Chapter 17:
When Julia and Mr. Champagne finally landed outside the Brackenreids' compartment, the old man knocked on the door and opened it. He led Julia inside first and they were met with four pairs of eyes staring at them without saying a word.
Walid pushed Julia forward slightly so that she could be better seen. Her heart skipped a beat when she met the gaze of William Murdoch who had apparently decided to offer his support to his friends. He was standing near the chair by the window. She looked away with difficulty, trying not to remember what had happened the day before and trying to forget at the same time, how beautiful and attractive she found him. Then she spotted the youngest of the Brackenreid children, sitting on his mother's lap far away from the main bed John was in, pale-faced, eyes closed. Thomas Brackenreid was at his son's bedside, seated on a wooden chair, his arms crossed, and his face closed.
"This is Dr Julia Ogden…She has kindly agreed to examine your son, Brackenreid." began Walid.
"It's a joke!" he exclaimed immediately before standing up and moving closer to them. "I asked you to bring a doctor!"
"But I just told you that she is a doctor…"
"But it's a woman!" Brackenreid cut angrily. "Women are not doctors."
"Thomas!" Margaret exclaimed angrily, still holding her son in her lap.
Julia says nothing. She simply remained unmoved. She was used to this kind of reaction. Inspector Brackenreid was not the first and certainly would not be the last.
"Watch what you say, Brackenreid!" suddenly got angry Walid. "I remind you that my wife was a nurse for almost 20 years."
"Yes. And nursing is a woman's job." Thomas concluded abruptly, sitting back down in his chair opposite the bed where John was still.
"Sir… Let Doctor Ogden examine him. I'm sure she's perfectly competent." William reasoned before glancing at Julia who was speechless. She would not have thought for a second that he would have defended her.
Julia then moved slowly towards the bed. "I'm a doctor at the Toronto Hospital, Inspector. And people like you, I see them every day. Yet, whether they like it or not, the patients pass with me, and none have ever complained about my work. Let me examine him."
When Thomas Brackenreid was unresponsive, Julia finally sat down on the bed next to John and cautiously began her examination, despite the five eyes now fixed on her.
When William had finally managed to get out of his room after the awful night he had spent, he had headed straight for a restaurant car, hungry. He had lunch quietly, lost in thought. It was useless to ramble on about the events of the day before and what was bothering him, but he was still thinking of the young woman. He felt lame and stupid actually. And he was sure she thought he was just as stupid. He acted like an idiot whenever he was in her presence. He always had her watch with him, and he absolutely had to return it…
After a while, his superior had come to sit at his table for lunch too, with a worried face. He had shyly asked him if everything was all right, and he had confessed to him that his son John had been ill since the day before. He was worried and he did not know what to do. He had confided in him that Margaret was currently with their sons.
It was William who had pushed his superior to ask his friend Walid Champagne if he knew a doctor or if a passenger on that train was qualified to examine his son. Mr. Champagne, very kind and understanding, had agreed to check if he could find someone to take care of John. He had indicated that he would return as soon as possible to give them news. William had accompanied Brackenreid to his compartment and stayed with them to keep them company, though helpless in the face of the situation.
When a knock sounded at the door and it opened, everyone held their breath, hoping that Walid would not return alone. But no. He was accompanied by a young woman. A young woman who, as soon as he saw her, made William's heart leap. Julia Ogden was here… So that meant…
"I present to you Doctor Julia Ogden." Walid proudly declared.
She was a doctor! Julia Ogden was a doctor… It was fascinating and so impressive that William was frozen in place. She met his gaze for a few seconds, and he felt his hands becoming sweaty.
After a slight argument and stubbornness on the part of Thomas Brackenreid, Julia was finally able to sit up on the bed and begin to examine little John dutifully. Walid finally sat down on the sofa in front of the windows, next to Margaret and Bobby, and William stood frozen in place, his mouth slightly open, completely impressed.
They observed her trying to examine the young boy even though she was, at that precise moment, devoid of any medical instrument. After a good ten minutes, the young woman got up.
"If I understood correctly, he had a stomachache and a headache yesterday? And this morning, he was pale, he didn't eat anything, and he threw up." the young woman remembered.
"Yes so? What happens to him? Is that bad?" asked Thomas, who seemed to forget his earlier remarks about what women could or could not do.
"He vomited once. No more?"
"No…" replied Margaret who, just as worried, was now stroking Bobby's face.
"Didn't he feel better after throwing up?"
"No… It was even almost worse." replied the chief inspector, rising from his chair.
"Well… don't worry, it's nothing serious. He's got car sickness, that's all…" concluded Julia, a sad smile on her face. "And it's rather bad timing... Because we'll have to go back to Toronto after..."
"Oh!" Thomas sighed in relief and looked at his son. "I was thinking…my god…"
"...that he had appendicitis?" finished the young woman with a smile. "No… don't worry. He doesn't have to stay in bed. He must eat, he must get up, he must walk. If things are really bad, he has to get to the front of the train, and you have to open the window so he can breathe some air. When we get to Sitka, I'll get some motion sickness medicine. He will take them for the return. Luckily, we arrive tomorrow morning, huh?" she asked John rhetorically, caressing his cheek for a second.
William could not help but smile at this image.
"I... thank you... That's very kind... Doctor Ogden." said Thomas Brackenreid kindly, albeit with a little difficulty.
"Yes, thank you Doctor." Margaret repeated as she got up and approached Julia to shake her hand. "So, he's not contagious…I mean…Can Bobby stay in the room with him?"
"Yes, yes of course."
"How much do we owe you?" asked the chief inspector suddenly, trying to keep from making a grimace that easily translated that the month would be difficult if the price of the consultation was high.
"Oh… This is for me. It was a pleasure." she smiled gently, under William's increasingly admiring gaze.
"But… no, we…"
"Good evening!" Julia suddenly cut in, still smiling, not wanting to give the Brackenreids a chance to feel uncomfortable about her offer.
She turned and quickly left the compartment, her floral scent lingering in the room for a while longer.
"Thank you, Champagne." continued Thomas shamefully. "Excuse me for…"
"It's nothing. But you shouldn't say that to me... It's to Doctor Ogden."
He shook his hand and kissed Margaret's one, who blushed slightly. He slipped out of their compartment and closed the door behind him.
Note: Well...Julia has examined Bobby and William seems to have been overwhelmed. No comments on Brackenreid's reaction haha!