Daddy,

I have said it before, and I'll say it again, phones are an amazing invention.

Just one phone call can change your life in an instant. This has happened multiple times in my life now.

Events must have progressed at a much slower rate when people relied on writing letters. Someone could be born, get married, or die, and you wouldn't have known about it for weeks. And still you would have time to process the news before writing back or visiting them.

Now you can know something has happened the moment after it occurs. You're more likely to say or do things before thinking them through.

A week ago, I had received one such phone call.

Regina had just sent Henry in to put his pajamas on when she heard her cell phone ringing. It was in her bedroom and she almost decided to be lazy and not go and get it, but something inside told her to.

Considering it was a Saturday night, I assumed it was an emergency at the restaurant.

When Regina finally picked up the phone the screen read: Emmazing Swan.

My stomach flipped. Why would she be calling me after all this time?!

It's been five months! Almost half a year with no contact!

Was she drunk calling me? Is it an accidental pocket dial?

I didn't want to pick up but then one thought occurred to me.

What if it was an emergency? What if she really needed my help and I didn't answer the phone?

I cursed the soft spot I would always have to her and hesitantly answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Regina?"

It was a woman's voice, but certainly not Emma's.

"Yes?"

"This is Mila Cassidy."

"Oh. Hello." Regina answers still very confused. "Why are you calling me from Emma's phone."

"I took it when they gave me her possessions."

"Wait, why do you have her possessions?!" Regina's heart rate began to increase significantly. Now that's she was thinking about it, Mila's voice sounded a bit distressed.

"Regina, she's alive, please calm down." Mila responds in a motherly tone.

Regina takes a deep breath.

"She is in the hospital though. Apparently she had been complaining about severe stomach pains earlier today at the race but refused to go to see the doctors on site. One of the other mechanics in the tent say they saw her fall to the ground out of nowhere. We suspect that she fainted from the pain or dizziness. When she fell she hit her head and was unconscious when they rushed her to the hospital. I'm her emergency contact so they called me. By the time I arrived at the hospital she was awake again but she has a concision."

"Is she going to be okay?! Is it severe?"

"They told me they suspect the concision won't have lasting damage but that it's hard to tell with brain injuries. They are still running tests to see what caused her stomach earlier pain."

"Have you seen her?"

"Briefly. That's actually why I'm calling you."

"What do you mean?"

"She was pretty out of it because of the concision but she was asking for you. I was told she has been ever since she woke up."

Regina didn't realize she was on her way to the computer until she sat down in her desk chair.

"Where are you?"

" Stringfellow Memorial Hospital. Talladega, Alabama."

Regina quickly typed it in to the search bar to print out directions.

"I'm on my way."

"Thank you." Mila says with a smile in her voice before she hangs up.

Regina grabs the directions and hurries to her room to get her purse.

I was checking to make sure I had everything in my purse when I remembered Henry in his room.

It's not like I forgot about him exactly, but ever since I picked up the phone my mind had been too preoccupied to think properly.

Regina sat down heavily on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. She needed to take a minute to think and breathe.

After a few moments she got up again and made her way into Henry's room.

"Henry?"

"Yes?" He says while sitting up in bed with a book.

"I need you to pack a bag with your toothbrush, some clothes for tomorrow and anything you might want to play with in the car."

"Why?"

"Emma's in the hospital and we need to go and visit her."

"Is she okay?"

"I think she will be." She says and brushes his hair from his forehead. "Now let's get a move on. We have a long car ride ahead of us."

Regina went to her own room to collect a few supplies before checking Henry's bag and making her way out of the house less than ten minutes later.

The car ride was long. Thankfully there was no traffic and Henry slept almost the entire way. It was the middle of the night by the time the pair arrived in Talladega. Regina went straight to the hospital. Logically she knew they probably wouldn't let her in to see Emma this late but she didn't care about logic at the moment. She had text Emma's cell phone hoping that Mila would still have it. Luckily she did, and told Regina that she was still at the hospital as well.

The closer I got to the hospital the more anxious I became. I was so worried for Emma. I was annoyed by how much I still cared and I was nervous about seeing and speaking to her again.

I had dropped everything without questioning the decision until I was an hour away.

Ultimately I did begin questioning my decision to come all this way to see a woman who broke my heart.

Nevertheless some unstoppable force continued to pull me closer and closer to her.

Surprisingly, Mila brought us right into Emma's room upon arrival. Henry sluggishly walked into the room behind me. Upon seeing Emma sleeping in the bed he woke up some and went straight to her. I warned him not to wake her up but it turns out a nurse was coming to wake her up and check on her in a few minutes anyway.

For those few minutes before she woke up I studied her silently. She looked thin. Not that she wasn't always in shape but she looked thinner than usual.

She still looked good though. No obvious injuries. If it wasn't for her hospital gown one could be convinced that she was merely sleeping at home.

"Regina?" She questions upon waking up.

I look over to Henry (who was already asleep again in the lounger) to make sure he didn't wake from her exclamation.

"Hi, how are you feeling?"

"Crummy." She mumbles. "You're here though and that makes me feel better." She adds with a sleepy smile.

The nurse then leaves the room and Emma yawns.

"You should get some rest."

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I want to spend time with you." But even as she says this her eyes begin to close.

My heart fluttered at the words. Speaking to Emma again is the most pleasurably tortuous feeling in the world. She seemed a little out of it still and I was trying desperately not to take anything she says tonight to heart.

"I'll be here in the morning." Regina assures.

"Promise?"

"Promise."