"Wakey wakey sleepyhead." the soft voice whispered. She felt a light nudge as her eyes fluttered open and a small groan escaped from her curled up form.
"What… Where am I?" she said groggily. Regina sat up and rubbed her eyes as someone held a cup of coffee in front of her face. Wasn't she just at city hall? Did something happen…?
"Something's wrong…" she whispered to herself quietly. She sat up and grabbed the coffee, finally making eye contact. Her hand instinctively reaching up to her forehead, trying to calm the migraine starting to forming.
"Eva, are you okay? You usually don't fall asleep on the couch. Do you want some Advil or something because your shift starts in about 20 minutes?" Chris said reaching into his locker to grab the pill bottle and water. "We can't have Miami's best trauma surgeon not on her A game."
"I'm sorry, what…?" she said dazed. She couldn't focus on the situation and found herself staring blankly at the wall, her mind racing so fast she couldn't form any type of coherent thought.
Chris noticed something was wrong and came to her side, kneeling in front of her on the couch. "Hey hey, are you okay? You don't seem like yourself. Eva! Can you look at me?" he said using his hand to guide her chin up so he could examine her eyes, but they remained unfocused. She didn't meet his gaze.
"Eva? Oh God… Can you speak?" he said grabbing the small flashlight in his pocket. He pointed it at her pupils checking to see if it constricts. As soon as the light crossed her eyes Regina's hand went limp dropping the mug with a loud crash, her eyes morphing from brown into a deep purple.
"Hey! What's going on in here?" Tuck said suddenly walking into the locker room. Chris turned quickly to face him with a deep concerning look on his face.
"Get help!" Chris cried out suddenly. "Something is wrong with Eva." As soon as the words came out of his mouth Regina's eyes rolled back into her skull as her body gave in on itself and fell into Chris' arms.
"She's not breathing! Code blue! Get someone in here right now!" Chris said lifting her lifeless body back onto the couch.
"Eva, you can't do this to us. We need you here. I need you here…" he said in a panicked tone. He started chest compressions as a team rushed into the room with a gurney.
They heard a loud gasp as Serena stood in the doorway with her hands covering her mouth.
"Please, come back to me…" Chris whispered into her ear as they lifted her onto the gurney.
…
"Wakey wakey sleepyhead." the soft voice whispered. She felt a light touch rub small circles on her hand as her eyes fluttered open and a small groan escaped from her. She felt sore and could barely move her body.
"What… Where am I?" she said groggily. Regina tried to sit up, but found it extremely difficult.
"Hey, stay down. You're in the hospital. We were in an accident, remember?" she tried to focus on the face that floated above her.
"Chris? What are you doing here?" her voice was dry and quiet. He reached the nightstand and handed her a glass of water with a straw.
"Shh… If anyone asks I was never here." he said with a slight smirk. "Technically I'm not allowed out of my room, but I stole this wheelchair. I just wanted to check in on you. Everyone was worried."
"Oh my god! Where's Henry?" Regina said trying to sit up again, but her body wouldn't allow her to, as her muscles strained against the rushed movements.
"Hey, it's okay. Lie back down. He came to visit with the Sheriff, but you were asleep. He's fine, they took him home. He'll be here tomorrow after school. I promised him that I would watch over you until then." he said mindlessly continuing to rub small circles on her hand and up her forearm.
Regina relaxed, leaning in to his gentle touch. She felt strangely comfortable with him, like they've known each other before. Without warning her face contorted as her head throbbed. A memory flashed in her mind then disappeared.
"I had the weirdest dream… I think you were there." she said turning to face him. He gave her a sly smile and moved to give her hand a light squeeze.
"Hey, I told you to stay in your room." A nurse said walking into the room abruptly. "I'm so sorry Madam Mayor." Chris sat back in the wheel chair and the nurse began to guide him out of the room.
"No worries. He was no trouble at all." she said letting out a small smile as she made eye contact with Chris.
"I'll get the Doctor in here to check up on you." the nurse said nervously as she walked out.
"Goodbye Regina!" Chris said loudly as he passed the threshold of the room, leaving her with a wide grin on her face, but she was still so confused about her dream. It had felt real.
A couple minutes later, Regina was greeted by Dr. Whale. He helped prop her up with pillows so they could talk about what had happened.
"What day is it?" she asked, just noticing that she never got to ask Chris earlier.
"Thursday, Madam Mayor. You've been asleep for 2 days. It appears that during the accident you've had a pretty serious head injury that resulted in a concussion. We had to induce a coma medically to ensure that your brain wasn't further damaged. We'll have to some more tests now that you're awake, but so far you are healing quite quickly. Other than that, you came out with a sprained wrist and very minor cuts and bruises, which makes you a very lucky woman." he explained.
"When can I get back to work? This town needs someone to run it, and where is my phone?" she said looking around the room for her possessions.
"I can get your items as soon as we're finished. Now about your job. The rehabilitation process is long and we can not take any risks with you being the mayor. We need to keep you in the hospital to monitor any changes for at least a week." Regina slumped down feeling defeated.
"A week?! I can't step down for a week!" she said matter of factly as Dr. Whale further interrupted her.
"That's not all. Once you are released, we strongly advise you to take an additional week to rest at home. And once you are back at work, you must avoid any series of activities that may complicate and worsen your condition, like reading, using electronics, and basically anything that is too overstimulating. We suggest hiring someone to record and read for you. I know that is greatly inconvenient, but its a precaution that must be taken." he stated as he picked up her hospital chart to look over.
"Get some more rest, I'll bring your items over soon and we can figure out a plan tomorrow. Try not to stress out on what you can not avoid, it will only worsen things. Goodnight Madam Mayor." he said with a polite smile as he walked out of the room, only returning to quickly drop off a baggie with her miscellaneous possessions including her phone.
I know you're awake.
Regina texted as soon as she grabbed her phone. She needed a way to heal fast. A couple minutes passed until her phone buzzed as she received a message.
Of course I'm awake, Madam Mayor. It's only 9:00 pm. -Rumple
She groaned at his response. She felt a migraine coming on as it got harder to focus on the bright screen.
You know what I mean. I need magic. This is no time to joke.
Regina dropped the phone onto her lap suddenly as a dizzy spell hit her. She never had to deal with the repercussions of an injury in the enchanted forest before. Growing up her mother always healed her to avoid anyone seeing her daughter as weak, and once she became the queen she had learned to heal any ailments, from sickness to injury. Regina used both hands to hold the barriers on the hospital bed in hopes to try to stabilize herself. Her phone buzzed again. She took in a slow and shallow breath to try and calm her aching mind.
I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, but as I'm sure you know… magic does not exist in this world. Whatever you need, must be done regularly. - Rumple
There goes that plan… she thought to herself as she placed her phone onto the table next to her. Slowly, but surely she slouched down in the bed, her bones protesting the movement. Without the aid of magic she knew that recovering would be long and tiresome. She groaned in annoyance as her migraine continued.
All she had to do was wait a week and at least she would be able to go home and be bored there. A nurse came in to check up on Regina in the middle of the night, leaving a folded paper addressed to her on the table.
She read the note as soon as she woke up the next day.
I know you aren't allowed to read too much so I'll keep this note short.
As soon as I'm allowed out of bed I'll keep you company.
I promise! -Chris Deleo
Maybe the hospital stay won't be too bad.
