Thank you for all your lovely reviews for chapter 2. I hope you'll enjoy this one.

As always huge thanks for Ethelfreda for correcting the chapter and supporting me!

It was the evening of the same day, when William, Julia and Margaret were sitting in the hospital room together. It's been hours since the crisis began and there was still no sign of improvement.

"It's very late William, you really should go home now" said Julia after the clock chimed midnight.

"I can't. I just can't leave my friend now."

"The best thing you can do for him, is to catch his attackers, and you cannot do that after two sleepless nights. You have to go to bed." she was persistent

"Yes, go William. I'm very grateful for your presence and support, but I understand you have your duties. Thomas would have sent you home straight away, if only he was conscious" added Margaret with a sigh.

"I know all of that, but I really cannot leave now."

"You have a very good heart, William... The boys wanted to come here too, you know. John was really persistent about that, but I refused."

"But why Margaret?" Murdoch seemed a bit surprised

"The boys are still very young and I don't think seeing their father like this would be good for them. What's more if they were here I would have to keep an eye on them and I can't manage taking care of them right now, it's just too much." Margaret's eyes once more welled with tears.

Julia squeezed her friend's hand reassuringly. She wished she would never have to go through what Margaret was enduring right now. She saw William injured more than once and last year, for a moment she thought, he had drowned. Those seconds were the worst in her entire life. Worse than struggling for breath when she was buried alive, worse than the moment she heard the judge sentence her to hang for the murder she didn't commit, worse than feeling the touch of the rope on her neck.

It was only comparable to the moment when she saw the body of a dark-haired young man near William's church, just after he had gone missing a few years ago. But then she didn't love him as much as she did now, and she could only imagine what a nightmare it would be for her to sit and watch the love of her life fighting with death as now was Margaret.

"It is almost six in the morning Margaret and I believe I have to go now, if I don't want to be late for work" said William getting up from his chair. They still didn't know if the Inspector would live and even for Murdoch that uncertainty was unbearable.

"Of course, William, thank you for being here. Thomas is lucky to have you as a friend" despite her voice cracking, Margaret was not crying. One look at her was enough to tell she was suffering, but she did everything to conceal the emotional torment he was feeling and appear calm.

Detective Murdoch exited the hospital very worried about his superior. He hadn't lost faith yet, but it was harder and harder for him to believe that this story would have a happy ending. Not knowing how and when, he got to his house where he washed and changed. At the Station, he spent almost an hour trying to move on with the case, but with no result. A quarter past eight Chief Constable Giles arrived and all the men gathered around him to hear what he had to say.

"As you all know, Inspector Thomas Brackenreid was brutally attacked two days ago and is still fighting for his life in the hospital" began the man. "As you're also aware this Station House has been left without an inspector. We've been debating about it and after serious consideration we have decided to nominate Detective Murdoch the Acting Inspector" he said passing William a badge. "You can of course promote one of the constables to an Acting Detective, if you need Murdoch, and you can count on the other station's help with taking over some minor cases. From now on..." the chief constable was again addressing all of the men "your highest priority is to catch Inspector Brackenreid's attacker or attackers. No one can harm a policeman and remain unpunished, is that clear?"

Everyone just nodded.

"I expect to see those bastards caught within days and stand trial for their crimes. We will show them that attacking a police officer will not be tolerated! That is all for now. Go and do your duties, you should not rest until you have the perpetrators in custody." and with that he left.

"If I may, sir" said Constable Higgins after Giles disappeared behind the main door "I'd like to say what we all think. We are very glad that it's you who is our inspector now. We couldn't stand anyone else taking inspector Brackenreid's place under the circumstances." There was a loud rumble of consent from the lads.

"Thank you Henry. I'm glad to know I have your confidence, because we have a difficult task before us. I will probably need you to work longer than usual, but I won't spare myself either. Go back to your duties now. Constable Crabtree, come with me to my office, please."

"Do you want me to take your things to the new office, sir?" asked Crabtree once he closed the door behind himself.

"No George. I am not going to move. The inspector's office should remain untouched until he comes back."

"Yes sir, of course." Constable met his superior's eye for a second and looked down. They both knew that the inspector's return was not certain, but refused to acknowledge it.

"I am going to work both as an inspector and detective now, and I'll need you to remain a constable, however from time to time the situation will require you to be a detective. Here is your new badge, George – use it whenever you need it."

"Thank you very much for having confidence in me, sir"

"I would have promoted you to an acting detective, but I'm going to need you as a constable as well. There are things in this case that can't be entrusted to Henry, despite his latest improvement. You're going to be my right hand as you've always been, but this time it will require much more work from you."

"I'll be honoured to help you as much as I can."

"Good. Now, I need all the constables to check the archives from the last 20 years in search for everyone who has ever threatened the police."

"20 years is a long time, sir."

"Yes, but we can't take any chances George, this case is too important. You and Henry will look into the inspector's cases, dating from ten to five years ago and I'll check those from the last 5 years. We are looking for anything that could bring us to the attackers. Oh, and send someone to ask people if they saw something. It's not very likely, but even though we should try."

"Of course. May I suggest one thing, sir?"

"Naturally, what is it?"

"I think we could ask Dr. Ogden to help us to determine whether the attacker wanted to harm the inspector specifically, or just any policeman."

"Thank you, George, that's a very good idea indeed... And one more thing, it's attackers, not attacker. I thought it over and now I'm sure we are looking for at least 2 people. The Inspector is a strong man and one person could not overpower and injure him so easily."

A soft knocking on the door woke up Julia, who didn't manage to stay awake and dozed off half an hour ago.

"Good morning Margaret, Julia. I had the morning off, and I was wondering if I could be of any help here." Dr. Grace stood in the doorway looking at her friends.

"It would be lovely if you could stay with me for a while, Doctor" said the inspector's wife. "Julia you've been here long enough, go home and have a rest before work."

"You should go home too, Margaret. I know you didn't sleep at all last night."

"I won't leave until I'm sure Thomas will live, Julia. Don't try to convince to go home. We both know that you would do the same, if it were William in that bed."

"Are you sure you will be alright, Margaret?"

"Emily will keep my company, don't worry about me."

"I'll see you later, then. Good bye." Julia was feeling guilty about leaving her friend with someone she didn't know very well, but on the other hand she was totally exhausted and longed to spend at least a few hours in bed.

It took quite a long time before Julia's maid finally said that her mistress was on the line.

"William?" he heard very sleepy voice of his fiancée "Do you have any news about the inspector?"

"No Julia. Did I wake you up?"

"You did, but that's fine, William. I was with Margaret until eight this morning when Emily came, and I decided to go home and sleep for a few hours before my afternoon shift at the asylum."

"I'm sorry, Julia. I should have known you were sleeping. I am glad you were able to get some rest."

"Not unlike my fiancé, who apparently hasn't been asleep for two nights... How are you coping?"

"It's very busy here. I'll tell you everything later, but now I wanted to ask you for help."

"Naturally. What do you want me to do?"

"It's about the inspector. I want you to look at his injuries and tell me if the attackers wanted to harm him, or just any policeman. I'd also like to know something about the killer, any information you can provide will be helpful."

"You want me to create some kind of psychological profile?"

"Yes, that is if you have time."

"You know that I'm always glad to help you and don't forget that the inspector is my colleague as well. Right now I can tell you there was more than one assailant and they most probably targeted Brackenreid. I do not think this was a random attack at a..., but, I will go and look at his injuries after I finish work."

"Thank you, Julia, that will be a great help."

"You're welcome. It was nice to hear your voice, William."

"Yes, it was nice to hear you too, but now you should go back to sleep and I have to continue my investigation."

"Margaret, Margaret, wake up." Dr. Grace gently touched her superior's wife

"What is it Emily?" Mrs. Brackenreid has finally fallen asleep in an armchair.

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I have to go to work now and I didn't want you to wake up and see I was gone without saying goodbye."

"Oh I see... Thank you for staying with me..." it was more than clear that the woman didn't want to be left alone.

"I really have to go, but if there's anything I can do..."

"No, thank you, I'll be fine."

"I will call you after work to see how you're faring."

"Thank you, Emily it's very kind of you."

"I only wish I could stay with you, Margaret."

Margaret was watching the clock's hands moving slowly for almost an hour. She didn't want to show her weakness in front of other people, but now, when she was alone, she began to slowly break down and it was harder and harder for her to blink away the tears. She was about to give up, when she heard someone coming.

"John! What are you doing here?!" she was so shocked to see her older son in the hospital that her face had gone white and she looked as if she were going to collapse.

"Please, sit down mum, you must be exhausted" John helped his mother to an armchair.

"How did you get here? Do your grandparents know that you're here? I told you to stay with them. You should have..."

"Please calm down, mother. I telephoned grandma from the station. I... I had to come. He's my father and you cannot keep me away from him. I'm not a child anymore. I came here to be with my father and take care of you."

Margaret was shocked. Her little Johnny didn't sound like a child any more. He was speaking like a grown up man.

"Your father would be so proud of you, Johnny!" those were the only words she managed to say.

"He will have many opportunities to feel that way once he's recovered. And he will recover" ha added firmly, seeing the expression of uncertainty on his mother's face.

"Oh John, I'm so glad you're here" said Mrs. Brackenreid hugging her son.

Mother and son spent a couple of hours talking quietly. John told Margaret how he had tried to convince his grandparents to let him go and then, when despite his efforts they didn't change their minds, he stole the money from them and bought a train ticket to Toronto.

"I know I shouldn't have stolen the money and I intend to give it back" he explained "but I know that coming here was the only right thing to do. Before I left, I made Bobby promise, that he won't follow me. He was trying to be brave, but he is still a child."

It was already four a.m. and Inspector Brackenreid had a high fever and was delirious. The woman and her son were quietly praying for him to survive, but they slowly begun to lose hope. It was much more than twenty-four hours since the crisis had begun and there was still no sign of improvement. Suddenly the inspector became silent and still.

"John. John! John is he.. dead?!" asked Margaret almost crying

"He's lying still..."

"No, no! Thomas, no! Don't leave me!"

"Shh, shhh..."John was hugging his crying mother, trying to comfort her. Tears were running down his cheeks, but he was not sobbing. The pain he was feeling was enormous, but he knew he had to be strong for his mum. Still holding her he looked once more at the body of his beloved father. Suddenly he noticed something... Yes! He was breathing!

"Wait here, mum" he said just before running out of the room and leaving his mother completely flabbergasted. After a short while he came back with a doctor, who quickly examined the inspector and said:

"The crisis passed, Mrs. Brackenreid. You husband will live."

TBC

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