Regina woke up the next morning with an awful headache. "Not again," she thought to herself. She turned around to see if David was awake and noticed he was not there. "So much for not leaving my side." "David! Are you here?" she yelled.

"Downstairs. I thought I would whip-up a breakfast since we will be stuck in the house all day." He yelled from downstairs.

Regina smiled at the thought. She was so lucky to have him. If only she didn't have a headache, they could spend the whole morning together happily.

She got out of bed and searched her bedside table for some medicine. That's when she noticed the book. "Mother," she sighed.

She put the book back, determined to fight through the headache without magic. David walked into the room holding out breakfast, which startled her. She shut the door quickly, so he wouldn't be able to see the book.

"Hey, are you okay? I am sorry if I scared you a little," David replied.

"No, don't be. I am just a little on edge I suppose." She quickly changed the subject. "Is that breakfast? It looks amazing, David." On a silver platter, literally, there was a wonderful spread of strawberries, a bagel, and a side of eggs sitting next to a glass of orange juice. "Thank-you, David."

"No problem. I know you have had a rough few days, but I want you to know that I am here for you." He smiled at her and for several long moments, they just sat there and exchanged smiles.

"Eat up," he encouraged her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"I am going to sit here and make sure that you can eat in peace…with no interruptions."

"David, you don't need to do that. Why don't you go take a shower and get ready. I can take care of myself here."

"I don't know, Regina." He was hesitant about leaving her alone. Even making breakfast gave him anxiety, having to leave her alone upstairs by herself."

"David, the shower is 5 feet away from this bed. I will be fine."

David really did want a shower, so he reluctantly agreed. "Okay, but if there is any trouble at all, I want you to call me right away, agreed?"

"Agreed." She smiled.

When David left the room, Regina looked at her plate. The food looked so good, but her headache still bothered her, and it was making her slightly nauseated. Regina knew she shouldn't, but the temptation was too great. She took the book out, heart racing. She opened the pages and breathed in the magic. Although this time, she absorbed a lot of magic. In fact, she couldn't stop absorbing magic fast enough. It felt so good, and she felt whole and complete with every breath she took.

Suddenly, Cora appeared in front of her, grabbing the book. "Mother. What are you doing here?" she whispered frantically.

"Protecting you. You shouldn't be absorbing magic like that. It's dangerous."

"What if David sees you? And besides, isn't this why you left the book here, knowing that I would find it?"

"Yes, but I didn't want you to binge-absorb the magic. You will overwhelm yourself and then all sorts of magical mishaps might follow."

"Okay, okay. I got it. Now, please go before David sees you," Regina said in a hurried whisper shooing her mother away.

"Bye, darling," Cora said before disappearing back to from where she came.

Later in the afternoon, Regina and David were lounging around in the living room. She was reading a book and trying to relax. David was working on the overwhelming amount of paperwork from the Sherrif's station.

Suddenly, Mr. Gold appeared in the middle of their living room. David and Regina rushed to get into a standing position to defend themselves.

"What do you want, Rumple?" David asked, internally knowing what he wanted, and dreading the outcome of the following events.

"Oh you know," Rumple said casually as he took his hand and applied a forcefield of magic that threw Regina against the wall. "I am here because after the curse has broken, Belle just coincidentally reappears after 28 years, alive" he stated with his voice growing stronger and louder until the last word was practically shouted.

"And guess who was at the top of the list of suspects?" He looked down at Regina who was still recovering from the fall.

"Rumple, I know you are upset. But Regina wanted to let Belle go. She came with me yesterday to help free her." As David was trying to reason with Rumple, he rushed over to Regina, kneeling beside her and examining her with his eyes.

"Really, after keeping her locked up for 28 years, you played the hero, saving her," he said mockingly.

"Rumple, at the beginning, yes, I wanted to keep her, to hurt you." Before she could finish her sentence, Rumple picked her body up with magic and flew her across the room, into a large glass mirror, shattering it.

Through it all, she still remained conscious, but now she was covered in cuts. David could see trickles of blood running down her arms and legs in various spots.

"Stop. She doesn't have magic. She can't defend herself."

"Oh really?" Rumple asked amused. He could smell her magic in the air. "What have you been telling him, dearie?"

"Rumple, go back to your house and cool off. She is no danger to you nor anyone. And what would Belle say if she knew of this?" David barked at him. He didn't have magic, but he had had run-ins with him before and came out the victor. He knew he could do so again.

Rumple knew that she must have been keeping secret her ability to do, magic. He wanted to prove to David that she was a lying and manipulative witch, the same as he had always known her. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted. Rumple would continue hurting her until she was forced to do magic. Then, David would see that she has been keeping this secret from him.

"I would prefer to make her bleed." He took Regina again and threw her against the wall. "Defend yourself dear, and I will stop."

Regina knew she couldn't defend herself without revealing to David, her magic. She would prefer to die, than for David to know that she had been untruthful again.

She took the hit, but didn't say nothing nor do anything. "Defend yourself. All you have to do is summon a fireball, and I will stop."

Regina did nothing but glare at him. The pain was beginning to become unbearable. She didn't know how much more she could take.

"She can't. Look at her, she can't." David pleaded with him.

"Yes. She. Can." Rumple was sure that she could, though. Again, he took her and threw her against the large staircase. She grabbed her head, which was pounding.

As he was about to raise his hand again, she put her hand out in front of her. In a raspy voice, she mumbled, "Stop."

Rumple kept his hand in the air, threatening her to do what he asked. "You know what I want."

Regina looked down at her hand, and after several long moments of hesitation, she looked at David and whispered, "I'm sorry." A ball of fire appeared in her hand, and David recognized instantly that Rumple had been right.

Once Rumple had Regina right where he wanted her, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Some things just aren't meant to be."

David rushed over to Regina. He was intensely disappointed with her, but his first priority was her health. He would not leave anyone alone to suffer.

"Can you heal yourself?" David asked. Regina was unsure she had enough magic left to do that. Her magic had not stabilized yet.

"Upstairs, David…there is a book. Will you get it for me?"

"A book? What book? Where is it?"

"It's upstairs in my bedside table drawer. It's a book of spells."

David sighed, but rushed upstairs to get it. He found the book and ran back to her side. He placed it into her hands as she continued lying on the floor.

She opened the book, and inhaled the magic. She could feel the magic absorbing into her internal organs that had been damaged and soothing them. She inhaled the magic again and watched the cuts on her skin, the blemishes, disappear. David felt relief, but was also in a state of shock. He wondered how long she had had this book, and how long she had been absorbing magic.

He helped her to her feet and helped her to lay down on the couch. "Are you okay?" he asked assertively.

"I'm okay," she replied, embarrassed and ashamed of the whole situation.

"Good," he said and walked out the door into kitchen. Regina had the feeling that he would not be coming back for a long time.