Hey guys, thanks again for the amazing reviews! I know people are frustrated by the angst and Emma, but this is a slow burn swanqueen. I think it's easy to place blame with Emma at this point because we've yet to see Regina's flaws; don't worry, that was intentional :) as far as finding out what's wrong with Regina, I'm sorry to tell you that it will be a little while longer. However, there is a clue in the fic, somewhere in these chapters, and yet no one's picked up on it yet...hmmm... ;)

Anyway, enjoy chapter seventeen!

The party guests tried to ignore the yelling and ranting echoing from the backyard. But everyone who was still near the dance floor heard the roars coming from Regina and Emma. It was a surprise to them when the sudden shift to silence came.

Moments later, Emma burst through the door. She had Regina cradled in her arms and frantically cried for help. Kathryn and Snow rushed to her side.

"What happened?!" Snow asked.

"I don't know," Emma said, exasperated, "one minute we were fighting, the next she was holding her chest and suddenly collapsed."

Kathryn interrupted. "We need to get her to the hospital now," she said sternly. For a moment, Emma contemplated the assertion of her tone, as if there was more that Kathryn knew. But she had no time for such thinking. David led them to his truck and opened the passenger door for Emma to slide in, still holding Regina.

Emma cranked down the window of David's truck. "When you see Kate, tell her where I went," she said to her mother as David started the engine.

"What about Henry?" her mother asked. "Should I get him from Granny's?"

"No," Emma shook her head, "he'll be fine there and I don't want to worry him. Just keep everyone calm."

Snow nodded and then watched her husband drive off in a hurry with the women. She held her hands, clasped together, to her lips. Kathryn sighed, and immediately went in to the upstairs of the house.

As Emma and David stormed through the emergency room doors, all eyes were on them. The nurses rushed to get Regina on a bed. They scurried around her, checking vitals and attaching an oxygen mask. Before Emma could think, they were rushing her into the back. But as soon as she tried to follow, a nurse stopped her.

"Are you family?" she asked.

"Well, no, but—," Emma tried to explain, but the nurse interrupted.

"I'm sorry, but only family members can go back there," she said in her superior tone.

"She's the mother of my son!" Emma cried insistently. But the nurse wouldn't have it.

"I'm sorry, but—"

"—But you're going to let her through," David announced, as he stepped forward, "And that is an order from your former Prince."

She nodded, and stepped aside, allowing them both to pass. As soon as they were through the doors, Emma looked to her father.

"I thought you didn't like throwing your royal power around," she said.

He shrugged. "There's a time and a place for it."

Emma and David waited for nearly a half hour. They switched between pacing, sitting, and harassing every nurse who walked by for a status update on Regina. But there were no answers. Emma was surprised when Kathryn showed up, carrying a black bag that vaguely looked familiar.

"Do we know anything yet?" she asked.

"No," David sighed, "haven't heard a thing."

Kathryn took notice of a nurse walking by and caught her attention. "Where's Doctor Whale?" she asked.

"He's in-between patients right now," she answered, "is there something you need?"

"Yes," she said, ignoring the looks from David and Emma, "I need to speak with him. Urgently." The nurse gave her a puzzled look, but Kathryn explained further. "I'm Regina Mills' emergency contact and I have information he should be aware of with regard to her care."

The nurse studied Kathryn's demanding expression before nodding. "Come with me," she said. Just as Emma tried to follow, Kathryn put her hand out to stop her.

"Emma—," she said, pausing, as if there was more to the statement. But she said nothing further, and simply walked away, making it clear that she was not welcome.

"What was that about?" David asked Emma, after Kathryn and the nurse were a distance away.

"I have no idea."

When they grew tired of pacing, Emma and David slouched on the floor against a wall. Emma began anxiously pulling at the feathers in her hair while David rotated his cowboy hat around his bent knee.

"So," he began, "are you ever going to tell me what it was that you two were fighting about?"

Emma groaned. She knew this was coming. "She was angry with me for the way I left last time…"

"Right—," David said slowly. "And how exactly did you leave last time?"

Emma didn't want to answer at first, worried about the judgment her father would hold against her. But he spoke first.

"I know you and her went on a double date with Kathryn and Ruby," he said. She dropped her jaw a bit, wondering how he knew. "Henry was excited about it and mentioned it during a riding lesson."

"Oh—," Emma sighed. David nudged her. "You can tell me, Emma."

Seeing that her father's tone was genuine and free of judgment, Emma told him. "It was a good night," she said, "Really good. I went home with her—," before David could arch an eyebrow, she clarified, "we didn't sleep together or anything. But we did kiss. All night. And…"

"And?" he asked.

"And—I told her that I loved her."

David's eyes widened.

"It wasn't like that," she said. "It was just this cute little thing we used to say to each other."

"Still," he pushed her, "you said the words."

Emma nodded silently. "But I started to think how wrong it was for us, you know?" she finally said, "I mean, we are bad together!" David nodded a bit, not in agreement, but in acknowledgement of the damage each of them had caused the other. Emma continued, "So, in the morning, when she went in to make coffee, I just freaked," she said blatantly, "I just left without saying a word."

David remained silent for a moment, as he thought about what would be best to say. "And what about Kate?" he asked. "Did you tell her?"

"No," Emma shook her head in shame. "I don't know, I mean—"

"Are you happy with her?" David asked. "Are you happy with Kate?"

Emma sat in silence for a moment. "Kate is a wonderful person who pushed her way into my life and my heart at a time when I refused to let anyone in," she said, as they both laughed, knowing the story. "She's brilliant, funny and mature for her age. She accepts my baggage and she's good with my kid. She gets me. But…"

"Not the way Regina gets you?" David completed her thought.

"Yeah," she nodded. "How did—?"

"Because," he sighed, "that's exactly how I felt about your mother."

Emma choked a bit on her emotions. "But you and Mom, you guys haven't hurt each other the way Regina and I have. I mean, we just keep breaking each other," Emma exclaimed. "Don't you think there ever comes a point when the pieces can't be put back together?"

In that moment, Emma remembered how Regina shattered her down to tiny pieces.

Emma hadn't noticed how long it had been dark outside. She was distracting herself with online games and comic books throughout her shift. When the only call she received was from Granny, asking if she could pick up an intoxicated Leroy, it was easy to fall into a trance of distraction to avoid brain death. She barely heard the clacking of Regina's stilettos, as she was too busy trying to beat her high score.

"Hard at work, I see?" Regina asked.

"Regina," Emma said, "if you're going to complain about me not doing paperwork—"

Regina cut her off. "Emma, I'm not here as your boss," she said, snatching Emma's phone from her grip. "I'm here as your girlfriend. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Emma looked at the clock. It read 12:30 in the morning. Her shift ended an hour beforehand.

"Shit."

Regina nodded. But Emma had an immediate response. "What? You stay late at the office all the time!" she cried.

"Yes dear, I do," Regina answered, "but when I do, it's because I've got a mountain of work to tackle. And I don't enjoy it. But it's called being productive and getting work done. You on the other hand—"

"What?" Emma cried, still on the defense. "I'm productive!" she said, pointing to a small stack of paperwork. "That's all done!"

"That's not what I mean, Emma," Regina sighed, as she rubbed her temples. "Have you even bothered to check the job websites for higher ranking positions in the nearby cities, like we agreed you would?"

Emma groaned and Regina had her answer. "Emma, when are you going to grow up and get some ambition?!"

"I'm fine with this job."

"Really?!" Regina yelled. "You're fine being the Sheriff of a fake town that has virtually no crime, filling out paperwork a five-year-old could handle, sitting here eating donuts," she said, pointing to the box that Emma had polished off, and then to Emma's tiny paunch, pronounced from being full, "and getting fat and lazy?!"

Emma wasn't sure what to be insulted by first. Regina had insulted her ambition, career, intelligence, and weight in one sentence. She wasn't quite sure what to say.

"What do you want from me, Regina?" she asked boldly. "Do you want anything? Hmm?" she asked, raising her voice a bit more. "Because from that, it seems like nothing about me is particularly appealing to you."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Regina scoffed. "I want you—I just want you to…I don't know, want better for yourself!"

"So I'm not good enough for you?"

"No—I wasn't—,"

"I'm not good enough for you," Emma repeated. "You want me to be a better person. Be more successful. Make more money. Be worthier of sharing your bed." At this, Regina remained silent. "Just say it, Regina," Emma let out nonchalantly, "I'm not up to the queen's standards."

Regina stayed silent for another moment. "I don't think it's a crime for me to want better." The look on her face was cold. Had Emma stared at it for a moment longer, perhaps she would have noticed the walls Regina had put up. But she walked out of the office. She didn't return to the mansion that night.

Emma remembered how cold that night felt. It wasn't as though it was the first time she realized Regina thought less of her. That dynamic existed between them from day one. But that night was the first time they had both verbally confirmed it. It created one of the many rifts that tore them apart.

Emma threw her jacket on the bed after a long day at work. Regina looked up for a moment, and then instantly back to her book.

"You're going to hang that up, aren't you?" she asked without removing her eyes from the page.

"Sorry," Emma said, grabbing a hanger for the coat, "just had a long day."

Regina looked at her, but didn't say a word.

Emma began pulling off her boots as she sat on the bed. "Jefferson was giving Grace's family more trouble about getting her back, and they called me over to collect him," she said.

"And?" Regina asked, still reading her book.

"He was a little belligerent," she said, "when I tried to explain that her parents had filed for a restraining order, and told him he was probably scaring Grace, he told me that I had no right to say anything," Emma said as she threw her boots off to the side. "He said that I knew nothing about family, and how could I know what it's like to want your child back, when, after all, I gave mine up."

"Well," Regina said, putting her book down, "I do see his point."

"Are you serious right now?!"

Regina removed her glasses and held the frames from one of the arms. "Yes, I am," she said. "Are you denying that he was lying when he said you grew up without a family?"

"That's not what he said—"

"But inherently," Regina pointed out, "what he meant is that you, having grown up without your parents, can't understand what it's like to have that familial bond."

"I can't believe you're saying this right now," Emma groaned. "And Henry? Do you think he was right about Henry?!"

"Well," Regina said as she sat up more in the bed, "you did give him up. Jefferson never gave Grace up—that wasn't his choice."

"I did it to give him his best chance!"

Regina sighed, as if she was reasoning with someone whose emotional response was irrational. "I'm sure you did," she said, "but that doesn't change the fact that you cannot understand what Jefferson is going through right now."

"You know he decked me in the face..?" Emma asked, pointed to the bruise. She was begging for Regina to take her side.

Regina looked up at the wound. "Honestly, dear, if I were Jefferson, I would have done the same."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Regina laughed lightly and tried to stroke Emma, but Emma pulled away. "Dear, Jefferson's delusional!" she sighed. "What does this matter anyway?"

Emma was angry and felt betrayed. "I thought it did, but what really matters is how you're reacting."

"Whatever do you mean?" Regina asked, oblivious to Emma's needs.

"God damn it, Regina," she said, as she grabbed a pillow and prepared to go downstairs to the couch. "Why can't you ever just be in my corner?"

It didn't register with Regina, as she watched Emma leave the room, that maybe for once, the Savior needed some rescuing.

Emma's reflections were interrupted when her father reached out his hand. He held hers, and gently shook it to comfort her. She looked over to him, trying to hold back tears.

"I know Regina hurt you," he said, "and I know you hurt her. But what I know about the two of you is that every time you hurt each other, it's usually about something deeper."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

Charming ruffled the hair on his head. "Well, it's not like you guys don't care about each other," he said. "And when you do hurt each other, it seems like it's usually not intentional—in fact, usually the one doing the hurting is also trying to do something positive—however distorted their view is."

"Well, that's great," Emma said, sarcastically, "but we still sucked together."

"No," Charming shook his head. "I saw you guys at your best—that—was true love. You two just sucked at communicating." He smiled at his daughter. "And I thought lesbians were supposed to be good at talking about emotions," he joked. Emma playfully shoved him as he laughed.

"Seriously, right?" she answered.

"Emma," he said, still holding her hand, "I think the pieces can always be glued back together—if you know why you're trying to reassemble the whole." She gave him a look, but he just smiled. "Think about it."

Before Emma could respond to her father, a nurse emerged. She and Charming stood up as the nurse addressed them.

"How's Regina?" Emma asked.

"She's doing better," the nurse said. "We expect her to wake up soon."

"What exactly happened?" Charming asked.

The nurse cleared her throat. "It would seem that Regina simply passed out. The tests are inconclusive as to indicate a precise reason. Our best guess is that she was under stress or didn't have enough nutrients in her system," the nurse explained. "A combination of both can easily lead to fainting spells."

"And is there any indication of a more severe problem?" Emma asked.

"You'll have to speak with the doctors about the details," she said, "but as of now, there's nothing to indicate that it was anything more severe."

Emma sighed heavily in relief. The nurse gestured with an open arm. "You can see her if you like," she said, and with a nod from Emma, she led her back to Regina's room.

The sound of the heartbeat monitor was the first thing she noticed when she entered the room. Regina's eyes were shut—she looked peaceful as she rested. Emma took the chair, near to the bed already. Kathryn must have moved it there—she must have missed her leave on the way in. Regina's hand was resting against her side. Emma took it in hers and held it to her lip.

Just then, Regina's eyes began to flutter. "Emma..?" she said in a soft voice. "What are you doing here?"

Emma laughed a bit against her tears. "Well, considering you fainted in the middle of me yelling at you, I only thought it'd be right," she said.

Regina smiled. "I'm pretty sure I was yelling at you too."

"How are you feeling?"

Regina groaned a bit. "Tired," she said, "Still drunk."

"Ha," Emma laughed, "I think you had one too many."

Regina arched her eyebrow. "It's your fault," she scoffed. "I had to drink to tolerate your presence at my party."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked. "You invited me, didn't you?"

The brunette shook her head. "That was Kathryn's doing," she sighed. "I believe your dark little friend, Baelfire, had something to do with it as well."

"Fuck," Emma gasped. "Sneaky little shit—I knew he was up to something when I saw he was here." She looked into Regina's tired eyes. "I'm really sorry, Regina," she said. "If I knew that you didn't invite me, I wouldn't—"

"Emma," Regina interrupted, "it's not a problem. I was joking." Emma knew from what had transpired earlier that she wasn't truly joking. After a few moments, Emma spoke again.

"You really had me scared, ya know?" she said in a low tone.

"Why would you be scared for me?" Regina asked.

This time Emma arched her eyebrow. "Really? You're going to sit there in that damn hospital bed, pretending like it's shocking that I care about you?" she said, whit dripping from her tone. She looked to Regina, who still seemed unsure of Emma's disposition. "Regina," she said in a hoarse voice, just above a whisper, "if anything were to ever happen to you—I don't know what I'd do."

Regina still heard her words with some surprise and startle. It alarmed her, for some reason. Did she really mean this much to Emma? But before she had time to contemplate it further, she saw Emma was leaning in closer. She put up her hand to stop her from stroking her hair.

"Emma," she said, "in the words you once said," she paused, having trouble forcing herself to continue, "whatever is between us needs to end, because yes," she nodded, despite Emma's shaking of her head, "what we're doing is a problem."

Emma choked back tears as she pressed her forehead to Regina's. Regina rand her hand through Emma's hair. "You're here now, and you're getting caught in the moment," Regina assured her, "like we always do. Well, I'm saying no more."

Emma wanted to fight. She wanted to say any of the things her father had said minutes ago. But Regina's face was stern. She was asking Emma to let her go.

"What do you need from me?" Emma asked.

"I need you to go back to Boston," she said. "I can hire someone to drive Henry on weekends he wants to visit you, but I need you to stop coming back here." Emma could tell her voice was pleading for her to listen.

And so, she did. Emma let go of Regina's hand, allowing it to fall gently back to the bed. She exited the room slowly, wanting to savor her last moments with Regina. But for once, she was going to do as her queen desired.