The Young Savior

Chapter 14

Emma never saw Henry at school the next day. He was in Mary Margret's class after all and Emma only went there after school. When she entered the teacher's room that day, she had every intention of placing Henry's book in his cubby for him to find the following day. She pulled the leather book out of her backpack, and honestly, she didn't know how Henry carried this thing around all the time with how heavy it was. She was going to need a chiropractor if she had to much longer. Walking up and down the aisles she looked for Henry's seat before finally spotting his name on one of the desks. She was about to slide the book into the cubby underneath when a familiar voice caught her attention.

"I thought we were going to finish our story later?" Mary Margret said from the doorway to the classroom. Emma had noticed she wasn't there when she arrived. Judging by the jacket she was wearing, the teacher must have had bus duty and was just getting back.

"Uh...," Emma was a bit caught off guard. She didn't think Mary Margret would remember they hadn't finished the story. She still needed answers to her own questions, but she didn't want Henry to think she had stolen his book. "I didn't want Henry to think I wasn't bringing it back." Growing up in group homes, she understood how heartbreaking it was when another child would take something that belonged to you. Just the fact that Henry trusted her with something he held so dear was a big deal for her. She didn't want to let him down.

"I don't think Henry would think you stole it if you kept it another night, Em." The teacher had made her way over to her desk, all the while keeping her eyes locked on Emma's. "Plus I asked if it'd be ok for us to finish our story first.", she shrugged nonchalantly.

"You could have led with that." Emma said with a huff and placing the book back in her backpack. 'I should make her carry this to car.', she thought.

Mary Margret let out a small giggle while she herself gathered some papers to take home with her for the night. "I need to stop at the hospital before we head home, I hope you don't mind. You can wait in the volunteer lounge and work on some homework while you wait." She had a look that told Emma she knew going to the hospital two days in a row was not something she would want to do.

"Ok." Emma sighed, shouldering her backpack and walking towards the door with Mary Margret.

When they arrived at the hospital, Mary Margret signed in and said hello to the desk nurse before walking Emma to the lounge. Once she was sure the girl was comfortable, she left to start her rounds. Emma tried to focus on her homework, but she just couldn't. While they were in the car, she had started to think about her trip to the hospital the previous day. More importantly, she thought about Henry's theory about John Doe. He was adamant about the Curse being real and about the coma patient being Prince Charming. While Mary Margret read to her the previous night, she was able to study the pictures with scrutiny. She could, kind of, see the similarities in Snow White and Prince Charming to her foster mom and the man but she wasn't convinced. Deciding she wasn't going to get any work done until she did some investigating of her own, Emma grabbed the story book and made her way out of the lounge and through the hospital to the room that John Doe was sleeping.

Entering the room, she noted that nothing looked different. The man was still laying there, in the same bed, with the same machines making the same noises, and nothing else. She walked over to the man's side, placing the book on the chair beside the bed. She looked him over for a few minutes, taking in his features. He was very handsome she had to admit. Finally, she came across the scar on his chin that Henry insisted was the same one that Snow White had inflicted on Prince Charming the day they met. As much as she did not want to admit it, Henry was right, it did look the same. 'Maybe...' she thought before shaking her head to remind herself that it was impossible. There was no such thing as a Curse, the people in the town were not story book characters, and this guy was not Prince Charming. She sat down in the chair behind her and let out a sigh while looking back at the man.