It hadn't been long since Regina had gotten back into bed after her relaxing soak in the tub. She and Emma were both still awake, and even though both women were extremely exhausted, they had continued to stay up talking.

Emma and Regina were both lying on their sides facing each other, and currently Emma was observing Regina through tired eyes. Regina's own eyes were closed, but Emma could tell that the other woman still had yet to fall asleep. Emma knew they both desperately needed their rest, but she also couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Regina still didn't know everything that Emma had learned from Dr. Montgomery. She wasn't sure how much Regina had already been told by Whale, but she worried that Regina might not be aware of certain things.

"Hey, are you still awake?" Emma asked softly.

Regina made a soft noise in response but didn't open her eyes.

"I know you asked me to wait until morning to tell you about what the doctor said... you know, if you were asleep when I came up to talk to you..."

Regina sleepily blinked her eyes open as she continued to listen.

"And since you were, I was going to wait until tomorrow, but I can tell you now if you want?"

Regina was silent for a few moments as she pondered this. Soon her eyes turned a little worried. "Was it bad?" She asked quietly.

"Not all bad, no." Emma responded gently.

Regina gave a tiny nod, taking some comfort from that. She breathed a heavy sigh. "Does she know how much longer I have?"

"Well, obviously she can't give a definitive answer... especially because she's never seen you before," Emma began softly, "however, she said you may only have a few days left until it's absolutely vital that you start dialysis."

"A few days?"

"Yeah... If you wait any longer than that they'll still do everything they can to try to save you. They'll be able to keep you comfortable for your remaining time–"

Emma felt a twinge of heartache as Regina's gaze dropped from hers.

"–but Regina, if we wait too long, ultimately they might not be able to save your life. I'm no doctor so I can't explain everything as well as someone else could, and I really don't want to freak you out, but what Montgomery said happens if you wait too long is that basically you–"

"Emma wait," Regina quickly placed a hand on her arm to stop her. She shook her head. "Don't tell me, I don't want to know."

"You–" Emma propped herself up on her arm in surprise. "You don't?"

Regina shook her head, blinking back a few tears. "Not tonight at least. These past few days have just been so..." She gave a quiet, troubled sigh. "I just don't want to hear any more bad news right now. I'm feeling better than I have in days and I want to focus on that for now. I'd like to pretend for at least a few hours that everything's not a complete disaster."

"Okay," Emma replied gently.

She lied down on her back this time, staring up at the ceiling for a few moments. She closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh as she relaxed into the comfort of the pillow and blankets. "I've been thinking that it might be best if we left tomorrow night."

"I know, Mary Margaret already told me." Regina replied gently.

"I know it's not really my call to make but I–"

"It's okay, you're right, I can't stay here for much longer. Waiting won't necessarily mean the townspeople will be any more willing to let me go."

"No..." Emma agreed softly, opening her eyes once more. She turned on her side again to face Regina. "Ruby told David that the patrols around town are less of a threat overnight, so that's why I thought tomorrow night might be best. The chaos in town could die down by tomorrow... or more like later today I guess..." Emma added as she remembered that it was well after midnight. "But like you said, there's no reason to assume it will. So I thought we'd take the extra precaution and leave when there will be less people around."

Regina gave a small nod of agreement, but Emma could see tiny traces of fear in her eyes as the brunette continued to hold her gaze.

"Don't worry," Emma said softly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. We'll get out of this town; you, me and Henry. This time tomorrow we'll be nearing Boston. Hell, maybe we'll even be at Mass General by then. With David and Mary Margaret's help we'll make sure nothing happens to you on the way out of Storybrooke, I promise."

Regina studied Emma's expression but didn't respond. For a moment her mouth opened slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she soon changed her mind. Her gaze dropped a little and Emma noticed that her breathing had started to come a little more shallowly. Emma hadn't meant to put extra stress on Regina by discussing their departure, she just didn't want to keep Regina in the dark about anything.

Regina tiredly glanced at Emma again before wordlessly curling further into her pillow and closing her eyes.

Emma's brow furrowed in concern at the look she had seen on Regina's face.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked softly.

When there was no response, Emma inched a little closer to her and placed a comforting hand over the blankets where Regina's shoulder was.

She could see now that Regina had closed her eyes not because she was ready to sleep, but because she was trying to hide the tears that were forming in them. Since the tears were slipping through her eyelashes now anyways, her attempt had been futile.

"Hey," Emma whispered. "I mean it Regina, I promise I'll keep you safe."

Regina swallowed back her emotions as her hand reached to wipe away the escaped tears. She remained silent for a few more minutes. Her eyelashes fluttered open every once in a while but she still did not respond to Emma's attempted words of comfort.

As Emma guiltily continued to watch her, she began to wonder if Regina's upset wasn't just about fear of leaving the town safely.

"Regina what is it? You can tell me." Emma insisted gently. She was growing worried as the brunette continued to cry more heavily. She sat up and then placed her hand on Regina's shoulder again.

It was clear that Regina was still trying to fight the tears. She had wrapped her arms around herself and seemed to curl in on herself. Emma could hear her sniffling quietly, but as Regina's lips trembled, it was obvious that the brunette was not going to be able to keep the tears at bay.

"Regina please tell me what's wrong. If you're worried about going into town, I promise, I'm going to do everything I can to protect you. You don't have to worry about that part."

Regina sniffled again, wiping away a few more of the tears that had already streamed down her face. She swallowed once more before her tear-filled eyes finally looked up to meet Emma's pained expression again.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked gently.

"Emma..." Regina's voice trembled. "Emma I don't know if I'm going to make it to Boston."

"What are you talking about? Of course you will, it's just one more day. And the doctor said you'll be fine."

"But Emma... there's something I haven't told you." Regina practically whispered.

Emma ignored the wave of dread she felt at Regina's words, in order to force herself to stay focused.

"What haven't you told me?" Emma asked in a quiet, guarded voice.

Regina blinked heavily as a few more tears escaped her lashes. Her gaze dropped from Emma's again, but she reached out to place her hand on top of Emma's, which was resting on the mattress beside her. Regina's hand tightened softly around Emma's, and the blonde wasn't sure if Regina was either trying to regain her composure, was thinking over her words, or was simply trying to give herself some comfort.

"Regina, what haven't you told me?" Emma repeated slightly more forcefully, ignoring the slight catch in her voice as she glanced down at their hands.

Regina sniffled quietly again, as she too, gazed at their clasped hands. Her grief-filled eyes raised to meet Emma's briefly, before she looked away again and withdrew her hand from Emma's.

Regina began to sit up. It looked to Emma like it took much more effort than it should have, but Emma also knew that the other woman was probably much more exhausted than she herself felt, which was definitely saying something.

"Regina come on, you're scaring me." Emma insisted. She was getting better at being patient during the slightly longer pauses between Regina's responses lately, but this time she couldn't help herself. She needed to know what it was that Regina was keeping from her this time.

Emma could see that Regina was having difficulty getting comfortable, and was maybe even regretting her decision to sit up.

"Here, this might help." Emma lifted Regina's pillow up and propped it against the headboard for her.

Regina gave a small nod in appreciation as she settled back against it and pulled the blankets further over herself. She blinked back a few fresh tears before reaching for a tissue and dabbing underneath her eyes.

Emma was restless but silent as she waited for Regina to explain.

Regina blinked tiredly, it was clear that she was completely worn out but Emma couldn't just leave a comment like that hanging until morning.

"Emma..." Regina said softly.

"What is it? Please tell me."

Regina closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her waist as she tried to decide where to begin.

"Emma I'm worried about what could happen to me when we leave Storybrooke tomorrow." Regina finally said in a quiet, tortured voice as her gaze rose to meet the blonde's again.

"Because you think the townspeople will be able to get to you?"

Regina shook her head gently. "I mean when we physically cross the town line."

"Why would that be a problem?"

Emma waited for Regina to continue, but the brunette had gone silent again as her gaze dropped towards her folded arms.

"Regina?"

Emma sighed inwardly as she waited.

"Regina we're not going to have any problems crossing the border." She explained gently. "We've done it before, all three of us were fine. We can do it again no problem. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Regina shook her head again, looking tearfully into Emma's eyes.

"Regina, what are you afraid is going to happen to you?" Emma asked softly.

Regina's eyes searched the room for a few moments as she tried to find her words.

"Emma..."

"What?"

Regina breathed a soft, shaky breath. "Emma the illness that I have... without treatment I likely could have been dead long ago, and yet I'm still alive."

"Because Doctor Whale has been monitoring you. Not every medical case is the same. Yours was just progressing more slowly than some people's and you didn't need dialysis until now." Emma surmised.

"That's what I thought at first too..."

"But now you have other ideas? What changed?"

"The curse was broken."

"Okay..." Emma nodded slowly, she wanted to say she understood, but that response hadn't told her much of anything. "But what does that have to do with making it to Boston?"

Regina swallowed back her emotions. Her gaze dropped to the blankets in front of her as she thought over her answer.

"Regina, please tell me."

"Emma do you remember when I got sick on the way to Boston the last time we went?" Regina asked quietly, searching Emma's gaze.

"Yeah of course. What about it?"

"I know you thought I had a panic attack, but I've been wondering if it was something else."

"Something... like what?"

Regina sighed as she tried to find the best way to explain. "Last month Doctor Whale said he was amazed my illness wasn't progressing faster. He said I was lucky." Regina shook her head as if this was a cruel joke. "And I don't know if you noticed, but as soon as the curse was broken my health seemed to just start plummeting."

"How could I not notice?" Emma said with a soft smile.

"I'm not just talking about the fever and the hallucinations. Soon after the curse broke I could feel a significant change. Everything hurt a little bit more, I felt even more exhausted than ever... all the symptoms I've been having over the past few months seemed to worsen much more quickly than usual."

"Maybe it's because you've gone two months without treatment." Emma reasoned. "You were bound to reach this point sooner or later."

Regina shook her head. "No I don't think that's it. It's too big of a coincidence. I think the curse was preventing me from getting sicker. I think it slowed the process down. I didn't start to get really sick until our trip to Boston."

Emma folded her arms as she thought back. "Yeah... I guess it was after that weekend that you started sleeping a lot more... and started feeling colder. I remember that detail because I seem to recall you turning into quite the little sweater thief." She finished a little teasingly. She soon frowned though as she thought about the rest of what Regina had just said. "Why would going to Boston make a difference though? Do you think the trip was just too much for you? You had only been out of the hospital a few days when we went."

"No, I don't think it was too much. I think it was because I left Storybrooke."

Emma still looked quite lost.

"Emma... a main part of the curse was that this town was frozen in time. No one who came directly from the Enchanted Forest ever aged, including me. I think somehow that slowed down the worsening of my condition."

Emma nodded as she realized what Regina was saying. "And because we went to Boston your health instantly started to get worse. For that one day you weren't protected by the curse anymore."

"And when we came back, the kidney failure slowed down again, only… some of the damage had already been done which is why the symptoms were suddenly so noticeable."

"But your health hasn't stayed exactly the same since our trip to Boston," Emma said softly. "I've seen it gradually declining. The curse wasn't keeping you from getting sicker."

"Yes, I was getting worse over these past few months, but only very slowly. As soon as the curse broke however–"

"Your health failed as quickly as it was originally supposed to." Emma accidentally finished for her.

Regina nodded, there was a look of anguish in her eyes.

"I guess it makes sense..." Emma said thoughtfully. "But I still don't understand. What does this have to do with going to Boston tomorrow? The curse has already been broken now, your health outside of Storybrooke will be exactly the same as it is within Storybrooke because time is moving forward here again."

"But there's magic here now, that might account for something. And with the problems revolving around the town line, what happens if crossing it has serious consequences for me?"

"You mean the memory thing?" Emma asked. "But Regina that's not going to happen to you; you never lost your memories in the first place."

"I may not have been a victim of the curse but that doesn't mean I wasn't still effected by it. What if rather than my memories being taken away, there'll be something else in store for me when I try to leave town? I'm a lot weaker than I was the last time we left. What if trying to cross the border proves to be fatal?"

"But you cast the curse, don't you have like... immunity or something?"

"I don't know... Now that the curse is broken the effects may be very different. If leaving town resulted in me getting so sick two months ago, I might not be in any condition to leave Storybrooke now." Regina said in a defeated voice.

"You think the magic is protecting you?" Emma asked uncertainly.

"I don't know… Maybe."

Emma sighed. "Regina, this is all just an assumption. I understand why you're worried, and you have every right to be, but I honestly don't think you have anything to be afraid of. As far as we know the only problem with the town line is memory loss, which you won't be effected by. And even if you're right about the effects leaving town had on your health the last time, that's nothing to worry about now. The curse is already broken. However badly your health may progress out there, it will be exactly the same here in Storybrooke. But at least out there you can get help."

"I don't know if that's a chance I'm willing to take." Regina whispered tearfully.

Emma's eyes filled with fearful disbelief as she realized what Regina was saying. "But Regina if you stay here you'll die."

Regina desperately searched Emma's gaze for a few moments. "I know."

Emma suddenly felt as though there were a heavy weight on top of her chest. She couldn't be hearing this.

"But isn't it better to at least try to save your life rather than sit around here waiting for death?"

"But if I stay then I can make the most of my last moments with you and Henry. I'll be in my own home. I'll have the chance to say goodbye. If we try to leave Storybrooke and the worst happens..." Regina shook her head at the thought. "I don't want to go that way."

"Regina this is crazy. You need to try to get to the hospital." Emma insisted.

"Emma I don't know what to do."

"What you should do is let me help you get to Boston." Emma said desperately.

"I don't know how to tell Henry." Regina's voice quivered. "I promised I wouldn't keep anything else from him... but I just don't know how to tell him about this one. What if we try to leave tomorrow and something happens? I don't want him to have to see that."

"Regina, nothing is going to happen. You're giving yourself unnecessary stress." Emma said softly. "I understand why you're scared, but I promise, you will be safe tomorrow. Please don't tell me after everything you're not even going to try to leave?"

Regina's eyes were full of heartache as she gazed into Emma's eyes. "I just don't want to lose any time that I might have left. I don't want to just throw it away like that."

Emma didn't know what to say. She searched Regina's tearful eyes; they were full of pain and fear. She couldn't blame Regina for being afraid, but she also knew that Regina was wrong. She had to be wrong.

"Regina... I wouldn't tell you that I think you should try to leave Storybrooke if I thought you would be safer here. I get what you're saying, and it makes sense, but I don't think it's true. I am almost certain that the border is no danger to you. I think Boston is your best bet. I promise, nothing is going to happen to you tomorrow. I'm not going to let it."

Regina sighed softly, looking away from Emma again as she wrapped her arms more tightly around herself.

"Look," Emma said gently as she touched a comforting hand to Regina's arm. "You're exhausted. You've had one hell of a day and it's almost five o'clock in the morning. Try to get some sleep, I'm sure things will look a lot different once you've had a proper rest."

Regina pressed her lips together, nodding distractedly as she blinked back fresh tears.

"I know it's hard but try not to worry too much. I'm going to get you to Boston Regina, you're going to be fine."

Regina wiped a tear away before looking tiredly into Emma's eyes again. Finally she gave a tiny nod in response, but Emma could tell she was still anxious. Emma wanted to keep trying to convince Regina that leaving was in her best interests, but she knew that pressing the issue wouldn't do any good just then. They both needed to sleep, it would help them both to think much more clearly. Also, Emma certainly didn't want another fight between the two of them, which was a strong possibility if they carried on with this specific discussion. She knew she was likely to start one in her sleep-deprived state if she didn't stop herself now.

"Come on, we both need to get some rest." Emma said softly, lying back down and pulling the blankets over herself.

Regina soon did the same, and she closed her eyes as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Emma pulled the blankets up to Regina's shoulders. "I promise everything is going to be okay." She whispered.

Regina blinked her eyes open, staring brokenly into Emma's pained eyes for a few moments. Without saying a word, she soon closed her eyes again, and Emma assumed that meant their conversation was over for the night.

Emma suppressed a soft sigh as she continued to watch the wounded brunette. She truly hoped Regina would be able to see things more clearly after a good night's sleep.

Emma had only just closed her eyes in order to try to get some rest of her own when she heard Regina's soft voice.

"Can you tell me a story?"

Emma blinked her eyes open to look at Regina again. The other woman's eyes were still closed, but when Emma didn't respond, her eyelashes fluttered open.

"A story?" Emma repeated. "I don't know... that's Henry's area of expertise not mine."

"I don't want to hear one about the Enchanted Forest, I want to hear one about you."

"About me? Regina my life hasn't been that interesting at all."

"That's okay." Regina whispered.

Emma gave a quiet sigh, she knew Regina just wanted something to take her mind off of the next day. "Alright, what do you want to hear about?" She asked softly.

"It doesn't matter. Tell me about one of the cities you used to live in, or about one of your bail bonds cases... a trip you went on... anything."

"Okay," Emma replied gently. She rolled onto her back as she tried to think of something that would be even remotely interesting. Once she had something, she glanced sideways at Regina again. The brunette wasn't looking at her, but instead had a faraway look in her eyes as she no doubt pondered everything that was yet to come.

"Want to hear about when I lived in Austin for a few months?"

Regina's gaze slowly travelled back to Emma's, she gave the tiniest of nods and closed her eyes, waiting.

"Do you want me to rub your head again?" Emma asked softly, "It'll help with the rest of the pain. We can't give you any more Tylenol until morning if you still need it then, but even so it's still probably better if you don't take it."

Regina eyelashes fluttered open again and Emma was relieved to see that despite the fact that Regina's eyes were still glistening with tears, the tension in her expression had relaxed a little.

"Are you sure?" Regina whispered. She already felt bad enough for asking Emma to stay up even longer.

"Of course I am Regina."

After a brief pause, Regina carefully slid closer to Emma. Unlike last time, she stayed under the blankets and did not lie parallel to the headboard. Emma had been going to sit up so Regina could rest on a pillow in her lap like she had before, but the blonde soon realized that she didn't have to since Regina had already nestled herself into Emma's embrace instead.

It was when she did this that Emma noticed Regina was shivering. Emma wasn't sure if the trembling was from feeling cold, from sleep deprivation, from overwhelming emotions, or from a mixture of all three, but once Emma had felt that, she was glad she had agreed to stay up a little longer.

Emma wrapped a comforting arm around the still teary-eyed brunette and gently began to rub her head. As she told Regina about her brief time spent in Texas, she began to find it difficult to keep massaging Regina's head because the angle proved to be a little awkward. She settled on delicately brushing her fingers through Regina's hair instead.

Regina didn't seem to mind the change, and within only a minute or two Emma could feel her beginning to relax. Regina fell asleep much faster this time; Emma had barely gotten past the reasons why she had decided to move to Austin in the first place when she could tell that Regina had fallen asleep.

As Emma lay there amidst a whirlwind of thoughts, she wrapped both of her arms around the woman lying in her embrace and tried not to worry about what Regina had said.

After a few minutes it became clear that Regina was not going to wake up again, and so Emma very delicately moved the brunette back onto her side of the bed so she could get a proper rest of her own.

As Emma settled back into her own pillow, she tried not to imagine what would happen if Regina decided she didn't want to leave Storybrooke after all. Emma had no doubt that should it come to it, she could easily force Regina to go, but that was the very last thing she wanted to do. Regina was vulnerable right now and Emma would never be able to come to terms with using that against her. She didn't think she could do something like that to Regina, especially not while knowing how scared Regina would be. She also didn't want Henry to have to see her practically abduct his mother.

It had to be Regina's choice to leave. If it wasn't, Emma didn't know if she could live with herself if she betrayed Regina's trust and violated her independence by forcing her to do something against her will, even if it meant saving her life.

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A/N: Thank you for reading, please don't forget to review xx