Chapter fourteen

Emma stood awkwardly as Henry whispered to his comatose mother. Whale had told her that they had exhausted every test that they had, all he had found out was that Regina was being poisoned by something that didn't match the symptoms in any database. He had no idea what was wrong with her, but had promised to keep trying. Emma suspected that the last part was for Henry's benefit, so she decided to slip away to have a more adult conversation with the doctor.

"Whale," she called, and he sighed and walked back to her.

"Was it that obvious that I was lying?" he asked.

"I think you got the kid's hopes up, but please tell me what you actually think is happening to her."

He sighed again in resignation, "well she is being poisoned but there is no way to tell by what. I have tried about ten different antidotes for the most common types of poison, but without knowing what it is there is really nothing we can do but wait."

"How long?" Emma asked.

Whale shook his head, "well there's always the chance that one of the medications will..."

"How long?" she asked again.

"Based on the rate that the poison is moving through her system, I would give it a week."

"A week?" she choked out. "Who is Henry's legal next of kin?"

Whale shook his head, "Regina isn't a very popular person Deputy, or at least she wasn't, it was just her and Henry."

Emma leaned against the wall and put her hands over her face, desperately trying to hold back tears, I've only known this woman for two days, she thought. But somehow she knew it would be wrong to have to live without her.

"What am I going to do?" she asked, looking at the doctor with a few stray tears having managed to escape.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm afraid I am quite inept when it comes to legal guardianship, you would need to talk to Mr Gold."

Emma nodded, "thank you," she said before a thought occurred to her, "did you test the turnover?"

He nodded sadly, "I'm afraid that as far as we can tell it's just a normal pastry."

Emma sighed and offered him a small smile, before returning to her son.

"Where'd you go?" Henry asked, while still holding his mother's hand.

"Bathroom," she lied.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret asked curiously, having stopped placing books on tables.

Emma smiled at her, she just couldn't understand why she had to go to this woman with every problem, but to be fair she didn't seem to mind.

"How do you tell a ten-year-old that his mother is going to die in a week?" she asked.

Mary Margaret's eyebrows went up in shock, and she just shook her head, "it wasn't an allergic reaction then?"

"Whale said that she's been poisoned and he has no idea what it is," she sighed.

Mary Margaret walked over to the blonde, and she could no longer resist so she just threw her arms around her hurting friend. To her surprise the blonde instantly hugged her back.

"What am I going to do?" she mumbled against her shoulder.

"You just have to tell him the truth," the brunette answered.

"He'll hate me forever, won't he?" Emma asked, pulling away from the hug.

Mary Margaret nodded, "he'll probably blame you at first, but it will pass, he'll think that by getting you he caused all of this."

"What if that's true?" Emma asked with a downward look.

"Did you poison her?"

Emma shook her head "of course not!"

"Then it's not your fault, Henry can be excused from class to spend time with her though," Mary Margaret answered.

"You can do that?" Emma asked with a small laugh.

"How heartless do you think the principle is?" she asked.

"Fair point," Emma replied with a small smile.

They were then interrupted by the bell, Emma turned to see children filing into the room, some of them giving her curious looks.

Henry walked up to the blonde, "why are you here?" he asked, and Emma winced at the harshness.

"I need to talk to you kid, Miss Blanchard excused you from class," she replied.

Henry looked between the two adults, and he knew that it must be something bad, "my mom would kill you for making me miss school."

Emma let out a small laugh, and put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure she would understand this once."

Henry shrugged her hand off his shoulder and mumbled, "whatever," before going off in search of his backpack.

Mary Margaret offered her a supportive smile, before turning to begin her lesson.

"So what is it?" Henry asked impatiently, as Emma paced the living room of her apartment.

Emma blew out a breath, "hang on," she said before running to the kitchen.

Henry sighed and got off the couch to follow her, "what are you doing?"

"You need cocoa," she explained.

Henry rolled his eyes, "you're trying too hard, just tell me."

Emma put the cocoa down and sighed, "I just don't want this to be traumatic."

Henry felt panic rise, "tell me!" he demanded.

"Okay," Emma said after a moment, "Whale didn't tell you everything."

Henry frowned, "he lied?"

You're screwing this up Emma thought, "he just didn't feel able to tell you something."

Henry felt frustration build, "what didn't he tell me?"

"Well...errr...he thinks that unless they figure out what the poison is soon, then your mom...you know...she'll..."

"She'll what?" he asked in a small voice.

"He said that at the rate the poison is moving, she won't...survive the week," she said, desperately trying to gauge his reaction, though she knew that it was not going to be at all positive.

Henry stared at her blankly for a moment, before shaking his head, "that's not what a sleeping curse does."

"Henry" she warned, trying to walk up to him.

"No!" he shouted, "stay away from me, you're not my mom."

Emma recoiled, "you're right I'm not. Is there someone you would rather talk to?"

Henry nodded, "Graham."

Emma tilted her head, "the sheriff?"

"He's kind of the closest thing I have to a dad," he explained.

The blonde nodded, "okay, I'll take you to talk to Graham."

"Without you?" he asked.

"Yes, without me," she sighed.