After this chapter there will be a long time jump. With me being so far behind, so busy lately and going away in just over two weeks, I figured it makes sense. BTW, with me being away for a month, writing may get done, but nothing will be posted until I get back.
This got very rubbish towards the end but it's late and I have work tomorrow so. I got everything covered that I wanted to. Wasn't gonna end it there, but I couldn't work out how else.
April 17th 2017
For the first few hours, Regina walked down to the cafeteria, ordered a coffee and sat, staring at the clock in an uncomfortable booth, before realising her coffee was cold. She wandered to the gift shop and browsed the candy aisle before looking through the gifts. She considered getting the blonde a new beanie to cover up the inevitable bald patch of the surgery, but just looking at them made her think back to just over a week before when the outcome of the biopsy could have been much different.
She quickly purchased a teddy with a cheesy quote along with more candy than she'd allow Henry in a month and made her way back to where she was waiting for Emma to return. Another hour passed, and Regina began walking the halls. She was sat in the family room, again staring at the clock when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. The sight of Whale, with blood on the front of his scrubs made the mayor balk, and she stood quickly, turning to face the doctor, who was displaying the perfect poker face.
"It's OK madam mayor, everything is ok, I just wanted to come out and give you an update. The surgery is taking a little longer than we anticipated, so Dr allowed me a moment to let you know what was going on. Shouldn't be too much longer…"
Regina could only stand still, staring at him, gaping like a goldfish as he nodded at her silence, turning to walk away. After a few moments she sat down, barely noticing as a woman entered the family room, sobbing loudly. Agitated by the noise, she stood again and walked to the room she had left only a handful of hours before. She watched as the clock struck six hours since she had been gone, and then seven. As it was nearing 8 hours since the surgery began, the brunette began to pace, only just managing to hold herself back from using her status as mayor to find out what was going on.
The nerves and the worry finally became too much for the older woman as she slid down the wall she was leaning against, trying to silence her sobs. After what felt like an eternity, she noticed her least favourite doctor walking towards her again. She tried to make herself look presentable, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. Whale smiled lightly, trying to alleviate the tension as he stopped in front of his mayor.
"Emma is out of surgery and in recovery. She'll be awake soon and will probably remain in recovery unless she needs to go to the ICU for the next 24 hours. You can go and see her in a few moments, but she will be very groggy and on a lot of pain medication. Visiting hours will be restricted, but we will keep you updated at every opportunity when you are not here…"
"But…"
"Emma's surgeon and I will be happy to discuss the surgery with you when Emma is awake and able to be involved in the conversation. What I can say is that it went well. She will need to be in hr hospital for at least the next week, and then here will be a long recovery period in which she will need additional care at home. Depending on how the next few hours go, we'll take her for a CAT scan just to check everything out…" Regina was glaring at the blonde doctor, fists clenched as he continued to ramble.
"I swear to god Whale if you don't take me to see my wife now I will make sure you never work as a doctor again, anywhere, ever!" Whale raised his brow but said nothing as he nodded again, turning to walk back down the hall the way he had come, the brunette's heels clacking behind him.
The sight of Emma in the hospital bed, looking sicker than she ever had before made Regina nauseous, but the tired smile that was coming from the blonde as she walked in the room calmed her nerves a little. She was pale and had a large bandage wrapped around her head, and she was still connected to some wires and machine but there was a feeling of relief now that she was awake out of surgery. She stepped up to the bed, carefully pushing her hair out of her face, smiling down at the woman she loved.
"Hello dear. I'm so glad you're awake, it's so great to see your smile…"
"I'm sorry…" The blonde coughed, her voice croaky. "Do I know you?" Regina's smile dropped, and the knot in her stomach tightened.
"B... but… wh…" Regina stuttered, turning to glare at Whale who was watching, confused. She turned back to her girlfriend, who couldn't hold her laughter in anymore.
"I'm sorry Gina, but you're so easy" She laughed and then frowned, lifting her head to her head as she winced in obvious discomfort. "Owwwww, don't make me laugh!" The brunette glared at the sheriff, growling under her breath.
"You are evil Miss Swan. And if I didn't love you this much, I would say you deserve to be in pain!" This time, Emma grimaced at her tone and pouted, a move which caused Regina to sigh. She leaned down to kiss the prostrate blonde, taking a deep breath. "Jeez Emma, don't scare me like that!" She kissed her again, taking the blonde's cold hand in both of hers, settling in the seat that Whale had just moved next to the bed. "How are you feeling dear?"
"Well they got me on some great stuff… pretty sure I'm loaded up to my eyeballs on painkillers, but now you're here…"
"Sorry to interrupt Madam Mayor, Sheriff Swan… but Doctor Kekata has to leave soon and he just wants to talk to you about the surgery…" Emma glowered at Whale for disturbing them, but turned to the long haired, older doctor who had just walked in.
"Good evening ladies, I just wanted to drop by and talk to you both before I have to make my way back to Portland tonight. Now the surgery went well. There was a little bleeding which we stopped quickly, but we will need to monitor you for a few days about that. If you get any loss of vision or blurriness, we need you to tell your nurses right away. Aside from that, something we will confirm with a CAT scan in an hour or two as soon as it becomes available, we do believe we got the whole tumour." He paused to give the women a moment to absorb that news, before continuing. "I will return from Portland in a few weeks, depending and I will be copied in on your scans and your follow ups, but we don't expect you to have any more seizures now. If you do, you need to come back in for tests right away, ok?"
Emma nodded, and Regina turned back to her from the doctor to squeeze her hand. She remained just watching the blonde as the doctor continued to speak, his words fading into the background as she thought of what he had just said.
Emma could sense her girlfriend's eyes on her but carried on looking at the doctor as he spoke. "So I will see you in a number of weeks Miss Swan, if anything changes, Doctor Whale can contact me. I wish you a speedy recovery." With a quick thankyou from the blonde, he left, Whale following behind him, and Emma turned back to her girlfriend.
"Hey… told you I'd be fine. Once I'm off these painkillers it will be difficult, but no more seizures! And I'm sure I heard Whale say to a nurse I'll only be here for like a week and then I can go home and I can see Henry…" Emma kept rambling, but much like with Kekata, her words began to fade as Regina was lost in her thoughts. The surgery appeared so far successful, the whole tumour was gone, her seizures should be gone, it wouldn't be too long till she was home, and everything was turning out like it should. The feeling of intense relief hit her quickly, and she sagged in exhaustion. Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do. Feeling Emma squeeze her hand, quickly brought her from her thoughts.
"… and I just can't wait to be back home with my family. Do you think I should ask David to take over as sheriff permanently? It will be months until I'm up to working again, apparently… Hey, are you ignoring me Gina?"
"Yes."
"Yes, you are ignoring me?" Emma scowled as Regina realised what the blonde had been saying.
"No. I mean, yes, I will marry you."
The couple just stared at each other in silence for a few moments as they pondered the implications of what had just been said.
Three voices at the door spoke simultaneously.
"Finally!"
