baratta. jennifer: thanks. I have to put a space after the period because for some reason your name disappears if I don't.
ArianaKristine: I'm really excited that you find this interesting. I'm a big fan of yours. Yeah, Regina no doubt thought that seeing Snow terrified of her and walking around miserable would be more fun. But even Maleficent got a worse deal and she was supposed to be Regina's friend. I guess they must have had a falling out before the curse was cast. Unless Regina didn't have control over what happened to Maleficent and it was Rumple's doing, but then you'd think that would be mentioned eventually especially since the writers later brought Maleficent back to life. I love Graham and hope I do him justice in my writing. And thank you for the alert!
paulaa90: thanks for the fave and alert.
Dr. Whale and Lacey are on a date at Granny's Diner. She sipped her ice tea and looked at him. She had an ice tea and a burger while he had a cup of coffee. This was her first date in forever and Lacey had the feeling that he wasn't really that interested. Lacey hadn't been sure if she should say yes when he asked her out but she knew that she wouldn't find love if she didn't at least try.
"Um, where were we? Something about you wanting fifteen kids?"
Lacey choked on her ice tea and coughed. "No! Fifteen kids in my class. You'll meet them tomorrow."
Dr. Whale nodded in understanding, his gaze drifted to Ruby who was behind Lacey clearing tables in the background, and scantily clad in a white shirt showing her midriff with a red mini-skirt and high heels.
"They're coming to the hospital as part of the Volunteer Outreach Program," Lacey said. She fiddled with her napkin. "Remember?"
Dr. Whale's gaze followed Ruby as she moved to another table almost directly behind Lacey. He quickly shifted his eyes back in time to respond. "Oh, yeah. That is a great program."
"Fifteen kids is a lot." Lacey laughed, and looked down at her drink. "Not that I don't want kids. I do. Kids, marriage, fairy tale romance. But that of course is..." Lacey looked up and realised that he wasn't paying attention at all. She looked behind to see what Dr. Whale was staring at. "... totally inappropriate to discuss on a first date." She wants to spit out 'not as inappropriate as checking out the waitress on a first date' but just thinking of saying those words makes her feel anxious.
"Hmm?" Dr. Whale asked.
"Ruby?"
Ruby stopped and turned around while holding the tray in the air with one hand. "Yes, Lacey?"
Lacey sighed. "Check, please."
Sunshine streamed from her window. Belle leaned outside an open window and watched a bird make a nest in a nearby tree.
She closed her eyes, focusing on the wind in her face. What she wouldn't give to be out in the world having adventures. But there weren't many woman adventurers in her land. Women were never given such chances. And she had a duty to her kingdom.
Belle took a deep breath and let it out. She was going to marry Gaston and never get to live the life she wanted. All the castle left like, was a beautiful cage.
Lacey was walking down the street after leaving her date. That might have been the worst date she had ever been on. She couldn't remember her other dates or if she had been on other dates.
I guess that's just what life is like, Lacey thought. Everything blurs together and most of it gets forgotten.
She stopped and stared ahead, noticing a familiar face. Lacey approached a car, and found Emma sitting inside while reading the newspaper with a flashlight.
"Are you okay?"
Emma turned off the flashlight and looked up at her. "Oh, in the world of tight spots I've been in, crashing in my car doesn't even rank in the top ten."
Lacey blinked in surprise. "You're sleeping here?"
"Til I find a place."
Lacey grinned from ear to ear. She wanted to hug Emma. "You stayed for Henry."
"Yeah, I guess. This town doesn't seem to have any vacancies. None, actually. Is that normal?"
Lacey shrugged. "Must be the curse."
"Why are you out so late?"
Lacey frowned. "I had a date."
"Didn't go well, huh? Tell me he at least paid."
"We split the bill." Emma groaned. "I had a bigger meal, I felt bad. It's not important. But this is. Come live with me. I have some extra room."
"Thanks. I'm not really the roommate type. It's just not my thing. I do better on my own."
"Well, goodnight," Lacey said. "Good luck with Henry." She paused and tried to think of something to say to convince her. "If you ever want to talk you can come find me."
"Thanks." Emma gazed at Lacey as she walked away.
The kids from Lacey's class were hanging decorations around the hospital. Lacey noticed Henry in the ICU unit at a man's bedside. He reached out to touch the man's face when Lacey walked in. The man had the same scar as Prince Charming. In fact he looked exactly like the illustration of Prince Charming. Henry longed to tell her that this was Emma's father.
Lacey wore a flowery dress like the kind women much older usually did, a pair of worn out sneakers and had her ponytail neatly done with a purple hair band that had a silver star on top.
"Henry. We could really use your help with the decorations."
"Is Mr. Doe going to be okay, Miss French?"
"His name isn't John Doe. It's what the hospital and police call someone when they don't know who they are."
"Do you know who he is?" Perhaps Miss French had met Prince Charming once upon a time. Anything was possible, wasn't it? Perhaps they had been friends.
"Sorry, I don't have a clue. I just bring him flowers on my rounds."
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know. He's been like this as long as I've been volunteering."
"Does he have any family or friends?"
"No one's claimed him, that's why they don't know who he is."
"So, he's all alone." Prince Charming wasn't meant to be alone. He was meant to be with Snow and Emma and him.
"Yeah."
"There's no way to find his family?" Snow and Charming would always find each other. They had to. They were each others true loves.
"I'm sure that Sheriff Graham did all that he could. We have to go. We're not supposed to be here."
As they left the ICU as Henry stole a glance back. Don't worry Grandpa, Henry thought. I'll figure out how to wake you.
Emma and Henry sat at the castle in the playground near the shore. Henry showed Emma an illustration in his storybook of Prince Charming with the visible scar on his face.
"I found your father—Prince Charming."
"Henry..."
"He's in the hospital, in a coma. See the scar?" He jabbed his finger at the drawing of Charming. "He has one, too."
"So? Lots of people have scars."
"In the same place? And he looks exactly like the drawing. Don't you see what this means? The curse is keeping you from him by putting him in a coma."
"Okay, kid." Emma sighed. "Is my mother there too?"
Henry looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. But maybe he'll find her once he wakes up. What if I'm right? People wake up from comas."
"Not always. Even if this man could, how on Earth do you intend to make that happen?"
"By reminding him. You have to read your story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he'll remember who he is."
Emma took a deep breath. She didn't want to play into his delusions but then this could be the best way to challenge them. "..Okay."
Emma had gone down to the hospital to ask Dr. Whale.
"You want to read to a coma patient?" Dr. Whale asked. "Talking to a coma patient can help sometimes but there's very little chance in our John Doe's case that he'd even notice."
"It can't hurt to try, can it?"
Dr. Whale took a moment to consider that. "Yeah, it can't hurt. You can do it, just don't get your hopes up."
"Thank you."
Dr. Whale nodded. "I'll have a nurse show you where his room is."
Once she was in John Doe's room, Emma took a seat and got lay Henry's storybook in her lap. Emma hoped that if she just played along and did what Henry said that when nothing happened eventually he would see that there was no curse.
"Look, I know this is odd and that you probably don't even know anyone is here. But I'm doing this for my son." Under her breath she murmured "which sounds even weirder."
"So please, just bear with me." Emma opened the storybook and began to read. "As the Prince chased the thief on horseback, through the treacherous forest, his betrothed crossed her arms and pouted, wondering how many dreadful, boring minutes it would take until they could resume their journey again. The thief vaulted over a fallen..."
Images flashed before the man's mind. He held a baby to his chest in one arm and a sword in the other. There was a wardrobe carved out of a tree.
Much time had passed and Emma was still there reading the book. "...They didn't need words to express what they felt in their hearts, for it was here, in the shadow of the troll bridge, that their love was born, where they knew, no matter how they were separated, they would always-" John Doe reached out and grabbed her hand. Emma gasped and looked at him, but he laid perfectly still.
Emma walked into John Doe's room, this time with Dr. Whale.
"He grabbed my hand. I'm sure of it."
Dr. Whale checked the machine beside the bed. "Everything's steady. The same as it's always been. What were you doing in here?"
"What I told you I was going to do. Read him a story."
"Oh. Well perhaps you, um, dozed off. Perhaps you imagined it."
"No, I didn't imagine anything!" Emma snapped.
"Miss Swan, I can only tell you what I see, which is nothing. Sometimes there are minor fluctuations in readings. Perhaps you heard the machine register something and misunderstood?"
"I didn't hear some weird sounds. I felt and saw him grab my hand." For a moment Emma wondered if this was how Henry must feel all the time.
"Maybe it was a muscle spasm. Look, why don't you go home, get some rest. If anything changes, I'll call you, okay?"
"I know what happened." Emma picked the storybook off the chair and left.
Once she was gone Dr. Whale got out his phone and made a call.
Regina's voice rang out from the end of the line. "Yes?"
"It's Dr. Whale. You told me to call you if there was ever a change in a John Doe. Something's happened."
"What?"
"One of our volunteers said he grabbed her. And there was a slight fluctuation in brain activity."
"And who was this volunteer?"
"Emma Swan."
Regina just barely resisted the urge to throw her house phone against the wall.
Henry and Emma are sitting in the diner. Emma has just changed her shirt. She wished she had known she would be staying, she would have packed some extra clothes. As it was she couldn't exactly go home get some necessities and then come back, and it wasn't because of some curse even if she was starting to get a feeling that trying to leave again wouldn't work out well for her.
"Thanks for the shirt. Hey, is this your mother's?"
"She'll never notice."
"Where does she think you are, anyway?"
Henry smiled. "Playing Whack-A-Mole."
"And she bought that?"
"She wants to believe it, so she does. Speaking of belief, how'd it go?"
"He grabbed my hand." Emma put her hand up before Henry could speak. "But that doesn't mean anything. It could be a muscle spasm. Dr. Whale said that there was no change."
"He'll wake up. You'll see."
Emma and Henry had just arrived at the hospital. Dr. Whale was standing outside John Doe's room with Graham.
"I was right. He's waking up."
Graham walked towards them. "Henry, you should stay back."
"What's going on?" Emma asked. "Is John Doe okay?"
"He's missing."
The three looked at John Doe's room and saw Regina there. Regina approached them with her hands on her hips.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. Then she turned her attention to Henry. "And you – I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?"
Emma ignored her. "What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?"
"We don't know yet," Graham answered. "His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle."
Henry glared at Regina. "What did you do?"
"You think I had something to do with this?" Regina demanded.
"It is curious that the mayor is here," Emma said. But she knew the idea was ridiculous. What was she accusing Regina of doing? Taking John Doe? Framing her for another crime would have been easier.
"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact," Regina said. If looks could kill, hers would have melted Emma. "I found him. On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."
"Mayor Mills saved his life," Dr. Whale said. "And he will die if he's not brought back here right away. The man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision."
"Well then," Emma said, "let's quit yapping and start looking"
"And just what do you think we were doing?" Regina asked. "Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you. Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting. Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious."
Regina put her hand on Henry's back and walked away with him.
"Doctor," Graham said, "how long between your rounds since you last saw him?"
"Twelve hours or so."
"Then that's what we need to account for." Emma followed after him when he left. Graham knew that he was supposed to stop her, civilians weren't supposed to follow him around when he questioned people but he knew that could need her help later. The town only had one sheriff and organising a search party would take time that John Doe might not have . Besides somehow Graham had the feeling that he could trust her.
He lead her to the security room. Walter, the hospital security guard, and Leroy, the hospital janitor are both there.
"You two were the only employees on the floor last night," Graham stated. "And you saw nothing."
"Not a thing," Walter confirmed.
"Did anyone walk by?"
"I didn't see nothin'," Leroy replied.
Graham turned his gaze towards Emma. "Miss Swan, was there anything unusual regarding John Doe?"
"He touched my hand," Emma said, feeling dazed. This whole thing felt unreal. "Dr. Whale said it was nothing." Emma looked at the screen behind Leroy. "We're looking at the wrong tape. This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."
"You fell asleep again."
"You selling me out?" Walter said.
"I ain't getting fired for this."
"At least I don't drink on the job."
Graham put his hands up. "Gentlemen, enough. Where's the real tape?" Leroy got up and switched the tape. The screen showed John Doe walking out a door.
Emma studied the time stamp. There was a sinking feeling pulling at her stomach, something that felt like more than concern about an unnamed man. It was as if losing him would be the lose of someone important to her. "Four hours ago. Where does this door lead?"
"The woods," Leroy answered.
"Anyway how could I have let Prince Charming die?" Snow White said.
Flashes of memories ran through John Doe's mind. His wife, their daughter. He had to find them.
Emma was walking behind Graham in the woods. Graham stopped suddenly.
Emma looked around. "What is it?"
"The trail runs out here."
"You sure? Because I thought tracking was one of your skills."
"Just give me a second. This is my world. I got it." My world. Something about that phrase felt oddly meaningful to him. Everything had felt different since he first talked with Emma in a way that he couldn't explain. But Graham didn't dwell on those thoughts for long as he studied his surroundings.
They heard a crack behind them. They turned around as Henry ran down a hill.
"Did you find him yet?"
"No," Emma said, "not shouldn't be here."
"I can help. I know where he's going. He's starting to remember if there's one place here that's the similar to his memories."
Emma bent down to eye level with Henry. "John Doe is very confused and very sick. We need to find him and make sure he's okay. When we find him I will let you know. Where's your mom?"
"She dropped me off at home. Then, went right out."
Emma would have thought that Regina would have kept a closer eye on him tonight. Where was she even going this time of night? Surely town meetings didn't run this late. "Well, we need to get you back immediately."
"No!"
"Guys!" Graham exclaimed. He had continued to explore the area while they were talking. He held up John Doe's bloody hospital bracelet.
Afterwards Graham had no trouble picking the trail back up. They stopped after he did, at the Toll Bridge. Some had graffiti-ed a R after the T on the sign so it read 'Troll Bridge.'
"The trail dies at the water line." Graham and Emma saw spot John Doe lying in the water. Graham put one arm out to hold Henry back and pulled his handheld transceiver with his other hand. Emma ran towards John Doe. "I need an ambulance! At the old Toll Bridge, as soon as possible." Graham ran over to help her drag John Doe out of the lake. Together they turned him over to his front.
"It's going to be okay," Emma said as she said as she opened his mouth and checked his airways. Could John Doe even hear her?
Vaguely she heard Graham say "Help's coming." Her head was spinning as she started chest compressions.
"Is he okay?" Henry asked.
"Henry..." Emma said. If it was anyone else she didn't think she could get the words out. But even now she found it difficult to talk.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Graham went over to Henry. He knelt down in front of Henry. "Don't look. Just don't look.
Come back to me, Emma thought. She started to put her mouth on his in-between chest compressions. Breathe. Breathe. John Doe woke up and coughed water out of his mouth.
"You saved me," he said, dazed.
"She did it!" Henry exclaimed. "She saved him."
"Who are you?" Emma asked John Doe.
"I don't know."
Of course it wouldn't be that easy. "It's okay. We're here to help."
John Doe was back in the hospital being treated by the medical staff. They watched him through the outside of a glass door.
"Watch your back," a nurse said as she rushed by. "Coming through!"
"We got it from here," Dr. Whale assured the three of them. A woman ran past the three of them and into the room.
"David! David, is that you?"
"I thought he didn't have anyone," Emma said. She looked at Graham but if he recognised the woman he showed no signs of it. He looked as confused as she was.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Dr. Whale asked.
She gave no sign that she had heard him. "Oh my god..."
"Ma'am, you can't be in here," Dr, Whale said. "Please, you can't be here right now."
"David..." The woman looked close to tears as Dr. Whale kept asking her to leave the room.
"Who is that?" Emma asked. She didn't notice Regina behind her until she spoke.
"Kathryn," Regina said. "His wife."
Kathryn was with David. Emma, Henry, and Regina were right outside of David's room. Graham had left to file the paperwork on this case.
Regina smiled smugly. "His name is David Nolan. And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She frowned and addressed Henry next. "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means? It means you're grounded.
Kathryn left David's room. "Thank you. Thank you for finding my David."
"I don't understand," Emma said. "You didn't report David missing."
"A few years ago," Kathryn said, "David and I were not getting along. It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if 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 look for him?"
"All this time I had thought he had left town. And 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 amazing." It didn't feel real, it was like something that only happened in movies. Yet, why would she lie? But there had to have been some effort of finding David's next of kin. A newspaper article, asking the townsfolk, something. And this was a small town, how had no one else known David?
Dr. Whale joined them, smiling widely. "Well, it's something of a miracle."
"He's okay?" Kathryn and Emma asked. A knot unfurled itself from Emma's stomach.
Dr. Whale's face fell into a neutral expression and the feeling was back."Ah, physically, he's on the mend, um, his memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all."
"What brought him back?" Emma asked.
"That's the thing," Dr. Whale said. "There's no explanation. Something just clicked in him."
"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Emma asked astounded. This whole situation was unreal. Things like this didn't just happen. The hospital must have made some sort of mistake about his condition. But then someone would have noticed when they had a few years to.
Dr. Whale's expression might as well have been a shrug. "He woke up and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess."
"Someone," Henry corrected him.
Really, kid? Emma thought. You're still going on about that now?
"Can I see him?" Kathryn asked.
"Yeah," Dr. Whale said, "of course."
Kathryn went back into David's room. Emma watched them for a few moments. The relief she felt at David being okay, left her feeling dizzy. She looked away when Regina said "Henry, let's go."
"Wait, my backpack." As he walked past Emma he whispered "Don't believe them. He was looking for your mother."
Emma gave an exhausted sigh. "Henry..."
"He was going to the Troll Bridge. It's like the end of the story."
"He was going there because it's the last thing I read to him."
"No, it's because he's Prince Charming. You'll see."
"Henry," Regina said. He grabbed his backpack and ran towards Regina. Emma followed after them. She caught up to them at the entrance to the hospital.
"Madam Mayor!" she called out.
"Wait by the car," she told Henry who pushed the door open and walked out without her.
Regina crossed her arms. "Miss Swan, I let you off the hook back there. Don't press it."
"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Nolan? Kind of 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? Why would Miss Nolan lie? Do you think I cast a spell on her?"
"I think it's rather strange you've been his emergency contact all these years and you only found her now," Emma said.
"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."
The bad things just happen to be connected to you. "And just when it's convenient you manage to solve the mystery?"
Regina put on the falsest smile that Emma had ever seen. "Thanks to you. That tape you found was a stroke of genius. So, we went back and looked at past tapes. Turns out 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 my son would be pleased. True love won out. So bask in the moment, dear. Were it not for you, 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. Because not having someone? Well, that's the worst curse imaginable."
"I've been reading to him. He doesn't talk in his sleep."
"Not every night." And with that she pushed the door open and left Emma standing there.
Lacey heard someone knocking on the library door. Who would be here so late? There was barely anyone here in the earlier hours? She opened the door and Emma standing before her, looking bone tired. "Emma?"
"Sorry to bother you so late. Is that spare room still available?" Lacey nodded and opened the door further. She motioned for Emma to come in and Emma did. "You don't actually live here do you?"
"No." Lacey pursed her lips. "Though I do have a room here just in case. If you'd rather stay there than my apartment..."
"What?" It took Emma longer than it usually would be realise that Lacey was joking. About her staying here at least, she wasn't sure if the spare room here part was a joke. Emma managed a weak smile. "No. The apartment's fine."
"I just thought you could use some tea."
"Or some hot chocolate."
"I don't have coco powder or milk but I'll remember it for next time. Any certain teas you like?"
"No. Anything is fine."
"Follow me then."
Emma followed Lacey into a small kitchen. She hesitated to call this place a staff room since there was no staff besides Lacey. There was a second here and Emma wondered if that lead to Lacey's room. Or maybe it was her office, or a supply closet.
"My spare room is upstairs," Lacey said as if reading her mind. "Don't worry, it's not behind the clock." She filled the kettle up with water and put it to boil on the stove. She opened the cupboard and got two mugs out and a two teabags out. "Do you like sugar in your tea?"
"I can get it."
Lacey put the mugs down. "It's fine. It's right here." She held up a sugar bowl.
Emma pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. It was a small table with enough room for two. That made sense with how little staff there was here. Emma wondered if Lacey had ever had another person here.
"I feel like I should be doing something to help."
Lacey set the sugar bowl in the middle of the table. "It's just tea." Emma nodded. Lacey pulled out a chair and sat down. "I've been thinking that you should come work here. Not as a librarian, I'm assuming that you don't have the education or experience." Lacey put a hand over her mouth. Emma was about to ask what's wrong when she continued. "Of course that's not saying anything about you. You're really smart and clever and from librarian to finding people would be an unusual career change but who am I to judge?"
"Lacey, it's fine. I've never even been that big of a reader."
"I was thinking you could be a cleaner. This girl Ashley cleans here sometimes but I'm sure that she won't mind the company. It's not like you're taking her job after all."
"Thanks but I'm not sure if that's really for me. Besides I don't want to rush to put down roots. I still have a life back in Boston."
"Oh," Lacey said. "Right. I shouldn't have assumed."
"Really I'm grateful that you offered. I've only known you for a little while and you're the best friend I've ever had."
Lacey blushed at the unexpected compliment. Then the kettle made a whistling noise. Lacey got up and dropped the teabags into the cups. Then she took the kettle off the stove and filled both cups. She opened a drawer and got two spoons out. Emma watched her entire process in an effort to try not to concentrate on her day. Lacey put the spoons down near the sugar bowl before bringing the tea over.
Emma caught a whiff of the steam coming from her cup. Chamomile. Fitting.
"Sorry." Emma lifted her eyebrows at that and she was sure that her eyes were bugging out like a cartoon character. After all she had offered her, Lacey was sorry? "I don't mean to pry but what happened to you today? When I opened the door you didn't look like yourself."
Emma took a deep breathe before telling Lacey everything.
I realise the logistics of where Lacey's room is isn't clear but the clock tower in the show has two stories not counting the clock from what I can tell.