I slept fitfully that night in the hospital. Between the uncomfortable chair, the noises of the hospital, and my anxiety, I didn't really have a chance. I spent a lot of the time that I was awake simply watching her. Even thin and lying in a hospital gown she was more gorgeous than I could remember.

I was exhausted enough to get about three hours on and off and was grateful for anything at that point. I suspected I would need to be alert the next day.

And I was right.

As soon as I woke up the next morning everything before had felt like a dream. Henry greeted me in his loud-whisper voice. Evidently he had woken up before me but Mila had found a paper and pen for him to draw with.

It wasn't long after I accepted being awake for the day when Emma herself woke up.

Emma stares at Regina upon waking. Regina finally feels the other woman's eyes on her and turns around. She doesn't understand why Emma looks so confused.

"You're here?"

"Yes?" Regina responds. "I did say hello last night."

"Did you? I don't really remember yesterday. I thought I had dreamed seeing you again." She admits.

Regina doesn't know how to respond. Thankfully the doctor chooses to enter the room a moment later.

"Hello, Miss Swan. How are you feeling today?" The kindly older gentleman asks.

"Alright."

"How is your head? Are you experiencing any dizziness, fogginess, memory problems?"

"I don't really remember yesterday but other than that no."

"That's normal for a concussion. You seem much better today though." He says scribbling on his chart. "I have your test results back from yesterday." He says and finally looks to the other people in the room.

"I'll take Henry to get some breakfast." Mila offers and takes Henry's hand.

I was wary to see someone go off with my child. Especially if it meant leaving me alone with the blonde but I accepted it without a fight. I didn't want Henry in the room just in case the news was bad and Mila had been wonderful to us so far. If Emma trusted her than I had no reason not to.

Emma directs a small smile toward Mila and Henry when they leave.

"Okay Miss Swan..."

Regina unconsciously moves to stand closer to Emma.

"It seems you have had an episode of biliary colic. This means you have pain from a blockage in your biliary duct. This is most often caused by gallstones but not in your case. The pain from flare up could be severe enough to cause your fainting spell and subsequent knock on the head. The concussion was minor but if you stat to experience any pain once we take you off medication than please let us know."

Emma looked overwhelmed by the information so Regina decided to speak up.

"What caused this?"

"There are a few risk factors including the most common of gallstones. But being overweight or a sudden weight loss could cause an episode. Others include pregnancy, taking birth control, large amounts of alcohol or being diabetic."

Regina thinks over her shock at Emma's weight loss and nods her head absentmindedly.

"How is it treated?" The brunette finally asks.

"Since the pain was this severe on your first episode and you don't have gallstones I would recommend surgery to remove your gallbladder. I can talk to you about other treatments but I think this is your best option."

"What are the risks of this type of surgery?" Emma finally speaks up.

"Every surgery has risks but cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures in the United States. Most people are out of the hospital by the next day. We do ask that you take it easy for a few weeks. No heavy lifting excetra."

"Okay." Emma decides.

"Alright we will set up a time to do the procedure and I will be back to talk to you about it soon." He says before he departs.

"Are you sure about this?" Regina asks once he's gone.

"Yeah. I don't want to constantly have to be taking medications or going in for check ups. I would rather just have this over and done with. I won't have excellent insurance for long."

"You like just getting things over and done with don't you." The words slip quietly out of Regina's mouth before she can stop them.

When I saw the hurt on her face my first instinct was to apologies for my outburst but I couldn't find it in myself to do that. Now that I knew Emma would be okay I remembered how furious I still was at her.

"Regina, I'm sorry." Emma pleads getting teary.

"Are you? I don't know what that means Emma! Are you sorry that we ended? Are you sorry that you didn't have the decency to call me? Are you sorry I drove all the way here?!" Regina was getting more and more worked up as she spoke.

"I know." Emma says finally causing tears to spill over. "I know I should have called you. I was just so upset and angry that you basically broke up with me that I couldn't talk to you. And by the time I realized how stupid I was being so much time had passed and I didn't think a phone call from me would be welcomed or even answered."

"I didn't break up with you!" Regina says frustrated.

"It felt like that!" Emma insists. "You suddenly had all these concerns about our future and you were telling me to date other people. And you have to realize Regina, those concerns weren't new to me. I've been in a constant state of worry since our relationship began."

"What do you mean?" Regina asks deflating a little.

"I was worried from day one that I wasn't good enough for you. That you would decide to date someone who was around more or was better with kids or generally just better than me. You never expressed any concerns though. You were so assured and positive that everything would work out. Then all of a sudden you call me upset and crying about all these things that are wrong in our relationship and it freaked me out. It felt like I was being suddenly kicked to the curb."

I had known about her past and I despaired that I made her feel unwanted or unloved.

I also think that was the first time anybody had ever used the word "positive" as an attribute of mine. But reflecting back on the relationship, I was always very hopeful. Once we had gotten together I had just accepted the relationship as fate.

"You never said anything." Regina states brokenly. She truly doesn't know how to feel anymore.

"One of the first things I learned in foster care is not to stir the pot. If everything was good the last thing to do is bring up problems or complaints."

I realized in that moment that the two of us had had serious communication issues.

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I want you to talk to me." She sighs. "I suppose I should have talked to you as well. I had those concerns for a while but I was too scared to bring them up in conversation." Regina admits. "What if you had told me you would never want to settle down? That you would want to have a traveling Nascar job forever? Or that you couldn't handle the long-distance? I thought it was better to live blissfully unaware until suddenly I woke up from that nightmare and couldn't hold it in anymore."

The two women both take a moment to reflect after this. Regina had stopped pacing and stood by Emma's side once more. After a few moments she could feel Emma watchful eyes on her.

"What?" She asks softly.

"I still can't believe you came all this way. How long was the drive?"

"Almost nine hours."

"Holy-" She cuts herself off. "And you brought Henry? Is he going to miss school? I feel so bad."

"He may miss a day or two but he's in second grade, he'll survive. I will make sure he catches up on any work."

"I'm sure you will." Emma says and winks. "How did you find out I was here anyway?" Her flirtatious tone has disappeared as fast as it came.

"Mila called me and said that you had been asking for me."

Emma blushes at the thought.

"I don't remember that. Though I'm sure I was." She admits, not looking Regina in the eye.

Regina smiles and grasps Emma's hand in both of hers.

How had I been staying away for the last few hours? How was this the first physical connection we'd made? It felt so natural.

"Why did you come?" Emma finally asks.

Regina's heart drops and she begins to pull back.

Emma responds by gripping her hand tighter.

"I'm so happy you came. But why did you" She clarifies.

Regina sighs deeply and looks down. "I'm angry at you Emma. And it would probably take us a while to build trust and communication again. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. You asked for me. You were hurt. You could have been dying for all I knew." She finally looks up into those piercing sea green eyes . "Of course I came."

"You still love me?"

I hadn't meant to put myself out there like that but the tentative hopefulness in her voice made me happy that I did.

"I was in love you the moment I saw you." Then she chuckles. "Okay that's not technically accurate. I lusted after you the moment I saw you on that beach. I was infatuated with you from the moment were were introduced. But I loved you by the time I beat your ass at mini golf." She smirks.

The he combination of hearing the other woman curse and her previous statements cause Emma to abruptly laugh and more tears to escape from her eyes.

"Either way," Regina continues. "feelings that strong won't just go away overnight...if ever."

Emma tugs the other woman down and kisses her hard.

I melted.

When they pull back their heads rest together.

"I love you too. From the day we met I was drawn to you; like a moth to a flame. I'm not one to usually put myself out there but for you...I wanted to invite myself into your life. That first year after we met I thought about you constantly, though I tried not to. I invited myself over for Christmas with the dwarves on the off chance of seeing you." She smiles but it's short lived. "Being without you these last few months has been so hard. I'm so sorry...please don't make me go through that again."

Regina lays on the hospital bed next to Emma and holds her.

"Never again." Regina swears. "As long as you promise the same."

"Forever." Emma mumbles into Regina's chest. The brunette still hears her.

The two lay together cuddled up for a while until Mila and Henry enter the room. Even then they don't break apart completely.

"Henry!" Emma says excitedly when he walks through the doorway.

Henry smiles widely but it falters a moment later.

I could tell that he was excited to see Emma, especially now that she was awake and coherent. But I could also see he was warring with himself. He looked to me nervously as if he thought showing the other woman too much affection would hurt me.

How did I get so lucky to have such a compassionate child?

"Come here, my prince." Regina encourages and pats her lap. He gladly takes the spot. It was a tight squeeze with all three of them on the bed but no one wanted to give up the comfort of being close.

"I've missed you." Emma says and hugs Henry tightly and pulls him onto her lap instead.

"I missed you too." Henry admits. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah kid, I'm going to be just fine." She assures him.

She then tells Mila all of what the doctor said (with Regina correcting her terminology and filling in missing information.)

"Well I'm glad you're okay." Mila states and kisses Emma's forehead. "Do you want me to stay for the surgery?"

"I'll stay." Regina responds. Emma smiles at her.

"I should be fine. You can go back and let everyone know I'm not dying. Thank you so much for everything." Emma tells her surrogate mother.

"Of course, honey." Mila responds and hugs Regina and Henry before departing.

The doctor comes back soon after to tell her the surgery is scheduled for the next morning and what it would entail.

"Are you sure you want to go through with the surgery? You didn't even hear the other options. Racing season is almost over, you're going to miss most of it. And what if you aren't recovered enough to try out for the pit crew position?" Regina rambles worriedly once he is gone. She is pacing in front of the bed again.

I knew it was a simple procedure but I was still nervous. Hospital have always made me wary.

"Regina I'll be fine you're doing to ware a path in the floor." She teases. "I'm sure I'll make it back in time for at least the last two races. And as far as the pit crew...well I had already told Killian I wouldn't be trying out." She admits.

"What? Why?" Regina says shocked. She abruptly stops moving.

"I. uh. Okay. Well I had actually decided to leave the team altogether." She stutters the admission.

"What?!"

Henry looks over from where he was reading his book on the other side of the room. He continues to subtly watch the two women after his mother's outburst.

"To be honest, it's a lonely life, traveling. It's not like that for everyone, but for me, it was. I was okay with that before I met you but then...I don't know, you made me realize it's not the lifestyle I want." Emma tries to explain. "Gold had come to me a few months back and talked to be about all the other options I had within the company and it really made me think. I guess a part of me also hoped that if I was settled with a job near by... maybe I would see you or could win you back." She admits sheepishly.

Regina truly is speechless at this point.

"But it's your dream to be on a pit crew. I don't want you to regret not following your dream." She finally manages to get out.

"Sometimes dreams change." Emma states simply and holds her hand again. " A family. With you two. That's my dream. A family of my own has always been the deepest dream of my heart. That's the happiness I've been racing toward."

"If this was a race, we'd both be losing." Regina jokes trying to break the tension.

I was getting teary and that was not what I wanted. Her words were too beautiful though, I wouldn't help it.

"True. And you know how I hate to loose." Emma jokes right back.

Regina kisses Emma chastely, always aware of Henry's presence.

"You're my dream too." She whispers in the other woman's ear.

Henry and I stayed late at the hospital before Emma insisted that we go and get a hotel room. I was reluctant to leave her but I also desperately needed a shower so I eventually relented.

The surgery went well the next day and they actually let her out of the hospital that night. We stayed in Alabama one more night before driving back home.

That's where we are now.

Home.

All three of us.

And I couldn't be happier.

Okay guys this is it. There will be one more chapter for the epilogue but I hope this was satisfying.

Also, sorry if any of the medical jargon is wrong. I tried but I'm not a doctor by any means.