Chapter 56:

It had been four days since The Winter Mist had returned to the station, and William and Inspector Brackenreid had been overwhelmed. To begin with, they had to deal with the Lauzon brothers and everything that followed, namely: the trial and the verdict. Since William and Thomas had been on the train, they had to testify. The young detective had been rather surprised to see almost all the train passengers in the crowd. He had even greeted a few of them, including Magnus Duval, who had slipped him a "no hard feelings." in the ear with a genuine smile that William returned.

Then, William had to take care of the current affairs that had fallen during their absence. In addition, as their coroner had started the process to finally change sectors in medicine, he was no longer present full-time. He apologized for not waiting for the Station to find a new doctor, as he had originally promised. The time had been too long for him. He was therefore not always available, and it was sometimes difficult to manage.

But the most difficult thing to manage was not seeing Julia. He had not heard from her in four days and his mood was showing. He missed her terribly, but he knew perfectly well that they had been overwhelmed, one like the other. But now he could finally breathe. And he had decided to go straight to the Toronto hospital after his service.

As he climbed the stone stairs outside the large building that was the Toronto Hospital, he felt his breath catch in anxiety. What if she did not want to see him? What if her silence was actually a sign that she was done with him, and it was just a game? But no, he could not believe that. She loved him… She had told him so.

There was a lot of coming and going between the hospital and outside and he had to stand in line in front of the reception. He did not know where Julia was, and he had to ask his way in this huge building.

When it was finally his turn, he found himself in front of a young woman in a white blouse and with braided and tight black hair.

"Hello Sir. What can I do for you?" she asked in an almost automatic voice. The sign that she was saying this sentence for perhaps the hundredth time today.

"Good day Mrs." William tilted his hat slightly. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Doctor Julia Ogden."

The young woman raised her eyebrows, as if surprised by such a request. It was true that it must have been rare for an unaccustomed person to ask a doctor directly.

"Well…she's in her office…" she answered hesitantly.

"Where can I find her office, please?" he asked with a beating heart.

"And you're?" she asked, unsure.

"We worked together on a recent case."

"I…I don't know if I can direct you to her office. We don't know who you are sir." answered the young woman anxiously.

William looked behind him and saw the people standing in line with angry, impatient faces. He thought of something. But he was not going to do that, was he? It was illegal… He met the anxious eyes of the secretary again and opened his jacket to reveal his shiny detective badge.

"Detective William Murdoch. I'd like you to kindly direct me to Dr. Ogden's office so I can talk to her about the last case we worked on together."

Detective Murdoch watched the young woman's eyes widen in shock.

"Oh… But you should have told me right away, detective… That's the deal on the train, isn't it?"

William nodded slightly, his face closed and his gaze serious. He saw the secretary swallow.

"Her office is on the sixth floor, on the left wing. There is her shingle with her name written on it just at the entrance…"

"Thank you, miss." William concluded, zipping up his jacket and walking quickly towards the office in question.

He rushed to the sixth floor and left, towards the left wing. He read several shingles until he found Julia's. He inhaled. How awful, his heart was beating so hard he thought he was faint. He was very anxious to see her. He could not wait but at the same time he could not help but wonder again why he had not heard from her. He raised his arm to strike, then grimaced and lowered it. No, it was not going to start again like on the train. He was not going to stand outside the door raising and lowering his hand until he had the courage to knock, was he?

Finally, he took a deep breath and knocked firmly on the door.

Note: William is very anxious to see Julia again, it seems... I hope you still like my story. We are almost at the end, friends.