This is a look back on Chapters 1-38
A/N: Hey Everyone, thank you for sticking with this story this long! If there was no one to read it I probably wouldn't be writing it so thank you for staying and putting up with my frequent long gaps between updates. I really hope to hear from more of you, it is your comments that keep me motivated! I know that most of you prefer to stay in the background but I would super appreciate it if you would leave even just a small comment after reading the chapters to let me know your thoughts, if you liked it, what you want to see in future chapters, anything! :)
I realise that it has been quite some time since the beginning and middle chapters of the story were posted. I have been writing this for 3 years now (or 2 years because this was a one-shot for about a year until I decided to continue), but since the story has been going on for so long I know some concepts of the story may have been forgotten because that is what happens to me when I read long stories! It is totally my fault if that is the truth because I should be trying to update more frequently so readers don't have time to forget! So below is a short recap of the chapters to date.
This recap is ideal if you need a refresher/more information on what has happened to Regina's health. I know at least one reader is unclear as to why Regina is sick, so I thought I would post a recap of the rest of the story along with the information! This recap mostly focuses on Regina's deteriorating health but touches on other important plot points as well.
If you do not need any refresher of the story, simply skip this update and I am sorry that there will be no new chapter today.
Recap: Chapters 1-38
The story opened with Regina knowing that Henry was depressed and she understood that she was a big part of the problem. She agreed that Henry could move to Boston with Emma because she hoped it would help him and he would be able to find happiness again. However when Henry was in Boston he became homesick and began to miss his mother and wanted to return to Storybrooke. In the mean time, Regina was growing more and more devastated as the realisation hit her that she had lost Henry's love forever. Unable to bear the pain of her heartbreak, she opted to take her own life by swallowing a bottle of pills with a glass of apple cider. She was found in the morning by David and Mary Margaret, who had received a worried phone call from Henry and Emma. Henry had feared for Regina's safety because he could not get in touch with her when he tried to call to ask if he could come home.
Regina's life was saved when David was able to get her to throw up some of what she had swallowed, which gave them enough time to get her to the hospital. However since the toxins had been in her system for so long she suffered some liver damage. She was discharged from the hospital into the care of Emma who had offered to stay at the Mills' house to help out until Regina was feeling better. After Regina was brought home, she was still suffering mentally and physically from what had happened, but at this point they still believed the liver damage was the worst of her injuries.
Emma and Henry convinced Regina to accompany them on a trip to Boston to collect Henry's things, and on the trip there was some bonding between the three. Regina was sick on the way to Boston, and at this point they believed it was because she was still recovering from what had happened only one week before. Emma's explanation to Henry was that Regina was carsick.
On the way home from Boston, after some hesitation Regina decided to tell Emma about the curse because she wanted her help to break it. Regina did this because she did not want Henry to grow up under the curse and in a town that never aged etc. She felt terribly for lying to him about the curse. At first Emma thinks Regina is having a go at her, but with some help, finally believes her and agrees to assist.
Regina is worried about how the town will react. They lived in a world without magic and once the curse was broken there would be no stopping the townspeople if they chose to seek vengeance on Regina for cursing them. Emma was surprised that Regina thought the townspeople might do this, because the people she knew were very nice for the most part. However she assured Regina that whatever happened, Emma was on her side. This was because Emma had witnessed how hard Henry had taken nearly losing Regina (because he had previously thought she was going to die in the hospital), and Emma was not about to let him go through losing her again.
After their trip to Boston, Regina and Emma begin to realise (separately) that something was not quite right with Regina. Regina had been feeling increasingly more tired, for example falling asleep in the middle of the day when she had just meant to sit down for a few minutes, and feeling unusually cold. At first they thought it was because Regina was just recovering, and for Emma she believed the trip to Boston had been too much too soon for Regina. However as time went on, Regina's condition worsened.
After a particularly bad turn Regina had taken when she found Henry missing from the house, they had taken Regina to see Archie who had agreed to an emergency session. His diagnosis was that she had high anxiety, but he had also referred her to the hospital for more tests. This was because of her fainting spell that same day, and also because of how ill she had gotten on the way to Boston that weekend. Archie believed it was a panic attack, but that was only part of the problem. After some tests at the hospital they discovered that Regina was also suffering from kidney failure, which had not shown up in the initial tests when she had been admitted after her suicide attempt.
She was going to be put on a treatment called dialysis to slow down and treat her kidney failure, and Doctor Whale told her that she still had some time before it was absolutely necessary that she receive treatment. When it gets to a certain stage, kidney failure is fatal, but Regina had not yet reached that point. Regina decided to wait because dialysis is such a time consuming process, and she did not want to worry Henry just yet because he had already gone through so much. She knew Henry was still blaming himself for her suicide attempt, and she did not want him to have more to feel guilty for because she didn't want him to feel it was his fault at all.
Regina's condition continued to worsen, and one day about a month after their trip to Boston Emma was taking Henry to school. Henry had wanted Regina to come with them, and Regina had wanted to come too but had fallen asleep in her room after breakfast. Emma knew she had been feeling unwell that morning and told Henry to let her sleep, and that she would bring Regina with her to pick Henry up after school. At the school, Emma knew Henry was having a hard time. He was upset seeing his mother suffer and Emma knew he needed a little extra comforting that morning. She had never given him a goodbye kiss when dropping him off at the school before because she had not wanted to embarrass him, but this morning she decided to, after telling him that she loved him.
The curse therefore, was accidentally broken prematurely. Emma and Regina had planned on breaking the curse themselves but in their own timing and with a plan as to how to handle the townspeople. Their plan had been to try to get Snow and Charming to share a kiss of true love, but as Emma's actions proved, that was not how the curse was to be broken. Regina had slept through the breaking of the curse that morning, and when she woke up, she was not aware of what had happened. When magic swarmed the town courtesy of Mr. Gold, she had no idea what was going on. Emma phoned to warn her that an angry mob was headed her way but by then it was too late. There was no time for Regina to act before angry townspeople converged on her house.
Dr. Whale had gathered the mob, and he had threatened that they would torture and kill her. By the time Emma, her parents and Henry arrived, Dr. Whale had already started attacking her. Regina suffered some scrapes and bruises, but the Charmings had gotten to her before things got too messy. Dr. Whale did rough her up a bit, but because of her illness she bruised more easily than normal. The worst bruising was around her neck where Whale had been strangling her, and also on her back from when he had thrown her against the house.
Regina had been saved from the initial attack but as they were trying to calm the mob down, Henry noticed someone moving through the crowd with a gun. Correctly assuming their intentions, he threw himself in front of his mother just in time to save her from being hit by a bullet from Spencer's gun.
David quickly carried Henry inside while Emma and Snow struggled to get a shock-stricken Regina inside the house. What basically happened was that after David took Henry, Regina's body went into a temporary physical shut down which is called shock. She had difficulty standing, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion etc. She was only really brought back to reality when the force of Emma and Snow pulling her to her feet snapped her into reality again.
Once inside, Regina tried to heal Henry but her magic was still not working as she had previously discovered when confronting the mob on her lawn. David called the Blue Fairy and she arrived in time to save Henry's life. She put a protection spell around the house but had been called away shortly after.
That evening, Emma finds Regina in her room desperately trying to heal herself. In Chapter 33 they come to the conclusion that Regina must be too weak from her illness to use her magic. Emma tried to comfort Regina and a spark of magic was felt when she touched Regina's arm, but Regina was still unable to use any spells. Emma had wanted Regina to ask the Blue Fairy to heal her like she did for Henry, but Regina disagreed. The reason she gave Emma was that the Blue Fairy did not help people like her. Regina insisted that the Blue Fairy had only put the protection spell around the house for Henry's sake and not for Regina's. (However there is more to this story, Emma has since tried to ask her why she won't just ask Blue and Regina keeps dodging the answer)
Regina's current medical state:
After a visit from Kathryn, Regina gets very sick and Henry calls Mary Margaret for help because Regina had told him not to bother Emma. It is clear that Regina's condition is worsening. She needs immediate medical attention but they cannot go to Storybrooke General. They also cannot get to a hospital outside of town because the townspeople are blocking the borders. They want Regina to lift the curse on the line before allowing her to leave. (And some townspeople do simply want to kill Regina)
Regina's symptoms are continuously worsening. Her main symptoms include feeling constantly cold, exhaustion, difficulty sleeping at night but sleeping more during the day, shortness of breath, lack of energy, lack of appetite, and nausea. She also sometimes has difficulty concentrating which is a little less obvious in the story, and she is sometimes confused (like the scene about her parents) and this is a symptom as well, however her asking for her parents also had much to do with her fever. Fevers are not a symptom of kidney failure. The reason she's had a fever in the past two chapters is partially because of the kidney failure, but the disease is not the main cause. More will be explained in the story.
Before the curse broke in this story, Regina had gone to Mary Margaret under the guise of thanking her for saving her life. In truth she had also wanted to begin making amends with her stepdaughter because she feared that once the curse broke it would be too late. Mary Margaret remembered this visit after the curse broke, and while she was still angry with everything that Regina had done, she did not forget that for most of her life she had wanted to regain the relationship she and her stepmother had began when they had first met before Snow had accidentally caused Daniel's death. Snow and Regina begin to repair their relationship, as has been seen in the most recent chapters.
There is much more to the story as you know because you've already read it, but I am only covering some of the major plot points here in hopes to give you all a refresher. I've read long stories over a long period of time before and so I know that it is difficult to remember every single detail. Hopefully this helps! If there are any questions that you need to ask about the story please don't hesitate to send me a PM or review. I am always happy to answer questions! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!
P.S. Emma will be returning shortly.
UPDATE: I don't know if anyone who has already read this chapter will see this, but just in case anyone looks back, I will be away all weekend so I will not have time to work on any of my stories. Also next week I will be moving back to school so I will be quite busy as I am moving into a new place. If there is an update it will probably be nearer to the end of next week. Thank you for your patience! Have a good week everyone.