They waited until the evening, when it became quieter on the wards. It wasn't so late that Emma would have been missed in her room, but late enough that the nurses had already made their rounds through the rooms.
"This is a really bad idea, so bad!" Emma sat in one of the visitor chairs and pressed her knees and feet tightly together, a clear sign of how tense she was. "Why would that suddenly work?"
Regina screwed up her face slightly and held her ribs as she swung herself out of her bed and came to sit on the edge. "Because I'm not in pain anymore."
Emma's eyebrow shot up. "Yeah, you can definitely tell," she nodded sarcastically.
"My head, Emma! That's the only thing this is about. We've been over it. You used your magic, visualized my injuries and the inside of my head and then focused your spell on it. You kept it up until it wore off on its own. You fixed everything, even the laceration, and that was really hard to explain when they wanted to change the bandage," she said, rolling her eyes.
"But that's no proof that you can work magic now!" came another sharp word from Emma. She was really panicking about what further damage Regina could do. She might die in front of her eyes and the thought alone sent shivers down her spine.
"Not proof, but there will never be better conditions," she said, eyeing the cup of water that stood on the bedside table in front of her.
"Regina, wait!" Emma shot up from her chair and held her wound, sore from the C-section, as she came to the bed and sat down next to her friend. She looked lovingly into her eyes and reached for her hand. "You don't have to do this," she whispered, "Please."
Regina took a deep breath and returned her gaze. "Yes, I do have to. Otherwise, it's doubtful we'll ever see our families again, do you realize that?"
"They've been looking for a solution all this time!"
"Emma... Even if they do find one: They'll never be able to transport all these people from one place to another. A portal can only teleport a few at a time and it's hard enough to get one to work, let alone the amount that would be needed. Only the Dark Curse can do that, and I'm the only one who can do it without sacrificing more lives." She squeezed Emma's hand, hoping for her approval.
Emma bit her lower lip before leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on Regina's lips. It was only a fleeting moment, but she held the look in her eyes even afterwards. "Please don't try to die," she said quietly before letting go of her hand but remaining seated next to her.
Regina's heart pounded like crazy in her chest and she was only able to nod once before turning her focus back to her water. It just had to work, because if it didn't, they were truly running out of options. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and activated the spell. When Emma gasped beside her, she opened her eyes again in a flash, suddenly afraid she had made a mistake. "What's wrong?"
"It worked," was all Emma could manage, staring at the cut sunflower that was now stuck in the drinking cup like a vase. "How are you feeling? Is everything all right?" She automatically placed her hand on Regina's temple and scrutinized her as if she were looking for external injuries to her head or pathological reactions in her pupils.
"I'd say yes, it worked." A little stunned at first, but the next moment she looked at Emma with a smile. "My goodness, I wouldn't dare say that we might finally have a chance of getting out of here!" she said, leaning towards Emma. Halfway there, however, she flinched and held her ribs again. "It's about time," she murmured, running her hand over her side, and as the shimmering that emanated from it disappeared, a relieved expression came over her face. "Come on, now you." She did the same with Emma's surgical wound and then finally hugged her tightly, as she had intended to do before.
Emma returned the hug and then pulled up her top to look at her stomach. "Wow, thank you," she said enthusiastically as she suddenly felt no more pain.
"It won't last, I've only eased the pain, not healed the wound. That would raise too many questions otherwise."
"Yeah, right." Emma stared at the sunflower, thinking about the options they now had. "I still can't quite believe that you actually have your magic back! Then we're free now, we can go wherever we want. Once we're out of here, you'll heal us properly and then we can go back to Storybrooke!"
Regina's jaw tightened and she could no longer bear Emma's look of joy, so she turned away.
"Regina?" Of course, Emma noticed the change in mood immediately and put a worried hand on her shoulder. "Are you lying to me? Are you not feeling well?"
"It's not that," she said, taking a deep breath. "It's just... I wasn't telling you something."
"Is it about Killian? If it is, we've already talked about it. It's going to be bad, but I'll tell him, I promised you that. I don't want to pretend anything to anyone any longer, least of all to myself," she assured her.
"It's not about Killian, it's about me," Regina replied before Emma could continue. You could tell that it took her a lot of effort to lift her head and look at her. "I can't heal myself, Emma. I mean, I can. I can make my ribs mend faster and make the puncture marks from the needles they stuck in me disappear. But I can't make sure I can walk properly again." The last sentence was so quiet that it was barely audible.
Emma stared at her, trying to sort out in her head what she was trying to make her understand. "But why not? I thought magic could heal any injury!"
"That's actually true. And if we were in the Enchanted Forest, where everything is magic, where it's in the air, then that would be true too. But if we stay in this world, it won't. Don't you remember? Magic works differently here. I can heal wounds, yes. But it's not a wound that makes me unable to walk. It used to be, but it's healed and now it's too late to do anything about it."
Emma looked at her, still uncomprehending.
Regina sighed and continued. "You know that Gold has a crippled foot," she tried another way. "As long as there's magic in the air, it doesn't cause him any problems, but when there isn't, he limps. You'd have to maintain a permanent spell to do anything about it and no one can do that."
"How long have you known that?" Emma asked almost tonelessly, after there had been silence in the room for a while.
"All this time. I didn't want to worry you."
"Worry me? If you knew that, you should have told me straight away, maybe I could have healed you in time!" she said angrily.
Regina nodded. "You see, and that's exactly what I didn't want! You shouldn't do magic and put yourself in danger." She paused and looked at the wheelchair, which was within easy reach of her bed. "That's just the way it is now, I came to terms with it a long time ago. But if you can't do it, then I understand. I don't expect you to stay with me when I might be in a wheelchair forever. You still have a choice and you can just go back to your husband as if nothing had ever happened."
"What are you talking about? Is that what you really think of me? That I'll dispose of you when you're no longer functioning perfectly?" Emma asked calmly, reaching for her hand. "I'll be there for you."
Regina smiled wryly and rested her head on the side of Emma's shoulder. "I'm glad it's you I'm stuck here with."
Gasping, Zelena opened her eyes as she felt like she was going to choke.
"Mom, you're awake! Everything's okay, I'm here!" Robin leaned into her mother's field of vision and squeezed her hand tightly.
Zelena's chest rose and fell in rapid, quick bursts until her breathing finally calmed down and her eyes cleared. "Robin," she whispered barely audibly. The attempt to place her hand on her daughter's cheek failed and so her gaze greedily took in every millimeter of her face.
"When I found out what happened, I came here straight away," the young woman explained, wrapping her arms around Zelena's neck. "I'm so glad you woke up."
A little overwhelmed, Zelena let the hug happen and then closed her eyes. The light was too bright, the noises too loud and the blanket on her too heavy. "What happened to me?" she wanted to know and again only managed a barely audible whisper before she had to cough, feeling how parched her throat was. "Can you give me some water, please?"
But she didn't have to ask, because Robin was already filling up the wooden cup that had been on her table. When she had taken a seat next to her again, she carefully lifted her mother's head slightly and put the cup to her lips. "Slowly, okay?"
Zelena made an effort, but was so thirsty that she began to drink greedily after the first few sips and promptly choked, making her cough again.
"That's enough for now," Robin decided and let her sink back into her pillow once the coughing fit had subsided.
"I'm still waiting for an explanation." The fact that she was lying here in front of her daughter, completely dependent on her help, was almost driving Zelena mad. "What has put me in this... unfavorable position?"
"To be honest, I think it was you." Seeing her mother's widened eyes, Robin hastened to add, "But you'd better let Henry and the Blue Fairy explain that to you in more detail."
Instead of relaxing, Zelena's face darkened even more. "What's she got to do with it?"
"Well, if I've understood correctly, you owe the fact that you're still alive to her," Robin replied dryly and at that moment there was no doubt from whom she had inherited the sarcasm.
Zelena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I really hope you're wrong, because the thought that I owe my life to the Blue Fairy makes me wonder if I'd rather be dead."