Elizabeth Thatcher walked outside just as the sun was beginning to rise in the eastern sky of Hope Valley and took in a deep breath of cool air. She had just finished another long delivery. The new parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weiss were the happy parents of a beautiful baby girl named Opal. There had been a few moments Elizabeth had thought she might need to call the doctor but her skill and knowledge as a midwife had won through.
She placed her medical bag on her bike and sat down on the seat to begin pedaling back to St Mary's, the clinic where she lived and worked at as a nurse and midwife with 4 other women and three nuns. Her thoughts brought her to the work she had to do today. She knew Sister Catherine would reassign her regular patients for this morning so she could get some rest and be functional for the women and baby clinic in the afternoon. Even though midwifery was her primary job function, she did have patients that needed general medical attention and she had a couple of them she wanted to check on personally. Maybe after clinic she could find some time for that.
As she turned the corner towards home, she heard another bike pull along side her. She turned her head and saw Faith Carter, another nurse/midwife and close friend returning from a birth. "Good morning, Faith." She gave her companion a tired smile. "Did the Cantrells have a boy or a girl?"
"Good morning!" Faith replied with an equally exhausted smile. "They had a very handsome little boy. How about the Mr. and Mrs. Weiss"?
"A gorgeous baby girl. Mrs. Weiss had a little bit of trouble and I thought I might need Dr. Carson, but I was able to resolve the problem without his assistance and the deliver was a success."
Faith blushed at the mention of the doctor's name. Elizabeth suspected Faith had feelings for him and vise versa, "That's a relief. Isn't new life wonderful?" She sighed as they pulled up in front of St Mary's.
"It's amazing. I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life. Other than getting married and having babies myself one day." Elizabeth confessed as she hopped off her bike and grabbed her bag while Faith did the same.
"Oh really? Who is the lucky man? Lucas, the owner of the restaurant? Or does your heart belong to Constable Grant?" Faith teased. Both men had expressed interest in her friend, but Elizabeth had yet reciprocate those feelings.
Elizabeth sent Faith a look as they headed towards their home. "You know very well I am not interested in either of them. I know my soul mate is out there somewhere. I just haven't met him yet."
"I'm confident you will meet him, Elizabeth. One day, when you least expect it, you will turn a corner and there he will be."
"I sure hope so, Faith." She replied as she opened the door. "Now, lets talk about you and Dr. Carson.".
Later that morning
Dr. Jack Thornton walked up to the door of Hope Valley Medical Clinic and Maternity Hospital. He paused and took a breath, calming his nerves a bit before entering the building. He had completed his medical training and had worked two years a at woman's clinic a few hours outside of Toronto. He loved being able to bring babies into the world but felt he needed a change of scenery. About two months ago he read an employment advertisement for physician needed in Hope Valley to assist the existing doctor in his growing practice. Over the next couple of weeks, Dr. Carson Shepard and Jack had several telephone interviews where Carson explained his clinic and what he was looking for Jack to help him with. Jack really liked his ideas and was excited when Carson offered him the position on a trial basis to start.
Jack turned the doorknob and walked inside. He followed the sounds of voices until he found the waiting room. He walked up to the desk and held out his hand to the woman sitting at the desk. "Good morning! I am Dr. Jack. Thornton. Dr. Shepard is expecting me today."
The woman looked up from her paperwork and smiled. "Hello, Dr. Thornton. I am Molly Sullivan, Dr. Shepard's office manager. Welcome! I hope you trip here was fine."
"It was, yes, Mrs. Sullivan."
"Please, call me Molly. Take a seat and I will let Carson know you are here."
"Thank you, Molly." Jack took a seat and set his medical bag down on the floor. He looked around the office, trying to get a feel of it but he was too excited to get started with the new job. His knee was bouncing up and down; he just wanted to start seeing patients. He stood up so Dr Carson wouldn't see his knee and walked around the room a bit when he heard the door open. He turned to see a man approaching him with his arm outstretched.
"Good to finally meet you in person, Dr. Thornton." The man said. "I'm Dr Shepard, which I am sure you guessed. Please call me Carson, well at least when it's just us."
"It's my pleasure to meet you as well, Carson. Please call me Jack."
"Come back to my office so we can chat for a few minutes."
Jack followed him though a short hallway and into a small with a desk, two chairs and several bookcases filled with medical books. Carson waved his hand towards one of the chairs as an invitation to sit down.
"I hope your trip here was uneventful."
"It was. I kept wanting the train to move faster. I can't wait to get started working."
Carson laughed. "I'm glad. There is plenty of work for you to do, as I have explained in our earlier talks."
"Just let me know where you want me, and I will dig right in." Jack replied eagerly.
"Woah, slow down, Jack. While I am happy to see you ready to start work, you should take some time to get acclimated to Hope Valley. Find a place to live. In fact, you came in yesterday didn't you? Where did you stay last night"?
"I stayed at Stanton's Boarding House. Mrs. Stanton said she might be able to work out a long-term arraignment with me."
"Yes, Abigail would. She is a nice woman. However, since your hours will be erratic, I was going to propose you stay with me in my home. I have plenty of room and I can arrange it so the rent comes out of your pay roll."
"That sounds perfect. Thank you, Carson."
"That's settled then. Now, since you are so eager to get started, I think a good place to start will be at the women and baby clinic the midwives run at the Hope Valley Recreation Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will give you a change to meet most of them in one shot and you can see how we run the clinic. In fact, I will call over to St Mary's and request that you shadow Elizabeth Thatcher today. She is our best nurse/midwife. I've learned a lot from her over the years I have known her."
"That sounds like a good plan for today. Should I meet her at the clinic?"
"Yes, I will set that up. In the meantime, here is my address and a key to get into my house. Go get yourself settled. Clinic is at 2pm."
"Thank you, Carson. I will talk to you later." Jack stood up from his chair and shook hands with Carson. He had a good feeling about this new job and living in Hope Valley. He felt he had finally found his destiny.