I couldn't wait to post another chapter. Emma is still trying to get through this but she keeps getting more bad news from Graham. Hopefully the bad news will be over soon? Maybe! Thank you everyone who is reading. I'm so glad you are all into the story! It makes me excited to write and to post!

Enjoy!

Visiting Hours

A week had gone by since Emma first got the news of Regina's diagnosis. Graham's attempt to comfort her had gone unnoticed and quickly faded as the night's drug on. Henry had been released shortly after soon after Emma had heard about Regina. The brave face she put on for her son took more energy than her body really had, but she managed anyway. The doctors told him he would be fine by the end of it. A few Advil here and there and in a few days he would be good as new. Two days later, Henry was back to get the stitches out of her eyebrow. He played it off like the tough kid he was, but Emma could tell he was still hiding the pain.

Now she sat alone in the waiting room, waiting for the moment the doctors came out with the pass to go back and see her. Henry had gone to stay with his grandparents for a while, allowing Emma to spend the time she needed up at the hospital. He had come to visit one day and brought her some cookies, which still sat untouched on the chair next to her.

Graham had highly advised her to go home, but how could she? She couldn't allow herself to be any further away from Regina. She physically couldn't make herself leave. The hospital had showers, Ruby brought her clothes, the vending machines were expensive after a while, but kept her going on the little she could eat. The nurses even started giving her funny looks after a while. But Emma couldn't help it, she had become obsessed with seeing Regina again.

She had become so dazed by her time there that she hardly noticed the doctor standing in her line of sight. She had dreamed so many times of him being there that she figured she had just dozed off without realizing it, which she did on occasion. But this time was turning out to be quite different. It didn't matter how many time she blinked, he was still there.

"Emma Swan." The doctor spoke up and it sounded like an echo in Emma's ears. She saw the doctor squat down in front of her, getting eye level with her. He looked funny. Sideways. And she realized she was laying on her side, stretched out on one of the couches. When she had convinced herself this was not a dream she immediately shot up.

"Emma are you okay?" The doctors voice echoed again.

"Doctor Whale? What is it? What's wrong?" Emma's grip tightened on the couch before she pushed herself up.

"No, everything is fine. Everything is fine, Emma." He assured her, gently gripping her arms. Graham had told him to be careful when he talked to her. The sheriff had grown increasingly worried about the mental state of the blonde. He gave her the space she wanted, but knew she could only take so much of this.

"What is it?" Emma asked again. This time she could feel the sweat forming on her forehead.

"It's time." The doctor formed a thin line on his lips. Emma could feel the life leaving her body and seeping out through her feet. She lost her balance and fell back down on the couch.

"Easy. Easy, Emma. There is no rush. Take your time. She is not awake yet, but she is stable enough to be on her own. You just take your time, okay?" The doctor assured her. "I've called Sheriff Graham to come up here and help you if you need it." He added. Graham had told Doctor Whale about midweek to call him when it was time. Graham knew Emma didn't want him around as much, but he also knew that she didn't need to do all this by herself.

"I've spent too long waiting." She formed her mouth to the words. Her feet felt like jello beneath her and the sheer weight of gravity on her body was enough to push her through the ground. She didn't even realize she had begun walking until she saw the wooden door in front of her. The doctors hand pressed to her back for support as she reached out for the door. For the last week she had imagined this moment. The moment when she became a stranger to the woman she loved.

The door squealed open, as the picture of the room flooded Emma's eyes. It was so bright and white that Emma could hardly process the body lying in the bed. She felt herself get sick to her stomach again and she covered her mouth to hold it down. There were no more tears to be shed. Her body had let them all out causing the dry burning in her eyes to get worse.

"She hasn't woken up yet." Doctor Whale started. "But we figured you would want to see her before she woke up." He stayed back by the door as Emma stepped closer to the bed.

Her legs guided her to the edge. The woman's face was almost as she remembered it. She had gained a cut on her upper lip in the right corner, and the white bandage wrapped around the top of her head covered most of her hair. There was a white cast covering her left arm which laid motionless at the woman's side.

"We have been able to stop the bleeding in her brain. The bandage is only for the cut on her head. We are waiting for it to heal before we take the bandage off. Her left arm was fractured in two places from the collision. As far as everywhere else, her body was bruised pretty bad. But she is a fighter, Emma. She is recovering extremely fast." The doctor spoke from back close to the door, making sure to give Emma enough space.

"Will she remember me?" Emma asked, her eyes not faltering to leave the brunette's face. She reached out with her fingers, and without touching, the blondes fingers traced the side of Regina's cheek.

Doctor Whale took a moment to answer. "No. She won't. She won't remember anyone I'm afraid. The damage to her brain was too much to recover everything."

Emma was silent. She felt the words stab her in the back. The woman that had brought her out of so much, brought her out of her shell, loved her more than anyone had ever in her life, would no longer remember any of that. Emma's head fell down, her eyes closing to the silence.

"If you need me, I'll be outside." She heard the door close behind her. Taking a deep breath she looked back up at Regina. She watched her chest rise and fall in slow systematic movements. The machines around her beeped with her heart beat and pulse and Emma felt weird around them. It was like there was an artificial Regina around her, teasing her like everything was normal. Instead of her being the woman she knew she was, she was turned into some kind of conglomeration of beeping and lines beating across a screen. Emma hated it.

She moved her way to the right side of the bed, her hands sliding gently across the sheets that were neatly tucked under the mattress. She needed Regina to open her eyes. She needed Regina to see her. Maybe if she just saw her, she would remember her. Maybe all of this memory loss crap the doctors were talking about would just be some giant practical joke, and as soon as Regina opened her eyes she would remember. But Emma knew better. Things would never be the same.

"She looks so peaceful." Henry stood in front Emma at the foot of Regina's bed. Since she had been able to spend more time in the room, she had brought herself out of this little depression she had found herself in the week before. She was not back to normal by any means but she was able to at least function somewhat.

"Yes, she does." Emma answered quietly.

"So, the doctors said that she won't remember us?" Henry questioned innocently. Emma felt the pang of his words and she felt the bumps spread across her skin.

"No, she won't." Emma answered shortly.

"Why can't we just tell her everything? Then she can remember." Sometimes Henry was so optimistic and Emma loved that about him. She loved his innocence. But this was not something that could be so easily fixed.

Emma kissed the top of Henry's head, and rested her chin down on his hair, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, crossing them on his chest. "I wish it was that easy, kid."

They looked on for a while until Henry grew somewhat uncomfortable. He didn't really like the fact that they could just stare at her whenever and she could never do anything. It made him feel like he was looking at some sort of caged animal that couldn't be free.

He turned around to look up at his mother. He could see the redness in her eyes from all of her crying. He felt terrible, knowing how much Regina meant to his mother. Even though he kept himself busy with school and basketball, he was no stranger to how stressful Emma's life was. He could see how much she loved Regina, and he was happy when she was happy. But now, he felt helpless in his mother's struggle.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

Emma's eyes slowly fell onto her son's face. She thinly smiled at him, pushing back the tears. "I don't know, kid."

Henry melted at his mother's words. This was the first time he had ever seen his mother so vulnerable and he hated it. He had never seen her just give up, or be so unsure about things. For the first time in his life, he was unsure of what was going to happen. His mother had been a rock for him and now she had been reduced to a small grain of sand in just two weeks.

He suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing as tightly as he could, letting out tears of his own as they stained her shirt. Emma held him as close as she could, wishing she could hold him closer. Together they couldn't imagine what their lives were going to look like, or when things were going to change. But they needed each other. They needed to be strong for each other. They needed to be string for Regina.

"Henry I need you to be strong. For Regina. She would want you to be happy no matter what." Emma squatted down to eye level with her son. He looked down to his feet, wiping the tears from his cheeks. She pushed back his hair from his face and held his head up under his chin. "She loves you very much." Her own tears felt like they were going to burst through but she used all of her energy to hold them back.

"I know." Henry mumbled and nodded his head. He took a deep breath and looked back at the woman lying helpless in her hospital bed. He rubbed his cheek, catching a stray tear and looked back at his mother. "I know." He wrapped his arms around Emma's neck and squeezed. She couldn't help but smile at the courage of her son. How could she have gotten so lucky? She was not good enough to raise such an amazing kid. He had a heart all of his own, and Emma admired every bit of it.

Emma released her son and stood when she heard the door open behind her. Graham stepped in and motioned for Emma to come out into the hallway. Henry followed and when Graham gave Emma a stern look, she gave her son a few dollars and told him to go find them something to eat for lunch. He gladly took it, though looking between the adults suspiciously, he did as he was told.

"What's up?" Emma spoke up when Henry was out of earshot. She crossed her arms nervously around her chest, worried by what news Graham would have. She hadn't seen him in a few days and she had begun to wonder what he was up too.

Graham sighed heavily. "The driver woke up this morning." His voice was low and he avoided Emma's wide eyes staring back at him. "I haven't been able to see him yet, and he has only been able to answer a few of the doctors questions but they said he will survive."

She was speechless. Since the day she arrived at the hospital she had almost forgotten about the person that did this to her son and Regina. All of those feelings welled up inside. The anger, the pain, the hurt, the fury, the drive to kill the person who did this. She hated them. She hated that whoever it was was alive and breathing and awake and Regina still hadn't even opened her eyes. It made her sick to her stomach.

Her arms dropped to her sides and her shoulders pulled back like she was getting ready to attack. There were so many questions she had, so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words. Graham rested his hands on his hips, almost relieved by the lack of backlash from the woman, knowing that the timing of this information was not ideal.

"I've spent the morning trying to get in there and figure out what happened. Get his story. He had some trouble answering some of the doctor's questions but they said it was just from the medication he is on."

"Who is it?" Emma finally asked, her eyes glued to the floor. The question had been burning inside of her for so long, and she really had never even thought to ask it until now. There was so much information going into her that it never seemed relevant until now.

"He is a soldier from the base." Graham answered vaguely.

"Okay, but that didn't answer my question. Do you know him?"

Graham nodded his head.

"Do I know him?" Emma's voice raised a little.

Graham nodded his head again.

"Who the hell is it, Graham?" She was almost shouting, her eyes now burning a hole through his own. He was dodging the answer and she was fed up. He always did this and she knew by his face that she wasn't going to like the answer.

He remained silent.

"Graham, I have a right to know who tried to kill my family!" She protested. Her emotions boiled over and her fists balled up, her knuckles turning white with fury.

"It's Daniel." The words came out as almost a mumble and Emma had to strain to make sure she heard him correctly because she was pretty sure he couldn't have said Daniel.

"Daniel." The name lingered on her tongue. "As in Daniel, Daniel, or another Daniel, because if you mean Regina's ex-husband Daniel then you better lock me up right now because we are about to have a serious problem." The tears began to fall down her cheeks.

The silence was deafening.

"Graham please tell me it's a different Daniel." At this point she couldn't even look at him.

"I'm sorry, Emma." He reached out for her.

"No!" She screamed. "You tell me that it's a different Daniel." Her voice cracked and then grew eerily soft.

"Emma." Graham managed. He wanted it be a different Daniel just as much as Emma. The man was his friend after all and the last thing he wanted was for something like this to happen.

"Look I'm trying to talk to him to figure out what happened. I don't know if it was just an accident or pre-meditated, but for now I just need you to stay here. I told you because I felt you deserved to know."

"You're damn right I deserve to know." Emma grumbled. "You better keep that piece of shit away from my family or I swear to God I will kill him."

"Emma, I know you are upset, but you can't say those things…"

"No. You don't get to tell me what I can and can't say." Emma shouted back. "You tell me why he gets to wake up and walk around while I wake up every morning wondering if Regina even made it through the night? How is that even fair? And the last time I checked that lets me say whatever I goddamn well please about any of this."

Graham remained silent while taking the beating.

Emma continued her rage. "As far as I am concerned he means nothing to me. And neither does anyone else besides my son and Regina. And I'll give you one piece of advice. You better keep him so far away from me because if I even get a hint of him being anywhere near Henry or Regina," She stepped closer to him and her voice went quiet so he was the only one who could hear her. "I will kill him."

She immediately turned at her words and headed straight back to Regina's room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Graham alone in the hallway to cool off.

Emma barely made it back to the side of the bed before doubling over at the edge and falling to her knees. She grabbed a hold of Regina's lifeless hand and brought it up to her lips.

"I can't do this anymore. Not without you. Please…" She squeezed her hand. Regina's hand was so soft and smooth and Emma couldn't take it anymore. "Please come back." Her words trailed off as she spoke.

Sobbing had become a large part of Emma's life in recent days, but this time it was different. She was so close to falling over the edge. And now it was more than just self-pity crying. This was much deeper, down into her soul. It was like she herself was dying. Just the thought of Daniel and Regina and everything was all coming crashing down on her shoulders. She was only one person and she couldn't do it anymore, she wasn't strong enough without Regina. She needed to hear her speak, and tell her everything was okay, and they would go home soon, and that she loved her. But she couldn't. She cried, her tears staining the bed below her. She kept her cheek near Regina's hand, pulling at what little life it had left.