It's been a few days since I've seen Regina, with the exception of class. It's now Thursday afternoon, and I'm anxiously sitting on a bench down the hall from her office waiting for her to come back from class. I don't hear anything, but I worry she's been avoiding me for a reason. I decide to bite the bullet and abandon my stuff on the bench and see if maybe I missed her coming in while I was in the bathroom. When it comes to Regina, taking matters into my own hands isn't something I particularly love to do.
The door is cracked open so I knock hesitantly.
"Regina?" I murmur when I don't hear much of a response. She's sitting at her desk, staring blankly at a stack of papers and notecards. She looks up when I say her name.
"Hey," she murmurs.
"Are you-"
"Hey Dr. Mills, I have those quizzes for you. Do you want me to take today's? I can take notecards too, if you want." A girl interrupts me before I can continue, obviously Regina's assistant, but Regina only seems to be half paying attention. Her face is flushed and she's sweating, which is odd considering she doesn't like to sweat and it's freezing outside. I'm not sure what exactly people mean when they say their 'blood runs cold' but I feel like it's this, and I don't like the feeling.
"Um, yeah, here," she says as she shoves a stack of cards into the girl's hand and receives her own stack, this one completed with markings on them. "Oh you need a key." I can't stop staring at her. Her eyes even seem glassy, like she's been crying, but not quite that. I need this girl to leave so I can figure out what's going on. She takes a notecard off the stack and pulls up the quiz on her computer. I notice a slight tremor in her hands.
I don't dare speak, letting her do what needs to get done. All the while, I glance around the room and notice it's state of chaos. There's always chaos in Regina's office, but this seems a bit much even for her.
"Okay, this is the key." She writes 'key' sloppily on the notecard, even her handwriting looks wrong in some way, and she hands the stack to her assistant.
"Okay, cool," the girl says cheerfully, as if there's nothing at all wrong with the woman in front of us.
Are people so caught up in their own fucking lives they don't notice when something is wrong with someone? Are they that ignorant?
The girl finally leaves, closing the door behind her.
"Regina?" I murmur. She looks at me, but I swear she isn't seeing me at all. "Regina," I say, louder this time. "Are you okay?"
"Em," she exhales loudly, "I'm just having trouble breathing. I can't focus on anything." Her words are starting to jumble and I can hear the little gasps between them. She looks only marginally panicked, but I'm having a full-blown fit in my head.
Oh my god what's happening? What am I supposed to do?
"What do you need?" She just shakes her head. "Okay, I'm going to get you water. Just stay here, okay? I'll be right back." I see a styrofoam coffee cup sitting on her desk and I grab it, quickly exiting the room and immediately breaking into a sprint when I get into the hallway. My own head is starting to feel hazy as I try to process this as quickly as possible so I'm calmer when I get to Regina.
I fill the cup with shaking hands, willing the fountain to fill it faster. It's harder to run with a cup filled with water and I splash a lot of it on my shirt. I just hope it'll be enough. Not even taking the time to take a breath, I push Regina's door open and immediately crouch next to her, handing her the water.
"Drink, please baby." She takes the cup from my hand and takes a small sip. I grab a chair and drag it next to her. I hold her free hand and rub her back soothingly. Her hand is still mildly trembling. "You're okay, you're okay. Just keep drinking."
"Talk to me, please," she murmurs between sips. "I need something…" She trails off.
"Okay so the other day in class, I can't believe you taught with a half-broken heel. I thought maybe you didn't know and I was very concerned and then you just grabbed the heel in the middle of class and snapped it back in place!" I laugh at the memory and I see her smile. "I can't believe you didn't just take your shoes off!" I'm talking, but all the while watching her continue to drink. She seems to be taking deeper breaths and her hands have stopped shaking. The sweat on her forehead has dried and her color is becoming normal again.
"I knew the shoe was broken," she laughs quietly, "I glued it back together." She's speaking quietly, but she looks like she's gaining her strength back. She's almost done with the water. Her hand releases mine and she grabs my shirt and pulls me closer to her. "Why is your shirt wet?" she asks with a puzzled expression. Her eyes meet mine and she, thankfully, looks like herself. She looks like she sees me again.
"I spilled some water on myself while I was running."
"You went for a jog in that outfit?" I laugh and kiss her forehead, stroking her now slightly damp hair.
"No baby, I was running down the hall to get you water."
"Oh yes," she murmurs, glancing down at the cup in her hand, "I suppose I remember that."
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, a lot better."
"What percent?"
"Eighty-five, maybe ninety."
"What do you need to get to one hundred? You need more water, let me fill this up again." I take the cup from her hands and kiss her forehead. "I'll be right back. Just sit, okay?" She nods in obedience and I rush from the room. My emotions catch up to me and I begin to cry despite myself. I fill the cup, tears streaming down my face as fast as the water coming from the fountain.
She's okay, Emma. She's fine. It was probably just dehydration. The colder it is outside the hotter the classroom gets. It was a million degrees in there today. She's fine now, you were there and she's okay. You're both okay.
I continue to reassure myself as I walk quickly, without spilling water this time, back down the hallway. I close the door to Regina's office tightly as I hand her the cup again and then sit back down. She pulled a pack of pretzels from her desk and is snacking on them slowly.
"What happened, baby?"
"It's just so hot in there and my body doesn't do a very good job at cooling itself down. The hotter I get, the harder it is to get my brain to function properly. I sometimes have to get hormone injections if it gets out of control." I caress her cheek and run my fingers lightly through her hair as she speaks.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's usually not that hard to manage, just with the cold weather and that damn classroom."
"You don't drink enough water," I say sternly.
"Emma, don't start with me."
"I'm serious, you don't." I immediately resolve to go to the store without her and buy her a case of water. I can be personally responsible for her hydration.
"I'm a big girl, Emma." I smile at her argument, feeling like perhaps she is starting to feel closer to one hundred percent.
"Just keep eating and drinking. We can finish this discussion at home." Suddenly, I remember I have to be at work. "Shit!" Regina looks startled at my outburst. I immediately pull out my phone and dial Belle.
"Is everything okay?" Regina asks curiously.
"Hello?" Belle answers the phone.
"Belle, it's me." I hold up a finger to Regina.
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be here?"
"Yeah I had an emergency so I'm going to be late. Or I am late, technically," I flinch. "I promise I'll be there soon. Can you cover desk for me for like fifteen minutes?"
"Of course. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I think everything is okay. Thank you so much, Belle. I'll be there soon!" I hang up and turn back to Regina.
"Go," Regina insists. "I'm sorry I kept you."
"Don't you dare apologize. I'm so glad I was here. Clearly your assistant is very unobservant and would have been absolutely no use to you."
"Thank you for being here," she says with a small smile.
"Let me go fill your water again and then I'll go."
"I can-"
"Don't even bother," I say as I take the again empty cup to the water fountain. Still shaken, I take a series of deep breaths while I wait for the cup to fill. I don't want Regina to ever know how frightened I was.
I kiss her fully when I get back, pulling her body close to mine. When our lips disconnect, she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tightly.
"I love you so much," she whispers against my ear. "Thank you for being my rock."
"I love you too, beautiful. Don't forget I'm always here. I'll come by tomorrow after class, okay? It's your weekend at my place," I remind her. She nods her head.
"I can't wait."
"Call me if need anything, okay? Anything at all. I'm never too busy and it's never too late." She nods her head resolutely.
"I promise I will. Now go, please. I love you so much, my beautiful princess." She kisses my lips again and then I reluctantly leave her in her office.
When I get to work, I'm overcome with guilt. Belle is swamped with people. I immediately drop all my stuff and start to help dismantle the crowd.
I feel like I've said, "how can I help you?" about a million times. When the rush ends and we're out of laptops to check out, I turn to Belle and hug her tightly.
"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate it."
"Is everything alright?"
"It is now. Regina was overheated and dehydrated and she just had a little episode. She's fine now, thank goodness."
"Oh my. Are you okay?" I pause, considering my answer. On the one hand, I'm totally not okay. On the other, Regina is fine and I have a plan to stop this from happening.
"I think so. I'm still a little shaken up- it was pretty intense and I was so scared for her."
"I would imagine." I nod my head and feel tears welling up in my eyes. "At least you were there and she let you be there and everything worked out." I nod again, wiping at my eyes.
"I love her. I just can't," I take in a shaky breath. Belle rubs my arm supportively. "I can't imagine anything happening to her."
"Hey, nothing is going to happen to her."
"Well, I don't know, apparently this happens to her. You know? Like this is a thing. She said her body is bad at stopping her from overheating. It sounds like she just has these episodes a lot, which is so dangerous. And she said sometimes she has to get hormone injections to cool her down." Belle's brows are furrowed in concern.
"I'm sorry, Emma. This must be a lot to handle." I nod my head.
"Yeah and I don't know, I just feel responsible for her. I'm going to go to the store and buy her a case of water and bring her water everyday."
"You don't have to do that, you know?"
"I guess I don't, but I do. I want to take care of her." Belle smiles at me warmly. "She's my girl. I can't do a lot for her, but I can do this. I can keep her hydrated and safe."
"I'm sure you give her far more than that, Emma." I smile and hug her again.
"You're amazing, thank you so much. You're such a great friend."