A/N: Thank you for your patience in waiting for this next chapter. I hope you like the new update, I look forward to reading your reviews after!

Snow and Regina had stopped in the dining room as Regina watched Henry a little hesitantly through the window into the backyard. She had a soft smile on her face as she saw him play sword-fighting with David.

"Where did those come from?" Regina asked.

"The swords? David went out and got them about an hour after we got here. He hoped it would cheer Henry up."

"It looks like he succeeded."

"Mmm," Snow smiled in agreement. "It did take a while to convince him, but I think Henry needed a good distraction. He's still really worried about you though, he'll be really glad to see that you're up."

Regina's smile saddened as she continued to watch him. "Thank you for looking after him today. I'm relieved he didn't have to go through all of this on his own."

"Of course. We're more than happy to help."

Regina's eyes softened at her words but she didn't say anything more.

"Shall we?" Snow asked kindly, gesturing to the door that led to the backyard.

After a pause, Regina gave a small nod. They exited the house onto the white covered terrace, and moved through it towards the open grassy area of the backyard. David had noticed them when they had first stepped out onto the patio, and had already initiated a stop to his and Henry's game.

A confused Henry allowed his sword to fall to his side, and he turned around to see what David was trying to show him. As his eyes fell on his mother and grandmother he immediately forgot about the game, and the toy sword he was holding dropped to the grass beside him.

"Mom!" He exclaimed, running towards them.

Now that he was closer, Regina could see that while yes he was smiling, there was still a lack of sparkle in his eyes and the traces of fear and worry were still evident.

The distance between them quickly closed and Henry threw himself into her arms. This action caused her to stumble back a step, but she didn't mind in the least and Mary Margaret was still helping to support her, meaning no harm had been done. The force of the impact had bothered Regina's head a little, but she forced herself to ignore the nausea so she could focus on comforting her son.

"Henry," she greeted him softly, wrapping her arms affectionately around him.

"How are you feeling?" David asked.

"I suppose it could be worse." Regina responded as gracefully as she could.

"Mom are you okay?" Henry practically sobbed.

Regina smiled warmly down at him. "I'm still feeling a little dizzy... And David and Mary Margaret probably already told you that I have a bit of a fever?"

Henry nodded, he pulled away enough to look up at her but found difficulty in asking his next question. "They said it could be why–I mean–Is that why you...?"

"Is that why I what?" Regina looked puzzled as she tried to figure out what it was he was trying to ask her. However intuition soon gave her the answer. "Why I asked for my father?"

Henry nodded. "David said that it might be why."

"Yes I believe so too." Regina responded. She would have acknowledged David but she was afraid of bringing on another wave of dizziness by looking around too much. "Sometimes if a person's fever is high enough it can make them see or believe things that aren't really happening. But don't worry, it is only temporary."

"Is it like dreaming?"

"In a way, yes. To be quite honest I don't even remember saying those things to you. To me it's just as if it were any other dream that slipped away from me upon waking up."

"Don't worry Henry, I filled your mother in on the details." Mary Margaret added softly. "I thought she would love to know how brave you were today."

Regina smiled gently and brushed Henry's hair back with her fingers. "It was very sweet of you too look after me like that Henry, thank you."

Henry gave her a small smile in return but didn't respond. The fear she could still see in his eyes broke her heart, and so she pulled him back into her protective embrace. "Darling I'm so sorry for what I put you through this afternoon. If I had known it would get that bad I would have called someone for help much sooner."

"It's okay Mom." He responded quietly from where his head rested against her shirt. "It's not your fault that you're not feeling well." He said, quoting Emma's words from a few days earlier.

Regina's eyes softened as she rubbed his back comfortingly.

"But you're going to be okay now though right?" Henry asked. "Once the fever is gone? Fevers are how we fight stuff. That's what you always tell me whenever I have one... Is the fever going to help make you better after, like they do for me?"

Her expression turned pained as she held his gaze. She opened her mouth to respond but had to stop herself. She risked sharing a look with David and Mary Margaret before meeting her son's gaze again. "Henry... why don't you come sit with me for a bit and we can talk about it."

Henry was silent for a few seconds as her words washed over him.

When he finally managed a strained "okay" in response, it was clear he understood that he should be worried for what she was about to tell him.

"Do you need some help?" Snow asked as she saw Regina looking in the direction of a furniture set back on the patio.

"Thank you."

Snow nodded and took her stepmother's hand. Her other arm hovered around Regina's waist, just in case the mayor lost her balance. Regina needed to close her eyes often to shut out the dizziness, but in the end she was able to make it back to the terrace mostly on her own. Even if it was a little slowly.

Henry sat down beside her on a cushioned outdoor sofa. He didn't take his eyes off of her, anxious to hear what she wanted to tell him.

"I think it's probably best if we give you two some privacy." Snow said, patting David's chest to get him to follow her as she turned to go into the house.

"We'll be just inside if you need us." David agreed.

Regina gave them both a grateful smile. When the door had closed behind them she turned to meet her son's gaze again.

"Henry... there's something I've been meaning to tell you, and I'm afraid it's not good news."

"What is it?" He asked in a small voice.

"Henry... this is... I'm not quite sure how to start." She reached for his hand, squeezing it gently in order to comfort both him and herself, as she thought over her words.

Henry was staring at her. He had a sense of foreboding that was growing increasingly stronger with every silent moment that passed. He thought back to everything that kept happening since his mother had left the hospital after her suicide attempt. There was the time she had gotten sick on the way to Boston, the uncharacteristic panic attack she'd had the day after they got back, the symptoms she had been having that only seemed to get worse with every passing day, and finally, after what had happened only a few hours ago and with Regina now struggling to find a way to tell him something, Henry knew there had to be something that everyone was keeping from him.

"Mom..." Henry's voice broke as he realized what it was she must be trying to say. "You're not getting any better are you?"

Regina blinked back a few tears before shaking her head ever so slightly. "No Henry I'm not."

Henry was looking at her with eyes so full of fearful sadness that it cut through Regina like a knife.

"Sweetheart I think it's probably best if I start at the beginning." She said, gently caressing his cheek with the back of her hand. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten how sick I was in the hospital?"

Henry shook his head. "You almost died."

"That's right." She replied softly. "And when I was there, they told me that I had some liver damage because of the pills I had taken."

"Liver?"

"Yes. You may not know what that is. It's an important part of our body which does many things including helping to clean our blood. But something else that it does is to process the potentially toxic substances that we put into our bodies. It makes them less harmful to us."

"Like poison?"

"Well, on the rare occasion perhaps. But the liver wouldn't be able to clean up straight poison without professional medical help. No, the toxins I'm talking about are more along the lines of medicine or alcohol."

"Alcohol... like wine and apple cider? And medicine... Those are all toxic?" Henry asked.

"If too much is taken at one time then yes they can be. If used in the wrong way even medicine can be dangerous. And as for alcohol, in small quantities it is generally safe for adults to consume as long as the person drinking it is careful and makes responsible decisions."

Regina raised a slightly shaky hand to her forehead and took a deep breath to try to steady herself. Her head was beginning to pound again but she knew that it was best to give Henry the whole truth at once, she couldn't stop now.

"Henry, what I'm trying to say is that when I took those pills that morning when you were still in Boston... I took far too many for my liver to be able to process. I also had a bit of alcohol to help–" She closed her eyes, always hating the memory. "–to help wash them down... and that only made my liver's job even harder. I knew how dangerous it was, and I knew well what the consequences were... but that was the point." Regina said quietly. "After I was resuscitated, my liver still worked but it had suffered some serious damage. I think you already knew that it was the pills that made me sick?"

Henry nodded.

"But until now no one had explained to you why?"

Henry shook his head. "Just that you took a lot more than you were supposed to and they hurt you."

Regina's eyes saddened at hearing those words from his mouth. "And now do you understand why they were so dangerous?"

"I think so. Is it your liver that's making you sick now?"

Regina gave a soft sigh. "No, not exactly. Do you remember when I had to go back to the hospital? After our trip to Boston?"

"Yeah. You had a panic attack... And you also fainted?"

Regina nodded. "I was a little confused. I couldn't find you and I thought... well I thought maybe you might have left me again."

"What?" Henry's eyes widened.

Regina smiled apologetically. "I know better now. I know you wouldn't just leave like that." She said softly, which calmed Henry a little. "But as I'm sure you remember, I... well I suppose I got scared when I couldn't find you. I overreacted. Archie believed it was a panic attack brought on by too much stress, but he referred me to the hospital just in case it was something more. Doctor Whale ran some tests that day and we discovered that I had some kidney damage as well. We don't know if that had anything to do with the panic attack, but Doctor Whale did say that the fainting was unusual and there could have been some medical reasons behind it."

Henry's brow was furrowed as he tried to understand. "What do kidneys do?"

"They filter our blood."

"I thought that's what the liver does?"

"Well, both organs do their part, but in their own way. Both are essential towards keeping us healthy. My kidneys were damaged badly because of what I did, and they've been getting weaker ever since."

"And damaged kidneys... can they be fixed? Emma said you were sleeping more because that's how we heal ourselves."

"Well, Emma wasn't wrong about that. Sleep does wonders for us but in my case, sleeping alone isn't going to fix me. Doctor Whale explained to me that with my kidneys failing, there is less oxygen in my blood and that's what's making me feel so tired and cold all the time. As my health worsens, the symptoms increase. And that's why I've been sleeping so much."

Henry was staring downwards as he tried to make sense of everything he was hearing. "Is there a way for you to get better?"

Regina smiled softly. "There is. But I need to get to a hospital as soon as possible for that, and unfortunately the townspeople have been making it a little difficult for me to leave Storybrooke."

Henry frowned. "What about magic?"

Regina's eyes saddened. "I did try Henry. But unfortunately I wasn't able to do it. My magic wasn't returned with the new powers that were brought to town. It might be because I'm just not strong enough to use my magic right now but... the reason doesn't matter since it doesn't change the fact that I can't heal myself either way."

"What about someone else? The Blue Fairy?"

"She doesn't want to help me."

"Did you ask her?"

"She's made it quite clear in the past that she regards me in the lowest levels of humanity."

"But she's a good person. I know she would want to help after she's seen how badly hurt you are, and how badly you feel for everything you've done."

Regina closed her eyes briefly, trying to ignore the wave of hatred she felt for that fairy. But despite everything, Blue had saved Henry's life and that meant Regina wasn't allowed to have bad feelings towards her, no matter what had happened between them.

"Mom," Henry's voice broke again. "If you don't get to a hospital... are you going to die?"

Regina swallowed, trying to stop herself from allowing any tears to fall. "If I don't get to a hospital, yes Henry I will."

Henry looked crestfallen. "Mom... I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, if I hadn't left you–" He choked back a sob.

"Henry no, as I've said before, this is not your fault. I made my own choices. The consequences I'm facing now are entirely due to my own actions."

"But if I'd only just–"

"Henry, I did this to myself." She insisted.

Henry buried his response, he knew it was useless to argue with her about that now.

"How long do you have left?" He asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

"I don't know. Maybe a few weeks or months if I'm lucky. The treatment I need is called dialysis. I was able to live for a while without it but now it's crucial that I receive it. But unfortunately the curse broke before I was able to go to my first appointment."

Henry was looking more and more devastated with each passing minute. "Mom why didn't you tell me sooner? I thought you were getting better, you should have told me."

Regina sighed regretfully. "A part of me wanted to, truly I did, but I knew you would only blame yourself and that was just another burden that I didn't want you to have to bear. You've been through way too much lately. No child should have to experience what you've been going through. You've been feeling too much guilt lately and I didn't want to add to that. You shouldn't feel guilty about any of what's happened."

"But I would have wanted to know." Henry repeated tearfully.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I thought I was doing the right thing by protecting you from it."

"Why didn't you start that treatment right away? Why did you wait?"

Regina opened her mouth to respond but couldn't bring herself to say the words. It took her a few moments to gather the courage and in the end she was able to manage a pained response. "Doctor Whale said I would be fine if I waited a little while. I think maybe he misjudged how quickly my health was failing. And I also waited because… because I didn't want you to find out. Not until it was absolutely necessary. I just didn't want you to have more to worry about. "

"So you lied?" Henry asked as he wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve. "Why did you and Emma keep telling me you were going to be okay?"

"Because we– I didn't want to add to your pain."

"But now since you waited you might not get better." Henry sobbed.

Regina lowered her gaze. "I know. I didn't think things would turn out this way. Sweetheart I made a mistake."

"When you took the pills... did you think I wouldn't miss you?"

Regina opened her mouth to disagree, but found herself unable to give voice to the lie. Her silence gave him his answer.

"Mom," Henry's voice broke.

"When I..." Regina's voice also shook a little. "When I took those pills, I admit I was mostly thinking of how they would end my own sorrow. I didn't give enough consideration to the effects my actions would have on you. I was selfish, and I'll never be able to forgive myself for what I put you through."

"Mom I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left. You asked me not to go and I shouldn't have. I should have thought more about you too... Mom I don't want you to die." Henry sobbed, huddling into her embrace.

She felt her heart break at his words as she wrapped her arms around him protectively.

"Please don't leave me." He cried into her shirt as he clung to her fiercely.

"I'll try not to, I promise." She whispered, holding onto him desperately as she tried not to let herself fall apart. "Believe me Henry, leaving you is the very last thing I want to do."

She pressed a long, gentle kiss to the top of his head as she felt tears of her own begin to run down her face. She didn't know for sure if she was going to survive this.

Seeing Henry so distressed was almost more than she could handle. All she wanted to do was to comfort him and to tell him that everything was going to be alright.

She could assure him that she would be fine, or she could promise him that she would get better, but they would both know that it would just be another lie. Rather than giving voice to the dishonesty, Regina simply had to content herself by holding her son close as he wept in her arms.