"Blood." Emma confirmed grimly. Her eyes darted to the side for a moment, studying the horror-struck look on Mary Margaret's face. "So where did you say he was headed?" Emma asked the kids, surprised she was even entertaining the idea.
"The old toll bridge." Henry answered quickly. "It sort of has to do with how Snow White and Prince Charming met."
"Sheriff do you know the way to the old toll bridge?" Emma questioned.
"I do." Graham replied confused.
"Lead the way." Emma instructed. It was just as Graham had suspected when the Mayor left the hospital. He had traded one bossy queen for another. It was a short walk from where they were to the Toll bridge clearing. The small group walked in silence until they reached the clearing, at which point Mary Margaret became surprisingly vocal.
"Where is he? Can you see him?" She called from the back of the group.
"The trail dies at the water line." Graham told her. The others joined him by the water line shining their flashlights around the area.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Mary Margaret shrieked suddenly as she raced forward in the stream. She found him. Graham reached for his radio immediately.
"I need an ambulance at the old toll bridge as soon as possible." He hollered into the device. "Careful!" He advised Mary Margaret as he and Emma raced to her side. Together the three adults gently carried John Doe out of the water and onto dry land.
"Is he okay?"
"Is he going to be okay?" Sarah and Henry began to ask at the same time.
"Henry!" Emma exclaimed suddenly remembering the two children where there. "Henry, Sarah don't look. Don't look okay?" She raced to their side, pulling them close to her, shielding them from the sight of John Doe's body. At the same time Marry Margaret began chest compressions and CPR. She was relieved when John Doe began coughing up water and breathing.
"You saved me." He whispered.
"She did it!" Both kid exclaimed with relief.
"Yeah, she did." Emma breathed with astonishment.
"Thank you." John Doe forced out.
"Who are you?" Mary Margaret asked cradling his head.
"I don't know." He whispered.
"It's okay." Mary Margaret smiled. The group could hear sirens in the distance. "You're gonna be okay." She assured him.
Back at the Hospital Emma, Mary Margaret, Henry and Sarah stood with their faces glued to John Doe's glass door. An unfamiliar woman rushed past, pushing the door open calling a man's name in panic.
"David? David, is that you?" Her voice was full of both fear and hope.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Doctor Whale asked taken back by her sudden presence. "Ma'am you can't be in here, please. You can't be in here right now." He stopped what he was doing and went to her side, attempting to escort her out of the room.
"Who is that?" Mary Margaret said from the other side of the glass.
"His wife." A familiar voice answered from behind her. It shouldn't have been a surprise to the group that Regina was behind them with a wicked grin. "His name is David Nolan, and that's his wife Katheryn. And the joy on her face, well...It's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She snarled with a pointed look at her two children. "We'll talk about your insubordination later." Regina smiled. "Do you know what insubordinate means?" Who talks to their kids that way? Emma groaned internally.
"It means we're grounded." Sarah answered without looking at her mother. Henry had a quip on the tip of his tongue, but he was interrupted as Katheryn exited David's room.
"Thank you, for finding my David." she said to Mary Margaret.
"Um, I don't understand." Mary Margaret replied in a surprisingly judging tone. "you didn't...you didn't know that he was in a coma?"
"A few years ago," Katheryn replied "David and I were...not getting along. It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him that hif he didn't like things, he could leave, and he did. And I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."
"You didn't go looking for him?" Emma questioned.
"I assumed he'd left town all this time." Katheryn replied. "Now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever, say I'm sorry. Now we get a second chance."
"That's...wonderful." Mary Margaret said in the most supportive voice she could muster.
"Well it's something of a miracle." Dr. Whale assured the ever increasing group of people who were waiting to hear about John Doe.
"He's okay?" The blonde woman who had interrupted him earlier, Katheryn, asked.
"Physically, he's on the mend." Whale assured her. "His memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all for it to be brought back."
"What brought him back?" Mark Margaret prodded.
"That's the thing," Whale said in astonishment. "There's no explanation. Something just clicked in him."
"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Emma voice was laced with disbelief.
"He woke up and he was delirious." the doctor explained. "His first instinct was to go find something I guess."
"Someone." Sarah told the doctor. As much as she hated to believe it, Henry may be right about Marry Margaret waking David up. Maybe it was the story book or maybe David just wanted to find the woman who'd been kind enough to read to him when everyone else had gone away. Either way Mary Margaret was the reason John Doe was awake.
"Henry, Sarah, Let's go." Regina commanded. The two kids followed obediently, but Henry stopped suddenly.
"Wait my backpack!" He called before doubling back to where Mary Margarett stood.
"Don't listen to them." He told her. "He was looking for you!"
"Oh Henry..."
"He was going to the troll bridge. It's like the end of the story." Henry pleaded with her to understand.
"Henry," Mary Margaret sighed. "He was going there because it's the last thing I read to him."
"Now, It's because you belong together." Henry argued before running off to join his sister.
"Madame Mayor!?" Emma called as the family of three walked down the hall.
"Go wait by the car." Regina instructed her children. She waited until they walked the rest down the hall and outside the front door before turning around. "Miss Swan I let you off the hook back there, don't press it."
"I'm sorry." Emma said, her voice void of all apology. "But Mrs. Nolan, kinda feels like her story could be a load of crap. All this time, there's a John Doe lying around in a coma and nobody puts it in the news? Nobody goes looking? Something's not right here."
"Well what else would make sense to you? Better yet, why would Mrs. Nolan lie?" Regina raised an eyebrow. "Oh do you think I cast a spell on her?"
"I think it's rather strange that you've been his emergency contact all these years,and you only found her now."
"Well this town is bigger than you know. It's entirely possible to get lost here. It's entirely possible for bad things to happen.
"And just when it's convenient you managed to solve the mystery?"
"Thanks to you." Regina smiled. "That tape you found, was a stroke of genius. So we went back and looked at past tapes. It turns out our Mr. Doe's been talking in his sleep. He's been calling out for a "Kathryn". After that it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. And here I thought you and Mary Margaret would be pleased. True love won out. So bask in the moment, Dear. Were it not for you two, they would have lived their lives completely alone. That's why I'm willing to forgive your incessant rudeness because all this has reminded me of something oh so very important how grateful I am to have Henry and Sarah. Because not having someone? Well, that's the worst curse imaginable."
