somebody that i used to know

It wasn’t everyday a missing person was found. Alive that is, but when they were, it was generally cause for celebration. Something that those working in missing persons always hoped they were able to find. It was a constant race against the clock, especially in the beginning, but as time went on the usual police force handed it over to those that had the patience for the long game.

Emerald Vaughn had found herself on TJ McCarthy’s desk two years ago, and to his delight, had turned up in a hospital two years later. A mystery that he was going to get to the bottom of. You could bet on that.

As he strolled through the hospital halls, a few officers along with him, TJ adjusted his tie. There was a particular swagger to the way he walked. He was tall, broad shouldered. Dressed in a grey charcoal suit and blue tie with black stripes. His sunglasses were tucked into the breast pocket of his jacket, while his badge and firearm rested on either hip.

He followed the sound of arguing voices flowing through the hall and onyx eyes took in every person that he could see. Studying them and their demeanor, as his eyes flickered the nurse coming out of the room, handing him a clipboard.

TJ’s signature smile spread across his face as he looked at the nurse, taking the clipboard from her. “Not at all Ma’am, I’m quite familiar with the case.” He informed her. His eyes ran over the clipboard. Car accident huh? Ouch. His flipped to the back, looking at the photos he’d already engrained in his mind, and then flipped back to the front. His eyes flickering up to the nurse. “Has her toxicology report come back yet? I want to see it as soon as it’s ready.” He asked of her. If Emerald Vaughn was missing there was a reason for it, and though it didn’t look like a struggle at her residents....

There was always a story.

TJ nodded at the nurse. “I want to question him when he shows up. If she is in fact miss Vaughn, there’s going to be some major questions I want answers too. He doesn’t go back until I clear it alright?” He asked. He’d probably have a very unhappy Emily Brown but if she wasn’t Emerald Vaughn then she had nothing to worry about right? Just let the police do their job…

He thanked the Nurse and gave the officers further instructions to not let anyone in before he decided to see for himself if this was his missing person or not. He filled the doorway, reaching over to rap his knuckles against the door. “Miss Brown?” He asked, his brows raising slightly while he waited for confirmation. He held her clipboard in one hand while the Emerald Vaughn file was under his arm.

He shot her a quick grin and then slowly started to head into the room. Closing the door partially behind him. “Detective TJ McCarthy, I’m with the Missing Persons division for the LAPD.” His Louisiana drawl came out effortlessly letting her know he was certainly not from L.A. “Was hoping you could help fill in some missing puzzle pieces for me.” He asked, going to a corner of the room so he could cross his arms over his chest and lean a shoulder against the wall. His dark eyes looked her over. It was clear she was banged up, she’d been hit by a car for goodness sakes, but as TJ looked at her, he knew he’d found one of the people he’d been trying to hunt down for over two years. She might have had straight hair, but for someone who’d studied her face long enough, he’d recognize her anywhere. Curly hair or not.

He’d found Emerald Vaughn.

Calm and collected. It was a McCarthy signature trait. Both TJ and his younger sister, Penny, were on the quieter side. His sister had a much longer patience fuse then TJ did however. She could be calm even in the midst of a heated conversation, whereas TJ… Well TJ was decking her ex boyfriend for her.

He had that calm, almost carefree look on his face at that moment. However he was studying Miss “Brown” very carefully. Watching for any signs of deceit or any sign that she was Emerald and hiding it. What he saw? Not someone that was missing. If TJ’s gut was correct, which it usually was, Emerald Vaughn really and truly believed she was Emily Brown.

“Hey, hey, easy.” He said gently raising his hands in surrender. “We just want to ask you a few questions.” He told her. “Dylan’s been called, the nurse left a message with him so he knows where you are.” He told her. Hoping that would calm her down. He pushed off from the wall and slowly started to approach the bed, pulling out the file he had tucked under his arm. “The reason why everyone’s so excited, is Emerald could be your doppleganger.” He explained. “Wanna see a picture?” He asked her with a slight tilt of his head. His eyes never leaving her face while he reached into the folder and pulled one out. He walked close enough to hand it too her, and she’d find it was...well her, but with curly hair.

“Amazing isn’t it? Did you know, there’s seven people in the world that are supposed to look exactly like you?” He said the fact. Leaning against the wall again, though this time closer. “Emerald’s been missing for about two years, we’re just following protocol.” Liar… TJ called himself out, but he figured treating this woman like the woman she claimed to be would be the best way to get the answer’s he sought. “Can I ask you some questions? Then I promise I’ll get out of your hair.” He flashed her another grin.

TJ caught Emily’s eyes as he watched her look at that photo. Looking for any sign of recognition, but there wasn’t. Which was unsettling to him.

If he’d known what was going through his mind, he might have told her he was being nice right now. That all could change though in a matter of seconds, if given a right reason too. He took his job seriously, and he would get answers to the questions he sought, it was just a matter of time.

And TJ always got his anwsers.

“She’s got a family that would really like to know where she is.” He said pulling his phone out of his pocket and pulling up the recording app. “Mind if I record this? It’ll keep all our t’s crossed and I’s dotted, for both parties.” He waved the phone at her. He didn’t have a warrant, so he’d have to ask for consent. It was faster then writing her answers down, and allowed him to listen to it later to see if he missed anything.

Once he got an answer he’d either hit the record button and then set it down on a the tray at the foot of the hospital bed or if she denied him, he’d slip the phone back in his pocket and pull out a pen instead. “We’ll start this out really easy, Full name for the record.” He said giving her a softer smile. He'd wait and then start out on his questions. “What elementary school did you go to?” He asked. He’d wait for a response, watching her face carefully. “Best friend in highschool?” He didn’t ask her to elaborate at all, simply would listen to her answer or write it down. “We're going to get a bit more harder now, what’s your mother’s name?” He asked. “Siblings?” He asked her.

He canted his head then. “What do you do for a living?” Another pause. “Hobbies?”

There was a method to TJ’s madness. He was looking for particular ticks. The questions that made her pause longer than necessary. Emily Brown should be able to answer his questions without skipping a beat. They were things people just knew. TJ of course knew all the right answers to what Emerald Vaughn would have said, as it was all in the file he had under his arm and in his brain.

Check...Check...Check… TJ mentally crossed off his mental list of things as she answered his questions. Paying crucial attention to the fact she’d paused and had to think about her answers. There was something off there.

Once she was done with his first round of questions he smiled at her nodding his head. “Would you mind giving us a DNA sample by chance for us?” He asked her, reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket to pull out a little baggy with a q-tip that he always made sure to have on him, and then pulled out a latex glove. He held them up so she could see, and then waited patiently for her consent.

Once he had it, he put the glove on and walked closer to her pulling that q-tip out. “Say Aw” He grinned at her and then gently swapped the inside of her cheek before he quickly put the q-tip in the baggy and then tucked it safely inside his inner jacket pocket.

TJ didn’t move away then, instead he sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling his file on Emerald Vaughn out. He opened it, being sure to not let Emily see the contents before he produced a DNA sample consent form he’d stuffed in there before he’d left the precinct. Some might think TJ was overly prepared, always carrying things on him you wouldn’t expect. However in TJ’s line of work you never knew when you could come across evidence, and he was always looking. Every bit of evidence was crucial, and Lisette Reyez was going to think it was her birthday when TJ showed up with this for her.

“Can you sign this for me?” He produced a pen, and then clipped the form onto the clipboard that was her hospital chart, before handing them to her. “Right there,” He pointed to the line for the signature. She’d find the form was a consent form allowing the police to take her DNA for testing. “We just want to check all our boxes.” He smiled at her. “And I have one little favor that might seem weird.” He told her, turning more to face her. “Don’t overthink signing it. In fact I don’t want you to even look.” He requested.

TJ kept that gentle smile on his face, his Onyx eyes never leaving Emily’s face as he watched her. The moment she was done he took the clipboard from her and quickly dated the date. He glanced down at the signature then. “For the record, Miss Brown has just signed her Consent to DNA sampling, Miss Brown, will you read aloud what you just wrote?” He asked. Turning the form to face her.

His gut was telling him something was up. That sure feeling that he’d finally found Emerald Vaughn was nearly all-consuming, but the big question now was: why was she hiding it? Something told TJ it wasn’t on purpose but that she fully believed she was Emily Brown. Meaning there was a chance she could have suffered some memory loss, or something had happened.

He had to treat this as delicately as he could, or he’d get nowhere. This is where his long line of patience came into play. He smiled as Emily read it aloud. “Everything a person does matters, no matter how small.” He explained. He said it in a philosophical way, but it was true. That little squiggle she was grumpy about was the closest thing he had to possibly prove she was Emerald believe it or not.

“Thank you very much, ma’am” that southern drawl came out as TJ flipped the clipboard around and stood up. Moving away from her and back to his corner, after grabbing his phone off the table. He slipped it into his pocket, mindful he was still recording.

“Miss Brown, I’m going to ask you a few more things okay? These are the hard ones.” He told her. He tucked the folder and clipboard under his arm and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose before he fixated his eyes on her intently. “I’m going to ask you to trust me okay? Some things might be difficult to answer but I want you to know I’m on team Em.” He’d gotten from Emeralds folks it was a nickname of hers, and one he hoped wouldn’t be too out of place with Emily.
He waited several moments, his face softening slightly. He wanted her to trust him. Not just because he was the police, but because he wanted to help find the truth.

“Have you had any memory problems over the past two years or so?” He started out with. “Any previous car accidents? New medications?” He began. He didn’t get too far in his questioning when there was suddenly a loud commotion coming from outside in the hallway.

[OUTSIDE THE ROOM]

Dylan stalked through the hospital hallways with the energy of an irritated tiger, blowing past the staff as they instinctively flinched out of his way. He'd gotten the voicemail only ten minutes ago, and immediately he'd cut short everything at work, cleared his afternoon, and sped to the hospital.

He'd told her never to go anywhere without him, that she needed the help, but of course, his little princess had still decided to try and do things on her own. So stubborn, so eager to prove herself. She was lucky she was alright, just a concussion and some bruising to worry about. If anything, this might actually get her to listen to him, that going out on her own was dangerous. Look what happened when she went against his wishes.

Reaching the ward the nurse had mentioned, he faltered. A uniformed officer was stationed outside the door of Emily's room. Panic raced through him, jumpstarting his heart. Why were the police involved? What did they know? What had she told them? He rushed forward, planning to blow past the officer the same way he'd done with the other staff.

"Emily!" he called, letting the panic carry into his voice, show how worried he was about his girl. "Emily, Angel!"

He made it to the door with his hand on the handle, but the officer's arm blocked his path. He straightened up and fixed the man with an outraged look, gesturing wide with his arms. "What the fuck, man?"

"No one's allowed inside, Sir."

"That's my fiancee in there! She could have died!"

"I'm sorry, Sir--"

"Sorry? You're Sorry?!"

“Woah woah, there Tiger. I think you best stay in bed.”

"But!" she started to argue.

“It’s Dylan, right? The Fiance?” He asked her. “I’ll go fill him in, and see about him getting to see you, but you should rest,” TJ told her.

That calmed some of her panic, and as much as she would have preferred to do it herself, her shaking legs forced her to accept his help getting back into the bed. She slid down farther this time to rest her head and shoulders against the pillows instead of using them to prop up her back. She brought her arm up to put her forearm over her eyes, blocking out the harsh fluorescent lights although she could still hear their buzz drilling into her head. Everything seemed to have gotten louder, brighter, sharper. All of it hurt.

“Dylan right?”

"Yeah, and--"

“I’m going to ask you this once, and once only. Lower your voice or I will have officers escort you off the premises for disruption. This is a Hospital with sick people and staff that do not need to hear you’re shouting.” He held up a hand to show he wasn’t done. “I am well aware you’re concerned about your fiance, now if you’ll calm down I’ll explain the situation to you.”

Emily's understanding of what was happening faded in and out as the swirling in her head seemed to eat some of the words.