A/N: To my fellow Canadians but also to all of my readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I wouldn't still be writing this if there was no one here to read it, so thank you for your continued support.
Emma was on her way to see Regina and Henry and she had just closed the door that led from the house into the backyard. She walked through the covered patio and crossed the lawn to where they were reclining together in a lounge chair.
"Hey you two." Emma smiled, pulling a chair closer to them to take a seat.
"Hey Emma," Henry replied.
Regina just opened her eyes and gave her a small smile in greeting.
"I heard you've been having a bit of a rough afternoon. How are you feeling?" Emma asked her.
"A little better now thank you."
Emma glanced at Henry, who was looking up at her from where he was still nestled in Regina's embrace. She felt a pang in her heart when she saw the worry that had probably been in his eyes all afternoon, and she had to look back at Regina instead.
"David and Mary Margaret told me what happened. Or they gave me the gist of it at least. It sounds like it was pretty serious, are you guys both okay?"
Henry gave a small nod but Regina didn't respond, she just closed her eyes instead.
Emma frowned. "Mary Margaret said your fever was pretty bad earlier. Do you mind if I check your temperature? I don't have a thermometer but–"
"No I don't mind." Regina responded softly, her eyes still closed.
Emma left her sentence unfinished. She moved to sit on the edge of the chaise longue so she could reach Regina's forehead more easily. She raised her hand but hesitated, and after a moment or two Regina blinked her eyes open to see what was keeping her.
Emma's eyes met hers briefly before she reached up again.
When the back of Emma's hand touched Regina's unusually warm skin, the brunette closed her eyes again and wrapped her arms more securely around her son.
"It feels pretty high." Emma commented, still keeping her hand on Regina's forehead. "Maybe it's time to get some ice to make sure it doesn't get any worse?"
Regina gave a quiet sigh. She opened her eyes again, beginning to unwrap her arms from around Henry as Emma withdrew her hand. "I think I'd like to go back inside now."
Emma studied her for a moment or two. Finally she nodded her agreement. "Yeah, okay if that's what you want."
Henry silently sat up to give Regina some room. She took the blanket off from over herself and set it aside. She carefully began to get up, however she soon had to stop.
Emma watched Regina in concern as the brunette pressed her palm to her forehead in obvious discomfort.
"You seemed alright this morning when I left you and Kathryn." Emma commented quietly. "What the hell happened?"
Regina's eyes were closed again and she was breathing a little more heavily from the effort of trying to fight the nausea.
"I don't know." She responded thickly. "I suppose I just didn't get enough sleep last night or something."
"You don't get this sick from not sleeping. Not usually."
"Well perhaps my underlying condition is to blame."
"Maybe..." Emma agreed. "I'll ask the doctor about it tonight, maybe –"
Regina's brow furrowed in fearful confusion. "What did you say?" She asked, squinting her eyes open.
"Oh... yeah I forgot I haven't told you yet. After Mary Margaret got Henry's call this afternoon I phoned the hospital in Boston and–"
"You did what?"
"This is getting bad Regina. We're in over our heads here, you need professional medical help."
"Emma... you know as well as anyone that I can't go to Boston."
Emma gave a quiet sigh. "Regina you didn't let me finish." She said patiently. "The call wasn't to schedule an appointment for you. If that was the case I would have asked you first I swear. I just want to be able to talk to an expert that's all. Someone who can tell me what I can do to best help you until we can get you to a hospital."
Regina's eyes searched the ground as she thought this over.
"Is that okay?" Emma asked. "I didn't mean to go behind your back or anything like that. I just think it's about time we acted a little more forcefully that's all. You and I both know that this isn't going to go away on its own."
"No," Regina agreed quietly. Her eyes were still narrowed thoughtfully as she looked up at Emma. "It's fine. It's just at first I thought you meant... well it doesn't matter."
Emma nodded her understanding. Whale. "So you're okay with me talking to them?"
Regina didn't respond right away. Instead she looked to Henry. She gave him a small smile, rubbing his arm softly. "Of course I am."
"Good," Emma smiled in relief. She had been worried that Regina had thought she had crossed some boundary by making the appointment without first consulting her. "Let me know if there's anything in particular you want me to ask her."
"Who is this doctor exactly?"
"Her name is Dr. Montgomery. She's the leading nephrologist at Massachusetts General."
"What's a nephrologist?" Henry asked.
"A doctor who specializes in kidney health care and diseases. I guess Regina's already explained to you what's been going on? You know... explained why she hasn't been feeling well lately?"
"Yeah." Henry responded quietly.
Emma gave him a small comforting smile, thankful that he wasn't still in the dark about everything that Regina had been going through.
"Will the Boston doctor be able to help my mom get better?" Henry asked.
Emma patted his shoulder. "I really hope so kid."
She met Regina's gaze again and saw a twinkle of light in the brunette's eyes.
"Thank you for doing this Emma."
Emma reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "Anytime Regina."
Regina's expression softened before she looked down at their clasped hands.
"Now, you wanted to go back into the house." Emma recalled. "Did you want some help getting inside? I'm guessing the dizziness is making walking a little more tedious."
Regina gave a soft sigh. "Yes it is. And I would really appreciate that."
Emma gave her a reassuring smile, knowing that this new development in her health was probably vexing Regina even more than usual. She had already felt so helpless before the fever, and now she could barely even sit up without difficulty.
"Don't worry." Emma said, still holding Regina's hand as she stood up. "The fever won't last forever. But in the meantime we're all going to make sure we do everything we can to help out, right Henry?"
"Right."
Regina didn't respond since Emma had already wrapped her arm around her to help her stand up.
"You ready?" Emma asked.
Regina gave the tiniest of nods, bracing herself for the unpleasantness that she knew would come next.
Regina reached an arm up around Emma's shoulders and pressed heavily down on her hand to give herself the leverage she needed to get onto her feet.
Once she was standing up she remained still for a few moments, closing her eyes to block out the image of the world whirling around her.
"How is that, are you okay?" Emma's voice asked from beside her.
Regina gave a tiny "yes" in reply.
"If it would be easier for you, you could keep your eyes closed if you want. I promise I won't let you walk into any walls or anything." Emma finished more amiably.
Regina breathed a laugh. She stole a look at Emma but found herself instantly regretting it since the unsteadiness of her vision made her queasy.
"Hmm. It's worth a try I suppose. It took about an hour for Mary Margaret and I to get down the stairs, I'd like to get back up in at least half that amount of time."
"An hour huh?" Emma repeated with a doubtful grin.
"Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it did take far too long."
"Well... however long it will take us, eyes open or closed you can trust me Regina."
Regina looked at Emma again, but more carefully this time so as to avoid another wave of dizziness. What she now saw was the sincerity in the blonde's expression.
She took a soft intake of breath as if she wanted to say something. She searched Emma's eyes for a few moments before choosing a response.
"You'd better not be lying to me Miss Swan." She threatened mockingly, in a way that so reminded Emma of Regina's more usual self.
"I'm not. Don't worry I'll keep you safe. You won't run into anything, not on my watch. Although... I might have an even better solution."
Regina eyed the blonde suspiciously at her tone. "What is it?"
"I could always just carry you." Emma replied lightly. "It might be easier and let's be honest, it would save us both loads of time."
Regina made a small sound of amusement at the thought. Her lips pressed together to form the kind of smile that Emma hadn't seen in far too long.
"Thank you dear but I don't think it's come to that just yet. And besides, when was the last time you slept? You're probably exhausted and the last thing I need is for you to end up dropping me."
"Come on I would never drop you." Emma assured her.
Regina's smile grew but her eyelashes fluttered as she dropped her gaze in an almost self-conscious way.
"Still I think I'll just walk for now." Regina replied a little more softly.
Emma chuckled. "Alright just thought I'd offer, let's get you back inside then. Henry why don't you go ahead and open the door for us?"
"Okay." Henry grinned, happy to see a proper smile on Regina's face again. He grabbed the blanket that she had left on the chair and then went to go open to door for his two mothers.
Emma first made sure that Regina would be able to handle the movement by starting off slowly. Once she was certain that Regina was comfortable enough, Emma began to carefully help her back to the house.
"I am serious though Emma. You really should get some rest." Regina insisted as they followed Henry. "Be honest with me, did you get any sleep at all last night?"
She tried to look sideways at Emma but found the angle too uncomfortable. Instead she resolved to trust Emma's guidance and closed her eyes. Still unsure if the idea was a good one or not, she held on to Emma a little more snuggly just in case she did trip.
"No not much..." Emma responded, also securing her arm around Regina's waist. "There was too much going on in town. I'll take a nap later on but I think we should work on getting your fever back down first."
"I can do that without your help. And besides, I'll have your mother. She's more than capable of handling one fever, trust me."
"Alright," Emma admitted defeat. "How about this, I'll go to bed until the phone call."
"Good. We can't both be out of commission. Henry needs at least one mother at full strength and I think you and I both know that's not likely going to be me." She finished quietly.
Emma's smile fell at Regina's self-deprecating words. "Maybe not today." She replied softly. "But soon you'll be back stronger than ever, and you'll be angry as hell wondering why in the world you would ever let your archenemy move into your house."
"You're not my enemy." Regina responded softly.
"Well that's nice to hear. But there was a time when you would have had a very different opinion about that statement."
"Thankfully that time has passed."
"Yeah." Emma smiled softly.
Regina suddenly came to a halt. She let go of Emma's hand and raised her palm to her forehead, voicing her discomfort.
Emma stopped walking to let Regina take a bit of a break.
"Don't push yourself." Emma said gently. "I appreciate you wanting to talk to me but if it's distracting you we can just focus on walking for now. We're almost there anyways."
Regina gave a soft, frustrated sigh. "I can't even walk and have a conversation at the same time now? What's next, having to be fed like a child?"
"Don't be so hard on yourself Regina, you didn't ask for this. It's just the fever, it'll go away."
Regina didn't respond, but just by the expression on her face Emma could tell that she still felt discouraged.
Emma waited patiently for Regina's dizziness to subside. She was rubbing her back softly as Regina slowly took deep, calming breaths.
Finally Regina met Emma's gaze again and she gave her a small apologetic smile.
"You good now?" Emma asked softly.
"Let's just get this over with."
As she dependently leaned against Emma, Regina kept her eyes mostly closed as they slowly made their way back to the house. She only opened them a few times when she thought there might be a dip in the lawn or something under her feet that would cause her to stumble, but she found that she was able to rely on Emma's assistance. Emma kept her word and managed to guide Regina back into the house unmarred.