Regina rushes out of the hospital and heads over to Harvard Medical to sit and have brunch with her mother Cora. Her mom is a well known doctor who taught at the school. Naturally by default Regina became a doctor as well. It is a surprisingly hot day in the city, 60 degrees, in the dead of winter. February 14th to be specific and every year she spent it with her mother in some way.
"Hello mother, sorry I'm late I had a patient keep me. Everyone is making Valentines cards and hanging them up. A patient kept trying to give me a rose and asking me to be his wife."
Cora chuckles to herself, she is the spitting image of her young daughter. She had aged gracefully to say the least. "Come darling sit. I do hope the patient was at least attractive?"
Regina frowns and brushes her pants to flatten the wrinkles out as she answered, "Not in the slightest."
Regina follows her mother's gaze to look out of Harvard's Court Yard into the busy street. Tons of people are out and about since it is the first gorgeous day of the year.
"How has your day been, Mother?" Cora sighs and looks over at her daughter.
"Its been odd. I had a dream about this man before I met your father. I don't recall the details of the dream, but I do remember his face. I knew him a long time ago. He kept smiling at me and my heart melted. I don't know why I am confiding in you with this nonsense. Must be the heat…. and those conservatives keep claiming global warming isn't real."
Regina smiles to herself and looks off in the distance as she ate her Cesar salad. "Do you think you loved the man. I mean before daddy? I mean why else would you suddenly dream about him?"
Cora huffs, "I don't know. The heart wants what the heart wants. I was 16 and young. I went off to college a few years later and that was the last time I saw the man. I have not thought about him since. You know what I have always told you darling, love is weakness. Your father, bless his soul, and I hardly saw I to eye. Love is just another thing that most people make up. They believe its real and three years later with a baby all you do is yell at each other."
Regina watches in front of her as a the heavy traffic on the street picks up. Several commuter MBTA buses are on the street and that's when Regina registers the sound of the bus' breaks. A few seconds pass and the bus is sliding off to the side making the loudest crash sound. The bus hit a black car and what seems to be a person.
Regina feels like she had no control of her body. She moves on autopilot. She pulls out her phone and gives the 911 operator the address, "Longwood Ave by Harvard Medical." She drops her phone, finally approaching the young woman. Limbs twisted around, she was beginning to bleed out. Regina tears off her light coat and holds it down to the woman's abdomen. There are obvious head injuries and broken bones, but the bleeding is impossible to stop.
Regina looks down at the woman who is laying in her arms. "It's going to be okay. The ambulance is on its way." The woman continues to stare at Regina and then coughs up blood. Her eyes finally glazed over and a second later Regina feels the weight of the other woman's body sink into her. It was too late.
The EMT arrives and immediately checks for a pulse. Regina holds tightly to the young woman and stares at her eyes. The silence is finally broken by the EMT. "She's gone. You did everything you could. Let's get her up on the gurney." Regina nods and closes the eyes of the woman in her arms.
An hour later Regina is in the break room fueling herself on some coffee. She knocks over some creamer and all of the packets of sugar on to the floor. Her mind is racing. Her body is still feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush. Across the room Dr. Whale watches Regina and finally approaches her side.
"Easy. I heard what happened over by Harvard." He bends down to help Regina, who is on the floor picking up the packets. "The EMT said you did everything possible. There were too many wounds. Even if you did get her to the hospital I doubt we could have saved her."
Regina stands up and organizes the counter space by the coffee machine. "I haven't lost a patient yet, even when I was an intern. I guess I assumed I never would."
Dr. Whale rocks back on his heels, hands tucked into his pockets. "We all have lost a patient. My first one was a routine surgery. It's never easy. What is worse it wont be the last time you loose a patient. May I suggest you get out of the city and relax for the rest of the weekend somewhere you feel safe. You need to give yourself a break. What you did today was impeccable, I am truly sorry you lost her."
He reaches out and places a hand onto Regina's shoulder and smiles. "Here take this. I got suckered into making Valentines cards with some of the young patients in peds."
Regina looks down at a cheesy heart shaped card that said, "Happy Valentines from Dr. Whale." One perfectly sculpted eyebrow shoots up. "Real original," she thinks to herself.
Emma finally made it home from searching for her new companion's owner. It had been over 24 hours and no luck. She checked most of the small town and came up short. Her little sandy colored dog was a stray.
"You look like a Lady to me. Can I call you that?" The dog barked. Emma took that as a yes. Together they hopped out of her bug and the two made their way towards the house. Emma stopped and pulled out a letter and popped it into the mailbox. She shook her head at herself and put the flag up.
Inside Henry was fast asleep for his afternoon nap. "I hope he was good for you Granny. Thanks for coming by for a few hours. It was unexpected, but looks like this little girl is a new member of our family. I decided to call her Lady."
"That seems like a cartoon name. What was that movie called that you loved? Lady and the what? It was bad name I remember that much."
Emma laughed. "Lady and the Tramp, but it wasn't meant to be derogatory. Go home and rest. I will stop by with Henry in a few days. Drive safe and let me know when you make it back to town."
Regina wakes up the next morning, gets dressed, and feeds her little dog. She is lucky to have a parking garage in her building and heads down to pull out her Mercedes. Regina steps into her vintage car and checks her mirrors, the air, and the music before she pulls out. Her mind keeps drifting back to the woman the day before and the final glazed over look in her eyes. Regina is torn that someone yesterday lost their daughter, wife (maybe), or mother (who knows). Maybe the woman had no one. The feeling still struck Regina in the gut knowing she was the last person the other woman saw.
An hour later Regina is back on the Cape and having lunch at the local diner. She orders her usual salad and finishes her meal off with some Cuban coffee to wake her up. After she became a doctor she unfortunately had become grossly dependent on the dark bitter liquid. No matter how many times she attempted to do the healthy thing and eat an apple, which was supposedly better than a cup of coffee, she found herself resorting back to her old ways.
Regina leaves the little diner and heads to her old home, curious to see if any mail was being forwarded to the lake house. Regina opted to walk the dirt road, a scenic trail, that she often walked. She had the time and needed the fresh air. It was a bit cold out. Her black pea coat is wrapped tightly around her as she strolls along the path to the her old lake house.
Emma was reclined back in her chair eating a greasy burger when Killian popped in.
"I see you are up to no good Swan. Tell me, last time we talked you never mentioned where you two found a new home, where in town did you move since the old apartment was too small?"
"Killian did you stop to think that I didn't tell you for a reason. I swear the more I see you the more I think I need to get a restraining order."
"Aw love, you are exceptionally fussy today."
"I've asked you not to call me love." Emma air quotes the word love as she rolled her eyes at her coworker.
"Its a form of respect. I will refrain, but just know I am being a gentleman."
"Killian do me a favor and stop talking. You are wasting the much needed oxygen in the room."
Killian laughed and took Emma's blunt nature to be charming. "Well sheriff, where did you move?"
Emma dropped her food on her desk. "I am only answering you just so you can leave me alone. I moved into the old lake house."
"What, that thing that basically is in the lake on like stilts?"
Emma nods. "Yup. That's the place."
"That old place has been abandoned for years. Its probably going to fall into the lake. Why would you invest in such a shit hole place?"
"I like it."
A few minutes passed by and Emma's radio started going off again. Duty called and out of the office she went.
Regina finally reaches the Lake house and heads over to look into the windows of the building. It looks empty just like she left it. With that knowledge she was right to assume that no one had inhabited the house since she left. Regina walks down to the dock and soaks up the beautiful scenery. "The trees…" She thinks, "I will never stop missing these beautiful trees." For a few moments of silence she looks down at the still waters and stands to leave.
Regina loves nature. When she was a young girl she played outside for hours. When she was older her mother let her take on equestrian. She was huge in competitions and in her mother's attic were ribbons and trophies from her winnings.
The sun was setting in two hours so she begins to head back. She checks the mailbox and finds a letter for her.
Regina reads aloud the letter to herself, "Regina, your note seems like some sort of joke. I don't follow. As far as I am concerned there has not been a tenant here for a long time. I thought, perhaps, you had the wrong house. But how on Earth did you know about the paw prints? Emma."
Regina's face scrunches up and she thinks to herself. Luckily she had her purse with her and pulls out a notepad and writes back.
Later that afternoon Emma stopped to pick up Henry, some take-out, and headed home. As Emma walked towards the house Emma she saw the red flag up on the mailbox. Emma pulled out Regina's new letter. She tucked it under her arm and went inside.
Lady was fanned out on the floor belly up and ears flopping off to the side. Emma set down their box of pizza and a few other things that belonged to Henry. She whistled to her dog to come eat and put out a bowl of iams kibble. Henry insisted on the big orange bag. Orange was one of his favorite colors.
"Henry come sit on the stool and we can eat the pizza out of the box."
"Mom did you get it with EXTRA cheese?"
"You know it kid. I love the extra cheese just as much as you do." Emma popped open the box and started eating while grinning at her son across from her with sauce all over his face. Her kid always warmed her heart.
"Want to watch The Hulk and then go to bed?" Henry nodded. Too much food was crammed in his small little mouth for words to break the barrier.
After dinner the pair curled up on to the small sofa and cuddled. Henry played with a strand of Emma's hair as they watched the movie. About an hour into it he started to yawn and his eyes started to get heavy. Emma could see his little struggle. Not long after, he was fast asleep in her arms. She carried her son to his room and tucked him into his sheets. "Goodnight baby."
She turned out his night side table lamp off and grinned when his room became illuminated by glow in the dark stars and planets.
Emma went back to the kitchen and cleaned up their tiny mess. After she finished she grabbed the letter from Regina and noted the return address. "665 Washington St."
Emma never went into Boston. It reminded her too much of her childhood, or lack their of. Despite all that she still had a few good friends in the city that she liked to visit on a whim.
When she stepped out of her yellow bug, Emma spotted her tall friend across the street.
"Rubes!" Emma flagged the brunette down. "I haven't seen you since last summer! Look at you girl. I bet you can't keep the men away."
Ruby laughed and hugged the blonde in return, "What brings you to this time? How is my little man doing? I miss his cute face," Ruby practically squealed.
"I was just getting a break from the small town life. I actually was dropping off some mail as well. I thought we could catch up some! Henry is doing really good. He loves the new house. He is staying with Granny, so I can stay in the city overnight! Want to head to the Rabbit Hole?"
"Of course, I love that place! Where are you dropping off that mail?"
"Looks like it's close to Chinatown. Want to walk over or take the T?"
"I'm old and lazy." Emma couldn't help but to laugh at her friend.
"Ruby, you're in your early twenties. You can't be lazy if you are planning on being a doctor someday."
Ruby shrugged. "I take it that you, Emma Swan, are making me walk?"
Emma linked their arms and walked off towards Chinatown to the address Regina provided on her mail.
After 15 minutes of walking the two women come up to a huge sign with a building drawn on it. There was obvious construction behind covered fences. "I don't get it Emma. You said that it was 665 Washington St.? This place doesn't exist yet." Emma stood looking up at the sign. It was true, the place wasn't even there. It was in construction.
Emma laughed to herself, "This has to be a joke, or I am literally stupid."
"Who lives here?"
"Just someone."
Ruby looked at her friend with a spark in her eyes. "Just someone? Oh come on Emma. Is this someone you were dating?"
"Ruby I don't date. Besides, I don't know her. She tried to say she used to live in the lake house and to forward her mail. That's all. It wasn't forwarding, so here I am and now I see why. The place literally doesn't exist. At least not until 2013, indicated by the sign." Emma scratched her head confused at the new information.
The two woman stood there for a few more minutes before they left for drinks the rest of the night.
A few nights later Regina is on call for a late shift and is in the break room for some coffee. She pulls out a new letter from Emma and begins to read the messy handwriting. "Not forwarding and tried to deliver. Place doesn't exist, and why do you insist on dating things in 2014 when it is 2012?"
Regina sighs and thinks to herself, "Going to play this game are we?" Reaching into her pocket she pulls out a prescription note pad and begins to write, "I got your last letter. I don't even know why I am writing back and playing this game with you at this point..."
Emma pulled out the new letter from the mail box and headed inside and read, "I also had to drive to the Cape to get my mail. For some reason it is not forwarding. I do not have the wrong address, I am quite competent enough to know my own address." Emma smiled at Regina's assertiveness. "I also am aware of the date, its 2014." Emma busted out laughing, some beer spewing from her mouth. "What year do you think you are living in. Please do enlighten me?"
Emma looked down at her phone and looked at the calender, perhaps she was the nutcase and read, "March 2012."
Regina is sitting up in bed with a new letter from Emma and her dog positioned at her feet. Underlined four times is the year, 2012. Below that it writes, "Cut the crap lady. Please. I am not the one playing games here."
Regina laughs, one eyebrow shooting up. She stands and moves the covers back and gets out of bed. From her closet she pulls down a photo album. Inside the cover is a photo of herself and a few other people. The person next to her was her then boyfriend, Graham. He was a cunning man with good looks and charm. They were laughing together in the picture. The date in the bottom right corner notes that its 2012.
Emma arrived home from a long day of work with her son and saw the flag to their mailbox up. Emma grinned and realized that she is excited to see what the nut case woman had to say this time.
"Henry run and get the mail for me!" Henry raced over to the mailbox and pulled out the letter and chased after his dog inside. Emma struggled at the car to pull out some groceries and used her boot covered foot to push the door to her bug closed .
Emma hurriedly put away the groceries and fed Henry. While Henry got ready for bed, Emma sliced open the letter and read, "If you are in 2012, that year there was a freak flu outbreak due to a late snowfall. My advice to you is plenty of fluids and lots of rest."
Emma laughed, in no way shape or form would it snow. Emma picked up the letter and crumpled it and shot for the trash can as if it was a basketball net. Lucky for her she made the score.
Henry ran out of the back room, "Mom it's snowing, come look out the windows! Can I go play in it?" Emma stared, frozen, at her son and turned around and noticed, to her dismay, there was snow.
"Probably not a good idea buddy. It's time for bed. I am sure there will be snow to play in tomorrow morning."
Emma moved toward her son's room and tucked him in. While she read some more chapters of his favorite book she began to sneeze. She kissed her son goodnight and took a long shower. The heat helped open up her chest. Emma was stunned that this mystery nutcase woman was predicting things left and right. Could this really be happening? Emma finished up her shower as she continued to sneeze, took some flu medicine, and went to sleep.
The next morning Emma marched out to her snow covered mailbox and slipped in a piece of paper that simply asked, "Is this really happening?" Emma quickly pulled her hands away and popped the red flag up and rubbed her hands together to create some friction. She stood there and danced around in her light weight leather jacket. Eventually the wind picked up and she turned to run back inside.
Regina stands in front of the lake house on a nice and sunny day two years later. Regina puts the rusted red flag down and opens the letter that reads "Is this really happening?" Regina pulls out a pad and pen and writes back, putting the letter in the mailbox and the flag up.
Emma turned to the sound of metal moving before she reached her front door and saw the flag move down. Emma reasoned that it must be the force of gravity, the wind knocked it back down, or that she literally lost her mind. The flag shot back up within a few minutes. Emma rushed over to the mailbox and opened the flap to see a letter back that read, "Indeed it seems."
Regina is finally home and in bed with her dog trying to doze off to sleep. Her mind is like a movie reel that would not stop.
Emma is rested on her sofa with her dog, Lady, by her feet keeping her warm. She unfortunately got the flu. Henry was with Granny for the next few days to prevent him from getting sick, too.
Regina pulls out some paper and begins to write, "Do you have any idea how this is possible?"
Emma looked down at the letter in her hands, and thought back to the paw prints.
Regina continues to write, "I think we have the same dog. Mine is small. I call her Lady. I don't know why I call her that. She was given to me as a stray from an ex. She thinks she's part human and lays on her back with her paws in the air. She is sandy colored and never will keep a collar on."
Emma looked down at her own dog who was belly up starring at her as if she knew what the letter read. Emma couldn't help herself and laughed at her adorable mutt. Perhaps she was the same dog.
The next day Regina stands outside waiting for her train and writes, "I assume I should properly introduce myself. I am a doctor in Boston."
Regina picks up a stack of charts and heads to the locker room to change into her white coat.
Emma sat adjacent to her deputy as she worked on a current case, "I am a local sheriff. I like the small town hustle and bustle."
Regina reads, "I am still trying to understand this… If you live at 665 Washington St. now, where, uh…, are you now?"
Regina starts to write back as she sits in the locker room, "I am in medical school in Boston." She stops and looks around. Never before had she felt so crazy. "But currently in, 'my' time I am sitting in the locker room drinking coffee before chasing after patients in Boston."
Emma headed out to pick up some lunch and sat in a booth at the local diner and wrote, "What's it like in 2014, any flying cars, or cures for cancer yet?"
Regina laughs at the last part. "Yes and we have successfully inhabited Mars."
Emma's eyebrows shot up until she read, "I am kidding, 2014 is not much different than 2012. No major advances, but the Red Sox did win the World Series last year..."
Emma smiled, licking the cinnamon covered whipped cream off of her coco. "Who was this mystery woman," she thought.
Later that evening she watched Back to the Future, fitting right? Henry was asleep tangled in his sheets and snoring his head off. Kid was out cold.
Emma listened to the tv while Doc Brown yelled at Michael J. Fox's character, "Great Scott, Marty, do you realize what you have done? You have upset the entire space-time continuum!" Emma jumped up and wrote to Regina, "Okay, but seriously you would have seen Back to The Future, classic obviously, and well, what if we upset the space-time continuum? Do you think we could change history?"
Regina reads over Emma's new letter and responds, "I know who Michael J. Fox is for his active involvement in medical research for Parkinson's Disease, but I have never seen that movie. I understand the concept."
Emma choked on her beer that night in utter disbelief that the woman had never seen such a classic movie. "Do me a favor this weekend and watch the movie. It is awesome. Its my kid's favorite 80s movie. That's saying something because Tron comes to a close second."
Regina grins, "You have a son?"
Emma smiled, "I do. He is 4 and his name is Henry. He is a very bright kid full of wonder and joy. He is everything to me. Maybe someday you will meet him."
Regina never thought about kids much. She had her mind set on her career and before that it was school. But those motives left her single and,well, if she was being honest with herself, lonely.
"I'd like that." Is all Emma read before heading to bed.
A few days passed after multiple exchanged letters, and Emma exited her home and went straight for her mailbox. Her smile stretched from ear to ear as she pulled out a package. She pulled out of a manila envelop two cashmere scarfs. The smaller one was red and black stripped and the longer one was black. The note attached said, "You'll be needing these the rest of the month. The weather won't warm up till late April, but in 2014 it's already sunny and warm. Hope that gives you something to look forward to.
Emma smiled and pulled the scarf intended for her up to her face and took in the fresh scent that she assumed was Regina. Right behind her Henry came into view. She turned him around and pulled the scarf around his neck. "Here kid, a gift for you to keep you warm!"
Henry studied the stripped scarf, and brightly looked up at his mother, "Love it mom! Tell whoever I said thanks."
Emma still had no idea how her son was so smart. At his age she could could barely get a sentence out of her mouth. "You got it little man."