Bluest of Grey Skies

Chapter Seven

Regina and Henry were out on the front lawn, playing tag until his little legs wore out and he spent more time falling than standing and running. By the time five rolled around, Henry was hungry and she made him up a snack of cantaloupe and honey melon, chopped neatly and placed in a plastic bowl that she let him carry out on to the front porch. Regina continuously checked her watch and looked up and down the road for any sign of Emma Swan. As six rolled around, she started to worry. Surely the Nolan's hadn't kept her for that long.

By seven, Regina's worry increased tenfold and she realized that Emma didn't have her number so she couldn't call her from the Nolan's to let her know if she was going to be later than expected. She brought Henry inside at seven-thirty and started dinner, leaving it up to his choice and that ended up being hot dogs minus the bun, but she used bread instead for hers and chopped Henry's up on a plate for him.

By eight, Henry was sleepy and crying for his mother and Regina knew she couldn't wait any longer for Emma. She called Ruby and asked her to come over to the house as quickly as possible and the very moment that Ruby showed up at her front door, she hopped in the Mustang and took off in the direction of the Nolan farm all the while keeping a keen eye out for a blonde on a bicycle.

She drove in silence, her hands clutching on to the steering wheel so tight her knuckles went rigid and white in a matter of minutes. She chewed furiously on the toothpick until both ends were destroyed and when she reached into the front pocket of her shirt, she found it to be empty and cursed as she pounded a fist against the steering wheel. Not only was she combating her worry for the blonde woman she was inadvertently falling for, the nicotine cravings were hitting her harder than ever.

Just five minutes from the Nolan farm, along the narrow rural road, she spotted the borrowed bicycle just off to the side, partway in a ditch and she slammed on the breaks with a start. The worst of fears hit her hard in those milliseconds it took for her to stop the car and jump out. She worried that Emma had fallen and injured herself, but there were no signs of an accident. She worried that maybe somebody picked her up; someone with less than innocent intentions and that by now she could be anywhere or dead.

"Emma?" Regina called out and she jogged over to where the discarded bicycle lay partway in the ditch. "Emma!"

Only the sound of the bird chirping as the sun began to lower against the sky answered her and with the falling darkness, she knew she had to find her and fast. Regina ran her fingers through her hair roughly and looked around. On both sides of the rural road was nothing but fields of grass weight high and her visibility was growing severely limited with the fading light.

"Emma!"

She was losing light fast and she made a quick dash to the trunk of her Mustang and pulled out a flashlight from her kit stashed in the wheel-well. The light flickered when she switched it on and she hit it against the palm of her hand as she headed back over to the bicycle.

"Emma?" She tried again to no avail and she shone the light around on the waist high grass and found an imperfection that looked to have been made fairly recently. "Damn it, Emma," Regina groaned as she stepped into the grass and dozens upon dozens of bugs flew up and into her face. She grunted as she swatted them away and followed the imperfections in the grass, inch by inch.

Twenty-five feet from the road she spotted the edge of the too big boots Emma had worn for her first day and she all but stumbled the last few feet before falling to her knees to the unconscious woman on the ground.

"Emma?" She murmured as she reached to check for her pulse. "Emma, wake up."

"Hmm?" Emma murmured hazily and her eyes fluttered open. "Regina?"