"Sorry about the bushes," Tink said as she held the door open for Regina.
"It's ok, I didn't really care for them anyway," she said, just glad they had made it to the house in one piece. No wonder Henry hadn't said who was picking them up. She had thought maybe it would be Emma since Henry wasn't very forthcoming. She hadn't spoke to Emma yet and felt she should at least thank the sheriff for bringing her back to the hospital.
She wished she could remember what had happened, but it was all still blank in her head. She took a seat on the couch and immediately got out her pain medication. Her ribs hurt more than anything else.
"Do you think you can get me something to drink?"
"Sure," Tink said. She disappeared and Henry came in carrying some of her flowers.
"What should I do with them?"
"I don't know, put them around wherever you think looks nice I guess," she said.
"Like anywhere?"
"Yes."
"Ok," he said, still unsure. His mother was usually meticulous about where things were placed. He had been observing her since woke in the hospital and all he could think was that she seemed more relaxed, or maybe just less annoyed at people. She had made sure she said thank you to the medical staff before leaving the hospital, and none of it was forced or sounded insincere.
He wasn't complaining, but it was – different. He put this vase down on the stand by the couch and went outside to retrieve the others.
Tink returned with water and Regina swallowed down two of the pills.
"Are you ok?"
"A little sore," she said. "But I guess that is to be expected for a little while at least."
"Well anything you need I am a phone call away. Plus Henry will be here."
"He mentioned that at the hospital. Emma is ok with that?"
"I guess. I mean those two had some friction over this whole thing so it may best to let them cool off a bit."
"Henry said he wasn't very nice to her."
"He gave her the cold shoulder, but he felt it was justified and frankly so did I."
"Why is that?"
"It's like you said she never considered the consequences of her actions and then those actions resulted in you and those kids getting sick, her first thought wasn't about you or them. When Henry called her out on it she still didn't seem to understand that this wasn't about her. I like Emma, don't get me wrong, but she didn't handle this as well as she should have for Henry's or your sake."
"All that is over now and the kids are fine, and I am fine. I think it would be best for everyone if we move on from it."
"Who are you and what have you done with Regina?"
"Funny,"
"No, seriously. You aren't one to let things go, what's changed?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, "Punishing Emma for her actions, it's doesn't seem worth it for any reason. I am alive. My son loves me and that is all I need."
"Speaking of love," Tink said. "I'm sorry about what happened with Robin."
Regina gave her a sad smile, "I don't think a happy ending like that is what my destiny is. But it was nice for the short time that it was to believe again. I owe you for that. Thank you."
...
Henry watched as his mother slept on the couch. He was sure this was a scene he would never see again so he snapped a quick photo with his phone. She had gotten sleepy from the pills and decided to lie down right there. Tink had left so he was alone with her. He went upstairs to speak with his other mom.
"Hey kid, are you settled in over there?" Emma asked as she answered the phone.
"Yes," he said.
"How is Regina?"
"She's asleep on the couch. I think the exertion of coming home made her tired."
"Asleep on the couch, I bet that is a sight to see,"
"Yeah, I took a photo. I didn't think it would ever happen again."
"You better not let her find out you have it. How does she seem though? You said at the hospital that you thought she seemed a little different? Has she remembered anything yet?"
"No, she hasn't. She still seems different, but not in a bad way. She's just … different. I don't know how else to explain it."
"But she's ok?"
"Yes. Dr. Whale wanted her to stay in the hospital so he could run more tests but she didn't want to. I got the feeling something happened during her MRI but she didn't want to talk about it, at least not with me in the room."
"If it were anything serious he wouldn't have let her go."
"I know," he said. "I just want to her to ok."
"I know you do Henry. Believe it or not I want her to be ok too."
They talked about other things for a few minutes before Henry got off the phone. Emma was sitting at her desk at the station thinking about what a disaster the day before had been. She couldn't believe she had gotten ill. She chalked it up to being on the boat, even if something was nagging in her mind that it wasn't the sail that had made her get sick.
As hard as she tried she couldn't get the kiss with Regina out of her mind. The fact Regina didn't remember any of it infuriated her. At least if she had then Emma could get an explanation. She thought about how she was drawn to go to the stables for no other reason than it felt like it was the right direction to go in. Maybe Regina had used magic on her somehow. Unless Regina remembered thought she couldn't question her about it.
And the idea of Regina remembering made her even more nervous.
After all, if Regina remembered, she might know that Emma had kissed her back.
…
The next few days Regina didn't do much beyond lie around. Henry wouldn't let her do much either. She was restricted because of the broken ribs, arm and collarbone, but she had a hard time getting him to understand that it didn't mean she had to be in bed all the time. Besides, she told him, she needed to get used to doing things with one arm because her recovery time would take weeks.
He did draw the line at her going into the mayor's office, and she relented for the first week at first she said. Still she did manage to conduct some city business over the phone.
A strange –although it was becoming more common – occurrence happened her second day home. The doorbell rang and Henry answered. She heard him talking and she got up to check to find three kids on her doorstep with two adults – one was Angie.
"Sorry to bother you," she said. "This is Jacob. He wanted to thank you."
The boy stepped forward and instead of saying thank you he said, "Can I sign your cast?"
"Jacob!"
Regina laughed, "It's ok. Henry can you get a marker or pen?"
He fetched one and Jacob and then the other two boys – one of which was a boy who had been sick named Lee – signed the cast. Lee's mother, Diane, thanked her profusely and handed Henry over some lasagna she had made knowing Regina was probably not feeling up to cooking a lot.
By her fifth day home she had the signatures of 18 kids on her cast. Henry seemed to take particular amusement in it and had even signed it.
That night Emma was supposed to pick up Henry and take him for the night. She had arranged it through Henry, having not spoken to Regina. When Emma arrived, she parked out on the road and sent Henry a text to let him know she was out there.
To Emma's surprise Regina came walking out with Henry. She hastily got out of the car. "You didn't need to escort him," she said quickly. "I mean it's fine you did. It's … you should be resting."
"I've been getting plenty of rest," she replied. "I wanted to come out and thank you."
"Thank me for what? If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have gotten sick."
"I wanted to thank you for finding me and bringing me back to the hospital. And for letting Henry stay with me."
"He's your son too," she said putting her hands in her back pocket and shuffling her feet a little. She was trying to avoid looking at Regina's face – at her lips.
"Still, I wanted you to know I appreciate it. I understand you found me trying to get home. How close did I get?"
"Um … you were … um fairly close. Um … just down there at the intersection," she pointed.
Regina's eyes narrowed a bit, but she looked down at the intersection and then back at Emma. "Was I conscious?"
"Um … no you collapsed on the sidewalk and I picked you and put you in the car and drove you to the hospital."
"I was never awake then? Didn't say anything?"
"Nope."
"Oh. Thank you."
"You're welcome. How are you feeling?"
"Good. Sore, but good," she said.
"That's good," Emma said shuffling her feet some more. "Well we better get going."
"Of course."
"Call me if you need anything," Henry said. He still wasn't sure about letting her be alone, but Regina had insisted that he mend things with his other mom.
"I will. I love you."
"I love you too."
Regina gave him a final hug and then walked away. Emma couldn't get in the car fast enough to leave. Regina got back into the house and closed the door before leaning up against it. She couldn't explain what she had felt out there, but as soon as Emma had said she had found her down at the intersection it was like a bell went off in her mind and she knew Emma was lying. She was also lying about her not being conscious and collapsing on the sidewalk.
But why would Emma lie about any of that? And why was she so nervous? She wouldn't even make eye contact with Regina. Normally Emma was the one person who didn't seem the least bit intimidated by her and would always look her directly in the eyes.
She went upstairs to lie down. Despite telling everyone she was fine, she couldn't help this lingering feeling that something was wrong.
The truth was she felt it was wrong from the moment she woke in the hospital. There was no magical cure for Skiver Fever, so how had she done it? She knew Whale was also trying to figure this out but while his curiosity was medical, hers was more personal. She had light magic now, but even light magic shouldn't have been able to cure it.
She thought back to hearing her parents' voices during the MRI. In the hospital, she had been willing to believe it was a dream, but the more she thought about it, the less certain she was. Surely if she had ever been that sick as a child she would remember it. And if she had Skiver Fever as a child, was she just one of the lucky few who actually survived it or was there another reason for it?
Part of her wanted to not worry about it, let it go and be thankful for the apparent miracle. The other part of her however knew there something there to uncover.
….
After Henry had gone to bed, Emma decided to head to her own. She hadn't slept well for days. She didn't have a good feeling about sleeping well tonight either. She had tried to avoid Hook over the last few days, but the man seemed to have a knack for popping up. Each time they kissed she felt wrong. The only time she was actually getting into it she stopped because she realized in her mind she was thinking about Regina, not Hook.
She needed this to stop.
She needed to get the brunette out of her mind once and for all. Whatever was happening had to be Regina's doing. She should have asked her a few direct questions while she was speaking to her. Regina couldn't lie to her. Emma always knew immediately when she did. It was like a bell going off in her mind and she knew when the other woman was lying.
Maybe she would wait a few days and then confront her.
If she was behind this, Emma would make sure whatever she was doing she reversed it.