Chapter 6
"Emma!"
The ringing in her ears slowly subsided and her vision cleared. The first thing she saw was the way too bright sky above her and Regina's face that was right in front of hers.
"Are you all right?" Regina asked in a panicked tone.
Emma blinked twice before turning her head to get her bearings. The bare rose bushes towering to her left looked vaguely familiar. "What happened?" she mumbled, not realizing until she tried to sit up that Henry was kneeling at her feet, holding her legs aloft.
"You fainted!"
"Mom, calm down, she's already talking to us again." Henry's voice sounded calmer than Regina's, but also trembled a little.
Emma ran her hand over her face and took a deep breath. "I was bending over for the keys, when I came back up, I was dizzy. I'm okay," she assured them both after the memory of how she had gotten on the cold floor came back.
Regina reached under her arms when she saw that Emma was about to sit up and supported her.
Immediately everything was spinning around her again and she closed her eyes for a few more moments.
When Regina saw this, she wrapped her arm around Emma's back so she wouldn't fall over backwards again and turned to Henry. "Get a phone, we need an ambulance!"
"No!" Immediately Emma widened her eyes again and looked at her girlfriend. "No ambulance, I'm fine!" she assured her again, looking at her pleadingly. "It's just my circulation going a little crazy, that's all. In the station was... Well, I'll tell you inside. But don't call an ambulance!" she repeated urgently.
Henry hesitated, torn between his mothers' completely different requests.
Regina, too, remained silent, and in her gaze, one could see her struggling inwardly. She held Emma's eyes in search of help.
The latter nodded at her encouragingly. "It's okay," she whispered, taking her free hand and squeezing it gently. "I'd tell you if there was more to it."
"How do you know it isn't?"
"I just know. Trust me." Firmly, she looked her in the eyes.
Regina was silent again for a while before nodding to Henry. "I need you to prop her up on the other side, Henry. Are you ready, Emma?"
"Just help me to my feet and I can do the rest myself," she assured them, but when they did just that, her legs were like jello and she slumped heavily into their arms. "All right, maybe you'd better stay there until we get inside," she pressed out between her lips, visibly embarrassed by the situation.
"As if we even intended to let you go," Regina countered, keeping her arm wrapped tightly around Emma's waist.
Henry opened the front door and brushed his shoes off his feet as he walked. "On the sofa?"
Regina nodded and they turned toward the living room.
"I'm allowed to walk into the living room in street shoes. What's wrong with you?" it came teasingly from Emma, but Regina was in no mood for jokes and simply ignored the comment.
"Careful," the brunette instructed her son as they placed Emma on the sofa and then slipped a pillow under her feet.
"I'm not made of sugar, Regina," Emma protested, but her objection again faded unheeded.
"Can you go upstairs for a minute, please? I need to talk to Emma for a moment," Regina asked Henry instead.
Henry was uncomfortable not knowing what was going to happen next, but he listened to his mother without resistance, just spread a fleece blanket over Emma, got her a glass of water, and then climbed the stairs.
"Are you insane?!" it came energetically from Regina, as soon as Henry's door had closed.
Emma raised an eyebrow and looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Because I fell in your rose bed? I'm sorry if I broke anything."
"You drove a car in that condition? And then with Henry, too?" she fussed, standing in front of her girlfriend with her hands on her hips.
Emma scrambled up onto her forearms and looked at her. "This state? What exactly are you trying to say? It was just like I told you: I got dizzy after bending over, before that I didn't notice anything at all."
Regina realized she was telling the truth, and with that her fiery speech lost some of its momentum. "Still, Emma. What if it happens next time while you're driving?" She sounded rather defeated now, and her face expressed concern as she sat down next to Emma on the edge of the sofa and stroked her hair back from her forehead. "I don't want to lose you that way."
"So you'd rather lose me to cancer?" Emma asked sarcastically, only causing Regina to withdraw her hand from her. Exhausted, Emma lay back down and reached for it. "Are you going to forbid me to drive now? Then I might as well put a sign on our mailbox to let people know I'm sick. It will raise questions if I don't go about my daily routine in the usual way."
"So what!" Desperate, Regina looked at her and squeezed her hand. "You can't keep it from them forever, and safety first."
Emma gritted her teeth tightly and looked away from her for a moment. Finally, she fixed her gaze on her. "You believe me, though, that I would never intentionally put Henry in danger, right?"
"Of course!"
"If I felt bad, I wouldn't have driven him home." It was important to her that Regina understood. She couldn't live with herself if such an accusation stood between them.
"I know, Emma. It's okay," Regina almost whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you're feeling better. At least you have a little more color in your face again. You feel eerily warm, though." Instead of her lips, she now placed her hand on Emma's forehead. "Do you have a fever?"
"I don't know. It's possible. Another nice addition to my illness." Emma sighed and held onto Regina's hand; she didn't want her to get up and leave her here alone. "I never thought it possible that I would sink so low. That my son and girlfriend would have to drag me out of a flower bed I staggered into. Drunk, maybe, yes. But not like this."
Regina just listened to her, not wanting to disturb her thoughts by saying anything about it. So far, she had only ever heard her talk confidently and almost jokingly about her leukemia, and she was entitled to the opportunity to finally admit her true feelings.
"It's humiliating, you know that? Not just this caution. The whole thing. Henry shouldn't have to deal with that. You shouldn't either, but he should even less. He's a kid, and he's not responsible for me in any way. And I don't want to be like that either. This isn't me."
Regina examined her and wondered how she had not noticed Emma's condition earlier. Her face was conspicuously pale, not only now, but for weeks. She had blamed the circles under her eyes on her insomnia, but she hadn't questioned that either. Her movements were no longer powerful, but sluggish. And worst of all, she had sensed that something was wrong and had accused her of betraying her. "I understand your frustration, Emma. But I'm going to be there for you now, whether you like it or not. You don't have to feel like you always have to do this all by yourself. I'll help you as much as I can. But you have to be honest, not hide anything from me anymore. And if..." She took a deep breath and wrestled with herself for a moment. Putting it into words was even more difficult than just thinking it. "If your condition worsens, or even if the very worst happens, I want to know."
Emma, who had simply stared at the ceiling during her own words, now looked at Regina again for the first time. "You'll be the first to know, I promise." She had been struggling with herself for a long time, but ultimately, she had tried to put herself in Regina's shoes, and she couldn't imagine not finding out, or not finding out until it was too late.
"Thank you," it came honestly from Regina, who again leaned forward and gave Emma a kiss on the pale lips, who returned it. "What about your work?"
"The phone is diverted to my cell. If I do have to go out again, could you give me a ride?"
Regina gave a short mirthless laugh. "You're certainly not leaving this sofa tonight, at most to go to bed," she clarified.
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" Emma asked sarcastically, not expecting an answer. "Fine, I'll just ask my dad to take over. But only today!"
"I thought you had to go to the hospital tomorrow?"
"Well, I do have tomorrow off. Depending on what Heart says about when I have to stay, I can still work the days after," she said with a shrug, reaching for the glass of water Henry had set out for her. The pleasantly cool liquid seemed to make her feel a little more alive right away as it ran down her throat.
"I know I'm repeating myself, but I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Regina, let me have this, please," Emma pleaded. "As you can see, I'm no good for anything anyway, so I want to at least enjoy these last few days."
"And you can't do that if you're lazy with me at home?" she wanted to know, stroking Emma's forearm up and down.
"If it were a vacation, I couldn't think of anything better. But not under these circumstances," she admitted honestly. "I don't want to spend what may be the last good days I have already lying down."
"You said the chances of recovery were good," it came from a worried Regina, whose voice immediately sounded shaky. If Emma already had no hope, how could she possibly muster it?
"You never know," it came softly from the blonde, who turned her gaze to the door. "We should get Henry back inside, he's going to be worried," she mused.
Regina nodded and rose. "You stay down," she instructed her before leaving the room and heading upstairs.
"Understood, sir." Emma smirked slightly and then took a few more sips of the water. She could feel the color slowly returning to her face with the lying down and the liquid, and the dizziness subsiding. However, the headache and fatigue persisted.
"Emma, are you feeling better?"
It could only have been a few minutes that she had closed her eyes. When she heard her son's voice, she immediately opened them and smiled at him. "Much better. Why do you need to talk to my doctor?" she then wanted to know from him. "Your first aid skills are better than your mom's," she laughed.
"I read on the Internet last night about what to do when someone passes out," he explained, refilling her empty glass.
"Lucky me," she teased Regina, who had just entered the room to place something to drink for herself and Henry, as well as some cookies for them all on the table.
Regina didn't let on and took a seat in the armchair. "Go ahead and let him keep thinking I would have left you in my roses."
"Maybe not that, but you would have called 911," she pointed out dryly.
"And I'd bet you would have, too, if you'd found me in the dirt so chalky," she nodded, holding out the plate of cookies so she could take one without having to sit up.
Emma shrugged her shoulders. "We'd better not try it." She shoved the cookie into her mouth with relish.
"What did you talk about, why didn't you let me stay here?" Henry suddenly wanted to know. "Did you ask her about the spell?" he then turned specifically to Emma, his voice a mixture of hope and excitement.
"What spell?", Regina wanted to know frowning, looking at her girlfriend expectantly.
The latter, however, eyed her son with a sad smile and briefly stroked his cheek before turning to Regina. "Henry was hoping there was a spell that could cure me."
Regina's face visibly lost color immediately.
"I already told him it couldn't be done," she assured her, thinking that Regina must now think she was pinning her hopes on it, too.
"But why not?", Henry immediately wanted to know. "Mom, you heal wounds and injuries of all kinds all the time."
Regina took a shaky breath for a moment and then looked calmly at her son. "I wish it were that easy, honey. You're right, I can heal injuries, but the more visible they are, the easier it is. Superficial scratches are no problem for me, but broken bones alone are beyond my abilities. Unfortunately, I've never bothered much with healing magic. But the most complicated, if not nearly impossible, is healing internal injuries, since you never know exactly what's bleeding or injured."
"But then it's not impossible at all, just difficult!" it immediately came from the teenager.
Regina shook her head. "Emma isn't injured, though, Henry. Her blood cells are faulty because her bone marrow doesn't produce them properly. You wouldn't have to cure anything, you'd have to change something, and I can't do that. Even if I tried, I could do more damage. A person's body is very complex and I should make absolutely no mistake if I wanted to replace the diseased cells. I've never heard of anyone succeeding in doing that, because then no one would have to die of cancer," she reasoned. Of course, she had already thought about it herself, but had come to the conclusion that it was simply not possible. She would have liked to tell him otherwise, but that was not in anyone's power.
Henry's gaze dropped and he just stared at the cookie in his hand for a long while before popping it into his mouth and chewing on it listlessly, as if it suddenly tasted bitter.
"I mean... I could ask Gold if he..." Regina began, but was immediately interrupted by Emma.
"There's no way you're going to do that! I trust your judgment when you say that you can't cure cancer with magic. If he came up with something, it certainly wouldn't be healing magic, but some dark mumbo-jumbo! Promise me that you won't go to him!" it came urgently from her. "Never, no matter what!"
Regina sighed. "As you wish. I promise."
Henry had listened intently to his mothers and for a brief moment hope had returned, only to give way once again to disappointment.
Emma exchanged a depressed look with Regina before placing a hand on her son's forearm. "Magic has its price too, don't forget that. You don't have to solve everything with magic, you can do it without."
Henry nodded, but didn't look like she convinced him. "If you didn't talk about it, what was it about earlier?" he finally wanted to know.
Emma looked to Regina for her blessing, and when she nodded, she turned to Henry. "Your mom thought I was driving, even though I wasn't feeling well... Which isn't true, when we got here everything was still fine."
"And I had to go all the way to my room for that?" he asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"It was quite an unholy row," Emma smirked, straightening up so she wouldn't be the only one lying down. Since the room stopped spinning when she got upright, she kept the seated position.
He grinned and nodded knowingly. "I see." As her son, he'd naturally was bawled out from time to time from Regina over the years, and he could understand she did not want him to see her doing it to Emma.
"You're lucky I like both of you," the playfully threatening voice came from Regina, who stood up and collected the empty dishes. "After this little snack, I guess I should prepare something proper for dinner," she said.
Henry immediately jumped up and followed her, "I'll help you."
"Thanks Henry. You get some more rest." The second part was addressed to Emma, who was also about to get up.
She rolled her eyes and slumped back against the back of the sofa. "I'm fine!" she affirmed, raising her hands in resignation.
"I'm glad to hear that. But we still agree that the kitchen and you aren't compatible, right?"
Regina's devious grin was the last thing Emma saw before mother and son turned the corner. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her frustration. If only she hadn't blacked out! She didn't even want to imagine the fuss they would make if she actually didn't feel well for once. But one thing at a time. First, she decided to enjoy the evening with the two of them; she could still worry about the next day and the upcoming appointment at the hospital when the time really came.
To distract herself while she was still here alone, she grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. Finally, she got stuck on a baseball game and followed the plays with the sound turned off. She didn't need to hear the announcer commenting on everything and the spectators, who appeared only as a murmuring mass, yelling collectively from time to time. She much preferred to listen to the voices of Henry and Regina, which could be heard from the kitchen. She didn't understand their words, but the mere fact that they were here, just a few rooms away, warmed her insides. When Henry said something, making Regina laugh, and he joined in as well, the corners of Emma's mouth involuntarily pulled up as well. She was glad to have them both and banished all the negative thoughts that kept forcing themselves upon her to the furthest corner of her consciousness.
At some point she must have dozed off in her sitting position after all, because when Regina's touch on her shoulder made her startle, they were suddenly playing basketball on the sports channel, which was still on TV.
"Dinner's ready," it came from Regina, speaking extra softly so as not to overwhelm her right away.
Emma nodded and rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sluggishness of sleep. "It smells good," she noted, pulling Regina to her and giving her a kiss with a smile. As she began to scramble to her feet, she was immediately with her, hooking herself in her arm. Emma gave her a look more befitting Regina when she was angry. "I can do this on my own," she insisted, pulling back from her grip not aggressively, but vehemently nonetheless.
"I'm just trying to help you," Regina said, watching Emma's gait out of the corner of her eye to immediately notice any swaying.
She nodded. "Yes, I know that. But if I need your help, I'll tell you."
Regina snorted briefly. "Like hell you will."
"You bet!" She smiled at her conciliatory, stole another kiss, and then took a seat at the dining table with her two beloveds.
