Oh I wish I was a doctor who could heal your broken heart,
Analyze each bruise and hear your story from the start,
And stich up every tiny tear with a ribbon and a bow,
Prescribe you some new medicine that makes you feel less alone.
Emily Kinney: Doctor
If there was one thing her years on this Misthaven Ranch had taught her, it was that horses and lazy mornings didn't go well together. Despite her late night of arriving home after 2 AM to check on Mary Margret and Henry, Emma was still up with the rising sun and out to the barn. Each horses was fed, each water bucket was filled, and what seemed like countless flakes of hay were thrown before she made it back into the house to get Henry ready for the day.
"I don't know how you do it." Came to sleepy voice of Mary Margret as the petite brunette walked into the kitchen to find Emma making eggs with Henry balanced on her hip.
"Years of practice." Emma replied, sliding a freshly made plate to her. "And thanks again for looking after Henry and the new gelding last night." With everything going on at the hospital the poor horse hadn't gotten anything more than some extra hay last night. It did make a pang of guilt course through her as she watched him devour his grain this morning.
"It was no trouble," Mary Margret smiled. "And you know I love spending time with this little guy." Mary Margret pinched Henry's check as she walked by.
"No, Aunt Mary! No!" Henry wiggled in Emma's arms to be let down, and Emma complied.
"When are you and David gonna get on with having your own so he stops stealing mine?" Emma laughed, thinking of last weekend when David and James had commandeered Henry for what they declared a boys weekend.
"Hey give us some time! We need our house back first!" Mary Margret protested, flicking her fork in Emma's direction. The renovations on the Nolan's house were taking longer than expected. Emma secretly thought David kept finding something else to be fixed to delay their return. He always said that he loved the little house in the suburbs with its white picket fence, but Emma knew him too well. As much as he might claim it was perfect he grew up here on the ranch, he wanted something with a little more space. A bit more yard at least.
"Yeah, at the rate its going Henry will be in college by the time you guys get your house." Emma laughed.
"We not intruding are we? Oh I told David that we shouldn't stay too long. The last thing I wanted to do was-"
"Whoa, whoa, relax. You're not really. I was just mocking David. And honestly this place is as much David and James as it is mine." Emma soothed. A little more if I'm being honest, she admitted quietly to herself.
"Well it does make me feel a bit better to remember that James has been crashing her longer than us." The brunette had a point, James had moved back into the old farm house quite some time ago now.
Before Emma could reply, her phone rang.
"Now I have service," she muttered to herself before answering. "Hello?"
"Emma, this is Doctor Whale. I'm calling about our new John Doe."
Emma had intended to go to the hospital alone, but seeing as Henry had latched himself to her legs and absolutely refused to be left behind, her plans had changed. That now left Emma sitting waiting in Dr. Whale's office reminding said boy several times not touch anything before giving up and pulling him onto her lap.
"Emma, thanks for coming in," Dr. Whale voice startled her more than she would care to admit. There was just something off about him that put her on edge. And the old ghost stories about him resurrecting his dead dog from James probably aren't helping, she though as she pulled Henry closer. "Hello young Henry," Dr. Whale said to the young boy.
"You said you wanted to talk about John Doe?" Emma prompted as Henry himself drew further back from the pale man sitting before her. I'll have to keep James from saying anything to Henry or I'll never get him back here for his yearly check-up.
"Yes, well seeing as we still don't have an ID on him, you're still his emergency contact. Now normally I would be informing any family members about his current condition, but right now we have to assume he doesn't have any." Dr. Whale began before being interrupted by a small voice.
"He hasn't got a family?" Henry asked looking up at his mom with large eyes. Oh no, not that look.
"Not that we know of," Dr. Whale replied before Emma could stop him. "So I'm going to-"
"Then we can be his family!" Henry yelled, jumping in Emma's lap. "He can stay with us like the horses Momma brings home!"
"Henry, baby he's not a horse. And I need you to be quite for just a little bit so I can talk to Dr. Whale okay?" Truthfully Emma was a bit mortified. Two seconds into the meeting and Henry already wanted to bring the man home. Maybe it's Mary Margret and her happily ever after speeches that I need to keep Henry away from.
"As I was saying," Dr. Whale began again, with a side glance at the young boy in her lap who looked as if he was already planning out the stranger's room in her house. "I'm going to be keeping you up to date on any changes with John Doe."
"Any changes? Does that mean there hasn't been any change since last night? Is he still asleep?" A pit of worry was growing in her stomach.
"I'm afraid not, but he's had severe trauma. Aside from the crack in his skull, I also had to operate on his hand." Dr. Whale was now flipping through John Doe's chart, and pulled out an x-ray.
"Wait his hand? His hand was fine, the only blood I saw was on his head." She could remember every second of that ride to the hospital. She remembered how warm his blood felt as it seeped through the fabric of her jeans. She wondered how long she would remember that for. How long she would remember the feeling of dread, thinking that she might not make it in time. Even the thought now of how he could have slipped away while slung across her saddle made her sick.
"His left hand seemed to have be crushed upon impact. We've put it in a cast, but it was the lack of blood flow that caused the concern. His tissue went sometime without an oxygen. We were able to restore it, and the good news is that he should be able to regain nearly full use of it with some physical therapy." He delivered these line as if they were the weather. You're not helping the rumors, buddy. The thought almost made Emma laugh. Almost.
"So what now?" She asked.
"Can we see him?" Henry piped chimed in, unable to keep quite any longer.
"Of course." Dr. Whale stood abruptly, and turned to walk out of the room. "He's just down this way if you'll follow me."
Emma's head was spinning. Most people would take in a stray cat, or adopt a rescue dog. She had been known to take in a horse every now and then (despite what she told David about Misthaven not being a rescue). However, she had never seen a situation in which she would be taking on responsibility of a grown man. Okay, get a grip you've always known that there's a fifty-fifty chance that you will be taking care of James for the rest of his life.
Regardless, she was. At least until they found out who he was. So she walked with Henry behind Dr. Whale to John Doe's room. It wasn't a large room by any means, but it was private. It held only a single bed surrounded by machines. John Doe lay on said bed with all sorts of wires and tubes.
"He's got a trachea tube in right now to breathe for him, and we have him hooked up to an IV line with fluids. A nurse is coming in regularly to check on him, so if you're in here you might see one or myself." Dr. Whale didn't seem phased by how pale John Doe looked, or the large bandage now covering his forehead.
"Thank you Doctor." Emma said, hoping that this meeting was coming to a close so she could get herself and Henry away from this eerie man. Come to think of it, I don't really want to leave John Doe with him either.
"Well, that's all I have for today. Just call if you need anything." With that, Dr. Whale walked quickly out of the room.
"Momma why's he sleeping?" Henry asked, pulling his hand from hers as he walked over to the bed before she could catch him.
"Honey be careful and don't touch!" Emma scolded while stopping Henry from grabbing John Doe's bandage hand. "He's hurt. His body needs sleep to get better."
"How'd he get hurt?" He was always so curious, never a dull moment with her sweet boy.
"I don't really know sweetie. He was in a bad car accident."
"And he's got no family? No momma?" His big sad brown eyes looked up at her with such heartbreak she could barely stand it. He couldn't bear to see someone in pain. He wanted the happily ever after Mary Margret had promised for everyone.
"I don't know sweetie. We won't know until he wakes up." Emma said gently, running her fingers through his hair.
"Then we have to wake him up!" Henry said excitedly. "After he wakes up we can find his family and he can live happy ever after!" Henry pulled her closer to the bed to get a better look at John Doe.
"It's not that simple baby, he's got to wake up on his own." She never wanted to break his little heart, but Emma couldn't let him run with false hope.
"Yeah it is! He's like the princess! He needs True Love's kiss to wake him up!" Henry always had loved his fairytales, she shouldn't have been surprised that a coma would remind him of a sleeping curse.
"Maybe." She said tiredly. "We can think about that tomorrow. We have to go see Uncle David and Uncle James right now okay?" It was still early in the day, but already Emma felt so exhausted. A long night, coupled with the very reason for it being in front of her with a worryingly pale complexion, was a little more than she wanted right now.
"Okay," Henry said. But he wouldn't leave before saying a proper good bye. At least that's what Emma had thought he was doing. In reality, Henry had something very important to say to Mr. John Doe:
"Don't worry, Momma and I will wake you up. Will find your true love."