I'm sorry for the long hiatus on this story. Life has been busier lately (in a good way). I'll try to update more frequently. Anyway, hope you enjoy the update!
Injury
"Why don't you take the rest of the evening off to study for your test?" Granny offered Regina, who was sitting at the counter balancing the books.
"I'm ok. I can study after my shift." She looked up at the full diner. "Besides, you need help tonight." She closed the heavy binder and placed it in the safe underneath the register. "I should help you with tables."
Granny knew there was no arguing with Regina. And she did need the help. The construction of the new bridge had brought a lot of new faces in town and with it, more business. "You're not closing."
Regina nodded as she put her apron on. "Thank you." Granny was right: she needed to study for her chemistry test tomorrow. She grabbed her notepad and pencil and with her eyes on the pages, she made her way to the furthest table in the back. "Can I take…" She left her sentence hang in the air when she recognized David and Mary-Margaret. "Oh," was all she could manage. "I can get you another waitress…" She hadn't talked to David in the two weeks she had been back in town. She didn't blame him. He had put his life on hold for her but he needed to be there for his family.
"No…" David reached for her arm before she could leave. "It's ok."
The look on Mary-Margaret's face told her otherwise but Regina swallowed her uneasiness. "What can I get you?" She asked as pleasantly as she could manage.
"Two cheeseburgers and two diet cokes." David ordered for the both of them.
"Coming right up!" Regina scribbled the order quickly before moving on to the next table.
"So she's back." Mary-Margaret's eyes never left Regina.
"Apparently."
"You didn't know?"
David rolled his eyes. "I haven't talked to Regina since I dropped her off at the airport before Christmas."
"And we need to keep it that way." Mary-Margaret insisted.
David bit his tongue. He hated the situation between all of them. "She didn't do anything wrong." He hissed. "And neither did I."
"You'd been sleeping here for almost two months. People were talking."
David shook his head. "And all you care about is keeping up appearances. What do you think is gonna happen when the trial starts?" Mary-Margaret remained silent. "Coming here was a bad idea."
Before David could continue, Regina came back with their drinks. "Sorry for the wait. It's been busy lately."
"No problem." David answered but Regina was already gone. The least amount of time she would have to spend serving them, the better. She moved on to the next table, cleaning up from the four previous customers. As she lifted the plates, she felt a sharp pain up her wrist. She had felt it before but it had never been so intense. She screamed in pain as she let go of her load, which shattered on the floor.
"Regina!" Both Granny and David were by her side in an instant.
"It's nothing." She reassured while clenching her right wrist.
"It doesn't look like nothing." David gently grabbed her injured hand. "How long has it been this way?"
"A few years…" Regina gasped in pain when David tried to move her wrist. "It's fine."
EC
"The fracture never healed properly." Whale said as he held the set of x-rays against the ER light. "The bone would have needed to be set."
Regina was sitting on the edge of the bed, her feet dangling in the air. All she wanted was to go back to the bed and breakfast and study for her test. She had spent too much time at the hospital already, abandoning Granny during rush hour after David had insisted she saw Dr. Whale.
"What do you recommend?" David asked the doctor. He had accompanied Regina to the hospital despite his wife's clear objections.
"Surgery." Whale placed the x-ray back into its envelope and turned to face Regina. "We need to break the bone again to set it properly."
Regina's head snapped to attention. "Absolutely not!" She started getting up the bed. She couldn't afford not working for however how long healing from the surgery would take.
"Regina…" David restrained her gently. "Please, listen to Dr. Whale."
"I don't recommend this lightly." Whale told his patient, knowing full well her precarious situation. She was heavily in debt and the surgery would set her back further. "But if you keep using your arm as you have, you could permanently damage your wrist."
"Regina…" David called softly. "Please. I know what you're thinking. We'll figure something out."
Regina looked up at David. "I'm not a charity case and I wish you two would stop treating me as such!" She tried to free herself from David, sending a new wave of pain down her arm. She knew the doctor was right. The pain had been more frequent and intense in the past month.
David released Regina upon seeing her pained expression. "We'll figure something out. But you need this surgery."
Regina averted her eyes. She knew David was right but with $200 in her bank account, she couldn't afford taking any time off. At least, for now. "Can it wait a month?"
Whale let out a heavy breath. "I can give you some pain killers but you need to take it easy and not carry heavy loads."
"I promise."
Whale wrote the script quickly. "If the pain worsens, you'll need to come back here." He tear the piece of paper from his pad and handed it to Regina. "I can also recommend some physical therapy."
"Thank you."
EC
Regina was writhing on her hospital bed, waiting for the orderlies to take her to the OR. She was nervous, remembering the last time she had been taken into surgery. She had woken up to her new husband on top of her, claiming her on their wedding night.
Regina suppressed a sob at she remembered her first night with Leopold. "Shhh…." Granny caressed Regina's hand. "You're going to be ok, child." Upon hearing the severity of Regina's condition, Granny had forced the brunette back to the hospital the following day to schedule her surgery.
Regina turned her attention towards the old woman. "I just don't like hospitals."
Granny sighed. Regina had suffered enough. She didn't deserve another setback. "But you need to take care of your injury."
"I can't do this." Regina started getting up from the bed.
Granny placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back on the bed. "I'm here with you, honey. I'll be here when you wake up. You're not doing this alone."
EC
"We can't use any of this, David." Mal vented her frustration by slamming her hands on her desk. "You had no cause to search his house."
"He left them in plain view on his desk. I didn't have to search for anything!" The sheriff defended. "These documents proved that Regina was sold to him. It's not her word against his anymore. We have proof."
"And it didn't occur to you that he left these documents for you to find? To declare a mistrial?" Mal sat back in her chair, taking a deep breath through her nose. "David, as infuriating as this is, we can't use any of these documents in court."
"We could subpoena for the originals."
"On what ground?"
"Regina told us about the deal her mother had made. This is proof."
Mal shook her head. "No, the only thing that these documents prove is that Leopold White, a businessman, invested in another business. There is no proof in any of this that a contract had been signed for Regina's hand." The lawyer placed all the printed pictures back into an envelope. "And you and I both know that neither Leopold nor Cora would have been stupid enough to leave a paper trail behind. Cora sold her daughter and Leopold bought a minor. They could have spent years in jail! They had to trust their verbal agreement. No one else could be involved in this. As far as the legality of the marriage, Cora and Regina signed the consent form. Whether or not Regina did it under duress is unprovable at this point."
"Henry hired a detective to find Regina. Graham was about to get Regina out of town. They must have gathered evidence somewhere."
Mal shook her head. "Both the detective and sheriff Humbert died within a month of each other."
"Another convenient car accident?"
"No. Lung cancer." David rolled his eyes. "I asked for the archive documents to be sent here in case he had kept something about Regina's case in his office. Nothing. So if they had something, it's probably long gone or in Leopold's hands." Mal leaned forward to rest her forearms on her desk. "David, we have a strong case and we've been working with Regina on her testimony. We can win this!"
David's phone interrupted their conversation. His heart started beating faster when the caller ID flashed to 'Granny'. "Is Regina ok?"
"We need you here. Please."
EC
David ran through the hospital's corridor towards the room the receptionist had indicated. He was greeted by a nurse and Granny. "I'm sorry. I know it's not the best situation…"
"What happened?" David interrupted Granny. No one hated the situation with Snow more than he did.
"She had a hard time with the anesthesia. She panicked as soon as we tried to check on her wrist. Dr. Whale thinks you might be able to calm her down."
David pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned in annoyance. He should have been with her in the first place. "Where is she?"
The nurse slowly opened the door and motioned for David to enter. His heart sank when he saw the woman on the bed. She was curled up on herself, her care team trying to get her to relax. She was shaking and openly sobbing, begging them to leave her alone.
David approached Regina's hospital bed slowly. "Hey... " He greeted softly when she could see him. "You're going to be ok, Regina." He soothed. "But you need to let Dr. Whale have a look at your arm."
Regina looked up toward David. She was still trembling but she had started relaxing on her bed. David smiled at her encouragingly. "No one will hurt you." The sheriff slowly reached for Regina. Since she didn't move, he caressed her cheek soothingly. "You don't have to be afraid."
David spoke to her for half an hour until Regina slowly uncurled and let Dr. Whale examine her wrist. David held her other hand through the entire process, whispering calming nonsense to her. Soon, David's pacifying presence lulled her back to sleep.