Winter arrives early, about a month after Robin first learned about Regina's magic lessons, the weather turns bitterly cold.
Regina becomes quite sick, the cold weather bringing with it many forms of illness. Robin learns of her illness one day when he brings her her meal and walks in on her while she is throwing up. He rushes to her side, and gathers her loose hair in his hands, holding it out of her face. She's a mess, still in her nightclothes, and looks utterly wretched.
"Regina, are you okay?" he asks her when the sickness subsides.
"I… I'll be fine." she whispers between deep breaths, and she seems determined to be just that, but then another bout of sickness seizes her body, and she's convulsing, but there's nothing left in her stomach. She moans in pain, but it seems the sickness is finished with her for now, so he picks her up and begins carrying her back to her bedchamber. She weighs nothing in his arms, and she has never seemed small to him before, but now, eyes closed, curled in on herself, she suddenly seems not only small, but so fragile, and younger even than her almost twenty years.
"Shhh, shhh," he whispers, as she lets out a pained sound. "I'm going to put you back in bed, my lady, and get you a glass of water."
He has never entered the queen's bedchamber before, but it is easy enough to navigate, and he gently deposits her on the bed. "Do you want me to cover you, my lady?" he asks, and she replies with a nod and a weak "Yes." He draws the blankets over her body, and brushes the hair out of her face. He leaves for a moment and returns with a glass of water that he sets down on the nightstand.
"Regina, are you going to be sick again?" he asks gently. "I'd like to go clean up outside and fetch a healer…"
"I'm okay," she says weakly, and he takes that as permission to leave, disappearing before she can protest his bringing a healer.
He leaves her bedchamber, retuning to the sitting room to clean up. He returns the food to the kitchen, clearly she won't be eating it today, and finds the healer. Then, he goes to get a bucket for Regina, in case she gets sick again. By the time he returns to her chambers, the healer is already checking on her.
"I can make you a sleeping draft, if you need it. But other than that you'll just have to let it run it's course. Your fever's not very high, so there's no risk there, but it does seem to be sapping your strength. You won't feel like doing much of anything for a few days. I recommend you stay in bed. I can assign a girl—"
"No." The queen interrupted, pulling herself up slightly, adopting the most regal manner she could in her weakened state. She pointed at Robin. "Him."
"Your majesty, surely a woman would be more appropriate. Someone who—"
"Won't care one way or another about me. No. Robin is the only member of the staff who has shown any level of care for my well-being in the past year. You can assign a girl to help him," she continued, anticipating the woman's next objection, "and if I require assistance in dressing myself, she can help. But I want him." Regina sinks against the pillows, spent from her argument. And it's not appropriate at all, she knows, but he has become her best friend, he is the only person in the castle who looks at her and trulysees her, Regina, and not a figurehead, not just the queen. The only person in her life now who cares about her, and the only person she wants near her while she feels so ill.
"Very well, your majesty." the woman says, recognizing that no argument will sway the queen, and turns to leave. She gestures for Robin to follow her, and stopped in Regina's sitting room to speak to him.
"Will she be okay?" he asks, before she can say a word.
"She'll recover. Most likely within a week," the woman says clinically, "but she will have difficulty keeping her food down for a day or so at least. If she's up to it, I suggest ginger tea to soothe the stomach, and some crackers until she feels stronger. And a word of warning: I take it the queen can be… stubborn?"
