David Nolan climbed the stairs leading to Regina's bedroom slowly. Although Mary-Margaret was convinced he was telling her the truth about her stepmother's conditions, she still couldn't believe that her father was the monster David knew him to be. Since her mother's death almost fifteen years earlier, she had placed her father on a pedestal. But sometimes, even heroes could fall.
When he entered the room, he found Granny knitting in the armchair near the window at the foot of the bed where he had left Regina a few hours earlier. "How is she?" He whispered to the bed-and-breakfast owner.
"Scared." Granny answered, looking at him over her glasses. "She woke up half an hour ago and asked for you."
David sighed. Regina was his responsibility now but he also had a wife and baby at home. Despite his best efforts, he wouldn't be able to spend his entire days and nights with the frightened woman.
Granny seemed to have sense his internal struggle. She stood from the chair. "She is trusting you to help her. You can't abandon her."
"I know." The sheriff answered in-between clenched teeth. "I'm not planning to." He looked at Regina asleep on the bed. Her features were contorted in pain and fear and she was twitching, in the midst of a nightmare. "Has she eaten anything?"
Granny shook her head. "I offered to get her something when she woke."
"But she didn't want to be left alone." David finished for the old woman. "I'll stay with her. Can you get her some soup?"
"Of course." Granny smiled before exiting the bedroom, sparing one last look at Regina. The woman seemed so small on the bed and Granny's heart broke at the thought of what Regina must have gone through.
David sat on edge of the bed beside Regina and rubbed her back gently. "Regina…" He hadn't been prepared for the woman's reaction. Her eyes shot open and she squirmed away from him, clearly afraid of what would come next. "Hey… shhh.. It's just me." He said soothingly. "You were having a nightmare." As soon as she recognized the sheriff, Regina settled on the bed. David smiled at her encouragingly. "You're safe, here. No one is coming for you."
Regina shrugged. "It's only a matter of time."
David placed his hand over the small of her back. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"Even when you're not here?"
David sighed. "I'm sorry. I needed to talk to Mary-Margaret." Regina tensed at the mention of her stepdaughter. "She doesn't know you're here. But she is not a sixteen-year-old teenager anymore. She is going to hold her father accountable." He continued with more assurance than he felt. "You're not alone anymore."
Regina buried her face into the soft pillow and cried. David let her. Beyond the physical trauma, he knew that the psychological one ran deeper. She needed to talk to Archie, but first, she needed to feel safe and taken care of. By the time Granny came back half an hour later with some soup and a piece of apple pie, Regina had somewhat quieted.
"How about we put some food in your stomach?" The old lady announced cheerfully.
"Regina, are you hungry?" David asked her with a bright smile.
The brunette shook her head. "Not really." She never had much of an appetite.
"How about we give a try?" David encouraged her. Whale had made it very clear that she needed to gain some weight as well as getting more nutrients. "Besides, Granny's apple pie is the best."
Regina considered the offer. "I like apples." She conceded.
David chuckled. "Do you need help sitting up?" After everything Regina had been through, he had made a point to always ask her for permission before touching her.
Regina nodded and David leaned toward her. "Wrap your arm around my neck. And you need to tell me if I'm hurting you." With another nod, Regina followed his instructions. David helped her move carefully into a sitting position on the bed and Granny placed the tray on her lap. Regina started eating the soup slowly under the watchful eyes of her rescuers. Once she was finished with half the bowl, Regina took a few bites of the apple pie before pushing the tray away. Neither David nor Granny tried to force her to eat more. Her appetite would return eventually but it would take time.
"Would you like to shower?" David asked her.
Regina nodded quickly. Despite the sponge bath the nurses had given her at the hospital, she felt dirty. She hadn't had the opportunity to wash away her husband's seed. David helped Regina to her feet and walked her toward the shared bathroom. "Granny is going to help you. I'll be right outside."
The shower took a lot longer than expected but for the first time in years, Regina felt clean and free. The water had soothed her bruised skin and as Granny had helped her remove traces of her husband, she had let herself hope. She hoped that once the bruises were faded, she would never have to bear her husband's marks again. After helping her in one of Ruby's t-shirt, Granny walked Regina back to her bedroom. She smiled at David, the first genuine one he had seen from her in all the years he had known Regina.
Regina was asleep before her head even touched the pillow. "Sweet dreams." David wished her as he arranged the blankets around her. As he was about to thank Granny for all her help, his phone buzzed. He retrieved it from his pocket and read the text message, frowning.
"What is it?" Granny prompted.
"Snow. She says she has something for me. Something to help Regina."
"Go. I'll stay with her."
EC
David arrived at the loft fifteen minutes later. After greeting his baby girl, the sheriff sat at the counter with his wife. Mary-Margaret placed the voice recorder she often used while preparing her lessons in front of David and pressed play.
"Tell your husband to bring me back my wife!" Leopold's voice was coming clear in the recording.
"You're hurting her!"
"Is this what your ignorant son of a miner told you? I don't know what he thinks happened. But I didn't touch her. I never have!"
"I saw the pictures, daddy! She didn't get those bruises by falling down a staircase! What have you done to her?" Mary-Margaret's voice was trembling.
"Nothing! Nothing that concerns you anyway. She is my wife!"
"And that gives you the right to beat her? What else did you do to her? Did she ever agree to marry you or did you force her?"
"I never forced Regina to do anything but her marital duties."
David heard Snow gasped. "And when she didn't?" When her father didn't answer, Snow continued for him. "It's true, isn't it? David arrested you because you beat her up." David heard a soft sob. "How can I have been so blind? You're a monster!"
David heard some ruffling. "Let go of me!" He heard his wife once more. "Did you touch her? Tell me the truth! Tell me the truth or you'll never see me or Emma again!"
"I expect Regina to behave as my wife, yes! Is it a crime? Is it a crime to ask one's wife to prepare a decent meal at the end of the day? Or to provide me with some comfort at night? Doesn't David expect you in his bed?"
"NO!" Snow screamed. "You beat her… you raped her… How… how could you?" David heard more movements and a click, signaling the end of the recording. He looked at the recorder for a long time: this was the only proof he needed to send Leopold to jail for years.
After a few long minutes, David looked at his wife. "Did he hurt you?"
Snow shook her head. "He was mad. And… I believe you. I believe Regina. And … oh David, tell her I'm so sorry!" David wrapped his arms around his crying wife.
"You're going to tell her that yourself. And you're going to help her. She is going to need all the support she can get. She needs to know that her family is not going to abandon her."