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“Oww…Oww…Oww,” Emma whined, as Regina carefully eased her out of the passenger side of their rental car and into a standing position. The brunette grunted just a little with the effort, as the blonde quickly transferred all of her weight onto her.
“Are you sure you can even walk?” Regina questioned.
“I’m just a little dizzy,” Emma mumbled. “I got my bell rung pretty good, you know.”
“I’m well aware, Miss Swan,” Regina cringed inwardly at the memory of seeing Emma strike her head almost ruthlessly on the ground. She’d struck her head so hard in fact, that Emma had cracked her helmet nearly in half. The way that the blonde had fallen so still afterwards, was still enough to send tremors through the brunette’s body at the mere memory.
“Easy,” Regina grunted. “Lean on me, Emma,” Regina commanded, “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Regina and Emma’s bodies bumped together a little bit, as they made their way down the bleached concrete sidewalk and towards the Emergency Room doors. They wove slightly back and forth as they walked. Regina’s boots and their two-inch heels clicked in a steady rhythm on the sidewalk as they progressed, and Emma silently wondered the brunette was able to walk.
Regina awkwardly led Emma up to the main doors of the Emergency room, pausing briefly. She was grateful when the doors sensed them and parted on their own. Emma took another step forwards and stumbled.
Regina exhaled sharply as the blonde nearly fell down, and Regina was forced to tighten her grip around Emma’s midsection. She felt Emma’s weight tug against her own, nearly pulling her off of her feet. Thankfully, Regina was able to counteract the motion before falling. “For god’s sake, Emma!” Regina chastened the blonde, “this isn’t a race!” Emma’s left arm was wrapped tightly around the brunette’s shoulders, as the blonde half-limped and half-hopped along on one leg. Emma seemed to slow her pace, leaning heavily on Regina as they progressed.
“Stop…Stop…Stop,” Regina said finally. “I can’t do this any longer. We need a wheelchair.”
“Over there,” Emma said, inclining her head towards an empty chair.
“Do you think you can stand on your own for a few seconds?” Regina asked, her brow furrowing as she looked over at Emma’s face, scrutinizing the blonde. Emma had an altogether vacant look in her eyes, and Regina knew that the blonde couldn’t balance on her own. “Okay. Nevermind,” Regina sighed. “It looks like we’ll just have make it a little further.”
“Miss?” a voice had Regina looking away from Emma. “Do you two need help?” a man in a navy security outfit asked, as he walked. Mercifully, the man was bringing over a wheelchair.
“Oh, Thank you,” Regina said gratefully, as he came to a stop in front of them.
The man engaged the brakes on the wheelchair and then helped Regina carefully lower Emma into the chair. He carefully lifted Emma’s left leg onto the platform. Regina would never admit it, but she felt a pain of her own, as Emma let out a little whimper from the pain.
“I’ll bring you over to Registration,” he said as he disengaged the brakes and wheeled Emma over to the Check-In desk.
For the next few minutes, Regina answered the Nurse’s questions about what was bringing in the blonde. This was mainly because Emma seemed to be a little out of it. By the time they had finally settled in the waiting room, Emma’s nausea kicked back in. Thankfully, the nurse in triage had given Emma a basin. Because otherwise, Emma would have been throwing up all over the floor.
Emma let out a moan as she retched into the basin. Regina instinctively, pulled Emma’s hair back from her face, and held it. Regina’s brow furrowed as she rubbed soft circles on Emma’s back. Emma moaned, as the convulsions stopped and she closed her eyes.
“You’re okay,” Regina said softly. “You’re okay, Emma.”
“Concussions suck,” Emma groaned, as she leaned back again.
“Yeah,” Regina agreed, “Well maybe that’ll teach you not to be such a show off next time.”
“It was an accident,” Emma argued.
“Yeah. You fell and hit your head, because you were showing off,” Regina said. “And instead, you wound up making an idiot out of yourself.”
“Yeah,” Emma groaned. “Well, I was trying to impress you so…look how well that turned out.”
“You were trying to impress me?” Regina asked with genuine surprise evident in her voice.
“Mmm,” Emma hummed. Regina was well aware this wasn’t an actual answer. Emma closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh.
“Nu uh,” Regina reprimanded the blonde, “No closing your eyes. You’re not allowed to sleep, Emma.”
“Hmm?” Emma hummed without opening her eyes.
“I said no going to sleep,” Regina repeated, her voice louder this time. “Open your eyes, Emma.”
Slowly, almost reluctantly, the blonde’s eyes blinked open.
“How’s your head?” Regina asked.
“Hurts,” Emma sighed. “It feels like someone dropped an anvil on my head.”
“Yeah,” Regina nodded. “Well, they said to keep the ice pack on it.” Regina reminded her. “Here,” Regina said softly as she moved the basin aside and took the ice pack from Emma’s limp hand. She gently lifted it to the side of the blonde’s head. Emma’s eyes lifted towards the brunette. Regina met Emma’s gaze, her eyes boring deep into Emma’s beautiful green eyes. She felt her breathing hitch a little.
“You know. I don’t think I ever thanked you for bringing me, so thank you,” Emma said breathlessly. She too was finding it hard to breathe as she looked into Regina’s warm chocolate eyes.
“Of course,” Regina said softly. “I had to make sure you were okay.” Regina swallowed thickly, not sure if she could say it aloud. “You really scared the hell out of me, Emma,” Regina spoke finally, the concern in her expression and voice genuine. “And by that…I meant that you really really scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m really sorry,” Emma replied. “I didn’t mean to.”
“We’re not in Storybrooke, Emma,” Regina said in a whisper, under her breath. “I can’t use magic here. So when I saw you hit your head like that, and then you were so still, I was so afraid you’d broken your neck. I…” Regina felt tears spring to her eyes.
“Shh…” Emma said as she reached out for Regina’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m okay,” Emma said honestly. “I mean…I’ve got a bit of a killer headache… and well I…I blacked out for a little while,” Emma trailed off, seemingly losing her train of thought.
“You do realize that you’re not doing a very good job reassuring me, right?” Regina said, a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Yeah,” Emma nodded. “Sorry…I know I’m normally pretty terrible at this kind of stuff. So with a concussion on top of it, I’m probably making no sense at all.”
Emma felt a bit of a shiver travel up her spine as she felt Regina’s hand squeeze hers back. The blonde felt the loss of Regina’s touch immediately, as the brunette pulled her hand out of Emma’s grasp, although she knew that she didn’t have a right to feel anything.
“Hold still,” Regina instructed her. “I’m just going to take a little look. I want to make sure it has stopped bleeding.” Emma’s heartbeat began to quicken a little in her chest as Regina lifted the pack away from her head, and briefly leant forwards to examine the contusion. Carefully, the brunette prodded the swollen flesh with her fingertips. One thing was obvious; Emma had a sizeable bump on the side of her head. Emma winced, involuntarily pulling away from the brunette’s touch.
“Ouch,” Emma gasped. Regina frowned, looking closely at the wound.
“How does it look?” Emma asked tentatively, her voice quavering ever so slightly.
“Not pretty, I’m afraid,” Regina said honestly. “You’re probably going to need some staples. It’ll also probably take a while for the swelling to go down.” Regina paused, thoughtfully. “And you certainly won’t be doing any more Snowboarding while we’re here.”
“Well, there goes the rest of my vacation,” Emma sighed morosely.
“Aww, come on,” Regina said, “It’s not as if it’s really the end of the world. Besides, we already knew that you wouldn’t be doing any more snowboarding. Because either you broke your ankle, or you badly sprained it.” Regina replaced the ice pack, pressing it to Emma’s head.
“Yeah,” Emma nodded. “Everyone else is going to be skiing and I’m going to be stuck in the ski lodge. What’s even worse is that I’m going to need someone to look after me, and I don’t want to be responsible for ruining someone else’s vacation.”
“Hey,” Regina said softly, meeting Emma’s eyes. “If that’s what you’re worried about, then don’t. We’ll figure it out. And if everyone else gives you a hard time, I’ll stay back and take care of you.”
“You’d do that?” Emma asked, her brow scrunching up in confusion. Regina nodded. “But…But why?” Regina opened her mouth to reply, but before she could do so, a voice startled them both.
“Emma Swan?” a nurse asked as she walked up. “We’re ready for you.” Regina pulled away the ice pack, and handed it back to Emma. Emma gave Regina a grateful smile. The brunette had truly gone above and beyond the call of friendship today. “Your girlfriend is also welcome to come back with you, if you’d like,” the nurse offered with a gentle smile.
Regina didn’t know why, but she chose not to correct the nurse. The resulting look of confusion on Emma’s face as the blonde struggled to process what was happening, was just adorable.
“Oh no…” Emma stuttered, “I’m not… We’re not. I mean I’d sort of like her to be, but she’s…” Emma lifted her hands to her face, attempting to shield her and her sudden embarrassment; She was aware that Regina’s eyes were now widened in genuine surprise. “Oh my god,” Emma groaned, “I have no filter. I hit my head so hard that I literally have no way to filter my thoughts.”
“Emma?” Regina finally found her voice, as she gently pried away Emma’s hands from the blonde’s face. “You have feelings for me?”
“I… Well, yes,” Emma admitted. The nurse looked back and forth between the two women in surprise. She was clearly entertained. “I mean… God, Regina, do you want to…do you want to go out with me sometime?”
“Yes,” Regina said honestly. “I…I’d really like that, Emma.”
And that is the story of how the two women were mistaken for a couple, and then quickly realized that they both had feelings for eachother.