WARNING: This fanfiction contains graphic depictions of eating disorders; mentions of anorexia and bulimia. If you are recovering from or dealing with an eating disorder, this fanfiction may be triggering. Please be warned and read at your own risk. Thank you.

Control

Three days later and Regina is finally allowed to leave the hospital. Doctor Whale is still a little concerned about her oesophagus but everything seems to be healing like it should. Regina for her part is finally glad to be getting out of the hospital and going home; the whole thing at shaken her quite severely.

She could tell that Whale had been worried about her condition and she couldn't help but wonder then what Henry was thinking. She'd scared her little boy, she knew she had and the thought twisted uncomfortably in her stomach. All she wanted was to see him and hug him tight, to reassure him that she was perfectly fine.

She caught a cab home, one of the only ones in Storybrooke, her car obviously still parked in her driveway from her late night excursion. Regina sighed irritated when the cab pulled up outside her house and she could see a yellow bug parked in the street. She was grateful for Emma looking after Henry for these last few days but the boy would be in school now and there was no reason for Emma to still be in her house.

Paying the cab driver she got out of the car quickly, stalking up her pathway with as much presence she could muster. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't a lot; she was still tired and sore from the repair surgery and anaesthetic and all she wanted was to lay down and rest until Henry got home. Dealing with a no doubt annoyingly curious Emma Swan was not high on her list of things to do today.

As she stepped up onto her porch, moving to open the door, it swung open before revealing a slightly dishevelled blonde. Regina glared half-heartedly at the blonde, wanting to make some type of scathing comment but resisting the urge because of her healing throat. Whale had advised her to take it easy on the talking for the next few days, telling her how it'd probably be uncomfortable, maybe even painful for her to talk too much. She took his advice to heart; after all, what was a few days without having to talk to the idiot townspeople?

"Regina," Emma greeted, smiling nervously.

The smile quickly set Regina on edge and she looked around wearily, wondering what was going on. When she saw nothing immediately out of place she stepped inside, passed Emma and headed straight for the kitchen. She didn't notice anything out of place inside the house either as she made her way in to the kitchen, a fact she was quite glad about. Her throat was dry and she was thirsty; after filling up a glass of water she turned, sipping the drink, to find Emma staring across the bench at her.

Placing the glass down frustrated Regina looked at Emma with eyebrows raised, tempted to place a hand aggravatingly on her hip. "What?" she questioned, hoarse voice and raw.

Emma looked extremely uncomfortable, glancing between Regina and the door behind her. Regina honestly hoped Emma would lose her courage and opt to use the door behind but luck never did favourite Regina. The blonde instead, after several moments, squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and looked Regina directly in the eye. The gesture almost made Regina look away but she held her ground as she waited for Emma to speak.

"There's something I need to talk to you about Regina and it's very serious," Emma began steadily. Regina looked her right in the eye and as she heard those words her heart sunk. Emma knew, Emma knew what she'd been doing or at least had suspicions of it and now she was going to try to take Henry away because of it. Regina froze at the thought, her whole world was about to come tumbling down and she had no one else to blame but herself.

AN: I know, it's been well over a year but I've finally decided to finish this fic. I hope I've still got some readers out there. I do want to explain to you all why it's been so long since I've written this one. Basically, over the last year, I myself have been recovering and getting better. It was a long process and I'm still going but I didn't want to touch this fic until I felt confident in myself that I wouldn't be triggered by anything I wrote.

Anyway, sorry for the short chapter. Please review though. :) LT.