Chapter Seventeen: The Man with Two Hearts

After dismantling and reassembling it for nearly an hour and a half, John Smith set the screwdriver down beside Granny's supposedly repaired toaster. She came to him after hearing how well he had repaired the electricity during the blackout at the Miner's Day festival a week ago, using only a screwdriver. Smith brought about the same miracle to Granny's toaster, which she placed two pieces of white bread into after the repairs and waited for them to come out golden brown. Unfortunately, while one piece came out golden brown, the other was overcooked, blackened and charred.

"Damn." Smith uttered. "Thought I had it for sure."

Granny shrugged. "Don't sweat it, John. This thing's twenty years past its time anyway. I should throw it out before someone mistakes it for still working." She took the golden brown toast and placed it on a small, clean plate and put the charred piece into the nearest garbage can with the toaster.

"Even the oldest things known to man die eventually." Smith said, but he quickly caught himself once he realized who he made that statement towards. "Oh, I-I'm so sorry, Granny. I didn't mean…"

"It's O.K., sweetheart." Granny remarked, snickering. "But, just lettin' ya know, I'm not that old."

Smith nodded, his face clearly blushing red. "No argument there."

"Since you're here, would you like me to get ya anything?"

Just as Smith was about to order, the bell above the entrance rang as another customer walked in. Smith and Granny both turned to see Ruby, dressed differently than Smith was used to seeing her dress, walk right in. Granny looked back and forth between Smith and her granddaughter with a little hesitation; clearly, she was torn between her work and her personal life, but she tried hard not to show it. Seeing her struggle, Smith calmly nodded for her to go to Ruby; it was no secret that the two were having trouble, and it was more important for them to mend their relationship than get Smith his breakfast.

Smith watched Granny go to Ruby with a smile. Shortly after, he was suddenly joined by another patron at the counter; it turned out to be an overexcited Henry. "I know how to prove you're the Doctor," he said.

Smith groaned in mild aggravation. "Oh, Henry…can't I at least get some coffee first before we talk about this?"

"It's plain and simple – you have two hearts!"

"Beg your pardon?"

"I was telling Captain Harkness about it a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't really hit me until after Ruby helped Emma find David out in the forest with her tracking skills. She kept a trait from her fairy tale identity here that came in great used to Emma's case. What if the same thing happened to you?"

Smith smirked amusingly. "You're telling me that I have two hearts just like this Doctor bloke of yours?"

"The curse didn't take away Ruby's tracking ability. Maybe it didn't take your other heart."

"Henry…"

Before Smith could go on, he stopped as soon as he saw the stethoscope that Henry removed from inside his coat. Smith's eyes grew wide upon seeing the medical instrument in the boy's hands.

"Henry! Where on earth did you get that?"

"I 'borrowed' it from Dr. Whale's office after I faked a fever." Henry admitted. "Don't worry. He won't know it's missing since he's been so busy flirting with Ruby."

Smith seemed a bit unsettled by that particular update. "Has he now?" He was taken by surprise even more when Henry placed the rubber earpieces of the stethoscope in his ears. "Henry, w-what're you doing?"

"Just breathe slowly and listen."

Following the instructions of "Dr. Henry," Smith breathed and listened as Henry placed the chest piece first over the left side of his chest – the usual area for his heart. Smith heard the steady beats of his heart through the earpieces, glad to know that it was perfectly healthy. Henry then moved the chest piece over to the right side of Smith's chest and allowed him to listen to what was supposed to be his second heart. Just as he had anticipated, Smith heard not a single sound come through the earpieces.

Shaking his head and removing the earpieces, Smith told his young friend, "I'm sorry, Hen. I don't hear a thing."

Accepting his theory as debunked, Henry did not drop his enthusiasm. "O.K., maybe your body has changed, but I know some part of your mind still has to be like the Doctor's. He's a really smart guy, and I know that you're just as smart as him now…"

While Henry went on with his deductions, Smith saw Granny pass them at the corner of his eye, which prompted him to turn his focus to end of the corner where Ruby continued to stand with a huge smile and a few tears running down her cheeks. Hearing the possible relationship happening between her and Whale, Smith could not keep himself from her any longer, especially after all she had been through with her grandmother and Emma's case.

First, he had to lose Henry…

"Erm, tell you what, Hen. You keep investigating this 'Doctor Phenomenon' or whatever you want to call it and get back to me when you find something else that might prove your…theories."

Henry smiled in inspiration from Smith's idea. "I'll get Captain Harkness to help me! He's just as excited to prove the Doctor really exists as I am! Thanks, Mr. Smith!"

Just as Henry left him, Smith quickly made his move; he went to Ruby just as she was sitting down at that end of the counter and sat down right beside her. As soon as she noticed Smith, Ruby was surprisingly happy to see him. "John!" She even referred to him by his first name, which she had rarely ever done. "Oh, god. I'm so glad to see you."

"You are?" Smith did his best not to smile too much.

"I…I needed to tell someone about…about what I found…while I was helping Emma and Jack on their case. I can't tell my grandmother about it, because she'd freak…but I have to tell someone."

Smith reached for her right hand and warmly grasped it. "It's alright, Ruby. You can tell me. What did you find out there?"

Ruby swallowed hard; Smith could feel her hand quivering under his. Undoubtedly distraught, she whispered to the young schoolteacher, "I found…a heart…it w-was a human heart…and it was inside this…box."

The description disturbed even Smith, and it became evident to him who the heart belonged to. "Oh, my god. Don't tell me it was…" Ruby answered with a nod before Smith even finished his statement. He moved one of his hands away from Ruby's and put it over his mouth in shock; it trembled just as much as Ruby's did under the idea of Kathryn Nolan's possible murder.

"You know what scares me the most? Knowing someone here in Storybrooke could be capable of such a thing."

"But who is the question." Smith uttered.

"Emma's got someone running fingerprint tests over the box to find out."

Smith shook his head in despair. "Whoever it is, may god have mercy on his sick soul." The young schoolteacher never dreamed of having to make such a comment for someone living in a once-decent town like Storybrooke.