Silver Lining

Stay with me

It was not long until Robin came back home, but instead of Regina's presence, only silence greeted him.
"Regina? You did not answer when I called back. Where are you?" Robin shouted as he unlocked the door.
When he got no response, he picked up the pace and began frantically looking for her around the house. Robin could feel his heart plummeting in his chest, his hands got clammy and a deep frown settled between his brows. He noticed the bathroom door was closed and instantly imagined the worst scenario.

He did not take the time to knock or ask for permission to enter, instead he threw himself upon the door and swung it open. He saw a bottle of painkillers on the floor first, and only then noticed Regina's body in the tub. She was fully submerged and did not move. The water was mixed with blood and he could see the proeminent vein on her forehead, instantly understanding that she had fought for air.

Robin rushed towards her and scooped her up, feeling the cold water dripping on his body, soaking his clothes. Even through the layers of clothing, Robin could feel the way her body was greedily taking his own warmth.
"Regina, come back to me! Come on!" Robin begged.
He placed her as gently as possible on the floor, desperately trying to find a pulse. It took him a few seconds, but the feeling of a faint heartbeat underneath his fingertips was probably the one he would forever remember. She was not breathing, so he hastily placed her entire body on the floor and grabbed his phone, called 911 and put it on speaker.

"911, what is your emergency?"
"My name is Robin Locksley, I have a drowned 30-year-old female, pregnant, she is unconscious and not breathing. I am starting CPR," he said, before giving them the adress.

"Come on, Regina. You cannot leave me. Stay with me," he begged, feeling her ribs crack under the pressure he applied during CPR.

Soon after, two paramedics pushed Robin aside and carried Regina into the ambulance.
"Are you her husband?" one of them asked Robin.
"Not yet, but I am a doctor. I am coming along," he quickly answered and climbed into the car.

"We need to dry her body a little bit so we can set up the defibrillator," one of the paramedics said. Without hesitation, Robin pushed aside the soaked towel he covered her with, then wiped away the water from her body, and placed the paddles under her right collarbone and on her left side.
"Clear," he managed to say.

Letting the machine analyze her heart, the two paramedics took turns doing the compressions, while Robin breathed his own air into her lungs, until they heard the little box say a robotic "Shock adviced". When one of the men pressed the button, the defibrillator continued "Shock delivered. Continue compressions."

Robin had seen this scenario a million times in med school, but looking at her body arch from the shocks sent shivers down his spine. He could not afford losing her. What happened to her, and how did her battered body end up in the tub? Was it his fault, maybe he could have prevented it?

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when one of the paramedics sighted in relief "We have a strong pulse!"
Robin collapsed on the seat next to Regina, brushing his hands through his hair.
"You did good, doctor! You saved her. A few more minutes under the water and she would have passed," the paramedic told Robin.

Regina woke up in a dimly lit room, hooked up to various machines. She looked at her hands, they were covered in bruises and full of IV's. Regina closed her eyes when she realised what happened, she was not capable of facing Robin right then. He gave her everything, he saved her, and this is how she chose to thank him. Deep within, she knew it was not her fault that Leo had come to their house. Regina knew she was not responsible for the beating she got from her ex-partner, but trying to soothe the pain with the help of a warm bath had been entirely her choice.

She tried to move, figuring she might as well leave before Robin came. He probably did not want to see her again and she did not want to make things more difficult than they had to be. However, a wave of pain surrounded her body and she fell back, letting out a small cry.

A few hours prior
A whole team of doctors whisked Regina into an empty room, leaving Robin alone in the waiting area. He could simply grab the lanyard with his ID and work on Regina, but the overwhelming guilt was making him unable to think of a way to help her. What happened to her? How did she get all those wounds and where was the person who did that to her?

Robin opened the CCTV app on his phone, thinking she may have gone out and something could have happened, but saw him instead. The man who made Regina cry herself to sleep each night since he met her broke into his house and caused her all the damage he saw.
Robin could not wait for Regina to wake up, so he quickly took the recording on his phone, called his closest friends for help and began the hunt for Leo.

"Ms. Mills, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened," the doctor told her, but she could not stop crying.
Her whole body was shaking and her breaths were shallow, making the woman place an oxigen mask over Regina's mouth and nose. She followed the breathing pattern the doctor instructed and looked at her in fear, removing the mask from her face.

"I slipped in the tub and hit my head." she lied, hoping the doctor would leave her alone.
"And how can hitting your head make you miscarry and cover your body in bruises?" she snapped at Regina, realising what she did when she saw tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"Ms. Mills, I am so sorry! That was unprofessional and I should not have done it, but I need to know what happened in order to take care of you," the doctor said.

"That will not be necessary, I will take over from here," Robin said while entering the room.

"Robin," Regina exhaled, breathing his name like a prayer.