A/N - Hope you enjoy our update! Sorry it took longer as we had an idea for our version of Season 5 Swan Queen. We will be updating both stories. Promise :) Enjoy and please review if you are so inclined! Love to hear the thoughts of our readers, and we do appreciate you guys. thanks!

"Is it okay if I go to the vending machines, Mom? I'm kinda hungry…" Henry asked.

Regina's instinctive reaction was to say, "No, there was nothing but junk food that he must not eat in those dreadful machines." But, she caught herself. It wasn't as if Regina could provide for her son right now, not while laid up and attached to a myriad of machines. She sighed and offered him a nod.

"Do you have money?" she asked in a soft voice. "Or… is my purse around?"

Henry jumped up and pulled her purse from the nightstand drawer. "Yeah. Right here. I checked earlier to make sure you had all of your things."

"Good boy, my prince."

He smiled at the compliment and stood a little taller again. "Thanks, Mom."

"Take a couple dollars. Get whatever you'd like," Regina said, wondering how much the medication was making her say.

Henry smiled as he took money from her wallet and replaced it back in her purse. He stuffed the cash into his jeans pocket and looked at her impishly. "Want me to smuggle you a Twinkie? A Coke?"

Regina smiled and held in the surely medication-induced laugh that would've made her hurt. "I'll continue to pass… but thank you for asking. Be… careful out there."

"Careful?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Sidney… the newspaper. Don't let him quote you. Or anyone else. Don't let them… bother you," she hissed. Regina winced, overtaxed again.

"Oh, I gotcha. I mean, yes, I'll avoid talking to them." Henry nodded and squeezed her hand. "Be right back."

She nodded and squeezed back as best she could. He gave his mother one more smile, then let go of her hand, and exited her room. Henry glanced up and down the hallway, then made his way down to the elevators.

As Nicholas was being worked up in the ER for his broken leg, Ava begged their savior for something to eat and drink, well aware that her brother wasn't allowed just yet. She wanted to sneak him something tasty to eat in the hopes of helping him feel better, but she was also starving too. How could Emma say no?

After making sure the twins were okay without her, she left the exam room and headed towards the vending machines with a soured expression, remembering how Henry shut her down for snacks earlier when they were last here. He rejected her where the twins needed her and wanted her help. It was easily a different situation. Henry was still trying to get her to believe in fairytales, the curse, and especially in Regina. A small part of her had been willing to accept that a small sliver of the mayor's guilt had been genuine, but to take a leap of faith on everything else was just insane. Taking care of a couple of kids down on their luck, one who had also been seriously injured, was more up her alley since she could at least relate to their plight. It was grounded in reality.

"And that's something I can handle," she mused, pulling out a couple of dollar bills from her pocket. Emma tried to figure out what snacks the twins might want since Ava hadn't given specific instructions. Just something 'junk foodie', which was what ninety nine percent of the vending machines had to offer.

Henry stopped short, just inside the hallway just before reaching the lobby, when he saw Emma was standing at the vending machines too. He thought fast and furiously about what approach to take with her, shocked that she was still in town! What was she doing here anyway? Dying of curiosity about that, Henry plunged forward.

"Hey," he said casually as he came up beside her at the scarce bank of vending machines. "Funny running into you here."

Startled at the sound of his voice, Emma regained her composure and went to pick up the dollar bill she just dropped. She had not expected to run into him here. "Yeah. Funny."

She was curious to ask how Regina was but really, not much time had passed. Her condition was probably the same. Plus, Henry wasn't acting like anything serious had happened, but Emma didn't miss the generalized calmness about him either. The kid was probably still upset at her.

"Decided not to leave town?" Henry asked pointedly when Emma didn't offer any details.

"Not exactly." Emma didn't offer anything further as she fed the dollar bills into the slot.

Brows furrowed at how evasive she was being with him, Henry got himself a Coke from the beverage machine and popped the tab on it with a satisfying sigh. He took a swallow, gazing at his birth mother's profile, trying to figure her out. Henry decided to change his tone.

"So, what's up? The storm kept you in town then?" he asked, sounding warmer and friendlier.

She punched in the numbers for a Pop Tart and gave Henry the short version. "In a matter of speaking. Nicholas got hurt really bad, so I brought him here to get treated."

Henry frowned at that. "What happened?"

"Electrical pole got hit by lightning," she said, keying in another selection. "It fell on his leg. But ... considering what happened, the kid got lucky."

So, Nicholas being in the road caused Mom to have an accident. The curse needed a way to keep Emma in town, so it put him in her path too today, Henry thought. He got hurt too. Is that the karma thing that Mom's talked about?

"He'll be okay then? He and his sister are really quiet at school, but they seem nice enough," was his thoughtful reply, not giving any hint to what he was thinking. "Lucky you were there at the right time to help him."

She took note that the twins were at least going to school, so that meant there had to be records somewhere of what happened to their parents.

"They're still working on him right now, but yeah. He should be. Have to be in a cast for awhile," she answered, grabbing the treats from the machine. "I'm glad I was there though. It could've been a lot worse."

"Ava's okay?" Henry asked, sensing that if he didn't keep Emma talking, she'd just walk away like he didn't matter.

"Yeah." She moved over to the soda machine and gave him a reassuring smile. "Just some scratches and bruises, but she's fine."

He nodded. "That's good."

She's really super mad and afraid of us, Henry thought. How do I convince her not to be?

As usual, Henry flew by the seat of his pants. He picked out a bag of chips, figuring that to be less offensive to his mother than a candy bar with his Coke. Henry looked at Emma again.

"Mom was really thankful for your card. Even if it wasn't from the gift shop," he said. "I think she would've cried if breathing wasn't so hard right now."

Fingers stopped short of pushing in her selection as Emma froze with the implications of what Henry revealed. Regina was awake and read her note - not tearing it apart and throwing it away immediately or right after, and had been moved by it.

"Really?" she asked quietly, not really sure what to ask because she found it hard to picture Regina being that emotional.

"Set her monitors off where I almost had to call the nurse," Henry confirmed with a grave nod. "She was really touched by what you wrote."

Swallowing hard, Emma finally hit her selection, the can sliding down the belt and rolling to a stop with a metallic thunk, waiting to be picked up. "She's … okay then? The mayor?"

"Well, pretty medicated to keep her pain down," Henry explained, glad that Emma was willing to talk about his Mom. He smiled sadly. "She tries to talk and it hurts. But, you know, she always has something to say."

Part of her was happy she was in a lot of pain, because maybe that was the only way for Regina to really understand how badly she had hurt Emma. The other part felt sick that she had even wished that sort of suffering on another human being and grabbed the cold can. She was better than that.

"Yeah? Always has to have the last word in, huh?" she said, smiling in spite of herself.

"Yeah," Henry replied with a knowing look. With a pleading tone in his voice, he asked, "Would you… wanna come up and see her?"

She sighed, glancing away and was already trying to let him down easily. "Kid …"

"Then do it for me…?" he added quickly before she could say no. "Otherwise, it'll be awkward that I saw you and feel like I have to keep that from Mom..."

Taking in the sight of her biological son, Emma couldn't help noting how much he looked like his father just then. She remembered when Neal was overly cranky when they were up late and on the road after one of their latest thefts. He kept complaining about the radio stations having nothing good on and begged her to listen to some death metal band he had on CD. That ridiculous pleading look that could melt her heart was the exact same one that Henry had on his face. One that easily wore her down until she finally caved.

"First off, I wouldn't ask you to keep this from your mother, Kid," she corrected and gave him a pensive look. "I'd never condone that. And I seem to recall you were the one wanting to keep things from her in the first place."

"Yeah, but it's different now that she's been honest with me about stuff," Henry countered. "And, while I might have been mad at her, I never wanted her in the hospital! Please? Will you come up and say hi at least?"

"Well, I did say first off," she reminded him, then dangled the snacks in her hand, trying to appear that seeing Regina was no big deal. "I have to give these to Ava and Nicholas first."

"Okay!" Henry grinned, then tempered his expression lest he scare Emma off himself. "I'll wait here for you and eat my chips."

He didn't want Emma to run off and change her mind, which was why he was going to wait.

"You don't need to do that. Look, I'm not sure how long this'll take because I need to make sure they're alright before coming up. Just let me know where your mom's staying, and I'll be there." She steadily gazed into Henry's eyes and nodded. "I promise."

"Okay. Third floor. Room 3065." He offered her a tentative smile. "Private room. Guess they didn't want to risk Mom disturbing anyone else."

She rolled her eyes in partial agreement. "Or the other way around. Alright, Kid. Gotta go for now. See you guys soon."

"Okay!"

Too stunned that Emma was agreeable, Henry actually did sit down in the waiting room to scarf his snacks and gather his thoughts. He hoped that his mother would be happy with his efforts. After all, there had been no time to plan for this when they hadn't known Emma was still in town!

"Operation Swan Queen is back on!" he whispered to himself.

And with that, Henry bounded from the seat and ran back to the elevator.

The doctor had showed up to talk to Nicholas about the X-rays, confirming the break and needing to be in a cast. He was so glad that his sister was here to support him, but he really wanted Emma to stay too. Deep down inside, he felt bad for being so clingy to her, especially after they vandalized her car, but there was something so enigmatic about Emma where he felt braver in her presence. So of course she stayed until his cast was done with all three of them enjoying the snacks together. Even with Dr. Whale's approval! The twins thought they didn't taste quite as sweet since they were no longer forbidden, but they were still delicious!

When the social worker came to interview the twins, that was when Emma left to keep her promise, and to give the children some privacy. That was why, close to an hour later, Emma was outside of Regina's hospital room, hands tucked into her front jean pockets, nervously bouncing back and forth on her heels. She really wasn't sure how to just go inside to check on the woman that she both loved and hated.

Regina couldn't see Emma from her angle in the bed, but she could see Henry spot her. He took a deep breath and went to the door.

"Hey, Emma! You kept your promise. So very cool," he said with a grin. "Mom's awake if you want to come in…"

Half smirking and half irritated that he jumped the gun when she wasn't quite ready to go inside, Emma stopped in front of the door and nodded. "Sure."

Henry stepped back to give her space, then lingered there at the door, thinking that it might be better if he made himself scarce again. He waited though, seeing his mother's dark eyes riveted to Emma. He didn't want to just scoot out without her knowing where he was!

Regina gazed at her, pulse increasing, which was betrayed by the monitor's beep. "Hi, Emma…" she whispered.

Green eyes flickered towards the monitors, IV's, and countless lines that Regina were hooked up to. It really hit her then that this current conversation might not be happening, that there had been a good chance that the mayor might have died in that crash. Grimly she gazed at her in bed, their eyes immediately locking and saw a broken woman. The plastic politician mask had been ripped away, leaving this vulnerable woman staring back at her. This was no longer the woman that had tried to poison her with drugs, or even the same one that had tried to deflect how serious the consequences were of doing so over the phone. The greeting was so quiet and meek, and that wasn't just because of how difficult it was to talk. That fiery spirit had diminished behind those beautiful brown orbs.

It was difficult to recover from that shock and Emma found herself feeling out of sorts. Just like when she had met Regina for the very first time and simply said, "Hi."

Mother and son caught each others gaze, he gave a quick gesture toward the hallway and she nodded back. Then, Regina looked back to Emma.

"Thanks for… coming by. Didn't think you'd… still be in town by now," she admitted.

"Ah, yeah," she agreed. "But Maine storms are a bitch."

Regina tilted her head. "Yes, they are."

Henry had told her why Emma was at the hospital, this business of Nicholas getting injured in the storm. So, Regina went straight to remarking on that, not knowing what else to say yet.

"Lucky that… you were still here. Nicholas, I hear, needed your help."

Sparing a glance at the door, Emma say that Henry had long since disappeared.

Typical.

"I bet he just couldn't wait to tell you, huh?"

Regina smiled thinly. "Henry was Henry… Nicholas will be okay?"

"Yeah. He broke his leg, but Dr. Whale said he should be fine. Problem is, the kids are homeless. They're talking to the social worker now." She freed one of her hands from her pocket and fiddle with the hard plastic end of the bed frame nervously, trying to keep the conversation off her. Them. "Any idea who the kids parents might be? Or what happened to them?"

She had been prepared to say that she'd cover his medical expenses, despite that it was Nicholas who put her in the hospital. But, Emma's question derailed her. Regina pursed her lips and gave a curt nod.

"Work's at the service station. The tall mechanic. Michael Tillman, I think it is? He… doesn't know they're his kids, however," she replied.

"How does that happen?" came Emma's crisp reply back and look suspiciously at Regina. "How do you know and he doesn't?" Even if he unknowingly knocked up a girl, this was a small town and word would spread like wildfire.

Regina sighed, knowing the truth would be too hard for Emma to take.

"The curse. Call us crazy… all you need-"

To which Emma immediately looked up and rolled her eyes, and Regina regrouped.

"-but if you ask him about the children, he'll have no idea. And neither do they," she said. Regina repressed a cough, with effort, pain clear in her eyes. "I'll pay Nicholas' medical bills myself… so that the financial needs… are covered, at least."

"You don't need to do that," Emma said with some hesitation and motioned towards Regina, knowing she needed to explain what she meant. "I'm not gonna judge you for coughing. You'll make it worse if you don't. Cracked ribs are a bitch. Just like Maine storms. But, being serious right now? All I'm asking is if you'd just stop it with this curse nonsense. I didn't come here to walk into that shit again."

Regina had nothing she could say to that. Either Emma would believe, somehow, or she wouldn't. Perhaps this situation she'd found herself in with the children would help her to understand.

"I appreciate… your coming up to see me. I know how persuasive… Henry can be," she said.

"Yeah he is, but if I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be. This has nothing to do with Henry," she stated.

Regina tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Thank you, then."

"You're welcome," she replied stiffly, not knowing what else to say.

"I… I am sorry. For what happened between us," she whispered, realizing she had the opportunity to say what she was going to before the accident. "I behaved monstrously… out of fear. And then, as we fell for each other… I was selfish. I didn't know how… to fix what I'd done-"

Regina winced and coughed, and that pain made her curse softly under her breath.

"-and then progressively… made things worse. I don't know how to… love well. And I'm sorry, Emma."

A some point during the conversation, Emma's gaze landed upon the ceiling, trying to mask her emotions with no success. Regina could clearly see her eyes glistening with unshed tears and the hard mask that Emma wore was crumbling.

"Why ... " she murmured and spared a glance over at Regina, her eyes warring between anger and sympathy, "why couldn't you have just said all that to begin with instead of … of ending up here?"

She grimaced and leaned her head back against the pillow. "Clearly, I'm not good… at this sort of thing," the proud woman replied softly. "I'm sorry."

Lightly chewing on the inside of her cheek, Emma knew that she believed her and she didn't need her super power to double check. "I … know. That you are."

Regina nodded, thankful for that. "Are you… still planning to leave then?"

At a loss on how to answer that, she shrugged indifferently. "I honestly have no idea. Like I said in the note, I don't know what to feel towards you."

She could hardly argue that. "I did appreciate the card, Emma. You're a far better person than me."

"I also didn't think I'd be here to talk about it either," she said briskly.

Regina knew the curse had kept Emma in town, but could not say that because the blonde would likely implode if the C word came up again. So, she nodded curtly.

"I didn't imagine that either. Thought you'd be halfway to... Boston by now and that I'd never have had the chance… to apologize properly."

"Thank you for that. Apologizing. I needed to hear it." She walked around the bed and sat down on the chair that Henry always frequented, her thoughts a mess. Emma felt she should have left, but instead she was here trying to understand. Hunched over the chair and unable to look at Regina just yet, she played with a loose hangnail.

"You hurt me, and I need to know why. And not just the why at the time. What you shared isn't enough. I want to know what the hell motivated you to treat me like you did." Emma was giving Regina one chance to explain herself fully and anything that didn't feel right, she was going to walk. What was in the mayor's favor this time, is that Emma could understand better when Regina was becoming defensive and could give her a little leeway in case the conversation steered down a dangerous road. Like the phone call that caused Regina to end up in this hospital bed.

Regina was quiet for a moment. She was crazy about Henry's birth mother, but to explain herself made her more vulnerable than she was comfortable with. Especially in her condition. But, she knew she owed Emma a solid explanation for her deplorable behavior.

"Anything I could share is no excuse. But, what you'd want to know... is that I grew up with an abusive parent. My mother. And I was raised... to believe that the only way to keep from being hurt was to strike first... to do whatever was necessary to… to get what you wanted. It was the only way I knew how to be." She closed her eyes, head tilted down. "Mother was wrong. I was wrong."

Abuse begets abuse unless someone was strong enough to break the cycle. Emma had witnessed it, both as an observer and victim at various points in her childhood within the system. She already had presumed Regina had an abusive past. It was why she had been fearful for Henry and offered him a chance to leave his adoptive mother.

"All I wanted to do was make sure Henry was okay. I was worried about him. Not you. I know how much you loved him and how … great things were for him. Living with you. There was never any doubt about it until you …" she trailed off as there was no need to bring up being drugged again.

Lifting her gaze, she saw how vulnerable Regina appeared - her eyes cast downwards at the blanket in shame. Emma wasn't entirely sure if Regina was present enough to know that she was being surveyed so acutely, and with much distress.

She swallowed back the lump in her throat and worked her mouth, forcing the words to come. "I don't know how to feel about you. I love you and I hate you, and I … I don't know how to reconcile any of it, Regina"

Regina couldn't meet her gaze. Softly, she whispered, "I don't either. I just know that I haven't felt the way I feel about you… in a very long time. And that alone terrifies me. But, it's… it felt exhilarating… to be with you, to be in love with you."

She forced her gaze up to seek out Emma's. The blonde could see how haunted she looked, how hard it was to admit her history and express her feelings. The truth that had been professed had made Emma's heart clutch with anxiety and uncertainty because Regina's actions had proven she was capable of hurting her. She didn't discount how difficult it was for the mayor to open up, and Emma appreciated that honesty, but the wounds she inflicted were still fresh.

"I haven't allowed myself to love anyone since Henry's father," she admitted coldly. "He betrayed me. But not nearly as badly as you did."

Regina looked away again, despair and self-loathing washing over her fresh. If Emma realized how truly I've hurt her, if she believed…

"I can't ask your forgiveness. What I did was unthinkable. You've… no reason to ever… trust me again. With my history, you shouldn't," she whispered. "And I have no right to ask anything of you."

Emma's hardened features cracked ever so slightly, eyes softening briefly before shifting to one of surprise as she caught herself from reaching out to touch Regina. She forced her hands to stay in her lap and sighed. "Which is why I have to go. I can't stay, even for Henry, because I know things'll get more … complicated between us. We … I need time away from here…"

And yet, the curse won't let her go, Regina thought with a sigh. That's a truth she'll just have to learn for herself then.

"I understand," she said simply.

Nodding, she rose to her feet with a long, contemplative expression directed fully at the mayor. With a sigh of resolution, Emma decided to speak her heart since this would be her last chance to do so. "Regina… I really wished things had turned out differently ..."

… Because it would've been really fucking amazing to maybe have a family with you and a chance with the son I gave up. Fuck!

"I do too, Emma." Regina said with sad agreement. "I … truly do."