Impossibilities
What if, against the odds, Julia fell pregnant after she and William continued without precautions in 'The Green Muse'? Takes place in between the events of 'The Green Muse' and 'Shades of Grey.' A little AU, but by the end, everything lines up with the end of 'Shades of Grey.' The time between the two episodes is two months so William and Julia's relationship is fleshed out a bit more.
Julia had just finished writing up a report when William came into the morgue. He came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Julia looked up at William and smiled brightly.
"Hello Detective. What can I do for you?" William smiled softly and gently messaged her shoulder with his hand.
"Nothing Doctor; I just had a free moment and I thought I would come by to say 'hello.'"
"How very kind of you Detective," Julia said as she stood, file in hand and William leaned in for a quick peck. Julia returned the kiss before moving to file away the report. When she was finished, she then spun around and looked at William, letting her eyes drift up and down his body before resting on his lips. Julia realized she had the sudden urge to kiss him. Deciding to act on her urges, Julia strode over to the Detective and captured his lips with her own. William's hand was instantly on the back of her head, tangling in her hair. Julia gripped at his shoulders and their passion mounted. William's free hand moved to her hip and Julia could feel him squeezing roughly as he pulled her closer. They backed up until the Detective was basically sitting on Julia's desk. Julia snaked her fingers through William's hair, deepening the kiss. William groaned and moved his hand up the side of her body. This time it was Julia's turned to groan.
Suddenly the door to the morgue flew open as Constable Crabtree came rushing in. William and Julia jumped apart, both breathing heavily while attempting to look professional. Julia smoothed out her dress and William his suit. George, having realized what he had walked in on, began to blush as brightly as the couple in front of him.
"Sir! Doctor! I'm sorry for intruding!" George cried, waving his arms about and moving to face away from William and Julia.
"It's quite alright George. What can I do for you?"
"Sir, I've been informed that a body has been discovered in a forest outside of a small suburban area on the northeast edge of town. Both you and Doctor Ogden are needed." Murdoch nodded and picked up his hat which had fallen to the floor as Julia grabbed her medical bag. William and Julia fell in step with George and the trio headed out.
"Constable, I'm terribly sorry if we startled you." Julia apologized as the three of them climbed into the carriage.
"No need to apologized Doctor. I just need to learn to knock before entering a room when you and Detective Murdoch are concerned."
Later that day, Julia was about to cut into the body of the young woman on her table.
The girl had bright red hair, high cheekbones, and a mouse like nose. She looked to be about eighteen years old. Her throat had been slit and as Julia divested her of her clothing realized a long incision had been made down the length of the girl's body and an mid sized 'X' had been carved into the skin of her left breast, just above where the heart would be. The blood around the wound had crusted and was being to scab over. The body was limp when they found her, indicating rigor mortis had already taken place making placing time of death easier to pinpoint.
Julia made sure her hands were thoroughly clean before she took hold of the scalpel and began to cut into the young girl.
Ten minutes later, Julia was elbow deep in the young girl. She was making sure all organs were there when she felt a wave of nausea roll over her. Julia shook it off and kept working; the smell of a dead body had never bothered her before. However as the smell overwhelmed her, Julia knew she was going to be sick. She put the scalpel down before rushing to one of the sinks; Julia knew she would not make it to the morgue's small washroom.
Julia desperately clutched the sides of the sink as she was overcome with nausea and began to retch. Her body convulsed for several moments before the nausea pasted. Julia reached up and grasped the tap with shaky hands. She turned on the water and washed the vomit down the sink and rinsed the blood off her hands before she gently collapsed to the morgue floor. Julia reached behind her and grabbed the small washcloth, dabbing her mouth with it before letting her head fall back against the filing cabinet behind her. Julia let out a shaky sigh and closed her eyes.
The door swung open and Julia jumped at the sound of a voice.
"Julia? Are you here? Julia!" William cried as he came around the morgue and into Julia's view. "Julia are you alright? What's happened?!" He asked, coming to kneel in front of her. Julia waved her hand and shrugged.
"It's nothing William, I'm fine…"
"Julia, you're pale, you've collapsed on the floor and there's blood all over the sink. You're obviously not alright!" William was becoming distressed.
"William, I was just cutting into the victim when I had a moment of nausea. I just got sick in the sink. There's blood on the sink because I didn't have time to wash my hands off. Really William, I'm fine." William placed his hand on her hips and hoisted Julia up as he stood.
"Are you sure you don't need a Doctor?" William asked, searching her face with worried eyes. Julia dismissively waved him off.
"I'm fine William; it happens to the best of Doctors." She lied. Julia was positive she had never succumbed to nausea in all her years of being a Doctor and she knew very few Doctors who had. But it was just a passing moment and there was no need to worry her lover.
"If you'll excuse me, I would like to clean up." William nodded and Julia excused herself. She returned minutes later, and began to go back to work. William rose from the chair he was waiting in and came to stand in front of Julia on the other side of the table.
"What do you have for me Doctor?" Julia snuck her hand past the diaphragm and into the chest cavity, confirming her suspicions.
"When I examined this young girl, I found an 'X' cut into the skin on the left breast just above the heart. As I suspected, the girl's heart is missing." William brow furrowed.
"So you're saying this killer cuts into a person, takes the heart and leaves an 'X' to 'mark the spot'?" Julia nodded.
"It would seem so."
"Why would the killer do this?" William wondered. Julia shrugged slightly.
"Well, we won't know until the killer strikes again, but I would suggest it's part of his pattern."
"How do you mean?"
"If the killer does this again, we will know it is a part of his…signature. A calling card as it were."
"So the killer will know that we know he did it?"
"Yes; the killer is mostly likely proud of what he has done and does not want to be mistaken for any other murderer on the streets. By placing the 'X' on this girl's body, he stands apart."
"That's rather brilliant." William commented.
"I agree. Think of all the applications this could have solving murders! You could create a killer's profile without any evidence except based on how they murder their victim and what they leave as a calling card! You could possibly solve murders in half the time!" William smiled at Julia's excitement. "Of course, we won't know until the killer strikes again."
"If he does strike again." In a sudden burst, the morgue doors flung open and Constable Crabtree ran in.
"Detective!" He panted, slightly out of breath. "There's been another murder!" George paused and took a deep breath. "Also, the woman coming in to identify the body will be here in an hour and a half." William nodded and George headed to the hallway. William quickly came around the morgue table, placing his hands on Julia's shoulders.
"Are you positive you are alright? You still look very pale. Would you like me to get a Doctor to check you over?" He asked quietly. Julia shook her head quickly.
"No love, I'm fine. Really. Go and see the body. Bring it back here. I'll be done the post-mortem by then. Bring the women in and we'll see if we can put a name to this poor girl." William nodded again before leaning in and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He grabbed his hat and followed George, who was waiting expectantly.
Julia went back to work, taking a deep breath and stretched a little as she felt her corset digging into her lower abdomen.
By the time William returned with the second body, Julia had finished with the first. Besides the 'X' and the body long slash, nothing was out of the ordinary. Julia had sewn the young girl up and made her look presentable for when the woman came to look at her later. She had just moved her into storage when Murdoch came into the morgue, two men carrying the second body trailing behind him.
"Please place the body on the table gentlemen." Julia requested kindly. The men nodded silently and carefully maneuvered the body onto the table.
"Thank you gentlemen; that will be all." The men nodded once more before departing silently.
"The woman will be here shortly to identify the first victim; I don't believe you'll have time to start the second post-mortem now." William mentioned as he came down the ramp. Julia sighed deeply and motioned for Murdoch to follow her. With his help, Julia exchanged the second body for the first. Once they had the girl's body in place and settle, both the Detective and Doctor moved to the upper level of the morgue.
"Would you like some tea while we wait?" Julia asked. William nodded and Julia disappeared into the morgue's mid-sized kitchen. She set kettle to boil and steadied herself against the counter. Julia refused to let William know that she had been sick once more since he left. Julia was being to suspect that she was coming down with something but as of yet couldn't pinpoint it. She had high hopes that perhaps with the help of her herbal tea and other remedies that she could nip this illness in the bud.
The tea had just finished and Julia was serving it to William when Higgins came in with very anxious looking petite woman. She looked to be in her mid-fifties and had bright red hair that matched the young girl's. It was tied into an intricate bun; several ginger curls that had escaped framed her worried face. Her gloved hands twiddled together fretfully as her eyes darted around the room frantically, before finally landing on the covered body in the other room. The woman's pale skin turned a shade whiter, her eyes widening with fear. Julia put her tea down and quickly glided down the short hallway. She came to stand in front of the older woman.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Julia Ogden. You are…?" The woman straightened herself, trying to compose herself.
"Ruth Gallagher." She answered hoarsely. Julia put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gently guided Ruth to the lower level of the morgue. Ruth froze at the sight of the covered body.
"It may not be her." Julia said softly. "It may not be your daughter." Ruth's face grew hard, her lips forming a thin line. She didn't say anything; she just squared her shoulder and took a deep breath before she walked up to the table.
"Just-just let me see her." Mrs. Gallagher whispered tightly. Julia nodded curtly and crossed over to the body. She slowly peeled back the sheet to reveal the young girl's face. Julia winced slightly when she heard Ruth gasped and let out a strangled cry.
"It's her." Ruth whispered.
"Are you sure?" Julia asked. Ruth nodded
"A mother always knows. It's my Emilie. My…my baby." She choked. Ruth reached forward and stroked her daughter's cheek with a shaking hand. She withdrew it and Julia pulled the cover back over Emilie's face. Julia put a comforting arm around Ruth.
"How…what happened to her?" Mrs. Gallagher asked, close to tears.
"Mrs. Gallagher, why don't I take you down to the station and we can discuss everything?" William spoke up suddenly. Julia squeezed the older woman's shoulder gently and Ruth nodded. William moved around the table and offered Ruth his elbow. She took it and the two made their way out of the morgue. Julia wheeled Emilie back into storage and cleaned up the tea cups.
When she was finished, Julia sat down at her desk and scrubbed a hand over her face.
'God, I'm tired.' She thought. Lately she was tired all the time. 'Right then; time to figure out just what's wrong with me.' Julia began scribbling down all of the possible illnesses she could have contracted.
After a couple of minutes of crossing off illness after illness off her list, Julia was right back to where she started. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Julia moved to grab one of her medical books. She came back her desk and began flipping through the pages.
She stopped suddenly when she spotted a picture of fetal development. Julia froze and stared at the picture intently for a minute.
"That can't be it…" Julia muttered to herself. She ran over her symptoms in her head and slammed the book shut. Julia stood and marched over to her purse, pulling out a small leather bound notebook. She opened it and flipped to the last entry.
'March 2nd.' It read. Julia checked to make sure that was the last entry.
"Impossible. I can't be…I can't get…I didn't even…" Julia stopped ranting and pacing. Her mind flashed back the night two months ago when she and William had experimented with Absinthe. They had both gotten terribly drunk. They'd ended up making love right there in the park in the middle of the night. Julia's mind race as she tried to think of the last time she'd had her cycle. It had been two months. Suddenly it all made sense; being tired all the time, the nausea, the tightness of her clothing, her sudden urges and changes in mood. Julia pinched the bridge of her nose in between her fingers and sat down.
"I'm pregnant." She sighed quietly. "I'm pregnant." She repeated, slightly louder. "With William's child."