Regina froze when she saw the Evil Queen come down with Emma in rags. She was practically dragging her down the stairs and made sure that each step was painful for the blonde. She had heard Emma's screams, even from down below. She had forgotten what cruelty she had her victims suffer through. As she saw Emma's face, she could only imagine what suffering she had to deal with. Emma had a black eye, a split lip, and some bruising around her jaw. Regina would've been surprised if that was the extent of her injuries, but it wasn't. The rest of her injuries must be hidden underneath those rags that probably were itchy and sensitive to Emma's skin.

The metal doors open and the Evil Queen threw Emma into the cell without looking back as she ascending the stairs. Regina had barely caught her before she fell onto the hard ground. As terrible as Emma looked at this moment, Regina could see the fire burning in her eyes. The brunette helped Emma onto the bed and swept her blonde curls out of her eyes.

The blonde didn't say anything, but rested her cheek on Regina's shoulder. In any other situation, Regina would've pushed her away, but she didn't at a time like this. She was stroking her hair to try to comfort Emma.

"Emma…"

"I don't want to hear your voice right now, please. It just reminds me of her." Emma said it through gritted teeth. The intense pain she was feeling was something that told her that she was still alive. She knew that the Evil Queen couldn't kill her, but she thought she had been damn well close to it.

Regina didn't say another word as she wanted to help Emma with her wounds that her former self had caused. She hesitantly reached out to touch Emma's shoulder and was relieve when the younger woman didn't flinch from her touch.

She made it so that Emma's back was facing her and slowly lifted up the back of the tunic that was made of rags. There was a gasp from her which was out of character. There were so many red marks all over her back. Some wounds were deeper than others. She couldn't tell if they were done by a blade or a whip by how brutal they were. If only she could use her magic to heal Emma. She didn't dare touch any of them as they looked so angry.

As she pulled the tunic down, she did her best not to touch any of the cuts. Regina glanced down to see that Emma didn't have any shoes on. Her feet looked more damaged than they should have been. They too had cuts on them. Her hands were grimey looking, but other then that, no harm was done to them.

There was surely more that was done to Emma, but Regina wasn't going to overstep her bounds. Thankfully, there wasn't any signs that she was aware of that would hint to anything sexual done to her.

Emma turned around to look at Regina with such a sadness that there wasn't a way that the brunette could accurately describe it. She wanted to hold her in her arms, but didn't in fear of hurting Emma further.

The night was very rough for Emma, even as she laid in the bed in the bed with Regina holding her close. She had been sweating profusely, shaking a bit despite it not being cold. The two of them were barely able to sleep a few hours before Emma cried out again. Regina thought she was having a nightmare until she felt something wet on her chest. She moved away from Emma and in the light, she saw that Emma's back was damp.

Regina carefully lifted up the back of Emma's tunic once more and saw that her wounds were weeping. She never thought that this would happen so soon, but she wasn't surprised because of how fast infection had set in. Since Regina knew that the Evil Queen had used magic, anything was possible.

She cursed herself for not trying to help Emma with her wounds, but she was cautious about it. She poured fresh water in the tub and tried to gently dab at Emma's wound, who hissed the moment that the cloth came into contact with her skin.

No matter how much Regina tried to take care of Emma's wounds, it was like she had done nothing at all. In fact, it kept getting worse. Emma was close to tears from the pain.

"Your Majesty,!" Regina shouted.

She didn't care if anything would happen to her in this moment because her only concern was Emma.

There was dark purple smoke and the Evil Queen appeared before her. She looked menacing, even with her robe on. The guards had left the instant that the Evil Queen came down the steps.

"You look so pitiful, trying to help Emma. No matter what you do, she will get worse. Maybe you should just surrender and give Emma to me. I can heal her instantly with my magic. It's a powerful thing, magic."

She paused as she entered the cell and Regina felt Emma flinch. If Emma could, she would disappear into Regina so that she wouldn't have to face her tormentor again. Just the sound of those damn heels on the ground were enough to scare her.

"I would even make it so that you wouldn't get executed, but remain my prisoner down here. You won't live worse than this, I can promise that. Don't you see? I'm not as cruel as everyone makes me out to be."

She leaned in closer so that both Regina and Emma could hear. "I'm much worse."