Hide and Seek
"Two hot chocolates with whipped cream and cinnamon," Ruby placed them on either side of their usual center table at Granny's. Emma and Mary Margaret thanked her.
Emma picked up the hot mug and took a tentative sip, careful not to burn herself. The cool whipped cream blended with the hot chocolate in a perfect balance. She enjoyed her mornings here, the ambiance of stirring drinks and the calm, forest wallpaper. It was nice to have some peace at the start of the day. She'd been so busy with her case that she'd hardly gotten time to catch up with Mary Margaret, who was usually asleep by the time she got home.
"You and David still see each other here?"
Mary Margaret blushed, wiping the whipped cream from the side of her mouth, "We don't arrange times or anything, I mean, not on purpose. And we never actually sit together. We're both regulars here, I mean, I suppose it's only natural that we see each other," she took an innocent sip.
Emma smiled, "Of course, it's only natural."
Mary Margaret caught her teasing tone and smiled back at her. She set her mug down on the table and sighed. "Ugh, what am I doing?"
"You don't have a plan, I take it?"
"No, not a single clue about what to do with this... mess. It's just so complicated, I suppose my only 'plan' right now is to let him figure it out."
Emma nodded, "He is the one who's married."
Mary Margaret gave a single, dry chuckle and stirred her drink.
"How's Henry doing? Any more fairy tale theories?"
"He's been alright, I can tell he misses you. He hasn't told me any new theories if he has them though. I've been trying to help him find other creative outlets. The kids have been working on writing their own short stories in class. "
"That's good, I hope it helps."
They each took a sip. Emma sat back in her chair and relaxed.
"Did those flowers come yet?" she heard Granny ask Ruby from behind the counter.
"Nope, not yet."
"He's two days late, I wonder what's taking him."
Emma furrowed her eyebrows.
"What is it?" asked Mary Margaret.
Emma held up a finger, trying to listen in.
"Beats me," Ruby picked at some of the dying petals from the bouquet on the counter. "Have you called him?"
"I think I will, I haven't even seen Mo around since the middle of last week. He comes every Tuesday, it's not like him to be late."
"Yeah," Ruby pitched the flowers.
Emma turned to Mary Margaret, speaking softly. "You know that case I've been working on?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I think I'm going to have to pay Mr. French a visit sooner than I thought."
Emma walked up the pathway to the small, grey, two story home. An old beagle was laying on the porch, it barked at her. She knelt down and extended a hand, showing she would do no harm. It was still wearing its leash. The old dog seemed to be pretty docile. It sniffed her hand and she scratched its ears. Emma didn't know that Mr. French had a dog, but the way it whined at the door as she knocked on it told her he did. There was no answer. The florist's van was parked in the driveway along with another small car. He must either be home or not have walked far. She knocked again, still no answer.
Emma gave a defeated huff and walked back to her car to get the phone book. She set it on her hood and flipped through the pages. She wanted to exhaust every effort before breaking in. Emma whipped out her cell phone and dialed the number, still no avail. She sighed as she tossed the book back into her car. It was looking like she had no other choice, she had to make sure he was ok. If both of his cars were in the driveway it was likely he was still in the house.
Emma chuckled as took a rock to the brand new pane of glass that was installed after her last break in here. "Sorry again, Mr. French."
She opened the door and the dog ran inside, straight to its food bowl. The living room was relatively tidy, all lights were off. In the kitchen there were dishes in the sink that looked like they hadn't been done in days. She called out for him as she moved through the house, still getting no response. She searched the whole thing over and found nobody. Emma unhooked the dog from its leash and refilled its food and water bowls. She decided to keep it here for now and come back in the evening to let it out.
She got back into her car and pressed her head to the steering wheel. Her job was getting more complicated by the hour and her day wasn't nearly over.
Emma walked up to the pharmacist's counter. "Hey, did you find anything?"
"Not out of the ordinary. All of the medications match up to their descriptions."
"And none of them cause hallucinations?"
"Not a single one."
Emma gave a disappointed huff, "Well, thanks anyway. I guess I'll take them back now."
"Sure, just let me round them all up." Emma stepped into the office and the two of them loaded all the bottles back into the crate.
Emma leaned back against the doorframe of the psych ward sporting closet, foam equipment strewn everywhere around her. Her search was beginning to seem hopeless, but they had to be keeping the meds somewhere. So far her day seemed to be compiled of nothing but fruitless searches. She'd searched everywhere; every empty cell, every cupboard in the bathrooms, Crystal's entire reception area, the medical rooms, the storage closets. Everywhere she could possibly think of.
If only she had some way she could find out exactly what was in her system. Wait a minute. Emma smacked her hand against her forehead. Why didn't she think of it sooner? Swept away by her epiphany, she ran down the hallway and pulled open the small flap on the door of room number twelve. "Rose! Rose, wake up!"
Emma regretted shouting as the girl was startled awake. "It's ok, it's me, Emma. Sorry to scare you, but I need you to tell me something. When was the last time you had a hallucination?"
Rose squinted her eyes and rubbed her forehead, "I… two days ago I think."
"Thank you, that's all I need." Emma closed the flap and started back down the hall toward the reception desk. Two days. She hoped it wasn't too late. Crystal gave her a strange look as she approached, winded.
"I'm going to need a sample of her blood."
A/N: So this chapter was a bit of a filler, but we're getting close to the heart of the matter!
For those of you who guessed Dr. Huffman was the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, you were correct!
