This chapter is for Guest with the prompt "Maybe one where Emma finds out that Regina's doing drugs in order to stop feeling the pain of her past and Emma helps her work through it." This chapter is kind of dark, I tried not to make it too bad, but if you don't like that stuff, I'll see you tomorrow!
It was summer. And Regina was wearing long-sleeves. Something had to be up. And Emma Swan was determined to find out what it was.
Emma was getting ready to head over to the mansion when a knock sounded on the door. She looked at it in confusion. "It's open!" Emma called.
The door opened and Henry walked through. "Hi ma," he said.
"Kid what are you doing here?" Emma asked. "It's not my weekend with you. You're supposed to be at the mansion."
"Mom sent me here," Henry replied. He walked past Emma and went up to the loft, where he always stayed when it was Emma's weekend with him.
"Did she say why?" Emma asked.
"Nope," Henry said. "Just said that she needed some time to sort through some stuff. She said that she would see me on Monday after school."
Emma made a decision right then and there to go to the mansion. Something was going on. "I'll be right back, okay? Don't do anything that would make your mom want to kill me."
"She already wants to kill you," Henry mumbled.
"Heard that!" Emma shouted back.
Emma pulled up to the mansion and was immediately on edge. Things didn't feel right. Normally when she arrived at the mansion, there was some tension, but still a feeling of home. But this time, the mansion felt dark. Haunted.
Emma ran up to the front door and ran in without knocking. Somehow, she knew that Regina wouldn't answer the door. She had a bad feeling that something was wrong. And her gut was never wrong.
"Regina!" Emma called. "Where are you?"
The house stayed silent, and Emma panicked. Regina had to be home, since Henry had only just arrived at the apartment. Remembering the layout of the house, Emma ran upstairs to Regina's bedroom.
When she opened the door, the sight inside left her speechless. Regina was collapsed on the bed, and her breathing was very shallow. Crossing the room quickly to her, Emma felt her pulse. It was very weak.
Emma cursed. "Regina, what the hell were you thinking?" She sucked in a sharp breath at seeing the syringe lying on the bed. Picking up Regina's arm, Emma pulled up the sleeve of her jacket.
"No," Emma whispered, seeing the puncture mark on Regina's arm. Pulling Regina's sleeve back down, Emma scooped her up and poofed them to the hospital.
"No kid, you need to stay at the apartment," Emma said. "I promise that your mom will be fine. But you need to stay there with your grandparents for now so that your mom can heal."
"Fine," Henry grumbled. "Just call me if things change okay?"
"Okay," Emma agreed. "I have to go now, Dr. Whale is coming to give me an update." She said bye to Henry before hanging up, giving Whale her full attention.
"She'll be fine," Whale said, seeing Emma's anxious look. "This was her first time doing it, and she used too much. We'll keep her here until it's all out of her system, and then you can take her home."
"Thank you," Emma said. "Can I see her now?"
Whale nodded. "I don't know how responsive that she'll be, but you can try. I have a feeling you have some choice words for her."
"Damn right I do," Emma said. Whale chuckled and lead Emma to Regina's room.
Regina's eyes flickered open as Emma closed the door behind her. "Hi," she said weakly.
"Hi yourself," Emma said, plopping down in the chair next to Regina.
"I know that you're probably really mad at me," Regina said. "But I can explain."
Emma shook her head. "You don't need to. I know why you did it. And yes, I'm very pissed at you. But we're going to work through this. Together."
"What do you mean?" Regina asked.
"Henry is staying with my parents," Emma said. "And he's going to stay there while I stay with you in the mansion."
Regina's eyes widened. "You don't have to do that."
Emma smiled before leaning forward and grabbing Regina's hand. "I want to. We're a team now, Madame Mayor."
Regina smiled before her eyes began to droop. "Get some sleep," Emma said gently. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Regina's recovery was going well. It had taken her a long time to actually allow Emma to help her, but she had finally let Emma in. Both women found, surprisingly, that Regina's recovery sped up once they had started getting closer.
"Today's the day," Emma said.
"For what?" Regina asked.
"For Henry to come home," Emma said. She picked up her phone, but it disappeared in purple smoke, appearing again in Regina's hand.
Regina's eyes widened. "I didn't mean to do that."
Emma's eyes narrowed. "You hardly ever lose control. What's up?"
"Nothing," Regina said quickly.
"Then give me back my phone," Emma argued. She held out her hand and looked at Regina expectantly.
Regina clutched Emma's phone tighter to her. "Regina," Emma said. "What's going on?"
Regina sighed. "I don't know what to say to him. How do I explain to him that I overdosed on drugs because the pain of my past got to be too much?"
"You're honest with him," Emma said simply. "He's a smart kid, Regina. He'd probably figure it out anyway. He knows that I had to take you to the hospital, and that he couldn't come home until you were ready."
"I guess you're right," Regina said. She reluctantly handed Emma back her phone. "Call him."
Emma smiled before grabbing her phone. She dialed Henry's number, and grabbed Regina's hand, squeezing gently. "Everything is going to be okay," she whispered.
Regina just nodded. Emma had helped take away the pain. Maybe Henry would too.