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“Well, good news is, it’s only a hairline fracture, not broken.” Dr. Whale hummed, checking over Regina’s ankle again.
“Bad new is, you’ll have to be on crutches for a week or so, depending on recovery time. I can go grab those for you now.”
As soon as the doctor had left the room, and the door was shut, Emma burst out laughing, an uproarious sound that was so pure and unfiltered that Regina may have found it cute if it wasn’t directed at her.
“Don’t you dare laugh, Emma Swan. I can’t believe this.” she huffed, adjusting herself in the hospital bed, wincing as she shifted her leg awkwardly. She was pouting, she knew she was, but she wasn’t exactly feeling up to fixing her face at the moment – she was grumpy, and embarrassed, and everyone must know about it.
Emma stopped laughing for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths so she could control herself and keep filling out the paperwork she was supposed to be filling out. Which lasted all of ten seconds before she started giggling, and was eventually just laughing again. She loved her girlfriend, she really did, but when she wound up in the hospital for something as silly as this, she couldn’t help herself. She calmed herself down before she started talking.
“I’m sorry, my love, I really am, but…” she bit her lip hard to make sure she didn’t start laughing again. “I can’t believe you fractured your ankle by kicking a cabinet… on purpose… because you were mad.” she was hopeless. She started giggling again, putting the pen down and burying her face in her arms as she lost it. It hadn’t helped that Regina just looked so cute in that hospital bed, all pouty. “And you fucking missed, Regina – you hit your ankle instead of kicking the cabinet, I watched you.” she laughed into the table, giving up with trying to control herself now.
Regina rolled her eyes, cheeks flushing a bright red at the sheer embarrassment of it all. She was never going to live this down. And crutches?? God damn it. Now she’d have to explain what happened to everyone – well, maybe not. Her girlfriend, her True Love, her one and only love, seemed very happy to laugh about it. She’d be the butt of everybody’s jokes for weeks…
“How could you do this to me, Emma? How could you laugh as I lie here, incapacitated? You’re supposed to love me through everything, but a simple hairline fracture can defeat your resolve? Do you really crumble so weakly?” she was playing it up now – for Emma, and for herself. If you can’t beat them, join them, she supposed.
“I do love you, I do – I just-” and she set herself off again, giggling hopelessly into the paperwork she was supposed to be filling out to get Regina discharged. And her girlfriend couldn’t even be mad. She was adorable when she was all playful like this.
Whale came back in a minute later, holding a pair of crutches. He placed them beside the bed, and then nodded at Emma.
“She stays on these for a week, longer if she needs them. Any medical enquiries, you come to me.” and then he nodded again, and left.
She gave Regina a look – and then they were both gone, laughing like schoolgirls over a silly hairline fracture.
Emma had to carry Regina and the crutches to the car. Mainly because Regina had never used crutches before, so it was a struggle for her to even get them started.
Once she was safely in the car and buckled in she passed her the crutches with a forced look of calm. She could carry her girlfriend easy, and with the crutches was no problem, but all she was thinking was ‘cabinet’.
Regina shot her a look that said it all. ‘Get in the car before I punch you.’, is what it said.
So she did, like the obedient little golden retriever girlfriend she was.
They managed half the drive in silence, until the car’s stereo, which was hooked up to Emma’s Spotify account, started mysteriously playing ‘Break Ya Ankles’ by E-40, and the blonde was gone all over again. She had never even heard the song before, but it was as if her Spotify just knew.
She had to pull over at the side of the road. She was terrified of hitting someone simply because she was laughing too hard.
Regina wasn’t annoyed, not really, but she made a show of pretending she was. She opened her car door with a huff, struggling with her crutches and seatbelt for a minute, before she got out, fighting with the metal poles to keep herself upright, ankle throbbing beneath her.
Emma followed after a minute, still giggling. She approached the brunette, who turned on her one heel, directly into the curb, which she promptly tripped over.
Luckily, Emma was there to catch her, in one of those romantic, swoop-y holds. She gave her a soft smile, eyes alight with humour.
“Watch your step.” she murmured, and then pulled her in for a kiss.