This chapter includes details of a violent physical attack and briefly mentions sexual attacks upon characters not included in this story.

Chapter 35

Regina blinked rapidly and waited for the world to settle around her, when it did she quickly realised that she had once again materialised in a hospital. However, this one was much busier than the previous one.

She tried to take a step forward but was soon reminded of the pain in her stomach, she was no stranger to anxiety related discomfort, but this was different, it was like nothing she had experienced before. It was sharp and hot and left her short of breath.

She didn't have the time to worry about herself though, Emma was here somewhere and judging by the panic in her voice when she had called for her, something was very wrong.

She pushed her own pain into the back of her mind and looked around for anyone that may be able to help her find the blonde. She quickly spotted a nurse busying herself behind a nurse's station, and with no time to waste, bolted towards her.

"Emma Swan." She asked desperately. "Is Emma Swan here?"

When the nurse didn't immediately reply, she feared for a brief moment that she was once again invisible. Thankfully she wasn't.

"Main reception is that way, honey." The woman eventually said in a kind voice while pointing down the hallway. "It's easy to get turned around in this place. Down the hall and take a left."

"Thank you!" Regina near shouted as she once again took off in search of the Deputy.

Down the hall. Down the hall. She kept repeating to herself as she followed the instructions she had been given.

Take a left. Take a left where? Shit, that was a right. She had always been crap at differentiating between the two, especially when stressed. Go back, try again. There, there!

She almost cried with relief when she saw her goal, a large information desk with 'Main Reception' written above it. As she took the last few hurried steps towards her destination, the pain that she had been doing her best to ignore began to ease a little.

Taking a quick look around, Regina noted that this new area was busier still. Anxious and sad looking people sat in uncomfortable seats, clearly waiting upon news of loved ones. In the back corner, there were several people congregated together in silence, seemingly all wearing black uniforms of some sort. Regina thought no more about them as she made a bee-line for the desk.

"Excuse me, is Emma Swan here?" She asked nervously. The woman behind the desk sighed and rolled her eyes before looking up at the brunette.

"Are you a relation?" She asked rather shortly.

"No, I'm her..." Regina didn't get the chance to finish that sentence before she was cut off.

"Well, then I will tell you what I have told them." She replied, gesturing towards the sombre group in uniform. "If you are not a relation then I can't give you any information. Hospital policy." She said, adding a sickly fake smile at the end.

Regina didn't say anything as she stared back at the receptionist in disbelief. The woman she loved was here and hurt, and she couldn't get to her because of a rude woman that wouldn't listen to her and because of fucking petty bureaucracy.

"I'm sorry, you didn't let me finish..." Regina replied calmly, she knew that losing her temper wouldn't help at all. "She's my..." she paused as she tried to find the right word to portray just what the blonde was to her. Girlfriend didn't seem to quite cover it. Lover? Partner? None of these words were even vaguely adequate to describe how much Emma Swan meant to her. "She's my... everything." She finally said, finding a truth she had yet to vocalize. To her Emma, and Henry, where her whole world.

Up until that point, the receptionist had only been regarding her with disinterest and annoyance. Now, after hearing the brunette's admission, that disinterest turned to something else entirely; disgust.

"No relation, no information." The woman replied, spitting out each word with pure venom.

Regina took a deep breath as she tried desperately to rein in her rapidly igniting temper. The pain in her stomach had returned and she found that she needed to take a tight hold of the counter in front of her, just to stop her taking a swing at the woman that was aggravating her last nerve. Just as she was about to open her mouth and try again she was stopped by a voice from behind her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you Regina?"

"Yes, I am." She replied with a slight scowl, puzzled as to how this person knows her name.

As she spun around she saw a young woman wearing the same uniform she had seen Emma wearing in the photos she had seen on her last visit. She then quickly snapped her eyes over to the rest of the gathered group the rude receptionist had gestured to and saw that they too were wearing them. She realised then that they must be Emma's work colleagues.

"Who are you?" The brunette enquired of the young woman.

"My name is Katie... Deputy Kate Mackenzie. I was Emma's ride along partner tonight." The young woman replied matter-of-factly while extending out her hand for Regina to shake.

"Where is Emma? Is she ok?" Regina asked quickly as she absentmindedly took her hand.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to inform you that there was an incident this evening. Emma got hurt, she is currently in the OR."

Upon hearing that, Regina's mind fell into a tailspin of thoughts and emotions. Emma was in the OR, that sounded serious. What if she wasn't ok, what if she didn't make it? 'You aren't going to lose her,' the rational part of her brain suddenly supplied. 'You are from the future, you know she survives.' But does she? With the way the timeline was changing all the time she just couldn't convince herself to believe it.

"The OR? How bad is it?" Regina asked in a small and scared voice. Right there in that moment, all that she was and had once been fell away and all that was left was a woman who was terrified that she may soon have to say goodbye to the love that she had just found. She, of course, was no stranger to loss, however, she knew that she couldn't face it again. She couldn't lose Emma, she just couldn't.

"The surgeons are doing everything they can, the update an hour ago was that she was doing well," Katie answered reassuringly. "Come and take a seat." And with that, she guided a somewhat shell-shocked Regina over towards a bank of empty seats.

They both sat in silence for a while as Regina attempted to process the situation. She felt a little better hearing that Emma was doing well, still, in her mind, less than fifteen minutes had passed since she had been snuggling in Emma's arms after a very emotional and meaningful lovemaking session. Now she was in a hospital, surrounded by strangers, desperately waiting to hear if the young Deputy was going to be ok. The whole situation was incredibly overwhelming, fuck she was so tired.

"What happened?" Regina finally asked. Katie took a deep breath before starting her explanation.

"One of the girls that attends Emma's youth club was brought into the hospital earlier today. She had been the victim of a vicious and sustained sexual assault. She was beaten up pretty bad too. She wouldn't talk to anyone until Emma arrived. When she did, she told her who had done it. He was known to us, he has form for latching onto young girls in the system. He treats then well at first until he gets bored and rapes them to within an inch of their life. The girls will never testify against him, they're always too scared but this girl said she would. We went to pick him up. Back up was ready, everyone was in place." She paused for a moment to gather herself, as professional as she was trying to remain, she was clearly affected by what had happened.

"Emma insisted on being the first person in... It was an old warehouse and there was crap everywhere, it all happened so quickly... He knew we were coming, he had set up a trap."

"Go on," Regina softly prompted, eager to hear what had happened next.

"The property was much more secure than we thought. Emma and I only got in through the front door because he wanted us to, it locked behind us. The rest of the team were outside and couldn't get to us." The young Deputy was forced to stop again as her emotions got the better of her. On instinct, Regina placed her hand supportively on the young woman's shoulder.

"It's ok Katie," she said as she progressed to rubbing soothing circles on the emotional women's back. "Please continue." The Deputy nodded and took a deep breath, steeling herself for the rest of her tale.

"He pulled a gun on us and made us both hand over our firearms. I... I... just did as he asked. Emma did too... we had no choice. He got mad, real mad. Shouting at us for getting all up in his business. He said he was going to teach us both a lesson."

Regina had an awful feeling that she knew exactly where this was going. The now dull pain in her stomach was joined by the more familiar feeling of anxious nausea. Still, she couldn't afford to jump to conclusions, she still didn't know the full story.

"Then what happened?"

"He erm... he ordered me to drop my pants and lay down," Kate replied quietly. "He said he knew it was Emma that was really out to get him, he said he wanted her to see first-hand how he treats his girls."

It was then that Katie began to cry. Regina pulled her into her arms and rocked with her, all the while speaking soothing words of comfort. She desperately needed to know what had happened to Emma but she knew that she couldn't push the young woman currently sobbing against her chest.

"Shhh shhh shhh, it's ok. You're safe now." The brunette soothed. She knew by the fact that the young Deputy was sitting in the waiting room that this bastard hadn't been able the follow through with his intentions. But she also knew from personal experience that even the threat of such an awful act can have a huge effect on people.

"Emma saved me. She rushed him and took his weapon but, in the scuffle, it got kicked across the room. After that, they fought hard. I was so scared, I couldn't move. I eventually snapped out of it and went to get the gun but just before I could take control of the situation, he pulled a knife. He... he... stabbed her in the abdomen."

Upon hearing that, Regina's hand instinctively flew to her own stomach. Her mind reeled as she realised that the pain she had been feeling was actually Emma's, she had heard of pain transference before, but she had certainly never experienced it herself. It was light magic at its purest, born of the desire to take away another person's suffering.

She knew that she was capable of some light magic, that had been proven when she had taken on her sister all those years ago. But this was different, this should be way beyond her ability, and yet... it wasn't. For Emma, she apparently could and would take her pain. She would do anything for her, it was a simple truth that she knew to be 100% true.

"I subdued the perp and tended to Emma as the others beat down the door. She just kept repeating your name." Katie said looking down at her hands as if she could still see the blood she had been covered in earlier. Blood she had washed off in the restroom before changing her shirt. "This is all my fault," she went on to say sadly while looking intently at the older woman and bringing her attention back into the room. "She is in that OR because of me."

"No, she isn't, she is in there because that's who she is Katie. She would never stand by and watch as someone gets hurt. Not if she could stop it." Regina replied thoughtfully as she couldn't help but smile a little, her beautiful Swan, always the Saviour. She wouldn't be her wonderful self if she hadn't done what she had that evening, it was Emma through and through, always fighting for people who needed help.

"And that is what makes her a damn fine law enforcement officer." A new voice stated from above them. The young deputy immediately wiped her face and jumped up to attention under the newcomer's gaze.

"As you were, McKenzie." A large and very official looking man said. With that, Katie sat back down and Regina took hold of her hand again. Just as it looked like the man was going to move away, he did something very surprising, he knelt down in front of both women and placed his hand on the young Deputy's knee.

"You've had a hard night Katie." He said softly. "Can I take you home? Is Kelly there?"

"No, she's on shift. She's in the OR with Emma." The Deputy answered softly. Regina listened on with interest, trying to learn more about the people in Emma's life.

"I see, I guess you are staying here then?" He enquired and she nodded in response. Then he turned his attention to Regina. "Am I to assume that you are the famed Regina? Emma's significant other?"

"I am, yes." She replied instantly and proudly. It was somewhat disconcerting that so many people seemed to know who she was but as she quickly considered it, she realised that she didn't care. She was Emma's partner and she was damn proud of that fact. "It's nice to finally meet you. I am Sheriff McKenzie." He said kindly before extending out his hand for her to shake. The same surname and the Deputy, that can't be a coincidence Regina thought to herself.

"Emma talks about you a lot," he continued with a caring smile. "I'm sorry we had to meet under such difficult circumstances. I see you are taking good care of my daughter, thank you for that." He said sincerely as he nodded toward their joined hands and smiled. "Is there any news?"

"No, jobsworth Jean over there won't tell us anything." Katie replied to her father's question, to which he rolled his eyes.

"What a surprise," he said before standing up and heading off to talk to some other members of the group.

"That was my dad." Katie said once he was out of earshot.

"I gathered," Regina replied with a smile. "Who is Kelly?" She asked, having heard her name earlier.

"She is the on-call surgeon tonight. She is also my girlfriend, she lives with me and Emma." It was all becoming clear now, just how tight-knit these people were. Katie wasn't just Emma's ride along partner, she was clearly her friend and apparently her housemate. Regina looked around her again at the small group awaiting news. They looked just as concerned as Katie did, they weren't just Emma's colleagues, they cared about her like a family would. The brunette was thrilled to realise that Emma was loved here, and touched when she realised she had made her a part of her life, even though she couldn't actively participate in it. These people knew who she was because Emma had chosen to tell them about her.

Regina knew with her whole heart that Emma loved her, she didn't doubt that for a second, but having her tell the world validated that love in a way that she had never quite expected. Long gone was the scared teen, worried about how the world would react to her loving another woman. Now she was out and proud and obviously accepted for it. She was living her life as the person she wanted to be.

A few minutes later another member of the waiting group came over to Regina and Katie with a coffee for them both. Regina smiled as she took one from him, thanking him for his thoughtfulness.

"Hi," he said somewhat nervously. "I'm Steve."

"Hi Steve." The brunette replied with another smile. The mood in the waiting room had shifted a little, it seemed that the group were through with anxious waiting and had moved more towards nervousness, creating a boisterous energy within the group. Regina could feel a strange excitement coming from the men as they watched her interaction with Steve.

"I've been sent over to say hi, and to tell you that we were all beginning to think you were imaginary." With that, the whole group burst into joyful laughter. It was good to hear and Regina couldn't help but laugh along too. They could all do with a little levity right now.

"No, no... I'm very real," she said with a smile.

Just then, a door off to the right of the reception desk flew open and a young woman wearing scrubs look over to them. Silence descended immediately.

"Are you Regina?" The young woman asked.

"Yes." Regina quickly replied as she stood up to greet the woman.

"I'm Kelly Harper, I've just been working on Emma. She is through the worst. She went up to recovery 30 minutes ago and is breathing on her own. She was very lucky, the knife managed to miss all of her vital organs. It's largely just muscle and tissue damage. In addition to the stab wound, she took one hell of a beating. We have performed a head and abdominal CT and determined that although she has extensive bruising, there are no internal bleeds. She is going to be sore for a while but barring any unexpected surprises, she is going to be fine."

Regina sat back down heavily and held her head in her hands as she digested the news, Emma was going to be fine.

"Did you hear that, guys?" Kelly went on to shout over to the other members of the Sheriff's department. "She's gonna be fine."

With that, a huge cheer rang out, earning them all a frown from the grumpy cow sat behind reception. There were huge smiles, high fives and hugs all round as everyone celebrated the news. A few, including Steve, even patted Regina on the back and smiled kindly at her. It was clear that she was totally accepted as Emma's partner.

"Would you like to come through and see her?" the young doctor asked.

"Very much so." Regina said as she smiled and stood once again.

"Step this way then, Katie, you can come too." Kelly said as she held out her hand for her girlfriend to take.

As the three women made their way towards the door Kelly had appeared from, they were stopped in the tracks as the receptionist shouted after them.

"Dr Harper, do I need to remind you of our hospital's visitation policy." She said in a haughty manner.

"No, you don't..." Kelly snapped back before taking a deep breath. "Wind your neck in Jean. I'm taking my patients girlfriend to see her. If you have a problem with that then, by all means, report me. Again." she stated while fixing the other woman in a levelling glare, making it very clear what she thought about her obvious homophobia, poorly veiled by petty rule enforcement. After a few heavy seconds, she broke her stare and turned back to the other two women. "Follow me please."

Regina decided that she liked this woman. Her little outburst earned another round of cheers from Emma's now dispersing workmates and Regina decided that she really liked them too.

The three women made their way to recovery in silence. "She's in here," Kelly said softly as they finally came to a halt outside a door that looked exactly like every other door they had passed. "We will give you some time alone."

Regina nodded gratefully and took a deep breath before slowly pushing the door open and entering the room. The lights were dim and it was hard to see but there, towards the back of the room lay a bound and battered Saviour.

"Oh, Emma," she breathed as she made her way over to her bedside. Her left wrist is neatly bandaged down to her elbow and had been placed delicately over the bottom of her rib cage.

Her face would have looked peaceful if it weren't for the startling visible damage. There was a dressing over her left eyebrow, almost covering her eye and Regina could clearly see the congealed blood that had been drawn out from whatever injury lie beneath. The cheek below the eye was heavily swollen and blood red with a purple tinge on the edge of the contusion. She also had a split and swollen lip. The brunette inhaled sharply at the sight of her.

As bad as she looked though, the brunette knew that the real damage was beneath the sheet that was tightly tucked under her arms.

She reached out her right hand and gently cupped the unmarred cheek before lightly stroking her fingers up and down. Her left hand meanwhile cautiously took a hold of Emma's right hand, being very careful not to disrupt the IV port in the back of her hand.

"My beautiful girl." She whispered softly as she placed a tender kiss upon Emma's temple. "I'm here." She was sure it was wishful thinking as she thought she felt the blonde's hand twitch in recognition. Regina stayed like this for a while, stroking and gently kissing the younger woman's face as she whispered soothing words of comfort.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door.

"Mind if we come in?" Kelly asked quietly as she pushed the door open a little.

"Of course not." Regina answered. Seconds later both women entered the room hand in hand, sitting themselves down in some chairs.

The brunette didn't mind their presence at all, they were, after all, Emma's friends. But she did find herself a little uncomfortable in their gaze, so with one last soft kiss to her head she let go of the blonde's hand and moved back into a chair of her own.

"Oh no don't do that," Katie said quickly. "Don't move away I mean. Please don't feel like you can't touch her because of us. I know she wouldn't want that." When Regina didn't respond, she went on to say, "I know you don't get to see each other very often... Because of your job and all."

"My job?" Regina quickly questioned.

"Yeah, Emma told us that you work undercover. Wouldn't tell us who for though. That's why you so rarely get to see each other."

Regina scowled for a moment as she thought about what the young woman had said. Why would Emma tell her friends that she worked undercover? Then again, what was she supposed to tell them? That her girlfriend, that she only saw once every few years, was actually a time travelling witch from the future? She needed some way to explain the long absences and total lack of contact. Regina realised that it was quite a clever cover really, and would explain to her friends, if they ever met her, why she knew very little about Emma's current life.

"It's hard, not seeing her every day, not being able to be a part of her life." The brunette said, playing along with the story. She wasn't lying, it was hard, missing out on Emma's new life, not getting to see her laugh and be happy.

"I bet. I know Emma misses you very much," Kelly said sympathetically. "She is usually so happy, but there are moments, like, when Katie and I are cuddling on the sofa, that I look at her and know that she wishes you were there so you could do the same." Upon hearing that, Regina's face twisted in pain at the thought of what Emma was missing out on because of their love. The thought had crossed her mind once or twice that their situation wasn't at all fair on Emma. Yes, knowing the future gave her hope and gave her something to work towards. But it also held her in a sort of cruel limbo. A limbo that left her always longing for something she can't have yet.

Kelly saw her reaction and immediately began to talk again, "I'm sorry, I'm not telling you this to hurt you, Regina. I'm telling you because, I think, it shows how much she loves you. How much she wants to be with you. If she didn't then she wouldn't wait for you."

"She gives us a countdown every day," Katie said with a smile. "What was it this morning? Oh right, 2 years and 223 days until you can be together. Until you are discharged or whatever." She said dismissively, not wanting to pry into the details. It was actually a countdown to Emma's 28th birthday, to the day that they would actually meet in the same timeline. Regina found it strange that Emma would be counting down to the day that she would lose her memories of their time together, to the day they would begin a very difficult few years of getting to know each other all over again. But then that summed Emma up perfectly, counting down to the first day of the rest of her life, no matter what she lost for that new start.

"I love her so much." Regina said softly with a smile, as she looked at her Saviours bruised features.

"She knows that," Katie promised. "Don't be afraid to show her that though. Not around us, we love her too. Please, hold her hand, comfort her." Regina smiled at the younger women, at their understanding and support. "Your time together will come, Regina. She knows that too and she can't wait."

The older woman found that she suddenly felt quite indebted to these two. For being in Emma's life while she couldn't, for caring for her and for saving her life in her absence. Emma was lucky to have them both.

"Thank you, both, so much, for everything. You are wonderful friends." She said sincerely.

"You really don't need to thank us, Regina, she is a great friend too." Kelly replied honestly.

After that, they slipped into a comfortable silence as Regina moved her chair closer to the bed and took hold of Emma's hand once again.

And this is how, an hour or so later, after the other women had left, Regina fell asleep. With her head on the bed next to Emma's, holding her hand.

She was having a beautiful dream, one full of light and love and a future where her wife was carrying their child. They were on a beach with Henry and Jasper, enjoying the summer sun. Emma looked absolutely stunning, she was literally glowing with happiness as she lay on her side on a large beach rug. Regina had never felt happier as she lay with her head next to Emma's swollen tummy, feeling her fingers run through her hair and scratch at her scalp.

Fingers that didn't stop, fingers that continued to massage her gently back into the waking world.

"Hey Beautiful," said a raspy and weak voice.

"Hey," Regina replied as she slowly came back to the land of the living. When she remembered where she was and realised she had been woken by a conscious Emma, the tears she had been holding at bay finally began to fall down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, my love." Emma struggled to say through the pain and the effects of the drugs she was on. "Don't be sad, I'm gonna be ok, I promise."

"I'm not sad, I'm happy Emma. Happy to see you. I love you so much." Regina said as she gently kissed her cheek.

"I love you too," the blonde replied with a dreamy smile. "Sorry I woke you, it looked like you were having a nice dream."

"I was, I was dreaming about our future."

"Were we happy?" Emma asked as her eyes started to close again.

"Very much so." Regina replied happily.

"I like the sound of that." Emma breathed out as she slipped back into unconsciousness.

Regina stayed for days this visit. She sat by Emma's bedside day and night and saw her start to gradually heal. She had held her hand as her bandages were changed and insisted on taking over the nurse's duty when it was time for Emma to be bathed. The blonde had blushed profusely as her love gently washed her body clean, in total awe of the fact that she was willing to care for her in such an intimate way. The older woman's love was healing her more and more with every minute that passed.

The night Regina had vanished, Emma had been so scared. After she'd disappeared so abruptly, Emma had been so worried that she had tried to summon her straight back, she was willing to sacrifice one of her remaining two visits just to make sure the other woman was ok.

But it hadn't worked, she hadn't come and that left Emma scared as to the reason why.

She was so happy to see her again, and now, it all seemed to make sense. She hadn't returned to her because she was needed here, the universe hadn't let her use a visit because this one was much more important.

Katie and Kelly came by every day, bringing with them an energy that was infectious. Katie told stories of Emma goofing around at work and playing trick on her fellow workmates, tricks that were often paid back with hilarious results. Regina loved the ease these three had when they were together, an ease she quickly felt too. After a few days, she felt like she had known them for years. They all worked together to make sure that Emma was comfortable and knew just how much she was loved.

Then, all too soon, it was time for Regina to leave again. They had both felt it coming for a while and it eventually happened while they were having a quiet moment together, between visits and nurse rounds. The brunette heard her name being whispered somewhere off in the future and they knew it was time, they looked at each other and smiled as they both said, "I love you." at the same time.

Once again Emma watched as Regina vanished into thin air, this time knowing that she only had one visit left before their lives changed forever.

AN: Another long one for you there. Sorry about the delay, I've been off on my travels again. A surprise visit to see my dad was in order. I had a wonderful time, sitting with him and several pints, just looking out to sea. Back home now though and I've still got two weeks of my holiday left, so hopefully the next chapter won't take too long. Join us next time for a special guest visit from someone else from the future. Anyone wanna guess who?