Thank you all for your comments, follows and favourites, you're great. This chapter isn't betaread, all mistakes are mine. Thanks to my ninny Geli for assistance and to Eleonora for the continuous support :)
Chapter Ten.
Regina felt like the ground beneath her feet was spinning.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked dumbly.
It couldn't be.
"You heard me, now let's go," David said briskly, grabbing her by the arm and tugging her along.
She wordlessly followed him, too stunned to manage a snarky remark.
He's not responding to treatments, he's not responding to treatments, he's not... he's dying.
"How is it possible, it can't be?!" Elsa exclaimed, shocked.
He could die.
"I don't know," David explained urgently, "Dr Whale said he tried everything but nothing is working. He has a weak pulse and is in hypothermia right now."
The ice bitch did quite the number on him.
"I suppose this has everything to do with your lovely aunt, Elsa," Regina managed to croak, her throat tight.
The young woman sighed. "I suppose it does."
David turned to face the blonde while walking, "Is there anything you can do to save him?"
"I don't think so. My aunt certainly knows spells and plays with forces I'm powerless against."
Her chest felt constricted, she had trouble breathing. Shit, shit, shit. Not now.
She was walking quickly down the corridor on her stiletto heels, David almost struggling to keep up with her, when something collided with her legs. She looked down and gripped tight a wobbly Roland to prevent him from falling.
"Sweetheart, are you alright?" she asked him, kneeling in front of him with a concerned look on her face.
"Yes," he nodded confidently. "Gina, what happened to Papa?"
She looked at him at a loss for words. "Roland, remember when I told you that your Daddy was helping a friend in need?"
The kid nodded eagerly, his curls bouncing around his face.
Regina sighed. "He... He was hurt, Roland. He managed to save his friend but the witch he was fighting against hurt him."
"Did she have flying monkeys too?"
"No, sweetie. She has ice powers."
"So my Papa is very cold now?"
"He is."
"But then you can hug him and make it alright, can't you Gina? You can put a blanket around him and warm his hands and feet like Uncle John does when I'm cold."
"I don't know if I can, Roland, but I'll do my best."
He put his little hands on her cheeks before staring at her intently. "I know you can do it, Gina. My Papa will be better."
She marveled at the maturity of Robin's child, at his unwavering faith in her. He was so much like his father, she thought bitterly.
"Thank you, Roland," she answered, kissing his small button nose.
"Regina, are you ready?" Dr Whale wondered, his head popping out from the intensive care room.
Her mind was reeling, already pondering possibilities.
She was Robin's only chance at life.
"Bring me to him," she uttered, trying to sound determined.
"Come in, please."
She strode eagerly into the room, suffocating a gasp when Dr Whale showed her Robin's lying form. The sight that greeted her wasn't pretty.
His skin was so pale it bordered on transparent, his veins giving it a blueish hue.
She got closer to him, walking as silently as she possible, as if afraid she could wake him. His lashes were encrusted with ice, little popsicles were also stuck in his hair. His chest was barely rising and falling with each breath he took.
"Oh, Robin," she couldn't help but utter. "What did she do to you?"
"We tried everything we could but his body is not responding to treatments. It's clear he's suffering from magical damages," Dr Whale explained. "Unfortunately I can't do much in that department."
"Can you help him?" Marian asked her in a small voice, making her way from the doorway to the bed.
"I don't know. Let's see what I can do."
Regina tentatively raised her hands, letting them hover above Robin's body. She could feel something, her fingers twitching at the contact. She frowned, her nose scrunching up in concentration.
The magic field enveloping Robin's body was strong, but nothing she couldn't handle.
She breathed in deeply before attempting to inch closer to him, however a powerful force prevented her hands from wandering any further.
She felt a sharp pain pervade her - so sharp it was as if something flaming hot was scorching her skin - and leave her as soon as she uttered a moan of discomfort.
"Something is acting as a barrier," she grunted, rubbing her hands together to get rid of that awful feeling.
"Is it the ice?" Dr Whale wondered.
"It could very well be that."
"What? Can't you get rid of it?" Marian anxiously demanded.
"I'm trying," Regina hissed through gritted teeth, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes at the woman. "Magic is not some bibbidi bobbidi boo."
"What?" Marian blurted out, clearly confused.
Regina sighed. "Never mind."
"I can call Leia, she could..." Marian tried, at a loss of what to do.
"No. Leave Miss Swan out of this." Regina's voice admitted no objection.
"But..."
"She has already created many problems as it is. No need for her to create more."
"What about Elsa? She has the same powers as her aunt, she might know something about Robin's condition."
Regina wondered about it for a moment before stating, "I think I know what Robin saw in you. You can talk sense, when you want to," she sneered at the other woman.
"Make no mistake, I still haven't understood what he saw in you," Marian fired back.
Huh, maiden's got teeth.
"Touchè," Regina admitted defeat with grace.
"So, shall we call her?" Marian cut short.
"Be my guest."
Elsa entered the room with some hesitation, looking at Regina quizzically.
"We need your help," Regina explained. "I can't use my magic on him, the ice is acting as a barrier."
"Oh," Elsa commented, almost stupefied, before recovering herself to add, "He's simply frozen."
"I could see that for myself, thank you very much," Regina sassed.
"I meant that it's nothing we can't fix right now. We just need to... thaw him."
"And how do you suggest we do that?"
Elsa smiled. "Love."
"What?" Regina choked on the word.
"Light magic," Elsa clarified.
The mere word made Regina's stomach churn. Light magic? Sure, she had managed that before, but it was in a moment where everyone depended on her, where they all hung on a thread between life and death.
She sure as hell couldn't manage it now, not on Robin.
What if something happened to him and it was all her fault?
"I can't do it," she spluttered, trying to keep her voice from wavering.
Elsa's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Why not?"
Marian, on the other hand, didn't seem as surprised as the queen of Arendelle.
Regina bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm not exactly a person who wields light magic."
Realisation dawned on Elsa, however she didn't step away from her, nor did she turn her nose up at her, and for that Regina was extremely grateful.
"Regina, listen to me," the young woman ordered firmly.
She shot up her head in Elsa direction, eyes guarded.
"You are perfectly capable of wielding light magic. As you very well know, I am endowed with ice powers because of a curse. My magic is dark. Yet I was able to thaw my whole kingdom with light magic. You can do it. It will be draining, mind you, but you can do it."
"How?" Regina whispered brokenly, stealing a glance at her soulmate, still lying unmoving in bed.
"You just need to focus on positive feelings. I managed to thaw Arendelle thanks to the love I harboured for Anna."
Does the Evil Queen have feelings? Is she capable of loving somebody?
She shook her head, as if trying to put the thoughts that were nagging her aside.
She was Robin's only chance at life.
"I'll stand by you," Elsa declared, stepping by her side. "You can do it, Regina."
The brunette nodded, secretly grateful for the assistance.
She screwed her face into an expression of extreme concentration, her trembling hands moving to hover above Robin's body as they did before.
You're his only chance at life.
Robin. His infuriating, cheeky smile flashed in her mind.
"Don't you dare die on me, thief," she whispered in a wavering voice, so low that only him could hear her. If only he would wake up.
You can do it.
Henry's loving face appeared in her thoughts, his childish, five year old voice celebrating his victory, "I did it, Mommy! I did it!" he was yelling while running towards her with excitement, his basketball shirt far too big for him. "I put the ball in, Mommy, I scored!"
She remembered his tight embrace when he came seeking her because he was afraid of storms, how he clung to her neck before falling asleep, snoring softly and smearing her favourite blouse with drool. The adorable way in which he wrinkled his nose in disgust, so much like her, the way he would softly whisper "I love you, Mommy," when he didn't know of his adoption yet, the way he whined "Mooom!" when she embarrassed him in public because she had kissed his cheek but he was a big boy now.
She remembered Roland's sticky kisses just after having eaten ice cream, with both his little hands plastered on her face, his cheeks slightly puffed and his mouth leaving a smearing kiss on her skin.
She remembered his joyous laugh, his bouncing curls, his blinding smile.
She remembered the way he would remind her of her own son, all sweetness and maturity.
She remembered his small, worried voice when she knelt in front of him and he asked "Where's Papa, Gina?" and her feeling of hopelessness while she sugarcoated the truth to avoid making him cry.
She remembered the way he would always hope for the best, she remembered how he had always seen the best in her.
Much like sweet, idiotic Snow, she couldn't help but think. The eternal child who wouldn't give up hoping, who wouldn't give up seeing her for the girl that she was once, loving and carefree. The eternal child that constantly found a way to creep in her thoughts, that held the most secluded part of her battered heart, which had once been so pure.
She had the luck to witness that. Daniel had the luck to witness that. Poor dear Daniel, with his tender kisses, his smiling blue eyes and his unwavering faith in her. Like Robin's.
Her mind was spinning, leaving her gasping for breath. The strain of her actions left a sheer layer of perspiration on her skin. She couldn't hold this for much longer. She had to make it. For Roland. For Robin.
Robin and his warm, dimpled smile that made her heart skip a bit every time. His strong arms that prevented her falling on the ice only a few days before. The way he would care about her constantly, the way he had dismissed her past with a simple "I love you."
The way he would whisper "Stunning, in every way," his warm breath beside her ear, his scruff tickling her jaw, his fingers skimming across her skin, making her shiver with pleasure,
"It's working!" she could hear faintly Elsa's voice. "Come on, resist for a while, you're almost done!"
She huffed in discomfort, sucking in a breath and clenching her teeth to prevent a painful lament from slipping past her lips.
You can do it, Mom.
I believe in you, Regina.
I know you can do it, Gina. My Papa will be better.
She remembered her father's voice calling her sweetheart, princess. She remembered his excited smile, his clapping hands whenever she excelled at horseriding.
She remembered how she would climb on his bed at night when she was a little child, curling into the warm, welcoming heat of his body, seeking comfort from nightmares. She remembered his last words, spoken in a soothing, low tone, assuring her of her oncoming happiness. "I believe that given the chance, we can find happiness. Together. But the choice is yours."
She cried for days after his death, she cried because she had sacrificed the person she loved most, she cried because she had no one to comfort her anymore.
But the memory of her cold, heartless mother was her undoing. The way she would slap her cheek in rage, so hard it stung, before welcoming Regina in her embrace, soothing her cries by cradling her head on her own bosom, telling her repeatedly that she was very much disappointed in her, that she could do better.
Oh, how many nights had she cried herself to sleep, desperately trying to gain the affection of a mother who couldn't love, a mother who pretended to care for her, a mother who had sold her off to the best bidder.
It would have been enough. You would have been enough.
With a last anguished cry, Regina felt magic abandoning her quivering hands.
She stumbled back, Elsa coming to her aid and breaking her fall.
"He has been thawed," Elsa whispered in her ear, while soothing her by running her hands up and down her back. "I knew you could do it, Regina."
She nodded weakly in response, before uttering in a croaked voice "How is he?"
"He will be fine, now," Dr Whale reassured her, while rapidly checking Robin's vital signs.
She sighed in relief and then closed her eyes, succumbing to darkness in Elsa's embrace, her mother's faint voice echoing in her head.
You would have been enough.
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