Rescue Me:
Murdoch Mysteries – Snakes and Ladders
The carriage was silent, except for the clopping of the horse's hooves and Julia's fast paced breathing which gradually became slower as the seconds went by.
Julia Ogden stared out the opening in the carriage, forgetting that William was beside her. She was still in great shock of what had happened earlier and the memory of the experience was haunting her thoughts. The evil in the killer's eyes, the sudden appearance of the knife, she had looked death right in the face. And yet she was still alive. But the killer wasn't. Julia had killed him. She hadn't meant to, but the guilt of killing another human being weighed heavily on her. She knew William was on her side, that he knew she had killed the man only to protect herself. She had had no other choice but to do what she did. The man had woke up that morning knowing that he was going to kill, Julia hadn't. Then she let out a breath that she realized she'd been holding to long. As she did that a tear escaped her eye and began to roll down the side of her face.
William Murdoch was looking at his feet. Then he looked up, and then straight ahead. He repeated that cycle 2 more times before he had finally worked up enough courage to look at Julia, who was to his left. At first, he had just glanced at her quickly, but then he noticed something was wrong, so he looked at her again and saw the tear on her cheek. She was crying. William had never seen Julia so sad and afraid before. But he understood why she felt the way she did. Julia had gone through quite a lot in the last hour or so. William thought about what he could do to maybe make her feel better or to take her mind of what ever was making her so upset and scared.
Then William got an idea. With his right hand he reached into his jacket and brought out a pure white handkerchief. Then William turned his body towards Julia. William's movement brought Julia out of the memories she had been trapped in and she remembered that William was in the carriage with her. Then Julia turned her head away from the opening and looked down at her lap and at her hands that rested there. With the handkerchief in his right hand, William reached over and gently wiped away the tear from her cheek. She accepted it without a single movement. Then he returned the handkerchief to where it had come from, as he looked at her, waiting to see how she would react. Julia quickly glanced at William and noticed that he was staring at her with great concern on his face and in his eyes. Then William swallowed and gently asked, "Julia, are you sure you're all right?" she quickly replied saying, "Detective, as I told you already, I'm fine." and she wiped her eyes with her hand.
A minute went by of silence. William studied Julia for a while, then asked her, "Why didn't you call me by my first name?" Julia didn't answer his question because she didn't know what to say. She didn't know why she had called him 'Detective' instead of his actual name. Then suddenly, Julia felt William take her hand in his. A wave of peace washed over Julia, and suddenly she found that she couldn't help but smile. After she had regained control over her facial expressions, Julia looked over at William who was still looking at her, with an innocent smile on his face. Then slowly, Julia gave him a small smile back, which made William's smile grow almost to the point of him laughing. Then the carriage stopped. They had arrived.
William hopped out his side of the carriage, then raced over to the opposite side where he took Julia's hand as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. William then told the driver, who was a constable, that he'd just be a moment, and then that they would return to the station.
Then William walked Julia to her front door. When they reached it, William turned to face Julia and asked her once again, "Are you really sure your okay?" Julia smiled and nodded enthusiastically, saying, "Yes, I'm sure." "Will I see you tomorrow, Doctor?" William asked. "Maybe." Julia replied with a little laugh. "It's nice to see you smiling again." William said. Julia looked at her feet and then to the right, feeling embarrassed. Then she looked him right in the face and said, "Good night, William." "Good night." William replied with a big smile. Then he touched the rim of his fedora with his two right hand fingers and his thumb, turned towards the carriage, and then made his way back.
Julia watched him climb into the carriage, and then watched as it rolled away into the shadows, no longer visible. But just as it disappeared into the night, Julia realized that she had forgotten to thank him for his help. So she whispered to herself, "Thank you, Detective William Murdoch." And then turned and went inside the house.