A/N: Ok, I guess I've kept you guys (and Emma's friends) in the dark long enough …
Seconds ticked by, turning at what seemed like half-speed into minutes. And then hours. The silent wait was interrupted every now and then by a nurse, coming to check on Emma. But after the first pleading attempt for information was rebuffed, Regina, Ruby and Belle were mute in their presence.
Henry had fallen asleep in his chair, the restless night finally catching up with him. Regina was exhausted too but she couldn't sleep. Not now. Not yet. Not until she knew what Emma had been through and that she was going to be ok.
The blonde's chest rose steadily beneath the blanket. Other than that, she was completely still. Regina itched to reach out and touch her but without knowing the extent of the woman's injuries, she was reluctant to do so in case she caused her pain. Ruby and Belle sat opposite, hand in hand, waiting quietly.
At midday, Ruby offered to go down to the canteen to get some food. Regina nodded her agreement and asked for some sandwiches. She didn't feel like eating but she knew she needed sustenance. She also knew it was important for Henry, who was still asleep, to eat as well and not see her skipping meals. The newly-engaged couple left together, telling Regina they'd be back shortly.
Regina shifted slightly on her chair, trying to get comfortable. Settling herself once more, she glanced at Henry, then the machine which showcased Emma's steady heartbeat and back to her girlfriend's face. And bright green eyes.
"Emma!"
She jumped to her feet at the realisation that the woman was awake. Emma cracked a smile at the sight of the older woman and then winced, the tight bandage around her forehead squeezing her tender skull.
"Hey," she said, voice scratchy and throat dry. "What's going on?"
"Do you know who I am?" Regina asked at once.
"Um, yeah," Emma said slowly. Why was the woman acting so strange? And why did she look so worried?
"Who am I?" the woman pushed.
Although Emma had a million, more interesting, questions to ask the woman, she resisted the urge to ask a counter question and instead supplied the answer. "Regina Mills. My girlfriend."
A flicker of relief passed over Regina's face before she asked the next question. "And you are?"
"Emma Swan. Your girlfriend. I think. Unless you've had some sort of psychotic break. Regina, what's going on?"
"You were in an accident," Regina said quietly, one hand coming to rest on the side of Emma's face now she was confident the woman wasn't brain damaged. "You're in the hospital. You've had surgery."
"Surgery?" Was that the reason for the pain in her head? Emma mentally did a quick scan of the rest of her body, noting as she did so that everything felt somewhat dulled, as if the sensations were muted by something. Painkillers. "What happened?" Emma said, trying to work out what the last thing she remembered had been. Her head really hurt and the edges of her vision were slightly blurred. It hurt to talk, as if she hadn't drunk anything in hours.
"I still don't know any details, to be honest," Regina said. "All I know is that there was an accident involving your motorbike. By the time Ruby and I got here, you were in surgery."
"Ruby's here?"
Regina nodded. "And Belle and Henry," she added, moving out of the way so that Emma could see the still sleeping boy. "Ruby and Belle are getting us some food."
"What was the surgery for?"
"I don't know," Regina admitted. "The doctors won't tell any of us anything because we're not family."
"Yes you are," Emma said, a little groggily. But the sentiment behind the words were real. "You're my family, Regina," she repeated, as if she wanted to make sure the brunette knew she wasn't just saying it because of the immense amount of painkillers flowing through her system.
"I'm so glad you're ok," Regina said, eyes sparkling with tears. "I was so worried all night."
"All night? What time is it?"
"Lunch time."
"On what day?"
"Monday," Regina said, wiping her eyes.
"Looks like I've got a pretty good excuse for not doing the heavy lifting for our move in together then."
Regina couldn't help but chuckle, in spite of the situation. "Yeah, I think you do. You're definitely exempt from moving duties. You just concentrate on getting better, ok? Now, I don't want to leave you but I do want to get a doctor. You had brain surgery and I know they're going to want to come and speak with you."
"Brain surgery certainly explains the headache," Emma said, lifting an arm up to tap her forehead. "Ouch," she added as her hand bumped into the neck brace.
"Are you ok?" Regina asked, concern etched on her features. "Can I get you anything?"
"I don't know," Emma sighed. "My hands hurt. I only just realised. They're … tingling. Did I have surgery on my hands?"
Regina frowned and glanced at the bandaged limbs, unable to answer the question. "I'll be right back, ok?"
"Ok," Emma said. "But before you go, can you give me something?"
"Anything," Regina said. "What do you need?"
Emma didn't say anything. Instead, she just puckered up her lips and closed her eyes. Regina giggled and obliged, leaning down and placing a chaste kiss to the chapped lips of her girlfriend.
"I'll be back as soon as possible," Regina said before disappearing out of the room and hurrying down the corridor.
The next thing Emma was aware of were whispers above her.
"Seriously, she was awake," she heard Regina say, a little defensive. "We had a whole conversation. She was fine. She said I was her family, by the way, so surely you can tell me what's going on now?"
"Well, perhaps she said that to you but she's asleep now and I need to speak to her before I tell you anything, as I've said," came an unfamiliar voice. "Everything looks fine in terms of what the machines are monitoring for us but when it comes to the impact of the brain surgery, I need to have a conversation with Miss Swan before I can assess any damage."
"What damage?" Emma said, forcing her tired eyes open.
"Emma," Regina said again, breathing a sigh of relief as if she was almost starting to doubt whether their last interaction had really happened or merely been wistful thinking.
"Hey," Emma said. "I fell asleep. Were you gone long?"
"About two minutes," Regina said.
"Felt like hours," Emma yawned, the neck brace restricting her movement and her chin bumped uncomfortably against the rigid structure.
"Emma," said the new voice as the blonde's eyes shifted over to his face, hovering above her. "I'm Doctor Whale. I'm your doctor."
"Hey," Emma said. "Can you tell me what's happened? And tell Regina too. You can tell her anything and everything you need to."
With permission finally granted, Regina pulled her chair even closer to the edge of the bed and sat down, her hand resting lightly on Emma's shoulder. Henry was still fast asleep, oblivious to the conversation that was about to take place.
"You were in a motorbike accident," Doctor Whale began, pulling a penlight from his pocket and shining it into the blonde's eyes as he spoke before making a note on her chart. "When you were brought in here you were non-responsive but alive. Despite your helmet, the impact of your head striking the road led to an intracerebral haemorrhage, or minor brain bleed. One of our neurosurgeons performed a procedure called decompression surgery to ease the pressure. This involves draining the blood and was performed successfully. Since you're alert and talking to me, I think we can assume no damage was caused."
"Aside from the splitting headache I have," Emma quipped.
Doctor Whale offered a sympathetic smile before continuing. "However, the accident also left you with some internal bleeding, probably caused by your body hitting the road or the bike itself when you fell. You've got three broken ribs and you lacerated your liver. We've removed the damaged section and patched you up. The liver can regenerate so you shouldn't have any lasting health problems. The other injuries came from what I'm sure you, as a biker, know as road rash. You weren't wearing any gloves so your hands are particularly damaged. Your leathers did a pretty good job of protecting the rest of your body, however, and you were fairly lucky, compared to what I've seen. Just a few scrapes on your arms and your knee is pretty banged up from where you landed. You're going to be rather sore for a few weeks but you will make a full recovery."
"And the neck brace?" Emma asked.
"Due to the injury to your head, we felt it a necessary precaution. Now you're awake we can reassess and if you've got no pain in your neck and back, we'll remove it."
"Yeah, they're pretty much the only body parts that don't hurt," Emma said, wincing as she raised her heavily bandaged hands. "Can I see these?"
"Best you don't for now," Doctor Whale said as he set about freeing Emma from her neck brace. "Sliding across asphalt at any speed leaves you with a rash similar to a burn. We've cleaned up the abrasions and they'll need to be checked and cleaned daily. But they're open wounds and susceptible to infection. I'm afraid you'll be bandaged up for a while. A nurse will come and clean them for you every morning. It's not a pleasant experience but it is a necessary one."
Emma grimaced. Not only at the pain she could now feel intensifying as her brain registered that most of the skin had been scraped off her palms but also at the realisation that she was going to be walking around all stumpy for a few weeks.
"But she's ok?" Regina asked. "Aside from the healing process, Emma's going to be ok?"
"From what I saw in surgery and this conversation we've had, I'd say Emma is going to make a full recovery. You're a lucky woman, Miss Swan. I've got to head out on my rounds now but I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you."
"Thank you, Doctor," Regina said.
"Yes, thanks," Emma nodded, suddenly feeling tired again.
Doctor Whale nodded at both of them before leaving the room, almost walking into Ruby and Belle coming in the opposite direction.
"Emma!" Ruby exclaimed, so loudly that Henry, who had slept through all the interactions so far, woke up. She rushed to her best friend's side just as Henry opened his eyes and realised his favourite blonde was awake.
"Emma!" Henry echoed. "You're not dead."
Despite the situation, the four women laughed. Well, Emma tried to but the movement made her whimper in pain as her broken ribs protested. Henry climbed from his chair and crossed to stand beside his mother.
"Hey kid," Emma said. "How are you?"
"How are you?" Henry countered, far too seriously for his six years.
"I'm ok," Emma said. "A little tired."
"But you've been sleeping for hours," Henry pointed out.
"Yeah but my body has to work hard to make me better again," Emma said. "You see, I had an accident."
"I know. Mom told me," Henry said. "Can I sit on your bed?"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Henry," Regina said but Emma waved her off with a stumpy arm.
"Sure you can. But can you sit down by my legs? My tummy and my arms are a bit sore. And watch out for my knee because that hurts too."
"Because of the car?" Henry asked as Regina picked him up and helped him settle on top of Emma's sheets.
"What car?" Emma asked, looking from Regina to Ruby with a frown.
"Derek said there was a hit and run," Ruby offered, as Regina handed her cell phone over to Henry to distract him. He didn't need to be involved in such a conversation. The boy happily opened a gaming app as Ruby continued to explain to Emma how the previous night's events had unfolded. "He heard something and went outside and found you. Then he called me and I called Regina."
"I crashed outside our apartment?"
"You don't remember what happened last night?" Ruby asked.
Emma shook her head. "The last thing I remember is leaving the restaurant in the storm. So … what did happen?"
"We don't know," Ruby said. "The police were called to the scene to investigate. The driver who was involved fled and left their car, apparently. I expect the police will be coming here to talk to you soon."
"But I don't remember anything."
Regina lay a soothing hand on Emma's arm, seeing that the woman was getting a little agitated at the loss of memory. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"Thirsty," Emma nodded.
Springing into action, Regina poured out a cup of water from the table beside Emma's bed. Popping a straw into the liquid, she held it up to Emma's lips so the woman could drink without moving.
"Better?" Regina asked when Emma had finished.
"Yeah, thanks," Emma said.
"Can we get you anything else?"
"I'm just tired, to be honest," Emma said. Her head was hurting a lot. It felt like someone had drilled into her skull. Which, she now knew, they had. But she didn't want to worry Regina further. It was clear from the dark circles under the brunette's eyes that she'd had a sleepless night.
"We'll leave you to get some rest," Ruby said at once. "But I'm glad to see you awake and talking. You gave us quite the scare. Did the doctor tell you what the surgery was for?"
"Lacerated liver, broken ribs and a minor brain bleed," Regina said quickly. "But she's going to be recover."
"Your brain is bleeding?"
Why did children always pick the most inappropriate moments to tune into adult conversations?
"It was. Just a little bit," Emma nodded. "I hit my head on the road."
"Oh. Does it hurt?" Henry asked, peering at the bandage on Emma's head.
"A bit," Emma nodded, not wanting to scare Henry nor anyone else in the room and admit how bad the headache was. She was exhausted, she realised, and desperately wanted to go back to sleep. "Guys, I'm sorry but I'm really tired."
"Understood," Ruby said at once. Belle and Regina nodded in agreement.
"I'm sorry," Emma repeated.
"Hey, it's not your fault," Ruby said. "And whenever they find the bastard who hit you, I'll be glad to tell him it was his."
"Me too," Regina growled.
"Thanks," Emma sighed. "But I don't need you guys setting out on a revenge quest just now. I'm fine. I'm alive. And once I grow the skin back on my hands, I'll be able to strangle the man myself."
Even in the light of that grim statement, the women couldn't help but smile. It was clear that, despite the brain surgery, the old Emma they knew and loved was very much present. Ruby and Belle bid goodbye and left Regina and Henry with Emma, promising to come back later in the day.
"You should go home, get some rest," Emma said once it was just the three of them.
"I don't want to leave you," Regina murmured.
"I'm just going to be sleeping," Emma pointed out. "Take Henry home and then come back this evening before he goes to bed. Shouldn't he be at school, by the way?"
"I called to explain why he'd be absent," Regina said. "I'll take him tomorrow morning before I come here."
"Don't you have work?"
Regina shook her head. "I took the week off. In fact, my operations manager is officially in charge for the foreseeable future."
"What does that mean?" Emma asked.
"It means that until you are out of this place, home with us and able to move around without help, I'm going to be here. That's the beauty of being the CEO, you see. I don't have to ask anyone's permission to take an extended vacation."
"Some vacation," Emma remarked, looking around the hospital room.
"When you're better, how about we book a real one?"
Emma grinned. "I'd like that."
Regina was about to say something else but Emma yawned and she remembered that the woman needed her rest. "Come on, Henry. Let's go home."
"Is Emma coming?" Henry asked, looking up from the game he had been playing.
"Not today," Regina said. "But we're going to go home and cook Emma some food to bring back for her dinner."
"Ok," Henry smiled, handing his mother her cell and sliding from the bed. "Bye Emma. Feel better soon."
"Bye Henry. Thanks for coming to see me," Emma said, forcing a smile even though the pain in her head was making her feel a little queasy. "See you later."
"I love you," Regina said, bending down to kiss Emma's lips gently. "I'll see you later."
"I can't wait," Emma said.
Before the duo were even out of the room, the blonde's eyes had closed once more and she fell into a deep, healing sleep.
A/N: See, it's not so bad, is it?