the line.

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Neal," Emma rolled her eyes. 'Great'. "I don't know if you remember me, August's friend,"

"What do you want, Neal?" Emma asked with no enthusiasm. She wished she would be lucky enough not to remember him.

"My car broke last week," he started explaining, "I took it to -,"

"Get to the point," Emma interrupted him. She was too annoyed to be polite.

"August lent me his bike, I was wondering when could I pick it up,"

"Whenever you want," she replied.

It was not like she could go anywhere, and the faster she met this idiot, the faster he'd be out of her hair. Damned that day when she told August he could leave the bike at their building. It had only caused her trouble: her car being towed and now Neal's visit. 'That is what happens when you are nice to people, Emma' she told herself

"Ok," Neal said "I'll pass by tomorrow morning,"

"Great," she lied and hung up. Regina was staring at her with a smirk on her face. "What?"

"Nothing, I just thought you were only sarcastic towards me,"

"My sarcasm knows no boundaries and doesn't discriminate against only one kind of people," Emma joked. "Although you and Neal do fit in the same kind of people,"

"We do?" Regina asked, even if she didn't know who this Neal guy was.

"Yeah," Emma started playing again, "The kind of people who annoy me," the blonde smiled at Regina.

And Regina smiled back at her.