Regina strode into the hospital and took the elevator up to the second floor. She was leaning against the wall for the short ride up. It was nearly 3 a.m. and she was tired. But she wasn't willing to merely go to her parents' home to stay the night and return in the morning. No, she had driven all this way she was going to see her father now.
Getting off the elevator, she followed the signs toward the right room.
"Miss?"
She turned toward the nurses' desk and then went up to it.
"I'm here to see my father Henry Mills," she said to the woman there.
"I'm afraid visiting hours are long over."
"Of that, I have no doubt," Regina said. "But I just drove seven hours to get here and I am not leaving until I see my father. I won't wake him or anything. I just need to see him."
The nurse gave her a once over with her eyes before nodding. Regina thanked her and then continued to the room. She was glad the woman hadn't given her a hard time because she didn't want to have to bring her mother into this.
Cora Mills was the chief administrator here at Storybrooke Hospital – and Regina was sure that was part of why the nurse let her pass so easily. Regina was used to getting preferential treatment in this town because of who her parents were.
When she got to the room, she made sure she was quiet as she approached the bed. Her father was asleep and looked rather peaceful, if not a little older than she last saw him. Suddenly she felt guilty about being away for so long. Storybrooke was where her parents belonged, where they were happy living their lives, but Regina had longed for something more—something bigger than this town. Her parents never quite seemed to understand that.
The last time she was home her dad had tried to convince her to stay – even offering her a job with the city. She had turned him down and hadn't returned since, in part because she was afraid if she had she might consider it.
There was a time when she thought she would never actually leave this town. She had a good childhood here. Her mother was a doctor who had only moved into the administrator spot a few years ago. Before that she specialized in pediatrics. There wasn't a kid in this town that her mother hadn't treated most likely. Her father had a successful law practice until he decided to add the title of councilman, and then two years later he ran for mayor and won in a landslide.
Regina sometimes wondered if part of the reason she stayed away from Storybrooke was because here she was the daughter of Cora and Henry Mills. Outside of town, she got to be just Regina Mills.
She stayed there in the seat next to his bed until she began to fall asleep. Yawning, she took that as a sign she should get to her parents' house. She would return in the morning.
Thanking the nurse on the way out, she went down to the parking lot and had almost made it to the car when she heard "Regina."
Turning, she felt her breath catch a moment as the blonde woman approached her. Wearing a red leather jacket and a pair of jeans that her badge was clipped to, Emma Swan came up to her.
"Hey," Emma said.
"Miss Swan," Regina said.
"Really Regina," Emma replied. "That's a little childish don't you think?"
"If you'll excuse me, Miss Swan, I was just leaving," she turned from Emma and got closer to her car, hoping this would be the end of any conversation between them.
"I was sorry to hear about your dad," Emma said hurriedly. "I … um, I wondered if you would be coming back and then one of the other deputies reported a car coming into town, I knew it had to be you. It's good to see you again, even if the circumstances are shitty. You look great."
Regina glanced back at her a moment and then turned and unlocked her car door. "Perhaps you should get back to work Deputy Swan," Regina said and she got into her car and shut the door before anything else could be said. As she pulled away she cursed a little as she took a peek at the rearview mirror and saw Emma standing there watching her as she left.
She sped to her parents' house but ended up parking her car half a block away so she could compose herself before going in. Her heart was beating quickly and she needed to calm down. She didn't understand why seeing Emma after all this time continued to affect her. It shouldn't – what they had together had ended a long time ago.
"You're acting like a stupid school girl," she said out loud.
Emma was the last person she had wanted to see so of course fate would make her one of the first ones she would see.
The last time she had been in town she had successfully made the trip without having to see her which meant it had been nearly five years since they had been face-to-face, much less spoken to each other. Five years and Emma still had the ability to make her feel like she was the only one in the world when those eyes were locked onto her. Five years and Regina still felt the anger of Emma's betrayal and that was always the emotion that overrode all others when they were together.
She sent up a silent prayer that her father would be ok and out of the hospital soon. The sooner he was home, the sooner she could leave.
Putting the car in gear she traveled the rest of the way to her childhood home. Once she parked the car, she grabbed her bags and went up to the front door. She had been delayed in getting here in part because she had searched her apartment from top to bottom to find the key to the house. She had stopped keeping it on her key ring a long time ago and since she hadn't been here in so long it had taken her a while to find where she had stowed it away last.
As she was putting the key in the lock, the door opened and her mother was standing there and pulling her in for a hug.
"Why didn't you call me when you were nearing town?" Cora asked.
"I thought you would be asleep," Regina said, picking up her bags and coming in as her mother closed and locked the door behind her. "Besides I stopped by the hospital first to see dad. He was resting comfortably."
"I couldn't sleep," Cora said. "I just keep thinking about your father and how he should be up there in bed with me."
"How bad is it?"
She could tell that her mother had been putting off telling her when they had talked on the phone. Her mother was always horrible at being anything less than straightforward. It often made Regina wonder what she was like when delivering bad news to patients.
"Why don't you take your bags up to your room and I will put some water on for some tea?" Cora suggested. She took a couple of steps toward the kitchen.
"Mom." Cora turned and saw Regina standing there. "How bad is it?"
"Your father didn't just have a heart attack today. He had one a few weeks ago that went undetected and this one, well this one took its toll on him."
"How is that possible that he had a heart attack weeks ago and it went undetected? What kind of doctors are you employing over there? Why didn't you call me when it happened?"
"There is nothing wrong with our doctors. Dr. Whale is quite a good surgeon. The reason it went undetected was that your father never went to the doctor. He was feeling bad a few weeks ago but thought he was having a bout of indigestion or something. It wasn't as if I hadn't noticed but he said he was fine and so I didn't press the issue, especially when he did seem ok. Then it happened again only worse and tomorrow we will meet with Dr. Whale so we can discuss options – most likely a bypass surgery as your father has blockages to his heart. If it isn't too serious we are talking about stents being put in. If it is more serious, we may be talking about a pacemaker. We will know more tomorrow."
Regina nodded. "I'm tired, I'm going to go and try to sleep so we can get to the hospital in the morning and find out for sure."
Lifting her bags once more she headed for the stairs.
"Regina," Cora said, waiting for her daughter to turn toward her. "It's good to have you home. Your father will be extremely happy to see you."
"I wish I could say it's good to be home," Regina said before heading upstairs. She went to her room, which looked exactly as it did the last time she was here except for new bedding. Her mother had been talking for years about converting it to a guest room or an office space. Regina figured her mother only talked about it to see if Regina would object to it and she never did. She had made it clear that she didn't care what they chose to do with the space.
There weren't any personal touches in it anyway that made it seem like it was anything but a guest room. All her items had been boxed up years ago and were probably still in the basement. She hadn't taken much with her when she had left for good.
Despite being tired she put her things away. She walked into the bathroom that was off of her bedroom and saw that her mother must have stocked it up with towels and toiletries for her stay. Seeing the stack of towels up on the shelf she wondered how long she would be staying. Based on what her mother had told her it was clear her father wouldn't be getting out of the hospital tomorrow or the next day.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth. After changing her clothes she slipped into bed and turned the light off. She had no sooner done so when she heard her phone beep. Reaching for it, she read. "Did you make it there safely? How is your father?"
Regina smiled a little. It was nice to know someone in the outside world was concerned for her and the use of "there" versus "home" didn't escape her notice either.
"Yes," she typed back. "Heart attack. It was bad but will know more in the morning. Most likely surgery. Will update you when I know more."
"Ok. I hope it goes well. Call me if you need me."
"I will. Good night."
"Night."
She laid her phone down, but instead of sleeping, she stared up at the ceiling. It was a long time before she heard her mother come up the stairs and go to her room. She knew tomorrow she would have to put on a smiling, positive face for her father. Although her father would see right through it, she still had to try. If nothing else it would fool her mother.
….
Emma threw her keys down on her the kitchen counter and pulled a bottle of beer from the fridge and opened it. She took several drinks before making it to the couch. Once she sat down with her feet propped up on the coffee table she thought again about how stupid she was for seeking out Regina at the hospital. She should have known that she would get that kind of reaction from the other woman.
Still, it had been 14 years and she would have thought Regina would be somewhat willing to have a civil conversation with her.
She was working a night shift this week in place of another deputy and when she heard that a car was coming into town she knew it was Regina. She had first driven by Regina's parents' home but seeing no vehicle there she had gone on to the hospital.
When she had woken up that afternoon and gone into work she had heard about Regina's father – it was all people seemed to be talking about. Emma did feel bad because she had always liked Mayor Mills. Even after the unpleasantness between her and Regina, he had never once treated her differently.
She couldn't say the same thing for Cora Mills. To this day she got the cold shoulder from the woman whenever they were near each other.
But it wasn't either of them that Emma worried about – it was what Regina thought of her that bothered her. She knew she too should just get over it, but she hadn't managed to do so in all this time.
After all, Regina had every right to hate her and she had no right to expect Regina to forgive her even after all of this time.
Taking another sip of her beer she wondered if she should just go out of her way to avoid Regina while she was in town. She didn't expect Regina would be there for very long as her visits had become rarer as the years went on. With her father in the hospital, it would probably be for the best if Emma didn't add any further stress to Regina's life.
Even as she thought it though Emma knew she wouldn't be avoiding Regina. She couldn't. She would just have to be smarter about it than ambushing her in the hospital parking lot. Not one of her better moves she could admit.
Maybe she would talk to Tink before she went to work and get her advice.
Finishing off her beer she decided to get to bed and hope that she could find some way to get Regina to at least speak to her without that look of disdain while she was home.
….
"Gina," Henry smiled as she came into the hospital room.
"Hi daddy," she said leaning over and kissing him on his forehead.
"The nurses said I had a late visitor last night," he said. "I'm glad you are here. I've missed you. Phone calls just aren't the same as having my daughter here where I can see her beautiful face."
"I've missed you too," she said taking a seat. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," he said.
"Father."
"Ok, maybe I am not 100 percent but don't you worry about me. I'm going to be alright. Your mother has a fine hospital here and I am confident that they will handle this accordingly. Now, where is your mother?"
"She's talking to Dr. Whale," Regina answered. "I think she wanted to speak to him before he comes in here to discuss your prognosis. They're talking about surgery."
"I know," he said with all seriousness. "But let's not talk about that right now. Tell me, how are you?"
"You can't avoid talking about this," Regina said. "I mean you are in the hospital. You collapsed at work."
"I am not avoiding. I am merely postponing until your mother and Dr. Whale get here. We haven't spoken in weeks. How many times has your mother or I called and gotten your voicemail with no return call?"
"I've been busy," she replied. One of her parents called her every week. She used to answer those calls, but then she stopped being consistent about answering, and then she got into the habit of ignoring the calls when they came. She had even ignored the one yesterday when her mother called to tell her that her father was in the hospital. It had been a couple of hours later that Regina had listened to the voicemail and learned of it.
"Too busy for your old man?"
"You aren't an old man," Regina said.
"You know what I mean. What has you so busy?"
"Just work," she said.
"You are too young to have so much time taken up by work," he said. "Although I imagine you have some free time or you wouldn't be here."
"I would be here regardless of whether I was in the middle of something or not," she said.
"Yes, but you do have free time, or was I wrong in that I read online that your latest project was unveiled to much fanfare what two weeks ago? You may not return our calls, but that doesn't mean your mother and I don't want to know what you have going on in your life."
Regina knew it was pointless to give any kind of reassurance that she had meant to call because her father would know it wasn't the truth. As an attorney, he had a knack for knowing when people lied to him and it made for a childhood where Regina was never able to lie her way out of things.
It was true; she had wrapped up her latest project two weeks ago. She was a skilled architect who worked mostly with municipalities that were looking to restore old buildings or build new ones that fit into a historic style. She specialized in historical buildings – giving them upgrades while staying true to their original forms. Her latest project was a contract with the city of Philadelphia to work with its historic commission and architectural commission. She had spent nearly two years in the city working with them to set a 10-year plan for the upkeep of various sites around the city and to work on a project to build a new library that would conform to the standards of the historic city. The job had paid well and she had done some other consulting work while there as well.
"So when are you leaving Philadelphia and what is your next destination?" he asked.
Her father wasn't pulling any punches today, she thought. If there was one source of conflict between her and her father this was it – her moving from place to place. She had tried to explain to him before that it was necessary because of the nature of her work, but he attributed it to what he called her "endless restlessness."
First, it was four years of college at Michigan State University and then her two-year master's degree work at Cornell. She had completed several internships throughout her schooling and had landed a job with an architectural firm in Boston. It was there that she had earned her reputation for historical architecture and city planning. It was also the start of her traveling. She didn't always stay in cities as she did in Philadelphia. She would be sent out by the firm to various places to see sites, research the historic nature of the places, and then she would work on her plans from wherever she saw fit – sometimes that was Boston, but usually, it was in whatever was the next city on her list of places to go.
She made a lot of money for herself and the firm.
Philadelphia though was the one place she had stayed for longer than a few months. She had done other jobs outside of Philadelphia in the time she had been there, but she had always returned. She had left Boston entirely, returning only when needed. It's what she liked about where she worked at – there was no expectation of her being there full-time. They pointed her in a direction and she went. In the beginning, she took whatever job they wanted to send her out to, but now that she had more experience and a reputation for excellence she had become more discerning in what kinds of jobs she wanted to take. The Philadelphia job was one that had interested her mostly because of the historic nature of the city. She loved to take walks and just look at the buildings and think about what it must have been like for the architect to have had that blank canvas to work with.
If there was one aspect of her job she didn't particularly care for it was that when she created a design it never felt like her own because she was always constrained by rules from historic commissions or city codes or zoning.
She never got the chance to have a space of her own in which to create something uniquely hers.
"My next job is in Savannah," she answered.
"When do you have to be down there?"
"I've been there already," she said. "I spent three weeks there and came back up for the completion of the project in Philly. Sorry, I didn't tell you, but at the time I was there I wasn't entirely sure I was going to take the job."
"But you are taking it?"
She nodded. "It's a beautiful city. I think you would love to see it."
Henry smiled at her. "Maybe after we get through this unpleasantness your mother and I will take some time to visit you there. You can show me one of your cities."
Regina smiled back even as she knew her father was saying it just to say it. She was sure neither of her parents would ever leave this town, even to visit their daughter. After all, they never had before. "I would like that," she said.
"Have you already found a place to live down there?"
She shook her head no. "I have a hotel near where I will be working that I can stay at."
He cocked his head slightly. "What about all your stuff at your apartment? Are you putting it in storage or something?"
Her mother entering the room with Dr. Whale kept her from answering that question. She let her mother have the chair while the doctor explained to them that Henry had blockages – a 90 percent and an 83 percent one – that would require stents to be put in. It was a better option than a pacemaker and Dr. Whale felt confident that he would make a full recovery. They set up the surgery for the next day.
After Dr. Whale was finished, Regina left the room with the excuse of getting a coffee. She went first into the closest bathroom. Locking the stall door, she leaned up against the wall feeling like she was able to take her first breath since the doctor had walked into the room. Her father's condition wasn't as bad as she had feared. Not that the surgery wasn't serious – it was – but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He wouldn't need a pacemaker, and while things about his life would need to change like his diet, she still felt relieved.
Taking her phone from her purse she shot off a quick text.
"Surgery tomorrow to put in stents. Much better than what it could have been. He will be out of the hospital in a few days if all goes well."
She had a response before she left the restroom.
"Glad to hear that. Take what time you need there, but the longer you are gone the more I'm going to think about redecorating."
Another smile came with that response. "Don't touch the décor."
She went down to the cafeteria and got a coffee, thinking about the conversation she and her father had been having. The truth was she had been considering keeping her place in Philadelphia. Before this situation with her dad, the matter of moving to Savannah had been on her mind the most over the past couple of weeks. To her, it seemed silly to keep a place in Philly while she would be working so much in Savannah. It wasn't that she was that enamored with Philly. Yes, she enjoyed being there and she found the city to be beautiful but like every other place she ended up, it didn't feel like home. It had come the closest, however.
And then there was the fact she shared the apartment now with another person - Someone she hadn't told her parents about which was another reason why she was glad her conversation with her father was interrupted.
….
Emma yawned even though she was on her second cup of coffee.
"When are you done with this night shift?" Tink asked her.
"Two more nights," she responded. They were sitting at Granny's, a local diner and popular meeting spot for the citizens of Storybrooke. It was lunchtime and Tink had met her over there. If it weren't for her wanting to get Tink's advice, Emma would have been home in bed still.
Bethany Snider, aka Tink, was her best friend. It was Emma who had given her the Tink moniker after her friend had stolen the show in a community theater production of "Peter Pan," when they were kids. Emma said there was no one more perfect for the role of the fairy Tinkerbell and somewhere along the way "Tink" had just sort of replaced Bethany as far as what people called her.
Whenever she had a problem or just needed to discuss something it was Tink she turned to. She went on to tell her about her encounter with Regina the night before.
"Maybe approaching her in the hospital parking lot in the early morning hours wasn't the best time," Tink said.
"I know," Emma growled. "But I … I just wanted to see her you know. It's been so long and God, she still looks amazing even if she was exhausted."
The waitress brought their food over and neither said anything at first as they arranged their utensils and took their first few bites.
"I know you aren't going to want to hear this, but perhaps you should just not see her while she is in town," Tink said.
Even though Emma had thought the same thing, she was surprised to hear Tink suggest it. Tink had been in her and Regina's corner from the start. It was another reason she had wanted to speak to Tink today because the other woman always seemed to find a silver lining – a positive that Emma could latch on to.
"She's only back because of her father," Tink continued. "You know she's going to leave as soon as she can and I don't want you to be crushed when she leaves again."
Emma kept her eyes on the plate of food in front of her, not wanting to see Tink's face when she said her next words, "What if she doesn't leave this time?"
She heard Tink put down her fork on the plate and this caused her to look up and see Tink studying her.
"What?" Emma said finally as her friend continued to stare at her.
"Do you really think she won't leave?"
Emma shrugged. "She will; it's not like I don't know this. But what if she had a reason to stay?"
"That reason being you?"
"I'm being foolish," Emma said. "She doesn't even want to talk to me. Maybe I should leave her alone while she is here."
Emma went back to concentrating on her food even though she was forcing herself to eat at this point. Her stomach had been in knots since seeing Regina last night. She wanted so much to be able to talk to her, to get her to see that she wasn't her enemy, or at the very least get Regina to see that she was concerned for her. She knew how much Regina's father meant to her and how devastated she would be if this was as serious as the rumors around town were making it out to be.
"You probably are being foolish to think Regina would stay here for you," Tink said after several moments of not talking. "At least it's foolish to jump to that. Let's concentrate on getting her to talk to you first and then see how things progress."
Emma looked at her best friend and smiled. She knew it was a long shot but at least Tink was still on her side with this.
"How do you suggest I get her to talk to me?" Emma asked.
"No idea," Tink said.
"That's helpful."
"Hey, you don't exactly have a great track record of taking my advice," Tink said. "If you did you would have chased after your girl to begin with."
"Don't remind me," Emma said, feeling her emotions tip back to a low point. It wasn't as if she hadn't regretted that decision and others. Seeing Regina – hell even thinking of Regina – was like playing a game of what if. What if she had gone after her when Regina had left town in anger that summer before her sophomore year in college? What if she had gone to Michigan and begged Regina for another chance would it have made a difference? Would Regina have forgiven her?
"The direct approach didn't work last night, so we might have to come up with something a little more subtle, or at least a not a full one-on-one," Tink said. "Did you at least send flowers or something to her dad's hospital room?"
"Um …"
"Do I have to do everything?" Tink said.
"What? I was working all last night, when would I have had time to do so?"
"Fine. But as soon as you leave here, go to the flower shop and have something sent over. It's not much but at least it will let Regina know you are thinking of her dad and thus thinking of her."
"Ok, I can do that. What else?"
Tink gave her a look to express that she didn't know and Emma backed off a bit, going back to eating. They spent the rest of the meal talking about other things. After paying their bills, they walked outside and Tink reminded her to go directly to the florist.
"Do you think she ever thinks about me?" Emma asked.
Tink patted her friend's arm. "She loved you. Of that I have no doubt," Tink said. "So yeah, she thinks about you."