Better late than never I finally have an update! And just in time before #OQmonth ends!
Sorry for the long wait and thank you so much to the people who left a review. I really hope you like this chapter.
Now this story has a cover thanks to the amazing willow1411!
A HUGE thank you always goes to LaNaniuska for help, advice and support.
I own nothing but Alyson and another couple of names.
Regina groaned when she tried to move that morning? Afternoon? Evening? Night? She didn't know the time but she knew she was in pain. She was in so much pain, but why? What the hell had happened? And where the hell was she? Why was everything so bright even with her eyes closed and she was uncomfortable? Then a flash came to her mind.
A call.
Checking a warehouse.
A shooting.
The blood.
The previous time she was in so much pain.
The pain everywhere.
The surroundings become more clear.
A white room: a hospital room.
The uncomfortable hospital bed.
The feeling as if she was hit by a truck.
And the sensation to be pressed down on the mattress by something heavy. Why was she blocked by something?
She tried to open her eyes but the light was too bright and she closed them again immediately. She tried again, blinking a few times, and she was met by the younger version of her eyes.
Aly, from her place next to her, was staring up at her mom but she wasn't moving or speaking, not exactly sure what she was seeing was true or a dream. She had wished so long for her mommy to wake up. True it was less than a day that she was asleep but still...
Regina moved her eyes around the room and she was surprised to see that in addition to her children and her mother also Robin was there too; she would have expected anyone but him. But thinking again it made sense that he was there considering the children were there.
"Mommy?" Aly tried. "Are you awake?" She was worried. It was clear that she was awake but the girl just wanted to be sure.
Regina tried to speak but her mouth was way too dry so she just nodded and smiled at her daughter's question.
Aly turned to her brother and shocked him. "Henry, wake up, mommy is awake." she 'whispered' loudly.
Henry opened his eyes a little confused "What?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Wake up you toad! Look at mommy!" she said with a bit more force, shaking him.
Regina smiled at her daughter's antics. They used to do that all the time, waking each other up in not exactly a gentle way, to put it nicely. To anyone it would seem rude but it was just their thing and they missed it when it didn't happen.
The extremely loud whisper woke up the others in the room. Henry's brain registered what Aly had said and he sat up abruptly at his sister's words, Roland moved from his grandma's lap to the bed as soon as he woke up and the three children started to ask questions to their mother. She tried to speak again but only one word came out of her mouth: "Water."
"Here. Drink slowly." Her mother was already next to her with a glass of water with a straw. She drank a bit before she rested again against the pillow, closing her eyes and letting out a soft breath.
The kids, now quiet after their father told them so, just stared at her with worry in their eyes. Cora put down the glass on the nightstand and began to caress her daughter's head, passing her fingers through her hair, while the other hand was against her arm, almost to make sure she was really there and that she wasn't going to disappear. Her eyes were lucid with tears, but she didn't allow them to fall.
After a few minutes of silence, Regina answered some of their questions: like how she was feeling, or if she was in too much pain. She answered that she was fine, that in Regina Mills's words meant she was in a good level of pain.
Robin stayed quiet on the side of the bed, next to her feet, just watching her, his mind going back to the other time she was in a hospital room. She had been alone, so that made him think about what she told him of that time, that the only thing she wanted was to see his face and their children's faces, but she only saw unknown nurses and the big boss. God, how much he hates that man. He shaked his head and cleared his voice before speaking.
He touched her feet gently to grab her attention. "I'm going to get the doctor."
Robin began to walk out of the room and Regina tried to protest, but a look from him and her mother stopped her.
Cora fixed her eyes with her daughter. "I don't usually agree with Robin, but this time he's right." her mother argued.
Regina shot a dirty look at her mother and at Robin, but she didn't say another word. After that war of looks between the three of them, Robin left the room in search of said doctor.
He came back with a doctor sometime later, well with Zelena, who was almost at the end of her shift. In fact the redhead had talked with her sister's doctor asking if she could be the one checking on her that morning and reporting everything to him later. Dr. Whale, the same one who had operated Henry almost a year and half prior, said it was perfectly fine with him and Zelena was now there to check on her sister.
She entered the room, kissed her mother's cheek and smiled at the raven-haired woman.
"Hey sis. How are you feeling?" she asks, coming next to the bed and taking the medical folder in hand.
"Good." she replied, her voice still not clear, but after a look from Zelena and their mother, a very scary look, one that used to terrify Zelena and Regina when they were little, and Neal too later, her answer changed. "As good as I can be in this situation."she snorted out, rolling her eyes.
"That's better." she said checking out everything on the different screens that were in the room and confronting the results with the ones in her medical folder.
"Hey kids." she told the youngest ones who were sitting at the end of the bed, Roland sat between his sister's legs.
They answered together, something they loved to do but for some reason the people didn't get. "Hi aunt Zelena."
"You know your kids creep me out when they do this one voice thing." she said to her sister and ex brother in law, who just smiled.
"And that is why it is funny, Aunt Zel!" Henry told her.
"Oh yes, it's really funny. Now you three hop off from the bed, I need to check on your mother."
The three kids jumped off the bed as fast as they could, Aly cuddled into her grandma's arms, Henry and Roland next to their father, all five of them anxious to know the verdict about Regina's state of health.
Zelena checked her sister's wounds, asked her what she was really feeling and told what she could expect in the next few days and what she should (had to) do in order to get better, and that she had to stay in hospital for a few more days.
Regina grumbled. She knew she had to rest and to let other people help her, but the fact that she knew didn't mean she had to like it.
One of the things she absolutely disliked was that because she couldn't stay alone, she couldn't stay at her house, but she had to go to her mother's house. Now don't get her wrong, she was okay about spending time with her mother, she had missed her a lot when she was away, she just wasn't happy with the situation. And knowing her mother, she would fuss around her all the time. She hated the idea of being treated like a baby.
She had just begun to accept the idea to go to her parents' house after a lot of talking from Zelena and their mother when Robin spoke.
The man had been standing aside with Henry and Roland when an idea came to his mind. He didn't know if it was a good or bad idea, if Regina would approve of it or not (probably not, he thought) but he knew that if the kids heard that there wouldn't be a chance to discuss it.
"Hey, why don't the three of you go grab something to eat from the cafeteria?"
The three Locksley weren't exactly happy at the prospect of leaving their mother, but with a bit of pushing from their father they left the room.
When he looked up again, he found two pairs of brown eyes and a pair of blue eyes staring up at him. In fact the three Mills women were staring at him, wondering what game he was playing.
"I- I have an idea but I'm not sure you are going to like it. I thought it would be better if they weren't here while I tell you about it."
Regina stared at him skeptically and if she could have she would have also crossed her arms, a thing that Cora and Zelena did. "If you already wonder if I'm going to like it or not, something tells me I'm not going to like it."
"Could you stop being so pessimistic all the time?" he challenged.
"Knowing you and your, almost always, terrible ideas? Absolutely not!" she replied with a smirk.
Cora and Zelina just kept looking at the exchange. It used to be normal for them to bicker like this and they almost missed it, almost because every time they did this, one of them ended up kissing the other to stop them from countering and as much as they loved Robin and Regina, they did not enjoy seeing that.
"If the two of you ended up kissing I'm out of here and I will leave you with some terrible doctor." Zelena warned them. She ended up earning three dirty looks from the people in the room.
"So what is your idea Robin?" Cora intervened suspiciously, or maybe hoping.. As much as she loved the idea of having her daughter home with her, Cora knew her kids would prefer having their mother at home with them, but she didn't want to force that on them. They would see the truth in their own time, or at least it was what she and Nora hoped.
For some reason, Robin became insecure. "I thought that maybe… that maybe you could come to our house. I can work from home so you wouldn't be alone and the kids could spend time with you. I know for sure they would be happy to have you with them all the time."
Regina was speechless. Didn't he know how hard it was leaving her kids there every time and going home without them? How hard will it be for her when she would have to leave again to go back to her house when she was better? "You want me to come to your house while I get better?"
Robin saw the battle in her eyes, the inner battle between accepting going home with him or going to her mother. "It was just an idea. You know what, forget it, it's a stupid idea-"
"You want me to come to your house?" she asked again, still astonished.
She was really surprised because one thing was to spend time together with the kids and then each in their own house, but another thing was living temporarily at his house. It was a recipe for a disaster. And a monumental heartbreaking situation for Regina. Without counting the untold feeling that everyone knew about but them and how the kids could misunderstand the situation. It wasn't like they were going back together.
But apparently they had spent too much time talking about useless things because the children were back before they could finish their talk and they had listened to the last part of their conversation.
"Really?! Mommy is coming to our house?!" an already over excited Aly with a huge smile asked, coming into the room followed by her equally excited brothers.
Their father tried to tell them that it was just an idea, that there was nothing sure. On the contrary it was very likely that the thing would not be done. But everything was useless because they had stopped listening to him and they were already jumping around the bed and thinking of all the things they could do, with reasons, with their mother.
"I don't think the two of you have a lot to think about now." the woman smirked.
"Thanks Zelena, we would have never guessed alone." the other two adults responded together. And now it was clear where those kids had taken the 'speaking together' thing.
They decided to talk about the logistics later and just spend time together before everyone left, when someone else interrupted them.
Her whole team, but the blondie, was there, happy smiles from everyone, even from Graham who was still feeling guilty. The last one to enter in the room was Kristoff, with a strange bulge under the jacket. The bulge let out a yelp, making the kids' eyes widen.
"Come on buddy, give me a moment and keep it quiet or we're both going to get kicked out." he said while he opened his jacket. Before it was completely open, a white fur head with two sweet eyes and a wet nose appeared making everyone laugh at the kids reaction, who were extremely happy about the dog's presence.
"The little dude didn't stop yelping unless he was near something of yours, sorry for your leather jacket by the way. Also I think he chose his owner." he then proceeded to put the dog on the bed. The animal didn't waste a second, as soon as his little paws touched the bed, he went to curl up against Regina.
"I think he did too. And I can forgive the jacket this time." Regina confirmed, smiling, petting the dog's head.
"Really?! Can we keep the dog?"
Regina smiled at Henry. "Yes we can. Now-" an excited 'YES!' came from the children before their mother could finish talking. "Now we just have to establish with whom he's going to stay, in which house. Now and after, when I'll be okay to go back to my house"
She exchanges a look with Robin, one that means 'let's see what they come up with this time'.
They didn't have to wait a lot, Roland voiced what everyone thought. "He can come home with us. We'll help take care of him, right?" he asked his siblings who nodded immediately.
The parents remind the kids that it was going to be a lot of work taking care of a puppy, cleaning after him, making sure he always had food and water and playing with him. But the three siblings' minds were made up and they were ready to take their responsibility with the dog.
Said dog still needed a name and when Regina suggested 'Arrow' everyone agreed it was the perfect name for the little beast.
They stayed together a bit more before Zelena left to go home to rest (lucky for her no one paged her until the end of her shift), Cora took the children home with her to sleep since they were falling asleep on their feet.
She had called Robert to come to get them. The man had gone home the night before after spending the day there, claiming he was there only because he was worried about Regina and wanted to know that she was fine before leaving (also because there were already too many people in the room and the hospital staff wasn't happy about it), but the reality was another. Yes of course he was worried about her, she's like a daughter to him, he helped raise her since she was 11, but he was there also for his wife, to give her some kind of support and strength because even if Cora didn't let out any emotion after all that years of marriage, Robert had learn how to read his wife and he knew she was falling apart inside.
They put up a fight, they didn't want to leave their mother, but after a bit of coaxing from Regina, they agreed to go and rest as long as they could go back in the afternoon. The parents agreed on that only if the next day they would go to school without complaining. They accepted, not that they had any other choice in that. They also had to take the dog out of the hospital and it was something else they used to get the kids out of there.
Only Robin and Regina's colleagues stayed in the room. "You should rest too." he pointed out sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"I'm fine. I'll sleep when I'm dead," she dismissed him.
Robin trew her a dirty look but before he could say anything someone else spoke.
"The sarcasm is still there guys, she's fine!" Will spoke from the door.
Robin and Regina turn toward the door only to see the faces of Will and Ruby.
When the pair entered the room, Graham, Mulan, Kristoff, Philip and John left to go to work, 'after all someone needs to be there, we can't all stay in bed all day.' Kristoff had jocked around, earning a laugh from the people in the room.
Will and Rudy didn't stay a lot because they agreed that Regina should rest. They left, but not before making them promise that if they needed anything, they had to call them, at any time of the day or of the night.
Once alone, Regina leaned back in the bed, she closed her eyes and exhaled. She reopened them when she felt a presence next to her: Robin was looking at her, worry still present in his eyes.
"You know, you don't have to stay. I don't need a babysitter, I won't go anywhere." Robin's eyes changed in something she couldn't quite place when she said she wouldn't go anywhere, but considering how fast they had changed back, she didn't push her luck by asking what it was.
"You can barely keep your eyes open, you should sleep."
"I'm fine and you should go home."
"I can't." but seeing her expression he added. "I promised the kids I would stay with you all the time. They are scared that someone could take you away from them again. Alyson and Henry in particular. That is also why they were so reluctant to leave." he explained.
Regina's eyes were wet with tears after hearing that. Her babies were scared and it was all her fault. She tried to hide the tears from Robin, but she turned her head away from him too late and he saw her cheeks streaked with tears.
Robin jumped on his feet. "Why are you crying? What is wrong? Are you in pain? Do I need to call the doctor?" Regina didn't answer verbally, she just kept shaking her head.
"Tell me what is wrong, love. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
He was desperate too, he wanted to help her but he didn't know what to do. He just kept passing his hand in her hair and with the other he tried to cup her face until she was calm enough to talk to him again.
"They are scared." she whispered.
But it was so low that Robin almost didn't hear her. "What?"
She cleared her voice. "My babies. They are scared. And it's all my fault."
"No! Absolutely not. It's not your fault.'' Maybe she could have fought more to come home early but in no way it was her fault and Robin was set on making sure she understood that.
"Yes it is."
Robin slowly and sweetly turned her face toward him with both his hands. "Did you decide to leave them?" She didn't answer so he asked again.
"Did you decide to leave our children?" he asked again, a bit more forcefully.
A shake of her head.
"Did you decide to stay away from them?"
Another shake.
"Did you decide to let them believe you were dead?"
A new shake.
"Did you try everything you could in order to go back to them?"
This time a nod.
"How can it be your fault then? You did everything you could to be with us, them -he corrected himself-, again and they know. They know it wasn't your choice to go away but someone else took you -to put it in an easy way- This is what they are scared of, that someone is going to take you away again." Robin paused and they stared into each other's eyes. A deep breath then man started to talk again. "So no, I'm not going anywhere. I promised them I would keep you safe and it's what I'm going to do. I failed the first time, I'm not going to do it again."
"But you didn't fail Robin, you didn't know." she pressed her hand to his cheek. "And nothing is going to happen to me now."
"In other words: you can go, I'm fine on my own."
He squeezed her hand. "Don't fight me on this, love because you're not going to win. Okay?"
She squeezed his hand back. "Okay."
They comforted each other for a while before one of them spoke again. "Why don't you go get something to eat? I'm not kicking you out, I just think you should eat something, it's already 1 PM and you haven't touched any food today."
Robin didn't want to leave her, if he had to be honest, it scared the shit out of him, the idea of losing her again and therefore, leaving her alone now. He was about to say he was fine but his stomach betrayed him and chose that exact moment to rumble.
She looked at him with an 'I told you so' look. There was no point in arguing now so he kissed her head and left to get some food.
He didn't have the time to go too far from her room because an old woman -who could kill you if she heard you calling her that- with grey hair and glasses was marching toward him with a huge bag. She flew past him and went into the room. Sending a glance at the woman who lay in the bed, she began to empty the bag. Containers full of food were put on the little table in the room as the older woman kept saying something that was incomprehensible to the other two in the room, who looked at each other half scared and half happy to see her.
"Hi Granny." Regina, from her spot on the bed, tried but the woman didn't stop what she was doing.
Only when the last container was put on the table and Robin was once again sitting in the room next to the bed, Granny turned to face Regina.
The woman looked at her, an angry expression on her face. "Really girl?" a pause while she cleaned her glasses. "You just came back and you are already in a hospital bed?"
She was so angry Robin noticed, but he soon realized that it was fear masked by anger. Granny was like a grandmother for everyone and everyone was like a grandchild to her.
"Does it make you feel better if I tell you that we got the bastards and we saved a puppy?" she tried to humor the situation but it just backfired.
"Do you think it's funny? How do you think I felt when Ruby told me what happened?"
Regina looked down. "I'm sorry, I know it couldn't be easy." why was she feeling like a little girl being scolded because she did something wrong?
"Damn right it wasn't!" but the last part loses a bit of effect considering granny had tears in her eyes.
The older woman went to the younger one and hugged her as tight as she could without hurting her.
"You can't do that again. I don't think my heart, or your mother's for the matter, could take it if something is going to happen to you again."
"I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again." she whispered back at granny.
"Good." she said pulling back. "Now let's eat, you're thin as a toothpick."
Both Regina and Robin laughed at that and they gladly accepted the food granny gave them.
Meanwhile at Cora's house the kids had just woken up from their impromptu nap and after food and time spent with their new puppy, they were ready to go back to their mother.
They didn't waste any time and they were on the bed as fast as they could.
Since Regina wasn't going to be alone, Robin decided to go home to shower and sleep a couple of hours. Not that he had a lot of choice, his ex wife, ex mother-in-law and ex father-in -law practically forced him out of there.
"I understand where you came from, son." Robert began to say, and he really knew since he had lost his wife too. "But you need to rest too. You will not be of help to anyone if you are too tired or you don't take care of yourself."
Robin knew he was right and he said so to him. He said goodbye to everyone in the room with the promise he would be back in a couple of hours.
And so he did. Less than three hours later a now showered and rested Robin appeared on the door with doughnuts for everyone.
Roland was sitting on the bed, Aly was snuggled on his grandfather's lap and Henry was sitting on his grandmother's leg. Both Cora and Robert made sure to be in some way in contact with Regina: in fact Cora was caressing her daughter's hand while Robert's free hand, the one who wasn't keeping Aly in place, was resting on his step-daughter's leg.
"Who wants doughnuts?"
Six heads snapped up and in no time everyone was eating the treats. But the fun was soon over because the kids had to go home.
"But you promise you'll stay with mommy right?" Aly asked for the million times and Robin promised her again that he was going to stay with her mother.
Regina was about to say she didn't need Robin to stay but the conversation she had had with Robin only a couple of hours prior made her change her mind.
He said goodbye to his kids while Robert and Cora said goodbye to their daughter. Both of them kissed her head and promised her they would be there the next day.
They settle there in silence, watching a boring movie. Regina could feel Robin staring but she didn't say a word.
For Robin everything was still so surreal. She had been back for more than a year but sometimes he was still shocked by the fact that she was actually there. He had talked a lot about that with Dr. Hopper; now that he thinks about it maybe he should go to him to talk about what had happened and what he was feeling. But was he feeling exactly? He didn't have an answer for that yet. He made a note to himself to make an appointment for the children and himself, and maybe Regina too, as soon as possible.
When the hospital served Regina her dinner Robin went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. He was so focused on his thoughts that he almost didn't see that a person was coming toward him.
The man had to call Robin's name a couple of times before he realized someone was calling him.
"Robin." he tired again.
"Dr. Hopper, hi sorry I didn't hear you. Or saw you, for that matter." he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, like he usually does when he's nervous or worried about something.
"I realized that. But what's going on? Why are you here at this hour? One of the kids is not feeling well?"
"The kids are fine, at least physically. It's Regina, she… she's been injured at work." and Robin began to explain everything that had happened, from receiving the call to the kids too scared to leave their mother alone.
"Believe it or not I had already in mind to come to you, the kids too. It's been an emotional couple of days and I think it wouldn't be a bad idea if Regina also talks to you."
"I wouldn't suggest forcing it on her tho, it would be counterproductive. I think it would be better if we wait until she makes this decision on her own.
They both knew that if they pushed Regina too much she wouldn't do a thing.
After making sure that Robin makes an appointment with him, Dr. Hopper said his goodbyes to Robin and left the hospital while the latter went to grab his food and went back to Regina.
"I thought they moved the cafeteria somewhere else, you took ages. I was about to send someone to look for you." Regina greeted him with a smirk.
Robin passed his hand on his neck again. "I ran into Dr. Hopper and we talked a bit." Robin stopped to talk to take a bite of his food and Regina began to talk instead.
"About Dr. Hopper." Regina began. "Maybe it would be a good idea if the kids go to see him again, just to talk to someone about what happened."
Considering what Robin had told her early it could be a good idea.
"I thought the same and I've mentioned it to him earlier." Regina nodded but didn't speak.
"I thought about doing the same." she mentioned it casually, stealing some of Robin's food.
"About what?"
"Going to Dr. Hopper. It might help, I mean I still go once a month, it wouldn't be too different going a couple of times instead of just one. And after all, in order to go back to work I need to get evaluated by a shrink." and she literally hated that.
"And also on that I had the same thought. I told him I wanted to talk to him too. I think it would be good for the five of us."
Regina agreed on that too but after that they didn't speak again. They finished their dinner and they both got ready to go to bed, not that they had to do a lot for that. They both had to wash their teeth and use the restroom. Regina needed a bit of help considering one of her legs and arm were out of order. Regina was already in some kind of pijama and Robin was going to keep his normal clothes.
It was the middle of the night when Robin was woken up by a half yelled and half sobbed out 'NO!' from Regina and he was next to her bed before he could actually register what was happening.
Regina sat up abruptly with a 'NO!' after a nightmare, well the nightmare that haunted her for years, one that she had hoped to leave behind when she came back. The sudden movement made her groan, pain in her arm and leg come back to her in full force.
Robin was on his feet in a second, one of his hands grabbing one of Regina's and the other on her back, helping her lay down again against the pillows, whispering sweet nothing to her while she tried to calm her breathing.
"Breath love. You're okay, you're safe." his head near hers, while he kept comforting her.
She tensed up when she felt someone touching her, hugging her, used to live that nightmare alone, but she relaxed when she smelled Robin's pine scent. Oh how much she missed that scent.
It was strange being again in his embrace, it was like something she had always known but at the same time it was something almost unknown to her.
When her breath went back to normal Robin helped to drink some water before he sat again next to her on the bed, never letting go of her hand.
She cleared her voice a bit. "I'm fine. I'm okay. Sorry I woke you up."
She was turning away from Robin when he spoke again. "Fine my ass, milady." and with his free hand he took her chin between his fingers in order to turn her face to him.
"Wanna try again and tell me what is going on in that pretty head of yours?" he asked her sweetly letting go of her chin so he put a lock of hair behind her ear.
She looked into his eyes and she could only see worrying and desire to help her, no judging because a grown ass woman was trembling like a petrified little girl.
The woman closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "It's the same nightmare I used to have when I was in Portland." she paused, "The Hatter… He… He would…"
"Hey, it's okay. Take your time." a nod from her and a hand that kept caressing her cheek from him, he still didn't let go of her hand.
"The dream was always the same. He killed you, the kids and the rest of our family. But never together, always two people at a time. What would change was who was going to die, it was always different, it was one of our children and someone else of our family: you, my mother or yours, the same with our fathers, brothers and sisters, our nieces, our friends."
She watched as Robin became paler and paler while she talked.
She paused while Robin dried the tears from her cheek. She didn't even realize she was crying.
"He would ask me to choose who was going to die: one of our children or the other person. And when I refused to choose and tell him to just kill me instead he just killed both of them. And it's at that moment that I woke up." she swallowed before speaking again. "This time it was you and Aly." she also added, knowing the question would come.
She was crying again and Robin did the only thing that came to his mind: he took her in his arms and began to whisper sweet nothings again, in an attempt to calm her down. Her head was tucked under his chin while he was embracing her, careful to not hurt her.
It took a while but she finally calmed down and fell asleep again in Robin's arms.
Zelena finally had a free moment during her shift and she decided to check on her sister even if considering the ugly hour in the morning she expected to find her asleep.
But the scene in front of her when she entered the room wasn't the one she expected. Robin was on the bed, sitting as upright as he could while holding a sleeping Regina. The scene could even be sweet if it wasn't that when Zelena walked quietly near the bed she saw the dry tears on Regina's face. She proceeded to move a lock of hair from her face but the movement made Robin, who wasn't actually sleeping, open his eyes immediately and tighten his hold on Regina.
Zelena put her arms up. "It's just me." she whispered and Robin relaxed a bit. "What happened?" she asked worried, looking between her sister and an extremely tensed Robin.
Robin passed a hand on his face. "She had a nightmare. It was bad. I never saw her so scared."
Zelena frowned at that, that dream must have been pure hell for her sister to wake up that scared and judging Robin's state she was right.
"How long has she been asleep?"
"Less than an hour. I think she fell asleep because she was exhausted. She was set to stay awake. It was almost like she was too terrified to close her eyes."
It was so strange for Robin saying those words. He then remembered what she had told him the first time they had talked at her house: 'When you normally wake up in the middle of the night and rarely are able to go back to sleep, seven in the morning seems very late.' It made all sense now, she would wake up because of the nightmares and never be able to sleep again. No wonder she was terrified, she had lived those terrible moments alone for so long…
They keep talking but the noise, as a whisper can make noise, made Regina stir. They held their breath hoping they hadn't woken her up but she just moved nearer Robin, an impossible task considering she was already attached to him, snuggling against him with a little grimace and she kept sleeping.
Zelena left after making sure Robin would call her if something happened or if he needed something.
Waking up the kids to go to school was hard but even harder was for their grandparents seeing their faces when they told them they would see their mother only in the afternoon after school.
All the three were on the verge of crying and it took everything in them to Cora and Robert to bring them to school and not to the hospital. They left the house as soon as the dog had eaten and did what he had to do outside.
When the pair arrived at the hospital they were met by the same scene Zelena had seen. Regina sleeping soundly in Robin's arms, a content expression on both faces, one neither Cora or Robert had seen in almost five years, not that they could judge the man for that.
"I told you there was no way those two didn't feel anything for each other anymore." Robert pointed out nudging at his wife. Cora threw him a dirty look but she was actually smiling too.
She passed a hand on her eyes to dry the tears she swore weren't there but her husband knew better. "We should let them sleep and go buy something decent for breakfast." Cora suggested.
"Excellent idea, dear. I would suggest Granny's considering how much those two love that place."
Cora nodded in agreement and they left.
Robin woke up before Regina. He didn't dare to move to avoid waking her up so he did the only thing he used to do when he would wake up before her: watching her sleep. She was relaxed, well more relaxed than what he had seen her since she was back.
He hadn't realized how much he had missed that until he lived that again. Having her in his arms, watching her sleep (kinda creep if someone would have caught him doing that), kissing her head like he was doing in that moment (that woke her up but he wasn't sorry in the latest), watching her open her eyes, close them and open them again and smile at him. He smiled back at her.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Did you sleep well?"
"I did. Thanks."
"Any more nightmares?"
"Nope." a moment of quiet that both enjoyed. "You know you didn't have to stay here all night, you couldn't have been comfortable in the position we were in."
" I know, I wanted to. And I was fine."
Their stare in each other's eyes was interrupted by someone clearing their voice.
Her parents came into the room and her mother began to speak."We brought breakfast from Granny's. There's some apple pie, chocolate cake, somewhere also some bacon and eggs and some apple pancakes. They might be cold now but Rose insisted we took them anyway. And there's also coffee."
Of course granny insisted, or Rose her real name that nobody but her mother uses because she refuses to call her granny, she perfectly knew that apple pancakes are her favorite.
While Cora took out the food and explained what every package was, Robert went to Regina, kissing her head and asking her how she was feeling and how the night went.
She narrowed her eyes at the last question, wondering why he had asked that like he knew something had happened. But she knew her stepfather always knew everything, how he did it was a mystery to all the family, so she let it pass and told that she was feeling fine and the night went well.
Before they could start eating, Regina's doctor came to check on her. He told her up until that moment everything was fine but she had to stay there for a bit more. Regina wasn't happy about it but it wasn't like she had any choice.
Zelena passed by while they were eating and took some of the food for herself and after a quick check on her sister, even if she told her she had already been checked, she left as fast as she had come.
Her parents left with the promise to come back in the afternoon with the kids.
The day passed extremely slowly for Regina. She was under strict order to rest thus she was bored out of her mind. Robin had insisted on staying with her but he had work to do, enche the computer that was making Robin curse because someone hadn't listened to his direction and the project was all wrong, or at least it was what Regina was able to understand between a curse and another.
In the afternoon Regina had enough. She told him it was time to put that computer down and let out all that frustration that problem had provoked him because the kids were about to arrive.
And that he did, well almost. Instead of turning the computer off he asked Regina if she wanted to see photos and videos of the kids from when she was a way that she still hadn't seen.
And this was how the kids and her parents found them, both cuddling on the bed crying and laughing at the same time, looking at something on the computer.
They all went inside wondering what was going on. Robin moved from the bed and began to explain the whole situation. As soon as the bed was free from Robin's presence the kids took upon it, cuddling as much as they could to their mother without hurting her.
Robin looked at his ex in-law: they had a strange expression but he couldn't quite place it but they were smiling. It couldn't be so bad, right?
As the day before with Cora, Robert and the kids there, Robin went home to shower. He passed in front of the guest bedroom. Last time Regina had spent the night at the house was right after Roland's nightmare more than a year before. Now she was going to spend all the time until she recovered. He had a lot to think about and to figure out.
And like the day before the goodbye from the children was full of tears and once again they made Robin promise to not leave their mother alone.
A call came not long after they were left alone by the doctor that checked Regina in the evening.
"Oh bloody hell." Robin exlame when he saw who was calling.
"Who's calling?" Regina wonders, curious about Robin's reaction.
"My mother. I completely forgot to call them."
"Do you want me to get that?" Maybe if she was the one answering Nora wouldn't be too angry, she was injured after all.
"No but thanks for the offer." and he passed his finger on his phone to answer the call before it was too late. He was already on thin ice because he hadn't called her, if he also didn't answer his mother he was going to be a dead man.
"Hey Ma-"
"Don't you dare 'hey ma' me! I have to find out Regina is in the hospital from Will! Two days later!"
Oh she was angry and there was no going back now.
"I know I should have called but there was a lot going on. The kids, Regina, her mother and sister…"
The line was silente. "I know sorry, I'm sorry for yelling. Tell me, how is she?" the angry became worried.
"She's… she's fine."
"Really? And you want to convince me by talking like that?"
A doubtful 'Yes' left Robin's mouth.
Regina grabbed Robin's attention by moving her good hand. "Let me talk to her." she mouthed.
"Wait a second, there's someone who wants to talk to you." and he passed the phone to the mother of his children.
"Nora-" but the woman didn't even let her finish talking. She started asking questions about what had happened and how she was feeling, if they could do something and that they would come there to help.
Regina answered everything Nora asked and told her it wasn't necessary that she come here but the older woman clarified that the last part wasn't a question but an affirmation.
The younger woman gave Robin his phone back with a shocked expression and Robin listened to what his mother had just told Regina and the same shocked expression appeared also on the man's face. Robin was able to compromise with his mother, thanks to his father's help, to wait a bit before coming there and with no other choice Nora had to agree but not before making Robin promise to keep them updated about Regina. Nora also promised to inform Ursula and Ella so that they would also know what had happened.
The third day in hospital Regina woke up with a fever. Dr. Whale, Regina's doctor, said it could happen and there was nothing to worry about, they would give her antibiotics and she should be fine soon. But Robin wasn't convinced: in his mind 'nothing to worry about' meant that there was 'everything to worry about'. So he now was even more worried sick about her. Zelena tried to tell him that everything would be fine but she also was extremely worried: one thing was telling it to someone else's family member and another thing was when your sister wasn't feeling well.
Robin informed everyone about the situation even if Regina insisted that it was just a fever and there was no use to fuss so much over it. He sent a text to Will who took upon himself to inform their parents and sister, he texted Graham and for last he called her parents. They decided that as much as the kids wouldn't be happy about it, it was better if that day they didn't come there, so they wouldn't risk bringing something from the outside that could worsen the situation for Regina. More times that he could count the kids had brought home from school some kind of bug or sickness and they couldn't risk that. Also their mother wasn't happy about the situation but the decision had already been made and she didn't have a say on it.
Aas expected the children were angry at the decision. They cried too but soon that cry of anger because they couldn't see their mother become a cry of worry, literally fear, of losing her, for real this time. Their grandparents did what they could to try to reassure them but it was difficult when they were extra worried too.
To try to distract them a bit Zelena, Tom, Margot, Kelly, Neal and Belle went to Cora's house, organizing an impromptu sleepover even if it was a school night and it kind of worked.
Regina slept almost all day, but during the course of the evening Regina's condition worsened to the point that her temperature got almost at 104°. The doctor gave her more antibiotics and at this point Robin was way past the 'extremely worried' point.
He sat next to her bed, her hand on his and he alternated between kissing it, staring at her and passing a fresh cloth to her hot skin.
At some point during the night the medications must have kicked in but he hadn't noticed. He just sat there, still with her hand in his, telling her to be strong and to fight that fever, telling her the kids need her, and him too but he didn't say it, and they couldn't lose her again.
"I'm not going anywhere." Robin was startled by her voice. "It's just a fever. I've survived worse." and of that no one had a doubt but it didn't mean he wasn't going to worry.
Robin helped her drink some water and called someone to check on her even if she insisted it wasn't necessary. A nurse came in and checked on her temperature, telling them it was 101°, way better than what it was earlier but she was still not off the hook.
Regina fell asleep again while Robin was able to stay awake a bit more before exhaustion won over him and he fell asleep with his head on the mattress.
When Regina woke up again in the morning, feeling much better than the day before, Robin was still sleeping in the same way he had fallen asleep. Regina took some time to observe him: the wrinkles around his eyes, some grey hair, especially near his temples, that were there despite the fact that they are still young (they weren't even in their forties yet).
Regina decided that it would be better if he woke up considering that in that position his neck couldn't be particularly happy.
She carefully extricated her hand from his and began to pass her fingers in his hair, the way she used to do when she wanted to wake him up when they were married. Feeling someone touching his head, he opened his eyes to identify the culprit. When he did, he was met by Regina's chocolate colored eyes.
"Hey, your neck is going to kill you if you move from that position."
She still had to finish talking when Robin moved and groaned in pain. He began to massage his neck and asked her how she was feeling, to which she answered she was still under the weather but she was feeling better than yesterday.
They called the kids who were more than happy to hear their mother's voice but they couldn't talk for too long because a doctor came to check on Regina. He confirmed that her fever was even lower than when she had woken up, in fact it was 99°. He also told her that if everything was fine and her fever didn't go up again she would go home in two days. They thanked the doctor and they informed everyone she was feeling better but they decided to wait to inform the other about her coming home.
She didn't see her kids that day too, at least not physically. They facetimed with them in the afternoon, they talked about school and extra activities, about Arrow and how sweet he was.
Regina also spoke with Graham and Mulan that afternoon and they didn't waste time in telling her they couldn't wait for her to be back because they missed her and because blondie was unbearable. At that both Robin and Regina laughed; that Detective Swan was way too full of herself.
Robin spent again the night there and it was a good thing considering Regina had another nightmare.
The next day she forced Robin to go home and to see the kids and to not come back until the next day, the day that she would finally go home. He put up a fight about leaving her there alone but in the end he lost the battle, well just one battle and not the war because he won the one about coming back for the night.
Regina was ready to spend the day alone when, not even thirty minutes after Robin had left, her sibling literally appeared in her room, junk food for everyone with them, ready to keep her company.
Neal had taken a day from work while Zelena wasn't on shift that day so there they were, spending the day with their sister, eating junk food and watching old movies.
They also talked about her going home with Robin. She still wasn't sure about it, she still thought it was a terrible idea. They decide to write down the pros and cons of the situation. The pros were easy: she could spend more time with her kids and not have her mother fussing around her 24/7. The cons were that it would be extremely difficult for her to go back alone to her apartment one she was feeling better and all the time she was going to spend with the kids and Robin. She still love the man, there wasn't a doubt in her mind about that, but nothing could ever happen again between them, she made him suffer too much and it didn't matter how much Dr. Hopper said that she had to talk to Robin about it, about her feelings and fears, she was sure he would never forgive her.
At home Robin was waiting for Ruby. She had gone to get the kids so that together they could decorate the room that was going to be of their mother. Robin had taken Regina's home keys from Cora and while the children were still at school he went there to get some clothes and other things Regina might need. Once at home Robin also printed some of the kids pictures to put in the room.
By the time dinner time rolled around they had completely transformed the guest room: new bed sheets, a couple of new decorations, pictures of the children and some of their art works, part of her clothes in the wardrobe.
Robin closed the door and looked at the photo on the opposite wall: it was a photo of the five of them, a picnic on a random day, a photo taken from a random person, they were happy. He wondered how life was going to be now. He had Regina back but not really, they weren't together, they were just raising their kids together, they were friends and nothing more, there couldn't be something more… All lies and Robin knew it. Why he couldn't admit the truth he didn't know and he hoped Dr. Hopper could help him.
He went back to Regina after dinner. She was alone when he arrived, her siblings had stayed there until right after dinner to make sure she eats.
Regina's fever had gone completely away and the doctor confirmed that she could go home the next day.
A lot of people had volunteered to take her home but she pointed out that it was useless that someone else took her home when Robin was already there and he obviously had to go home too.
They haven't told the kids she would go home that day but all the other adults knew it. The morning of the discharge right outside the hospital door, on both sides of it her colleagues were side to side and they began to applaud her when Robin started to push the wheelchair to pass between them.
Regina was red as a tomato with embarrassment while she thanked them for coming. They made her promise to let other people help her and to take care of herself and they went back to work while Robin helped her in his car.
They didn't talk during the ride. Regina was looking outside her window but she could feel Robin's eyes on her.
After the umpteenth time she couldn't take it anymore. "Eyes on the street." she reminded him, "I don't fancy another visit to the ER because you're looking at me instead of the road."
"Right, sorry."
When they arrived home Robin helped her situate on the couch so she could rest while he took care of her bags.
It was strange being back in that house and she couldn't describe exactly what she was feeling. Yes of course she had already been there but it was going to be different now. Apart from Roland's nightmare not long after she had come back, she hadn't spent a night there in almost five years.
They hadn't told the kids she would come home that day so it was a huge surprise that they came home that day.
"Mommy, you're home!" was yelled as soon as the children were in the house. They were ready to jump on her but their father stopped them before she had the chance to talk.
"Guys you know mom is hurt. You have to be careful with her and that means no jumping on her, we talked about this. You can hug her but you can't jump on her. Got it?" Robin explains, especially to Roland. The little boy really loved to jump on her mother on any occasion he got.
"Come on guys, come here and give me a big hug." Regina invited them, opening her good arm.
One by one the three kids hugged their mother carefully, asking her how she was feeling and if she could help them with their homework.
Regina laughed at the request and she answered in an affirmative way to both their questions.
And that was how they spent her first afternoon at home, between cuddling with her little monsters and helping them do their homework.
One by one, or two by two, everyone comes to visit her. Her parents, who also brought Arrow to his new home, her colleagues during different times of the day, Zelena with Tom and their daughters, Neal and Belle, Will and Ruby and granny with Marco with food that could last them days. And since they couldn't visit yet, Nora, Michael, Ursula and Ella decide to make a virtual visit, keeping her company when she was alone.
They fall into a routine. Regina would spend most of her time on the couch, considering her limited mobility it was the best solution. Robin worked from home as much as he could and when he had to actually go to his office Cora, Robert or both would come to stay with her. Regina insisted she didn't need a babysitter but no one listened to her on that point. More often than not Robin had to carry to their own bed the three children that had fallen asleep in their mother's bed while she read or told them a story.
Regina had also started rehabilitation, even if just for her leg. For her arm she had to wait until the bone would completely heal.
As they had talked, the five of them had all gone back to Dr. Hopper. The children talked about what they were feeling and their fears, who more who less, considering Alyson was every bit her mother's daughter and her coping mechanism was not coping at all and keeping everything inside like Regina. But after some talk with her mother she finally agreed to talk more with Dr. Hopper.
For Robin and Regina the situation was a bit more complicated. They had to face what had happened and the feelings that both were trying to hide but now were even more clear. Even the kids had noticed a change between them, they were more affectionate with each other, they smiled more at each other, the involuntary touches especially at the table or when they were on the couch, the cuddling on the couch during movie time.
"What is blocking you from your feelings? Why are you not able to admit them?" one day Dr. Hopper asked him.
"I don't know doc. If I knew we wouldn't be here."
"I think you know Robin. Deep down you know."
Robin didn't speak for a while.
"I love her. It's just… I'm just so fucking scared of loosing her again. And telling her I love her, not that I ever stopped, going back to be with her and losing her again would kill me. I guess I'm just trying to protect myself." a pleased look appeared on the doctor's face.
"How do you know you're going to lose her again? And don't you think that by doing this you're actually hurting yourself more? I mean are you happy right now Robin?"
Robin didn't answer, he just lay back on the little couch he was sitting on. He was right: by trying to not get hurt he was hurting himself in the same way and he was also hurting the other in the process. Dr. Hopper was right, he really needed to talk to Regina.
Dr. Hopper asked Regina the same thing he had asked Robin.
"I have no problem admitting my feelings. I love Robin, always have and I think I will always love him." Regina said with all the confidence she could master. It was true, she did love him but she wasn't sure that he loved her.
"And what is stopping you from admitting them to him?"
"I've hurt him in a hideous way, I did something to my family that no one should live. Why should I hurt him more by telling him that when he could move on with someone else?"
They both stayed quiet for a moment, the doctor fixing Regina and Regina looking everywhere but his face.
"Did he ever tell you why he and Marian broke up?"
Regina shocked her head. "He just told me he did something wrong but nothing else. He didn't want to talk about it and I dropped it."
"I think you should talk with him about it."
'Very useful doc' Regina thought.
They didn't revisit what Dr. Hopper had said until almost a week later. Both had thought a lot about their talk with the psychologist but neither of them had found the courage to face the other.
It was a Thursday night and Robin was coming down the stairs after putting the kids to bed while Regina was slowly coming out of the kitchen. She could finally walk alone for a week now and she couldn't be happier even if she was slow as a snail.
They both sat on the couch, Regina drinking a mug of tea and Robin sipping from a glass of whisky. She keeps glancing at him trying to master the courage to ask the question that Dr. Hopper had put in her head. After the fifth time Robin saw her glancing at him when she was sure he wasn't watching, he asked if something was wrong.
"No, everything is fine." another awkward moment where the only sound was the one coming from the television. "Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer that."
"Of course." he put his glass on the coffee table and turned toward her so he could look at her face.
"Why did Marian really leave? Why did the two of you break up?" she didn't dare to breathe.
He stared at her like she had to head and Regina was sure she wasn't going to get an answer but a 'it's not your business' from him when he took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes.
"Because I'm in love with someone else."
Thank you so much for reading.
Reviews and constructive criticism are always well welcomed. And if I have written something in the wrong way or it's not accurate please tell me so I can fix it!