my take on How Graham Didn’t Die tm !
episode 7 happens as per. graham searches for his heart / emma & regina fight / graham breaks up with regina. graham & emma go back to the police station for flirty times. they kiss. for a second , graham remembers.
regina grabs grahams heart and SQUEEZES. now , either she decides not to kill him , or is unable to Because Reasons , but however it goes , the heart isn’t destroyed. graham collapses from the pain // passes out.
but he doesn’t die ! he’s rushed to hospital to spend a few days feverish & semi - conscious. and when he recovers , he doesn’t remember the curse.
graham wakes up and it feels as if it were nothing more than a bad dream , so he puts it down to such. he had a vivid nightmare / he wasn’t well / he got wound up in a fantasy. OBVIOUSLY it’s not real ! there’s probably a medical explanation that backs him up.
either he gets back together with regina or not , but she decides that if he doesn’t remember the curse , then he isn’t a threat worth killing. she’s pissed , probably ( definitely ) , but not ready to murder over it.
also he can either remain as sheriff , or emma took over while he was in hospital and did such a good job that graham stepped down to deputy. w/ever —— this can change from interaction to interaction.