Emma walked into her wife's home office, "hey."
Regina looked up a bit surprised, "aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"I decided to leave early." Ever since Stella entered grade school, Emma would try to spend more time with Regina during the day. Even if it was just for lunch.
"Well, I'm almost done myself."
"You know, we have a pretty big anniversary coming up?"
"I may have a head injury but I do remember our anniversary."
"Oh," Emma felt disappointed when Regina didn't seem excited. "I'll go fix lunch while you finish."
Regina didn't even notice that her wife had left the room. She had been trying to concentrate on her work and had been having trouble. Regina was in more pain lately and having more difficulty moving. She kept this from Emma because she knew her wife would insist on staying home to help. After a while, Regina gave up on her work. She grabbed her cane and tried to stand. It took a few tries for the brunette to get on her feet. Every step felt as if there were needles being pushed into her feet and up her legs. She was exhausted by the time she reached her door.
Emma was in the kitchen making some sandwiches for lunch when she heard her wife walking in the hall. Not only that, but she could tell Regina was walking very slowly. Emma walked out of the kitchen, "honey, are you alright?"
"I'm just a bit tired," Regina breathed out.
Emma walked up to her wife, "here, let me help."
"No, I'm fine."
"Regina, you look like you could collapse."
"Emma, please, I'm fine."
"Stop being so stubborn and..."
"I'm fine, dammit!" Emma stepped back and had a shocked look on her face. She returned to the kitchen without saying another word. Regina leaned against the wall to rest for a bit. She was still there when Emma walked out with their lunch. The blonde didn't say anything to the mayor. She just took everything to the dining room and didn't return. It took a while, but eventually, Regina made it to the dining room. Emma was halfway through her lunch. Regina unintentionally groaned as she sat. Her arms shook as well. She began eating, "thank you for making lunch."
"Sure," Emma said softly without looking up.
"It's good," Regina added. Emma said nothing. The brunette began having trouble eating. Her arms were shaky and they hurt. "Emma, please say something."
"What do you want me to say?"
"Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just hate feeling incompetent."
Emma looked up and glared at her wife, "you're not incompetent. You can do anything you want, but today, in the hall, I saw a woman who was so exhausted that I wasn't sure she'd be able to stay on her feet another second. I have tried very hard over the years to not crowd you and to wait for you to ask for help. You needed help back there and you know it. I know that you hate needing help, but I want to help you."
Regina felt tears begin to fall, "you're right," she nodded, "I did need help. I've needed help for days. I'm in so much pain."
Emma sighed and got up to sit by her wife, "you need to tell me these things."
"I know," Regina said as she continued to cry.
"Where are you in pain?"
"When I walk, it feels like someone is shoving needles into my feet and up my legs. My arms felt the same when I tried to eat just now." Regina took a moment to pull herself together, "I need help eating."
"Okay," Emma acted neutral. She didn't want to act in a way that would make Regina think twice before asking for help. The sheriff was thrilled to hear her wife admit to needing help and accepting it. Emma just settled for smiling on the inside. She helped Regina finish eating. Regina had asked Emma to help her to the bedroom so she could lie down and rest. After, Emma cleaned up before joining her wife. "What should we do for Henry's birthday this year?"
"I guess we should do something special since he's turning twenty."
"We have a few months to figure that out. We should probably ask him if there's anything he'd like to do."
Henry, Remy, and Oliver all went to college in New York. Henry waited until his brothers were ready to go the following year so they could be together. "What would you like to do for our anniversary?"
"I don't know. Maybe we could go away together?"
"Where?"
"We can both look and come up with a few places to choose from. You get some rest. I'll stay here until I have to get the girls."
"Thank you," Regina whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
Emma made sure she was quiet when she left to pick up her daughters. Odette is now eight, Faline's seven, and Stella is six. "Mom is having some trouble so try to be patient with her," Emma told her daughters on the way home.
"She's been having trouble," Odette said.
"How do you know?" Emma asked.
"It's been pretty obvious," Faline answered.
"Mama, you just aren't obdervint," Stella said.
"Do you mean 'observant'? Like I don't notice things?"
"Yeah," Stella said with a sound and look as if to say 'duh'.
"I guess she's in a lot of pain. Just be careful and don't ask her to get up for any reason. Ask me instead."
"Okay, but mommy won't like it," Odette said in a warning tone.
"Mommy's not going to find out," Emma said.
Faline scoffed, "yeah, right."
When they got home, Emma had the girls put their school things away and went to check on her wife. Regina was lying in bed, awake. "How do you feel?"
"I can't sit up."
Emma helped her wife and noticed her wince in pain, "sorry."
"It's okay," Regina said. "I was thinking, maybe we should eat outside. I'm going to need my wheelchair and it will just be easier out there. There's not enough room in the dining room."
"We can do that," Emma said, "I'll dig out your chair. Honey, maybe you should go to the doctor? I don't think you've been in this much pain before."
"Only when I gave birth. It's part of the nerve damage which can't be fixed."
"It might be something else that can be fixed."
"If you want me to go then I'll go. I just don't think it will do anything."
In the end, Regina was right. It was just her nerve damage that was causing her pain. Whale prescribed some stronger pain killers for the mayor to take. At least until this painful episode was over. While the kids were all used to seeing their mother use a cane, they weren't used to seeing her in so much pain. After the doctor's appointment, Emma helped her wife to the couch. She would have taken her to bed, but the woman needed to rest for a bit. Emma got her wife some water and sat with her. Odette, Faline, and Stella all walked in, "mama," Odette said softly.
Emma turned to look at her daughters, "hey, what's up?"
"We were wondering if we could spend the weekend at gigi's and have her take us to school on Monday?"
"Did you already ask her?"
"Yeah," the girls all looked guilty.
"Let me send her a message. If it's fine with her then it's fine with us. Right, hun?"
"Yeah," Regina whispered.
Emma looked back at her phone, "okay, I'm gonna have gigi pick up your mom's medicine. She'll pick you three up when she drops it off."
"Thanks," the girls said as they quickly left the room.
"They didn't look at me," Regina said.
"Don't read too much into it. They probably didn't want you to feel self-conscious."
A half-hour later, Cora arrived. She handed Emma the medication and took the girls with her. "Emma," Regina called, "could you give me a pill now?"
"Sure, but it'll probably knock you out."
"I'm fine with that."
Emma gave her wife a pill and helped her lie down on the sofa. She sat with Regina until she fell asleep, which didn't take long. Emma knew that her wife didn't want the pill, but she needed it to provide some relief to her injured body.