THE WINTER MIST

Note: Hello everyone! I'm back with a new story. I had no more inspiration and, finally, another idea suddenly came to mind! So, hang on tight because here we are on a story that is twice longer than usual. For the second time, I'm doing a style of story that I'm not used to because I created a lot of characters. In any case, it's slow burn and it's Jilliam! I hope you will like it!

Disclaimer: The Murdoch Mysteries characters are the property of the creators and producers. I don't own any of them!

Introductions:

When Julia Ogden first set foot on that train, she did not think she would experience all these things. She was sure she would move on, find her luxurious compartment, put down her things and wait quietly for the three days to pass. She would have gone to eat; she would have sat near a window and would have observed the landscape while trying to clear her head.

Days off… When the chief of surgery at the Toronto hospital came to see her in person, all smiles, to tell her that she was working too much and that she had to take time for herself, she had not believed her ears. He had told her that she had proven herself enough and that she could take a break from time to time. Julia had simply laughed with affinity, but, he had not been totally wrong. She had not felt like she was exhausting herself with the task, but it was true that since she had been working as a doctor at the hospital, she had not taken a vacation. And she had been working there for over a year now.

She had thought that she must not stop if, in this year of 1898, she wanted to prove herself as a woman in a man's world. What if, when she returned from a vacation, she had decided to take on her own, the employees understood that she was not strong enough? But in the end, it had been a stupid thought, and she was happy about it. She would not have liked it to be the truth.

So finally, her boss had strongly encouraged her to take two weeks of vacation, which she had done with pleasure. But when she got home the first night of her vacation, she sat on the couch and wondered what she was going to be able to do. She no longer had a social life. She had lost the habit of going out or meeting people. She lived only by her work and the hospital. What was she going to do during this vacation? She had always been very independent but going on a trip alone did not really appeal to her.

Then, on her thoughts, she had quickly dozed off. She had been woken up by Monica, one of her housekeepers. She had tried to drape her in a blanket, as gently and silently as possible, but that had not been enough for Julia, always on the lookout for the slightest suspicious noise. Monica then smiled sweetly at her and told her to go upstairs to bed. Winter was beginning to set in down there, and she feared that Julia would get sick.

"You are right Monica… Thank you." Julia then said weakly as she got up from the couch.

"This vacation will do you good, miss." Monica said sympathetically. "You are exhausted… You work too much if I may say so."

Julia turned to Monica, her heart sinking with emotion. She did not know why but, lately, her emotions were easily coming to the surface.

"Unfortunately, I know perfectly well…"

"You have to take care of yourself."

Julia stared out the window as she waited impatiently for her train to move on. She watched the tall buildings and prominent towers of Toronto, and its people as they passed the train. She remembered the quick conversation she had had with Monica just a few days ago. She had been in a bad mood after their little talk. Julia had no one in her life. Well, that was not entirely true. She had her father who lived in the countryside in the family home in which Julia had spent her childhood. But she rarely saw him. The least we could say was that their relationship had never been the best. As much as Lionel Ogden had never approved of her life choices, from the first to the last, she could not stay in the same room as him. She had understood that she was not his favorite and she had acquired this difference. Ruby was her father's crown jewel – no pun intended. Her little sister Ruby Ogden.

You could not really say that Ruby fit the mold intended for women either, but she was a little more "presentable" according to their father. She was a journalist, and she traveled a lot, but at least she did not do a "man's job". She pretty much knew how to stay in her place, as some had said.

Julia sighed… When Monica had told her to take care of herself, she had thought she would burst into tears. She was not happy. She was so grateful to be doing the job she had always dreamed of, but she had to work twice as hard as other male doctors to prove her worth. She no longer had any social life, as previously noted, and no one to "take care of her". She only had her employees. Monica and all the others, she was so attached to. But they too had a life. She knew they loved her as much as she did, but she also knew perfectly well that when they left her home, it was to join their wives, husbands, children, and families. Unlike her who then remained alone and returned to work the next morning.

Of course, she had met people at the hospital. But she did not really have time to chat with them and she did not think they really wanted to. Most doctors had flinched when she was hired. They had looked at her haughtily and some had tried to destabilize her. Nurses judged her at every corner of the hallway, and some did not do what she said, creating professional conflicts that sometimes-impacted patients.

In addition, she had met Dr. Aymeric Bishop at the hospital. A very good and extremely kind young man. He had respected and liked her from the moment she walked into the establishment. You could not really tell they were friends, but at least she had an ally in that crazy world of the late 1800s. He always winked at her when she passed him in the corridors, and he was the only one who always defended her in the face of the injustices she suffered. He was a very handsome young man and she had seen more than one nurse give her bad looks when she was around him. However, their relationship went no further.

And then there was the head of surgery who had hired her: Matthieu Belford. She could tell he liked her. She saw it in his eyes. He was a little older than Julia and he was very nice to her too. Even though his attraction to her was easily reflected in his eyes and those of the other employees, he never gave any sign that it was the truth. He had never made any inappropriate gesture towards her, and he was always a perfect gentleman. And she was very grateful for that, as she knew it was so rare. She feared that one day he would decide to take a step forward. He might be very handsome and virile, although more marked by age than Aymeric, she was not interested in him… She was not the type to put herself forward when she did not particularly want to. She would refuse his advances, but then what would happen next? Would he get mean to her? Would he fire her? Or would he encourage the other doctors to continue his pettiness towards her?

Sometimes she found that there were so many men who were moving with the times, or who were just plain stupid and mean, that she did not know who to trust. Could Doctor Matthieu Belford be one of these men? She had absolutely no idea. All she could say was that she liked him and would be deeply disappointed if he turned out to be like the others.

Finally, a positive point in this story was that she was left much quieter since the employees had noticed their boss' weakness for the young woman, as well as the friendship that the popular doctor Aymeric Bishop had for her.

The young woman sighed again in front of the static landscape of Toronto, the train still not having left. Why did it take so long to start? Julia took her pocket watch out of her little bag that she had brought with her, in addition to her suitcase: 1:42 p.m.… The train should have left, it was over twenty minutes old. Julia sighed for the third time in a short time. She angrily closed the watch and stuffed it into her jacket pocket. She got up, determined, with the firm intention of going to see the driver or asking an employee the reason for this wait.

The young doctor felt emotionally hurt right now. The smallest thing made her start on the fly, and she knew it perfectly. It was not really her style to get impatient like that for a twenty-minute train-delay. Yet this time, she felt it was too much. She was sometimes tired of constantly taking it upon herself. She herself could not translate her emotions as she raced straight for the front of the car.