CHAPTER 20:

Derek panicked. He was panicking. Of course, he panicked. Doctor Ogden had been very agitated since she had been rushed to the hospital two days ago and now, he had just been told that she was not in her room. By conscience, he had to check for himself and, indeed, she was not there. The bed was unmade but no trace of Julia. He knew she could be stubborn. Perhaps she had had enough and had "escaped" from the hospital?

"She's not in her office either." Brenda, a left-wing nurse at the hospital, suddenly called out.

"Why would she be in her office? She is not in service."

Brenda looked at the head of the hospital and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. He cared too much about this woman when she did not care about him. He had to wake up now. Besides, he had probably taken a jump on the head knowing that she was courting this handsome man. William Murdoch. Everyone knew now. The rumor had started from Marie, the only nurse present when the two young people were taken to the hospital.

But that was not the most important thing. More important was what had happened at the Weston mansion. Toronto was in mourning. It was the least we could say. Brenda sighed, tossing down a journal she had found in the hospital rest room. She was still looking for Dr. Ogden. The diary she had just thrown away was about what happened at that reception. Doctor Ogden and Detective Murdoch had been followed by specialists since they were in the hospital, and they had asked that they not see any article about the case. It did not have to keep bringing them back to what had happened to them.

Besides, the case had made so much noise. People were angry with these men who had hurt their families and they saw William and Julia as survivors. And that was literally what they were.

Finally, the men having killed themselves, there would be no trial. No one to punish, or anything but bury their loved ones...

Brenda knocked on Detective Murdoch's door and opened it when she heard no response. Would miss that he too had disappeared. She froze when she saw what was in the room. Just Julia and William, entwined in bed, fast asleep.

She stopped herself from laughing. It was true that they went very well together and that they were adorable. Personally, she did not care if they slept together, but she knew the head of the hospital would not have the same thought. Also, these were not really things that were done between unmarried people.

She should go see Derek Tresco…

It was useless to describe the face the head of the hospital had made when he found out where Julia was. Anyway, she was taken back to her room and stayed there all day.

After which, William Murdoch had expressly requested to be in the same room as Julia. Derek had been categorically against it, but unexpectedly the psychiatrists had thought it would help them heal mentally. They were both moved to a room with two separate single beds. It was only a few more days anyway. Their physical healings were going wonderfully.

"Would it be overkill if we glued our beds together?" William suddenly asked as he lay in his own hospital bed for the third night in a row.

"We don't care, do we?" joked the young woman who was already jumping out of bed.

She stood on the latter's left and pushed it up to William's with her back, her wrist still in bad shape. The young man looked at her, his eyes shining with amusement as his side was still too fragile for him to help. He had been lucky that the psychiatrists and doctors accepted the idea that he and Julia stayed in the same room during their stays. He felt much better when she was around. When he was alone, he could not think of anything but this evening...

When Julia got back into her bed, which was now stuck to the right of William's, she exhaled in satisfaction. The young man looked at her tenderly and put his hand on hers. Julia squeezed it with a small smile.

"How did you become a detective? Is this what you always wanted to do?" she asked him after a quiet moment.

William turned his head to the night sky that shone through the only small window in the bedroom.

"To tell you the truth…I think my father killed my mother…"

Julia froze and stopped herself from gasping in horror.

"I remember him beating her. And one day was too much. He pushed her, she fell, and she hit her head against the fireplace… She got up but she had internal bleeding. She died a few hours later… in front of me… While we were fishing in the river…" William paused in his story and turned his head towards Julia.

He saw her looking at him with love and compassion in her eyes and it gave him the courage to continue telling his story.

"When her body was taken away by the police at the time, there was no conviction. There was no autopsy done or any research… I promised myself this kind of thing would never happen again… For anyone…" William looked away, embarrassed. "That's kind of stupid..."

"Not at all, William. It's honorable…" Julia felt overwhelmed by what he had just revealed to her. She felt both sad for him and happy that he felt confident enough to tell her such a story.

Note: Thank you to those who continue to read my story and appreciate it.