Flu Love's Kiss
A/N: Thanks for the reviews and follows! Finally, an update for you. Enjoy!
Chapter 2 - Sick of you
Emma woke with a start in an unfamiliar bed. She peered around in the dark trying to place where she was. She heard a noise and realised what had woken her up. Regina was lying beside her muffling a coughing fit into her pillow.
"Regina, are you ok?" she whispered.
"No, I'm dying." Regina's snark came out in a cough-ragged voice, nasal from a stuffy nose. The flu symptoms had obviously caught up with her.
"You sound terrible. Have you got any cough syrup in the house?"
A small bottle magically appeared in Regina's free hand and she held onto it so Emma could twist off the cap with her free hand and measure out a dose. Emma held the little cap up to Regina's lips and stared as the point of a tongue darted out to lick the last bit of syrup.
"Better?"
Regina fell back onto her pillow and sighed tiredly. She must've been pretty out of it not to complain when Emma reached across her to place the bottle on the nightstand.
After they'd appeared back at the house last night Emma had half-lifted half-dragged Regina upstairs to bed. The brunette had come to just long enough to check that Henry was already asleep in his room and to conjure herself a pair of slate satin pyjamas. Then she'd collapsed into bed dragging a fully-clothed Emma with her.
Regina had slipped back into a feverish sleep and Emma wasn't far behind.
It felt like only 5 minutes later when the door opened and Emma woke up again.
"Mom, have you seen Emma? - Oh."
It was Henry. Still half-asleep Emma sat up, making sure the blankets still covered her and Regina's joined hands. Emma figured since she hadn't moved Regina must still be asleep.
"Kid, what are you doing up so early?" groaned Emma, rubbing her tired face. Although, she had to admit she felt much better this morning. Her flu symptoms had eased off a lot and she could breathe again. Finally, ahh.
"It's nearly 10. Why are you in here?" Henry's face scrunched in confusion.
Emma sighed and spoke softly. "Henry, your Mom's real sick now. I have to take care of her."
"Really?! But the Evil Queen never gets sick," Henry whispered back, keen to see this novelty for himself.
"Henry, don't come in," warned Emma. She figured that Henry couldn't really catch what they had but she also didn't want him to know what they had.
"But-" started Henry.
"You're going to have to stay with Mary Margaret and David for a little while ok?"
Henry sighed a long-suffering sigh and left. "Fine."
Emma had barely laid back down on the bed before he was back hanging around the doorway wearing his backpack.
"Mom, can I have some money? I want hot chocolate," asked Henry.
Regina lifted her head to peer blearily at him and replied in a nasal voice. "If you go find my purse there should be enough notes in there."
"I was talking to Emma," said Henry evenly.
There was a beat of awkwardness and Emma felt Regina stiffen in response and lay back down silently. She'd heard the title 'Mom' and automatically assumed that meant her.
"Kid, my wallet's at home, you'll have to-" Emma trailed off noticing that Henry had disappeared. Poor kid. Mary Margaret would no doubt stuff him full of cookies and cinnamon hot chocolate when he got to the apartment.
"So. You're awake," said Emma.
"And you're irritating," said Regina, continuing the state-the-obvious game.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You sound a bit better than you did last night anyways. And don't worry about Henry, he'll come round. He's just mad-"
"Because I'm the Evil Queen?" said Regina sarcastically.
"Uh, yeah," said Emma, drawing out the last word in a 'duh' voice. "Even though, well, it's completely weird. I can't believe you're really her, you know, that old hag from the movie with the apple and the 'I'll get you my pretty'."
Regina turned over with an incredulous face. "That's not even the right movie, you idiot."
Emma grinned slyly, enjoying the reaction she was getting. "Pretty sure you fall off a cliff in the end."
Regina threw the covers off angrily and got out of bed, roughly dragging a protesting Emma with her.
"So what're we doing today?" asked Emma, following Regina into a kitchen that looked like a cross between Martha Stewart and Masterchef.
"What?" Regina frowned.
"Well, what do you normally do: eat breakfast, read the paper, set some peasants on fire...?"
Regina decided to ignore the irritating blonde and started to get the things together to make coffee and microwave oatmeal. Emma trailed behind her as she moved about the kitchen. She was absolutely not going to cook anything one-handed. Emma could go hungry for all she cared. She shut the microwave door and punched in the numbers with more force than necessary.
"I'll just have whatever cereal Henry eats," said Emma, without being asked.
When Regina got a box of cereal out of the pantry and handed it to her, Emma scrunched her face. The label mentioned fibre, nutrients, healthy... What the hell was this? There was no way a ten-year-old would eat this cardboard crap. She was just about to complain to Regina when she noticed that the cereal inside the packet didn't match the picture - the box was full of Froot Loops.
Smiling with gleeful smugness at Henry's little secret, Emma poured out some cereal into a bowl. But her left hand was clumsy and the colourful rings overflowed the bowl and skittered across the kitchen bench.
"Make yourself at home, Miss Swan," said Regina in annoyance.
"Hey, what d'you expect? I'm right-handed," said Emma, waving her left hand, the only one that was free. "Guess I can't do any paperwork for a while, what a shame."
"Your handwriting is atrocious. I doubt it would make a difference," Regina sniffed. "Thankfully, reading your paperwork is no longer my job."
"Yeah well, I'm more of an action kinda girl," Emma grinned and raised her eyebrows.
She could've sworn she saw Regina's eyes darken in response before she quickly turned away to retrieve a pair of spoons from the drawer.
Once they'd started eating breakfast in relative peace, Emma's phone rang and she pulled it out of the back pocket of her jeans to check the display.
Call from MARY MARGARET
Uh oh. Activate over-protective Mom mode, thought Emma. Henry must've arrived at the apartment and ratted her out. She held the phone at arm's length as it continued to ring trying to decide whether to answer it or not. Regina snatched it out of her hand and pressed speaker phone.
"Miss Blanchard, good morning," Regina trilled in her best politician voice though the effect was a little diminished by her stuffy nose.
"Wha- Regina?! Why are you answering Emma's phone? Oh my god, you've killed her."
"Not yet, but it's still early," said Regina.
Emma rolled her eyes at the brunette and then spoke to the phone now sitting on the bench. "Mary Margaret, I'm ok. I'm at Regina's 5-star hotel and she's taking such great care of me."
"Henry-said-that-you-two-slept-together!" shrieked Mary Margaret over the phone, apparently no longer able to contain herself.
Emma groaned and slapped her free palm over her face. "It's not like that. Let me explain-"
A new deeper voice joined in over the phone, it was David. "Regina. I swear if you've corrupted my daughter-"
"Oh, I didn't do anything she didn't enjoy," Regina said in a husky innuendo-laden voice, stirring the spoon through her oatmeal.
"Emma!" wailed the phone.
"Listen, guys, she's just riling you up," said Emma starting to get exasperated with all of them. "We've both got the flu. That's why I sent Henry home."
"You do sound sick. You should come home, Emma, so we can take care of you."
Emma felt slightly guilty at the plaintive worry in Mary Margaret's voice, but neither did she want to be coddled and fussed over. It was just... too soon. Not to mention the fact that she was literally stuck to her mother's not-so-former enemy.
"I uh, have to take care of Regina," said Emma. "Even though she's a really bad patient and apparently never too sick to annoy the shit out of everyone."
It was clear, even down the phone that the last part was said directly to Regina not about her.
"Oh my god. You're FLIRTING with her," gasped Mary Margaret.
"I'm sorry, Miss Blanchard. Emma and I have to go jump in the bath now." Regina tapped the phone screen to end the call.
"Really, Regina. Why did you have to go and do that," said Emma, completely unimpressed and shaking her head. Now Mary Margaret would never let this go.
Regina gave her that wicked grin she used whenever she'd won a round. "Because. I want a bath."