Chapter 4
I am Emma Swan
"Neal, NEAL! Where are you?" Eugenia yelled out from the drawing room pacing in front of the doorway.
"What is it Mother?"
"Dr. Whale will be here soon I wanted you to greet him of course. What were you doing?"
"I was assisting Mary Margaret with Emma's dinner."
"Right, of course, did you make sure you put the required amount of the medication in it?"
He sighed, annoyed with her question, "Yes Mother I did. She just isn't eating enough and therefore not getting enough medication."
"I put some in her tea this afternoon along with her sandwiches she must be getting the full dose with all the snacks Mary Margaret is taking her."
"Maybe we'll need to up the dose again."
"That's why I asked Dr. Whale to come back this evening. Turning her is taking too long and we need her to be convincing to Mr. Gold and soon. She needs to be Judith Cassidy in every way."
The doorbell chimed and Neal made his way to the front door. "Good evening…oh who are you?"
"Um hi, I'm Henry Mills."
"Well hello Henry Mills, what can I do for you?"
"I'm here to see Judy."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh sorry, I want to see Judy Spencer. She lives here. I'm her friend Henry, I visit her every summer. I tried calling but she didn't answer. Is she umm home?"
"You're a friend of hers? I've never met you before."
"Who are you? I've never met you before either." Henry asked.
"Even though it's none of your business but I'm her husband Mr. Cassidy."
"Her husband? Since when?" Henry asked as he looked him up and down.
"Who are you again?"
"Henry, I'm her best friend next to Archie and she wasn't married last summer when I was here. She never told me."
"Well maybe you're not as close a friend as you thought. Now I am a busy man, you need to leave."
"No, I want to see Judy!"
"Neal, what's going on here?"
"This kid says he's a friend of Judith's, but I've never met him before and Judith has never mentioned him."
"Hello young man, what's your name?"
Henry groaned, "My name is Henry, and I'm here to see Judy, where is she?"
"Well, my dear Henry she isn't well and not accepting visitors, but I will gladly pass on the message that you were here to visit." Eugenia said in a sweet voice.
"Not well? What's wrong with her? Is she okay? Please let me see her."
"Henry, you must leave now and go home, I'll let Judith know you were here. If she wants to get a hold of you, she'll call, I'm sure. Now go on home son, we're expecting a visitor."
"Okay I guess." He said defeated, "Just make sure you tell her I was here and to call me."
"I will Henry. It was nice to meet; you have a good day now." Eugenia bid farewell to the boy and closed the door.
Henry couldn't believe his best friend got married and didn't tell him. Something wasn't sitting right, and he knew he had to find out what was going on. First thing was to go home and call Judy and hopefully she'd answer. He stood looking at the front door with a frown wondering where Henry the butler was, he always liked the old man because they shared the same name, and he was very nice and always made sure there was a chocolate milkshake waiting when he visited with his best friend.
He quickly turned around when he heard a car door shut, he saw a tall blond-haired man in a black suit walking towards him with a black bag.
"Hello there, are you waiting to see the Cassidys?"
"Uh no I was…was just leaving. Who are you?"
"I'm a family friend."
"Oh, um well Hi, I guess I should get going. Bye."
The man watched as the boy walked down the driveway towards the gate before he rang the doorbell.
"Oh Victor, good of you to come, please come inside, Mother is waiting for you in the drawing room."
"Thank you, Neal, I'm not sure what more I can tell you after our discussion the other night."
"I know, but you know how impatient Mother is. Please let's just humour her for the time being I'll get her to stop harassing you."
Victor nodded his head and walked through the French doors greeting the matriarch of the home. "Mrs. Cassidy so lovely to see you again."
"Dr. Whale, thank you for coming, I know I may be an old fool, but I don't have a lot of patience. Ms. Swan should be fully compliant by now, shouldn't she? You said it would only take a couple of weeks it's been much longer we can't wait anymore."
"Eugenia, I told you the other night that Ms. Swan is a very strong-willed woman and she's still fighting the drug you've been giving her. I can't help that."
"Yes, but can we give her more of the drug? Would it make things go more quickly?
"I've already increased the dosage Eugenia, if you give her too much you could kill her."
"We don't have much more time, Whale. How much is too much? We've been putting it in her food but she's not eating a lot. So, we've been putting it in all foods and drinks during all meals and snacks."
"Why isn't she eating, you said at the beginning she ate well."
"It seems she doesn't like what we've been giving her. She eats like a child wanting greasy unhealthy food."
"Well, if that's what she wants, and she'll eat it all then give it to her. I don't feel comfortable upping the dosage after all this time, it's not good for her and will cause permanent damage if she's taking it for too long."
"I really don't care about permanent damage, Victor. We need her to believe that she is the real Judith Cassidy with no hesitation on her part. She is getting there; she no longer yells at the maid about her real name, but we need her to be 100% convincing to the lawyer. You said it wouldn't be a problem, yet it is a problem because she still thinks things are not right."
"Look Eugenia, I've never taken it this far before, the drug is known to make people lose their memory and free will, but it's usually used for a couple of days not weeks or months as this case may be. What you require may be beyond the drug and my capabilities."
The more Neal listened the angrier he became. After Dr. Whale's declaration he threw his glass across the room in a fit of rage. He quickly went towards the doctor and grabbed him by his jacket. "Listen Victor, you said this could be done and by God it will be, or you will suffer permanent damage! Do you understand me?"
"Neal!" Eugenia cried out. "Unhand him right now!"
Neal loosened his hold, stepped back, and went to the bar to pour himself a new drink.
Victor straightened his tie and jacket in a huff, "I know what I said Neal, but this woman is not like any other who I've administered this drug to. She's fighting it like no one I've come across but okay I'll give you more to put in her food and drink. Give her the food she wants to eat and once she is compliant you can give her the food that Judith actually ate or whatever."
Eugenia smiled as Whale reached into his medical bag and took out a large bottle. "I have an idea, but I can't do it until the night before the appointment with the lawyer."
"What is it?"
"I can give her an injection of pure Scopolamine and it should put her in the state of mind to do and say what you want. You've been laying the groundwork of who Judith was in her mind and once all of that is done this injection should seal the deal."
"It better, Victor."
"What's left to do with Judith's likes and dislikes?"
"Her writing. We haven't gotten to that yet. We need to make sure her signature is the same, but she's been too alert to get her to do that."
"Has she been asking for anything? I mean is there some things she would like to do?"
"She's been asking to get out of the house, to go for a walk."
"Okay well give her what she wants, show her that you are her husband, and this is her home. Talk about Judith's family and give her memories of the past. Show her around, take her for walks around the grounds if you're worried about going to town yet. If you're being restrictive then she's probably wondering why and that's why she's been so headstrong and fighting the drug and your feeble answers are making her question things."
"We can't take her to town, people will notice she isn't right."
"You said yourself that Judith was a recluse and didn't go out much that she had her staff buy the necessities. You've gotten rid of the old staff and brought in new people. The people in town most likely won't know what she looked like up close anyways. She's fighting this and you, you need to make her feel comfortable and that this is her life and her home. Try it at least."
"Fine but we're still going to give her more of the medication along with the disgusting food choices she asks for."
"Then I'm done here, please don't call me again you have enough Scopolamine to last until the lawyer shows up. I'll come the night before to give her the injection." Dr. Whale said then walked towards the entryway. "Don't give her too much because all the work you've done so far will be wasted. She will die." He turned, opened the door, and left.
"Privileged jerk," Neal scoffed as he poured himself another drink.
Eugenia sighed as she looked out the window. "Have Mary Margaret take her for a walk around the grounds. Get her used to the estate, have her come down for dinner as well. Victor is right, we can't keep her hidden in her room she knows it's not right. We need her to trust us, and she doesn't."
"Fine, but if someone recognizes her then we're done for."
"No one will recognize her, anyone who really knows her is gone."
"Not everyone."
"Who?"
"That kid, Henry. Something tells me he's going to be trouble."
"Well son, we know what we need to do with those who cause us trouble don't we?"
"Yes Mother."
