Gold

{5}

I OPENED my eyes to the blinding sun and glanced at the clock. It was time to go to Granny's. I threw on a shirt and jeans and rushed from the inn.

I walked into Granny's and slid into the booth beside Emma and Henry.

"Wheres Mary Margaret?" I asked them, and Emma shrugged. "She's on her way." Henry told us. I looked over and saw Emma was wearing a shirt that didn't really look like her style.

"Whose shirt is that?" I asked her and she snickered. "Regina's." Emma told me. "That makes sense." I said as Mary Margaret walked in.

"She's here." Henry said excitedly. "Don't get your hopes up. We're just getting started." Emma told him.

Mary Margaret ran over to the booth and sat down.

"He woke up!" Mary Margaret told us, causing me to choke on my coffee. I glanced at Emma in surprise.

"What?" Emma asked. This was not what she was expecting.

"I knew it." Henry said happily. "I mean he didn't wake up- wake-up. But he grabbed my hand." Mary Margaret told us.

"He's remembering." Henry said. I glanced at Henry. This was strangely making sense. Why else would John Doe wake up when Mary Margaret read to him?

"What did the doctor say?" Emma asked, still surprised. "That I imagined it. But I'm not crazy, I know it happened." Mary Margaret told us.

I could tell by the look on her face she was right. "We have to go back. You have to read to him again." Henry told Mary Margaret.

She nodded. "Let's go." She said, jumping up. I glanced to Emma.

"Wait. What?" Emma asked, as we both stood up. "If I got through to him, if we made a connection...." Mary Margaret trailed off.

"You don't believe.." Emma asked, looking at Mary Margaret like she might be insane. Emma seemed like she wanted to not believe.

"That he's Prince Charming? Of course not. Somehow, someway, I touched him." Mary Margaret said and I looked at Emma.

She seemed like she was in disbelief about all of this. "Come on, Emma." I told her, and we hurried behind Henry and Mary Margaret.

As we walked into the hospital, I saw lots of nurses and Graham were there. "You're right! He's waking up!" Henry said, running up.

Graham turned to us then. "Henry, you should stay back." He said. "What's going on?" Mary Margaret asked Graham.

"Is it John Doe? Is he okay?" I asked him and he glanced at Emma and sighed. "He's missing." Graham told us and moved aside, making Regina visible.

She stalked from the room towards us then.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked Emma. Damn, she really didn't like her.

"And you, you told me you were going to the arcade." Regina said, grabbing Henry's arm. I didn't like the way she just snatched him.

"Is that really necessary?" I blurted out and she turned to glare at me. Oh, the nice Regina I'd first met was gone.

"I don't need childcare advice from you." She said angrily and I stepped back, holding up my hands in surrender.

"What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?" Mary Margaret asked. "We don't know yet. His IV's were ripped out, but there's no sign for sure there was a struggle." Graham told us.

"What did you do?" Henry asked Regina and she looked hurt by this. I glanced at Emma to see her glaring at Regina. She must not have liked Regina snatching Henry either.

"You think I had something to do with this?"
Regina asked Henry in disbelief. I glanced up to see Dr. Whale smiling at me. I looked away from him. He really freaked me out.

"It is curious that the mayor is here." Emma said. "I'm here because I'm his emergency contact." Regina told us. I found it strange she'd be the emergency contact of John Doe.

"I found him on the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here." Regina told us. Something inside told me she was lying. I didn't know what it was. It felt almost like a flicker of intuition.

"Mayor Mills saved his life." Dr. Whale said walking over to us.

"Will he be okay?" Mary Margaret asked. "Okay? The man's been on feeding tubes for years, under constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away, or quite honestly, okay, might be a pipe dream." Dr. Whale said.

I rolled my eyes at him. He was really good at reassuring someone.

"Well then let's quit talking and start looking." Emma said, and Regina glared at her.

"That's what we're doing." Regina called to Emma. Emma whirled around to glare at her. The tension between the two was crazy.

"Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I'll have to keep my son away from you." Regina said, pulling Henry to her.

Right now I was wishing someone would punch her in the face. Dr. Whale and Graham seemed uncomfortable.

"Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting." Regina said, tugging Henry along. "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale, time is precious." She said, and then she walked off.

Emma turned to us. "What is her problem?" I asked but no one answered. "Doctor, how long between your rounds did you last see him?" Graham asked, immediately going into Sheriff mode.

"Twelve hours or so." Dr. Whale told him. "Then that's what we need to account for." Graham said.

We all followed him into the security room, though it looked closer to a closet. "You two were the only employees here last night. And you saw nothing?" Graham asked the two men.

They were both short, and one of the men yawned while the other just glared at us.

I was surprised Graham let me tag along, since I wasn't really police. But then again, Emma and Mary Margaret weren't either.

"Not a thing." The yawning guard told him. "Did anyone walk by?" Emma asked them.

"I didn't see nothing." The mean man said. I glanced and saw his name tag said Leroy.

"Miss Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?" Graham asked her. "I don't think so." Mary Margaret said as Emma walked up to the small screen.

"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." Emma told us.

"You fell asleep again." Leroy told the guard.

"You selling me out?"
"I ain't getting fired for this!"
"Least I don't drink on the job!"

"Gentleman PLEASE!" Graham cried in exasperation. "Where's the real tape?" Graham asked them.

They put on the tape and we saw a man walk out of the hospital. "He walked out alone. He's okay." Mary Margaret said in relief.

"Four hours ago. Where does this door lead?" Emma asked.

"The woods."