Janet was not happy. Not only had she just lost another twenty bucks to the creep in imaging—she still couldn't believe Mary Margaret hadn't slapped David Nolan onto his cute ass—but now she was going to have to schedule yet another follow up appointment with her ophthalmologist. She didn't know much about LASIK surgery, but she was pretty sure that being temporarily blinded by dazzling white light was not good for one's eyes.
And just what was she supposed to put on her insurance paperwork? Admitted Evil Queen against better judgment and suffered inevitable negative consequence. Would that fall under comprehensive coverage? It should. By all accounts, Her Majesty was a walking natural disaster.
Janet glanced over toward the woman in question. Great. And now she's awake. Maybe she should wait to fill out that insurance paperwork. With the Evil Queen conscious, the damage was probably just beginning.
"I don't understand how this happened," Snow said, absently holding the cup of tea Ruby handed her.
"I don't think anyone does," Ruby replied from her perch against the kitchen counter.
"He woke me up with true love's kiss," Snow recalled distantly. "How can that just go away?"
Ruby shook her head in understanding. "I don't know," she said, studying her friend compassionately.
Before Snow could drift too far into her own mind, Ruby spoke again. "What I do know," she said with a hint of teasing, "is that you smell terrible." When Snow began to chuckle at Ruby's exaggerated sniff, she continued, "What is that? Dead ogre?"
Snow threw a placemat at her friend. "As you may recall, the only running water in the Enchanted Forest is in streams," she replied.
"Well," Ruby teased, "It smells like it is time for you to take advantage of the shower."
"Ha. Ha," Snow replied, standing. "Fine. I do miss conditioner. Ooo! And Granny's lobster bisque! Please, Ruby, can we have some of her bisque?"
Ruby laughed. It was good to see some of her friend's quintessential enthusiasm shining through. "Okay, you shower, and I'll pick up the bisque."
"Thanks, Ruby," Snow said. "For everything."
Ruby just smiled and nodded. "Go. Shower. No bisque until you shower," she winked.
"Henry!" Regina breathed, clutching the small form she'd recognize anywhere.
"Mom!" Henry exclaimed. "You're awake!"
"And in a hospital," Regina commented, taking in her surroundings. This couldn't be good. But with Henry hugging her, she would overlook those implications for the moment. "Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Yes—" Henry's reply was cut off as David and Emma burst into the room. Emma and David were instantly beside Henry and Regina, respectively, checking them for injuries or burns.
"What the hell was that?" Emma asked.
"Language, Miss Swan," Regina said.
Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Nice to know you're back to normal," she replied.
"Are you?" David asked quietly, taking Regina's hand. "Are you all right?"
Regina shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting between Emma and Henry. "Yes, David," she squeezed his hand and shifted herself into a sitting position. "I'm fine."
"Actually fine, or holding out on me fine?" David asked.
"Actually fine," Regina glared at him. "Better than fine, even. I haven't felt this good—" she let go of David's hand and flexed her fingers, experimentally emitting sparks of magic from her fingertips. "—Since well before the curse."
"Your magic looks different," Henry said.
Regina set off a larger shower of sparks that disappeared harmlessly into the air. "It does, doesn't it?" she asked, smiling subtly.
"Would someone please fill me in here?" Emma demanded.
"Has this need for instant gratification always been a problem for you, Miss Swan?" Regina snapped.
"Regina," David said, a reminder in his tone.
Regina huffed, but restrained herself from further comment.
"I like it," Henry said, looking at his mom.
"I do too," Regina smiled at him.
Henry smiled back.
"I don't get it," Emma said.
Henry sighed in impatience. "You know how my mom's magic has always been purple?"
"Yeah," Emma said. "I vaguely recall a purple cloud of doom before being pulled into that wacky hat."
"Emma," David chastised mildly, but she answered with a glare that clearly communicated that his parental rights had been revoked.
"Well, look," Henry instructed, as Regina shot a few more sparks from her fingers. "It's still purple, but it's like brighter now, or something."
"It is," David said in wonderment, turning to Regina with a smirk at the edge of his smile.
"Shut up," Regina told him.
"I barely said anything!" David protested, his joy obvious.
"You were going to," Regina countered.
"Come on, Emma," Henry said, taking Emma's hand and leading her to the door. "Let's go figure out how to get Mom out of this place."
"Sometimes I think he's too wise for his age," Regina commented as she watched the door close behind her son.
"He gets that from me," David said cheekily.
"I'm sure," Regina replied sarcastically. Before she could say another word, however, David's lips were on hers, and she felt herself responding. Her hand cupped his face, and she felt his hand cradle her neck and jaw, keeping her close to him. Their kisses were firm, joyful, and playful all at once, and Regina felt herself laughing lightly as they pulled apart, David still gazing at her.
"I'm so glad you're here," he said.
"Me too," she replied, blushing despite herself as David brushed her hair from her face.
"Kid," Emma said as they headed toward a very crabby-looking nurse. "Why did you make me leave?"
"I know you just got back, so you don't really know what's going on yet, but Mom and David needed some time together," Henry explained knowledgeably.
Emma sighed in frustration. "Just what has been going on?"
Henry gave Emma an appraising look and decided to just give her the simple truth, "Gramps loves Mom, and I'm pretty sure she loves him back."
Emma plopped into a chair near the nurses' station. She had reached her limit. Maybe she should just jump back into the well and see if she could land in a less fucked up dimension.
Henry sat down beside her. "I didn't like it either at first," he said. "But Mom is different now. You'll see."
Emma cracked half a smile. Her kid had hope. She didn't have any, but at least he did. Maybe this dimension wasn't completely fucked up. "Okay, kid," she conceded. "Let's see how much paperwork we have to do to get your mom discharged."
Snow felt better. Amazing what hot water, steam, citrus body wash, and a clean set of clothes could do for a person. She suspected Ruby knew that. Sneaky. But Snow couldn't repress a small smile over her bisque. Ruby always could help her survive.
Regina cleared her throat and began to compose herself. David sighed. A composed Regina was usually a Regina determined to shut him out.
"You're about to enforce your stupid rule, aren't you?" David asked from his seat beside her.
"Yes," she said. "And my rule isn't stupid," she added, grabbing his hand. "You know it's not."
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "I know," he said. "But I still don't like it."
"We need to do this right," Regina stated.
"Oh, so we are doing this then?" David replied.
"We'll see," Regina said with a mock-glare, irritated that she'd forgotten to include the conditional 'if' in her last statement. Please don't go back to Snow. Wait for me. Pick me.
"How long did we settle on? Two weeks?" David asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"You know very well it was longer than two weeks," Regina replied with feigned aggravation.
"Sixteen days," David negotiated.
"Six months," Regina replied.
"What if you're underestimating everyone? What if the town moves on quicker than you think?" David countered.
Regina gave him a sad smile. "I love the faith you have in people," she said. "But it's not in my nature."
"That's why you have me," David replied.
With the same sad smile but with her eyes averted to the hospital sheets, Regina quietly confessed, "But I still may not be ready."
David gently took her chin in his hands and tilted her face toward his. "Regina, I have said it before, and I will say it again. You are not the same woman who cast the curse. You would never do such a thing again. I know it. I know who you are, and I know who you want to be, and neither of those people is the Evil Queen. Not even close."
She wanted to believe him so much that it tore at her heart. "How do you know?"
"I just do," he stated with conviction. "I'm the one with the faith, remember?"
She smiled and nodded, but still doubted.
"But, Regina," David continued, "If you need six months to prove that to yourself, you have it. I'll be waiting." He kissed her briefly. "But I'd still prefer if you only needed two weeks, or maybe just a couple of days?" he teased.
Regina laughed lightly. "You'll be the first to know," she assured him.
"I'd better be," he grinned. "One more stipulation—"
"I never should have helped you wade through that paperwork in the sheriff's office," Regina commented. "Now you are using words like 'stipulation' against me."
"One more stipulation," David repeated. "Your rule is not in effect on days in which you spend any part in a hospital."
"You really did read some of the 'Policies and Procedures,' didn't you?" Regina asked, simultaneously surprised and impressed.
"I did," David confirmed. "Do you accept my terms?"
"I wasn't aware you were giving me a choice in the matter," Regina stated.
"I'm not," David replied. "I'm merely being polite."
"Charming," Regina replied sarcastically.
Then, returning her attention to her surroundings as her peripheral vision caught Henry, Emma, and a disgruntled nurse moving toward her room, Regina noticed that the pillow was not scratching her skin as she expected. Surprised, she asked David, "Did you bring my pillow to the hospital?"
David smiled and shook his head, "Henry. He loves you, you know."
Regina gave him a tight smile in return. Her heart was so full of joy and gratitude she thought it might burst. "I know—now."
David beamed at her and placed another kiss on her forehead as Henry, Emma, and the same nurse that admitted Regina entered. Emma shuffled to the side of the room, still uncomfortable with the proceedings, while Henry walked straight toward his mother.
"I tried to sign the forms for you, but I'm ten," Henry explained, shrugging, as the nurse handed Regina a clipboard with several sheets of paper and a pen attached.
"Thank you, Henry," Regina said, taking the paperwork from the irritated nurse.
As Regina skimmed the forms and signed on the appropriate lines, the nurse spoke, "Please refrain from performing magic while on the premises, Miss Mills. It's disruptive to the other patients, who need to relax and recuperate, not feel terrorized."
"She wasn't hurting anybody," Henry protested.
"Shh, Henry," Regina gently admonished. "Nurse—Janet," she read the woman's nametag, "is just doing her job." She handed the clipboard back to Janet. "Since we are leaving," Regina stated in her most mayoral manner, "my magic use or lack thereof no longer concerns this hospital. Thank you so much," she finished in a tone that was less than grateful.
Janet took the clipboard, glared at the queen, and exited the room, a faint "Good riddance," left in her wake.
David shook his head at Regina's smirk as the door closed behind Janet. "I don't think she's going to nominate you for Miss Congeniality, Regina."
"Everyone knows Miss Congeniality is code for 'Not the Winner'," Regina countered. "Who needs that title when you're already Queen?" she quirked a teasing eyebrow at the shepherd-king.
"Oh my god," Emma interrupted. "You two are, like, bantering. That is sick. This whole thing is sick. Stop it."
"Are you quite all right, Miss Swan?" Regina asked. "Maybe you should sit down," she gestured to the chair behind Emma as though it were a seat in her court.
Despite herself, Emma plopped into the seat and dropped her head into her hands.
"Really, Miss Swan, given your name, one would think you could exhibit a modicum of grace," Regina criticized.
"Regina, cut it out," David said.
Sighing, Regina returned his gaze and relented, "Sorry. Old habits."
Emma's head snapped up, and she looked at Henry in amazement, "Did your mom just apologize and mean it?"
"Yep," Henry replied, grinning. "I told you. She's changed."
"Miss Swan," Regina attempted genuine politeness. "Perhaps we could continue discussing this at home."
"Continue?" Emma scoffed. "I wasn't aware we had started," she mumbled.
"Petulance is unbecoming, Miss Swan," Regina replied.
Emma rolled her eyes and stood. "Let's go," she said.
"Come on, Emma," Henry said, pulling on his overstuffed backpack and leading her out by the hand. "And if you want to sound fancier next time, you can say 'commenced.'"
"Yeah, thanks, kid," Emma responded, confused. " 'Initiate' is another good word for 'start,' if you're collecting words."
"Initiate," Henry tried the word out on his tongue. "Initiate, Commence, Start. Thanks, Emma!"
"He's just excited to have her back," David murmured into Regina's ear as he led her out the door by the small of her back.
Regina nodded mutely. She knew Henry loved her; she wouldn't be alive and awake otherwise, but she knew better than most that love did not solve all problems. Henry could love her, and he could still walk out of her life with Emma.
A/N: I know I still haven't explained the "white" satisfactorily, but I thought this stood alone reasonably well, so I wanted to go ahead and post it for y'all. Thank you again for all of the support, and, as always, your comments are encouraged!