CHAPTER 17:
William woke up with a start. Where was he? Where was Julia?
"It's okay, Detective Murdoch… You're safe and in the hospital. You have undergone an operation and your colleagues are here to…"
"Where is Julia?" William suddenly exclaimed, his voice crackling.
Derek Tresco frowned and glanced at Chief Inspector Brackenreid and the two officers who had the same expression as him. What was going on between the two?
"She's fine…" Thomas replied, putting a hand on his detective's arm.
"I want to see her..." William tried to sit up to get out of bed, but Brackenreid held him back by the shoulders.
"Now enough of your bullshit you two. You will see you later, you need to rest."
William sighed. He ran his hand over his chest and panicked instantly.
"Where is it?!" he cried.
"What are you talking about?" Brackenreid then asked.
"My necklace! There's Julia's ring hanging on it!"
"It is here." the nurse answered as calmly as possible as she pulled the necklace out of her pocket. "I removed it from you before your operation."
William nodded and held out his hand impatiently as the other people in the room looked on in amazement. But he did not care. After what he had been through last night, all he cared about was Julia.
The nurse came forward in shock and gave the necklace to the inspector who nearly ripped it out of her hands. He looked down at him in the palm of his hand and closed it.
"I want to see Julia…"
Brackenreid rolled his eyes. William was only talking about Julia and Julia was only talking about William. What was that nonsense...
"You must rest." Derek said, still in the back of the room.
William shook his head impatiently.
"Nope. I want to see her." he persisted.
"Murdoch…"
"But let me see her!" What's wrong?"
Brackenreid turned in his chair to Doctor Tresco. The latter did not seem to be really excited by the idea of letting them see each other. He could not guess why he was reluctant to the idea, but what he did know was that his best detective would not let go. He tried to make the doctor understand it with an insistent look and he uncrossed his arms with a sigh.
"Fine…I'll go get her…"
William sighed in relief. He absolutely needed to see her.
"Murdoch…You have to tell us…Doctor Julia Ogden has already told us what happened, but maybe you could enlighten us a little bit more?"
"Yes… But you went to the Weston mansion?"
Thomas tried to keep a stoic face. Unfortunately, William, who knew his boss all too well, noticed right away that he was not telling him everything.
"What is happening…?"
"We went there when Doctor Ogden explained to us what had happened there." Thomas paused and took a deep breath. "There are no survivors, Murdoch… Only you two."
William lowered his head. No one had made it out… Entire families were going to be in mourning.
"And the three killers?!" William suddenly asked, raising his head.
"They… They each shot themselves in the head."
"What?! You are kidding!" William jerked upright, which caused him to feel immense pain in his side.
"Calm down…"
"Calm down?! You have no idea what we went through there! No idea, okay? Don't tell me… Don't tell me to calm down…" William quickly panted, completely losing his temper. "I saw… I saw a man die from a bullet in the head, you understand! A lovely man who… A lovely man…"
William fell silent. He did not want to talk to his boss about it. But the announcement of the death of those who had done this to them disgusted him. They had been cowards. Unable to bear the consequences of their own actions. There would be no trial… Nothing. No judgment or sentence assigned.
"When we arrived, they were still in the mansion. I think they were looking for you and Dr. Ogden. They must have known the number of guests present at this party and they must have missed two. Only we surrounded them and, trapped, they took their own lives…" Brackenreid huffed. "I think they either planned to run away quietly after that or they agreed to kill themselves if they got caught."
William huffed in frustration.
"William…"
The young man looked up quickly to see Julia standing in the half-open door, dressed in a long white nightgown, her right arm immobilized slung over her shoulder. Probably for his wrist, William guessed. Her hair was loose and came down to the middle of her back. He wanted to get up, but he was not crazy either. He knew it would not be good the way he was.
"Julia!" cried the young man.
The young woman rushed over to the detective, and they hugged, trying not to press on each other's physical injuries. William could not help cupping her face and kissing her deeply, glad they were both alive. She had saved his life. She had dragged him as hard as she could through the bushes and into the town.
Thomas cleared his throat in embarrassment. He looked away from the unexpected display of affection of the two young people and looked at the head of the hospital who seemed to decompose on the spot. Another one whose heart had just broken...
"Are you doing well?" William inquired, gently touching her arm in a sling.
"Nothing that can't heal... I should rather ask you that..."
"I…"
"He is fine. He was operated on, and he is out of danger…"
William and Julia looked in surprise at the head of the hospital who stood with his arms crossed in the corner of the room. The young detective felt directly what was happening. He did not want to gloat, but he thought he guessed that the chief had a crush on Julia for a small eternity.
"Yes… I'm fine now… We got through it…"
"We made it…" repeated Julia sadly, trying not to remember what had happened.
Note: William and Julia have reunited and are now completely out of danger. How will things evolve now ? Thank you for the last review I received :) Hope you will like the next chapters !
