A/N: So, no one has worked out where the inspiration came from yet but let me reassure one reviewer that this is in no way based on my own experiences! These chapters are going to alternate between focusing on Regina and Emma, FYI.

Draining the last of her coffee, Emma pushed herself out of the chair and made her way across the nurse's lounge to rinse out her mug. As she was drying it, ready for her next caffeine fix, Ruby appeared and slumped into the chair Emma had just vacated.

"Only three hours to go," Emma grinned at her best friend.

"Not for me," Ruby groaned. "I just agreed to cover for Belle. Gotta stay here until six."

Emma winced in sympathy. She'd pulled a fair number of double shifts herself but on this particular day, she couldn't wait to get out of there. Hampstead Heath, a picnic blanket and plenty of food awaited her as soon as she clocked out. She loved the sunshine and was making the most of the brief heatwave London found itself in. After all, it wasn't going to last long.

"Well, think of the extra money," Emma offered, wondering as she did so how much the NHS would have to pay her to persuade her to stay any longer the particular day. It wasn't in their budget, she decided. She was exhausted. She was drained. And she needed a proper holiday. But a picnic with her parents would be a good start.

Ruby flopped sideways onto the next chair, curling her feet up behind her and groaning. "If you put up photos of you and your mum enjoying the summer weather, I will kill you when I get home, just saying."

"Duly noted," Emma laughed. "Look, I've gotta head back. My break's over. See you later though. I'll even save you some cocktail sausages."

A vague wave of her hand was all the response Emma got before she headed back towards A and E. The day had been fairly quiet so far although she expected the later shifts would see an influx of people suffering from dehydration and heatstroke. Brits just didn't know how to handle hot weather and cost the NHS dearly for their ignorance. But so far, the pace had been manageable and the incidents she'd seen had all justified a trip to an emergency doctor or nurse.

"Who's next?" she asked Beverly as she walked up to the nurse's station and found the receptionist chatting with Billy.

"Emma, perfect. Can you see to that lass in the corner?" Beverly replied, turning to survey the quiet waiting area. "Oh, poor love's fallen asleep. Nasty cut on her jaw. Not my place to speculate but if you can get her talking, I think she needs a compassionate ear. There are a couple of people who technically came in before her but I really want you to see her. Whatever happened, I'm pretty sure it wasn't an accident."

"Did she say it was?" Emma asked, scanning over the clipboard Beverly had handed her.

"No, but she didn't say much. If anyone can get her talking, I know you can."

"She speaks English though, right?" Emma double checked, noting where the next patient had said she was from on the forms. "My Spanish is a little rusty."

"Oh yes, barely a hint of an accent. Let me go and wake her up."

"Ok, thanks," Emma replied, continuing to read through the paperwork. A shout from the far side of the room, a few moments later, made her look up. Beverly was standing a little way off, the young woman recoiled against the back of the chair. Emma watched as Beverly reassured her and slowly the young woman uncurled herself and stood to follow the receptionist. Not wanting to look like she was staring, Emma hastily returned her attention to the paperwork until her next patient was right in front of her.

"Here you are, Nurse Swan. This is Regina Mills."

Emma smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way at the young brunette and gestured for her to follow her. They walked down the corridor, Regina a few steps behind her, until they reached her treatment room.

"Take a seat," Emma offered, waving her hand towards the chair beside her desk. "So, it looks like you're in need of some steri-strips."

"Some what?"

"They're like stitches," Emma explained, "but they're basically bits of tape. It's less invasive and from what I can see, your cut isn't deep enough to need stitches. Plus, I can do steri-strips myself, whereas a doctor is needed to do stitches and there can be quite a wait. Is that ok?"

"Yes," came the quiet reply. "Thanks."

Emma put the clipboard down and took a seat herself, noticing as she did so that the woman had curled in on herself on the chair. She was clearly used to making herself appear as small as possible. "No need to thank me but I am going to need to just check over the area just to make sure there's no damage we can't see. I know you can speak, of course. Does it hurt to open your mouth wider?"

"A bit," Regina admitted.

"Can you describe the pain?"

"It's an ache most of the time. But if I open my mouth too wide, the cut stings. It's not bad though. I don't need pain medication or anything. Just stitch it up or use those sticky things, whatever."

There was a slight lilt to the woman's voice, the barest hint of an accent but she spoke fluidly, Emma noted.

"Are you comfortable with me examining your jaw?" Emma asked. She knew better than to just reach out and start poking around any patient, particularly one whose history, she suspected, involved physical abuse.

There was a brief hesitation before Regina nodded, turning her injured side towards the blonde nurse and closing her eyes. Emma wheeled her chair across the floor towards her patient. "Ok, let's take a look here," she said softly. "So, I'm going to touch your chin and by your ear, just above your cut, ok?"

A nod of consent. Emma continued, gently resting her fingers of one hand on the girl's slender chin wile the other came up to in front of her ear.

"Ok, can you open your mouth a little for me?" Emma asked, waiting for the woman time to do as she requested. "Good, a little wider." Again, Regina complied. "And wider still."

The third movement led to a sharp intake of breath as the skin around the wound tugged, threatening to split the barely healed gash.

"Ok, you can close your mouth," Emma replied. "Sorry if that was a little uncomfortable."

"S'okay," Regina replied, eyes still closed.

"Right, well, from what I could feel, your jaw is moving without any problems. I'm going to need to clean this up a bit and once I've done that, I'll be able to steri-strip the cut. I don't think there are any broken bones here, so you're lucky but this is going to sting a bit while I clean the wound."

Again, Regina nodded. Emma set about gathering what she needed and prepared the first cleaning swab. "Ready?

"Sure," Regina replied.

Tenderly, Emma began to wipe away some of the dried blood, starting at the furthest points from the wound and slowly working inwards. Olive skin shone wet where the antiseptic solution had removed the evidence of the woman's pain. She worked steadily and proficiently, not wanting to prolong the woman's discomfort. But as she uncovered more of the woman's jaw, Emma noticed a familiar bruising pattern. Her heart sank. She had been afraid of this, particularly after what Beverly had said. The older woman was rarely wrong with things like these.

Once the wound was cleaned, Emma ran her finger gently along the woman's jawline, feeling for any damage. Aside from twitching slightly when her fingertips passed over the mottled purple skin, Regina didn't react.

"So," Emma said casually, as she threw the bloodied swabs away and set about preparing the steri-strips. "What happened?"

"Nothing," came the immediate response. "Got hit by a door."

Got hit by a door? Emma repeated to herself. What a weird way to put it. Even if it was true, which she was sure it wasn't. And the woman's spoken English was flawless from what she'd heard so far, so it couldn't be a language problem. Regardless of the strangely worded lie, Emma's antennae was up and she wasn't going to ignore her instinct, nor Beverly's.

"Regina, can I call you, Regina?" Emma asked, as she picked up the first strip. The young woman shrugged and nodded her consent. "I know you don't know me and I don't expect you to trust me but if you did want to tell me what really happened, I promise I can help."

"There's nothing to tell," Regina replied shortly. "I walked into a door last night. It was dark. I didn't realise it was there."

Emma said nothing as she concentrated on putting the first strip in place, fingers pressing as gently as possible to secure it. "Ok, but if there was another reason for this injury, if something else did happen, there are people I can call who can help. Nice people. They'll keep you safe."

"I'm fine."

The second strip was put in place, Emma's eyes glued to the bruises which were now partially covered by the translucent material. "The police are great, you know."

"I don't need the cops," Regina snapped.

"They're so much better than they used to be when it comes to domestic abuse," she pushed, much more boldly now.

"There's no domestic abuse here. Just leave it. I'm fine."

The third and fourth strips were placed in silence but Emma couldn't resist trying again. "Regina, whatever's happening to you, you don't have to put up with this. You can get out if you want to."

There was silence. Emma watched the young woman's face as her lips pursed together, clearly biting back words. And, a few seconds later, a fat tear leaked out from beneath dark lashes, rolling traitorously down her cheek.

"Regina," Emma whispered, reaching out and resting her hand on top of one of the fists balled in the woman's lap. "I can help. Just say the word."

The brunette dropped her head, turning away from the nurse as she tried to hide her tears. She pulled her hands out from beneath Emma's and swiped at her cheeks, sniffing audibly as she tried to compose herself. Emma's heart broke at the sight. The woman looked so small, so alone, so vulnerable.

"You can't help," Regina whispered eventually.

"I can. I promise. We can help you here. There are services, shelters. It'll be fine if you just let me call someone to report this."

"No!" The woman's head shot up, eyes now fiery behind the tears. "No, there's nothing to report. Nothing is wrong. Just leave it, ok?"

"Regina, I -"

"Stop meddling, Nurse Swan," Regina snapped. "Just do your job, ok? And let me do mine."

Those final words hit Emma hard. Her job. This was the woman's job? Being a punching bag? She opened her mouth to say something but the look on the brunette's face told her nothing she was going to say would help.

"You know, I think you might need an x-ray," she lied. "I'm not quite sure if your jaw is actually ok or if it's fractured."

"You said it was fine," Regina sighed. "It feels fine."

"Better to be safe than sorry. I just need to get the doctor to take a look for me. Sit tight and I'll be back in five minutes."

Regina rolled her eyes but said nothing more. Emma snapped off her gloves and got to her feet to leave the room. Outside in the corridor, she glanced around for a doctor she could rely on to help her. Some were better than others when it came to understanding domestic abuse victims. Dr Whale was walking away from her but she wasn't going to ask for his assistance.

"Oh, perfect, Dr Fisher," Emma called out, spotting the tall doctor at the far end of the corridor. "Can you come and take a look at a patient for me?"

"Emma, hi, is everything ok?" she asked, strolling towards the nurse.

"No, not really. I've got a DV survivor in there," she explained, jerking her thumb over her shoulder into the room where Regina was sitting.

Dr Fisher's face creased with sadness. "Not again. What happened?"

"Well, she didn't actually say," Emma admitted.

This time, the doctor's eyebrows rose. "She hasn't told you she was a victim of domestic violence?"

Emma shook her head. "Not in so many words but I know she was. There's a fist-shaped bruise on her jaw for fuck's sake. Sorry," she added. "I just get so angry. Look, can you help me? I know I can get her to talk, to accept our help. I just need half an hour. I told her I needed a doctor to x-ray her jaw to buy me some time. Can you do that?"

Dr Fisher sighed. "Emma, you can't save everyone, you know that. Unless they give us permission to involve the authorities, our hands are tied."

"She's on a work visa," Emma argued. "She's probably scared of being sent back to Puerto Rico. She wants my help, Ingrid, I know it. Please, I know I can't save everyone but something's telling me I can save her."

"Ok, ok," Ingrid reassured, reaching out and placing both her hands on Emma's shoulders as she saw how worked up the blonde was getting. "I'll help you to help her but Emma, if she doesn't want to access these services, you know we can't force it."

"I know, but I want to give her a chance. She's called Regina, ok? She's alone and scared and I think she'll be willing to help herself if I can show her some options."

"I'll see her, for you."

"This isn't for me, it's for her," Emma replied. "But thanks. I really appreciate it."

"I hope she appreciates what you're doing for her," Ingrid replied before walking past Emma and making her way into the treatment room. Emma heard her introduce herself to Regina as she was rushing off to her locker. Inside, she rooted through her handbag for her mobile and tapped into WhatsApp to make a call.

"Dad, I need your help."

A/N: Forgot to say, follow me on Instagram at swanqueenuk or Twitter at swanqueenukff