Chapter three
"When your lost in the darkness, look for the light."
There was a volunteer outreach program at the hospital where Hope and Henry's class had done there, which was a lot of putting up decorations and talking to other patients who were on that floor, but as they did, Hope turned around seeing a man asleep in a room away from the rest of them, she nudged Henry in the arm, as Henry turned to her, Hope motioned with her head to the room in front of them, and began walking toward's it, as Henry followed after her.
Hope opened the door and stepped inside along with Henry, the door shut behind them, as the two stared at the man, Hope furrowed her brows, feeling like she had seen his face before, as she stepped toward's him, and as she did, she reached her hand out going to touch his hand and as she did, it was only for a second, as the door behind them opened "Hope, Henry," Miss Blanchard said as the two turned to her "we could really use your guys help with the decorations." Miss Blanchard told them.
Is Mr Doe gonna be okay, Miss Blanchard?" Henry asked her "his names not John Doe, honey. That's just what they call people when they don't know who they are." Miss Blanchard shared "so nobody knows who he is?" Hope asked, turning and looking back at him "no. I just bring him flowers on my rounds." Miss Blanchard shared "what happened to him?" Hope asked, as Miss Blanchard walked up to her "I don't know. He's been like this as long as I've been volunteering." she shared "does anyone ever come to see him?" Hope asked.
"No one's claimed him." Miss Blanchard shared "he has nobody?" Hope asked, her voice breaking when she did "yeah. It's quite sad." Miss Blanchard told her, putting her hand on her shoulder, and when she did, Henry smiled at them, seeing that the three were standing there like the family they unknowingly knew they were "you sure neither of you know him?" he asked him, as Hope and Miss Blanchard turned to him "of course I'm sure. Come on. You guys shouldn't be in here." Miss Blanchard shared, leading Hope toward's the door, Henry turned around walking out, followed by Hope and then Miss Blanchard as she shut the door.
After school they headed to the castle as they sat there with Emma, Henry opened his book "I found your guys father." he shared, opening up to a picture of prince Charming "prince Charming." he stated "Henry.." Emma told him "yeah, don't you think mom would've told me that my real dad was lying in a coma?" Hope asked him "oh, come on, look at the scar!" Henry voiced, pointing to it "he has one, too." he told them "so? Lots of people have scars." Emma shared "in the same place. Don't you guys see what this means?" Henry asked "that my parents got into a car accident when I was a baby and then put up for adoption?" Hope asked him.
As Emma motioned to her "yes that makes perfect sense." she shared "no, it's that the curse is keeping you all apart with a coma. Now you're all stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard that we found her prince Charming." Henry shared "okay, kid. Telling someone their..soulmate is in a coma is probably not helpful. Not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope both in love and family is far worse." Emma shared "but what if I'm right? We know who they are, now they have to know." Henry shared "and how do you expect to do that?" Hope asked him.
"By reminding him. You touched his hand today, just like you did when you were a baby. Now maybe if we get Miss Blanchard to read their to John Doe. Then maybe he'll remember who he is." Henry shared "okay." Emma told him, as Hope looked to her with furrowed brows along with Henry "okay?" they asked ""yeah. We'll do it, but we'll do it my way. Let me ask her." Emma shared, as Hope nodded.
That night, while everyone else in the town of Storybrooke was asleep, Hope had got up from her bed, walking over to her boots, she began putting them on her feet, as she turned and grabbed her jacket, she put it on as well, as she headed toward's her bedroom door, opening it, she began walking down the hallway, heading down the staircase, she turned walking toward's the front door, heading down the steps, she made it to the front door, unlocking it, she turned the door handle and stepped out of it.
Walking down the street almost like she was in a trance, seeing as she wasn't really awake, but sleep walking, as she made it all the way into the woods, stepping over other footprints, although her feet were smaller so they more so went in between the other footprints, she stepped over a tree log and continued walking, all the way down to the toll bridge, where there was a river underneath it.
"Hope?" A man asked, and when Hope turned and when she did, the John Doe from earlier was standing there but right now, she knew who he was "dad?" she asked him, as the man let out a breath "Hope." he said, holding his arms out, Hope ran toward's him, slamming into him, she wrapped her arms around him, and as she did, he wrapped his arms around her, where thanks to the coma keeping the curse from effecting him fully yet and from Hope being cursed by Maleficent in more ways then they knew yet, the two were able to break through the fog of the curse, just for now.
Because as he pulled away from her, he looked at Hope taking in what she looked like now to memory, Hope's body gave out on her as she fell to the ground, he caught her, bringing her down to the water, cradling her head, holding her body close to him, before his own body gave out on him, he fell back into the water.
The next morning, Henry and Hope were supposed to meet Emma and Miss Blanchard at the diner to figure out what happened with John Doe, as he walked down the hall and toward's Hope's room "Hope?" he asked, seeing the door was open, he stepped inside and as he did, her bed wasn't made like it usually was and her jacket and boots were missing, as his eyes went wide, knowing what this meant, as he turned, running down the hallway and down the stairs and out the front door, slamming it behind him.
He ran all the way to Granny's finding Emma sitting in a booth "easy, kid.." she told him "Hope's gone." Henry told her, as Emma's eyes went wide "gone? What do you mean gone?" she asked him "when we were growing up she used to sleep walk to where I don't know! Sheriff Graham used to find her and bring her back and my mom wasn't home when I left the house so I think she knows but she's still not back." Henry shared, as Emma shook her head "Henry, Hope's gonna be fine. Just like you were when they thought you went missing." she shared.
As the door to the diner opened, Miss Blanchard walked in "she's here." Henry pointed out "hey, don't get your hopes up. We're just getting started, okay?" Emma asked him, as Miss Blanchard came over and sat next to Henry "he woke up." she told them "what?" Emma asked "I knew it." Henry said, as he began to wonder if that might be where Hope had gone "i mean, he didn't wake up-wake up. But he grabbed my hand." Miss Blanchard shared "he's remembering." Henry shared "what did the doctor say?" Emma asked her "that I imagined it. But I'm not crazy, I know it happened." Miss Blanchard shared.
"We have to go back. Maybe even Hope's there." Henry shared, as Miss Blanchard furrowed her brows "Hope? What happened to Hope?" she asked "pretty sure she went sleep walking again and they haven't found here." Henry shared "then let's go." Miss Blanchard shared, as she stood up, Henry followed her out of the booth and out the door.
Making it to the hospital, Henry was running through the hall seeing all the people around John Doe's room "you're right! He's waking up." he told them, as sheriff Graham turned to him "Henry, you should stay back." he told him "what's going on? Is it John Doe? Is he okay?" Miss Blanchard asked "he's missing." sheriff Graham shared, as he turned around, revealing his mom standing in the room with Dr Whale and a few other nurses with no John Doe "just like Hope.." Henry said, realizing that her sleep walking for the first time in a while last night, wasn't just some fluke but a way of her breaking through the curse to find her dad.
As his mom came walking out of the room "what the hell are you doing here?" she asked Emma, as she then looked down at Henry "and you." she told him, grabbing his arm "shouldn't you be at home waiting to see if your sister returns?" she asked him "what happened to Joh Doe? Did someone take him?" Miss Blanchard asked sheriff Graham "we don't know yet. His IV's were ripped out, but there's no sign for sure there was a struggle." Graham shared "what did you do to them?" Henry asked his mom, as his mom furrowed her brows "you think I had something to do with this?" she asked him.
"It is curious that the mayor is here." Emma shared "I'm here because I'm his emergency contact." his mom shared "you know him?" Miss Blanchard asked "when Hope first stared sleep walking, I couldn't handle the idea of sheriff Graham just being out there looking for her so I went myself and found her in the pouring rain standing on the side of the road looking at him, where he had no ID. I brought them both here to get checked out." his mom shared, as Dr Whale walked up "if it hadn't been for Hope's sleep walking we probably would've never found him. She saved his life." he shared.
"Will they be okay?" Miss Blanchard asked "okay? The man's been on feeding tubes for years, under constant super vision. And Hope's sleep walking has happened so often that it would look like she was awake but in reality she's so far asleep that she could walk off a cliff and not even be awake enough to stop herself. So we need find them both, or quite honestly, okay, will be a pipe dream for both of them." Dr Whale shared "well, then let's quit yapping and start looking." Emma shared, as she turned to walk off.
"That's what we're doing." his mom told her, as Emma stopped walking "just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just gonna have to keep my son away from you." his mom shared, grabbing Henry's hand and walking the two off, she turned to sheriff Graham "sheriff, find my daughter along with John Doe. You heard Dr Whale, time is precious." she told him, as she turned walking off with Henry.
Walking through the woods, it was almost dusk as sheriff Graham was first following the footprints of John Doe, but as they get further down the trail, three of them noticed another set of tracks, a smaller foot size wearing boots walking from a different direction but soon being right on top of John Doe's but as he stepped over a tree log with Emma and Miss Blanchard behind him, the foot prints from both just disappeared, as he crouched down "what is it?" Miss Blanchard asked him "both of their trails run out here." sheriff Graham shared "are you sure? Cause I thought tracking was one of your skills." Emma told him, as sheriff Graham stood up "just give me a second. This is my world. I got it." he told them, walking off.
And as he did, Henry was doing his own tracking as he followed Hope's bootprints through the woods, he soon took a short cut and headed down the hill "Henry!" Miss Blanchard voiced, as he ran into her and Emma "did you find them yet?" Henry asked "no, not yet. You shouldn't be here." Emma told him "I can help. I know where he's going." Henry shared, as Miss Blanchard furrowed her brows "and where's that?" she asked him "he's looking for Hope." Henry shared, as Emma and Miss Blanchard turned around and kept walking, Henry followed them.
Where they grouped back up with sheriff Graham where as it was dark out now, they all had flashlights out "you maybe be the one who woke him up, but according to my mother, Hope seems to be the first person he saw before he fully fell into a coma. He wants to find her because she's his daughter! And Hope want's to find him because she knows he's her father!" Henry voiced, as Miss Blanchard and Emma turned to him "Henry, it's not about them being family. They're just lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time. And like Dr Whale said, sleeping walking is dangerous." Miss Blanchard shared.
"But he is her father! And he loves you! And she's your daughter. And you stop chasing them and let them find you." Henry shared "kid, you need to go home! Where's your mom? She's gonna kill me. Then you. Then me again." Emma shared "she dropped me at the house to wait for Hope to come back, then went right out." Henry shared "well, we need to get you back immediately." Emma shared "no!" Henry voiced "guys!" sheriff Graham called out, as they all turned running in that direction.
They found him crouched down by a tree, looking at a tag from the hospital with blood on it "is that.." Miss Blanchard asked "blood." Emma told them, as all of their eyes were wide, sheriff Graham stood up and headed down the trail again, as they all followed him.
Making it to the toll bridge, they looked out at the river "oh, god, where are they? Can you see either of them?" Miss Blanchard asked "the trails dies at the water line." sheriff Graham shared, as they all shined their flashlights, Miss Blanchard found them both, seeing a red hood and a blue hospital gown, neither of them two were moving as she threw her flashlight "oh my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!" she yelled, running over to them "I need two ambulances at the old toll bridge as soon as possible." sheriff Graham radioed in as he ran over along with Emma.
Where as Miss Blanchard and sheriff Graham grabbed John Doe, Emma picked Hope up, as the three moved them onto dry land, laying them down "no, no, no, I found you! I found both of you! It's gonna be okay." Miss Blanchard said, as Emma felt Hope's skin and it was freezing cold "Graham!" she voiced, as Graham stood up from John Doe and walked over to her "are they okay?" Henry asked, as Emma looked up at him "go. I got her." Graham shared "she's ice cold." Emma told him, as she stood up and ran over to Henry "are they gonna be okay?" Henry asked.
As Emma put her arms around him and turned her toward's him "Henry, don't look, okay? Don't look." she told him, as Graham took her wet jacket off of her, he replaced it with his own, trying to warm her up, as he leaned down, listening to her breath it was non existent "come on, Hope." he said, bringing his hands down to her chest and starting compression as did Miss Blanchard on John Doe, the two then leaned down giving mouth to mouth.
Hope and John Doe then coughed up water, but as Hope did, her skin went from being ice cold to burning hot, as she still didn't open her eyes, hearing sirens in the distance, sheriff Graham picked her up in his arms "what are you.." Emma told him, as Graham looked to her "she's burning up." he told her, as he began running off.
Being on a gurney, the paramedics got her out of ambulance and wheeled her into the hospital along with John Doe, Dr Whale walked up to John Doe, as they put him on one side of the room and Hope on the other, John Doe was watching her the entire time, as one of the nurses put her hand on Hope's arm, it burned her as she quickly moved it off "what the hell?" she asked, as Dr Whale moved from John Doe and over to Hope "what happened?" he asked, as the nurse looked to him "her skin burned me." she shared.
As Dr Whale's eyes went wide, as he pulled an oxygen mask now, he brought it down to her nose "get me an IV." he told the nurse, as she handed it to him, he stuck the needle in her arm "David? David, is that you?" a women asked, as Dr Whale looked to her "excuse me, ma'am." he told her, as the women walked up looking at John Doe or David "ma'am, you can't be in here. Please, you can't be here right now." Dr Whale shared, stepping over to her and moving her back.
And soon, a curtain was now separating the two as Dr Whale finished checking up on Mr Nolan, Hope's body seemed to go back to normal temperature, yet she still was unconscious as the oxygen mask was on her along with the IV in her arm, Henry sat on her bed, looking at her, and as he did, their mother soon walked in "Henry, let's go." she told him, as Henry hopped off the bed, he turned walking out of the room and after their mother.
And as they walked away along with Emma, Miss Blanchard walked up to the door, walking over to Hope, she brought her hand down, moving her hair out of her face, she then sat down on the bed, grabbing onto her hand, knowing if Henry had to leave and if her own mother wasn't gonna stay, then at least somebody for a little while longer should stay with her, but unknowing to either of them, as David Nolan hugged his wife, he looked at their shadows that were behind the curtain.