Chapter 100. The Unexpected Patient

On Tuesday morning, Julia woke before all the sleepy headed teenage girls. She sat up and glanced around at Allie and her adorable friends. Then she slowly rose and went to the kitchen to make coffee.

When she finally had a cup in hand, Julia sat down and took in her surroundings. She loved this cute little row house, and she was excited to live a season here, with Nathan and Allie, before their house was finished. As she enjoyed her coffee, Julia took a good long look around the room. She still found Nathan's taste surprising for a single man, warm and masculine, yet cozy and inviting. The dark blues and wood tones he chose were tasteful and stylish. He had things placed thoughtfully around the room, mementos from the different places he and Allie had lived, and his time serving different communities. Everything was simple, but nice. Nathan was not the kind of person who bought fancy things, but when he did purchase something, he chose based on quality, and not on price. And when he was able, he made the things they needed himself, though not because he couldn't afford to buy them, but because he found value in making things with his own hands.

When Julia finished her cup of coffee, she went back to the kitchen and got to work. She set butter and syrup out on the table, and prepared pancake batter. About that time, Allie woke and walked sleepily into the kitchen, and she and Julia talked for a minute. When Allie was finally awake enough, they worked side by side, flipping pancakes.

By the time the other girls roused, a large stack of golden pancakes was waiting for them. The girls were groggy but pleased as they came to the table and ate breakfast. They raved about Julia and Allie's pancakes. And when everyone was done, they all pitched in to clean up.

One by one, the girls thanked Allie for an excellent sleepover and went home. Then Allie and Julia finished cleaning up, just as they had promised Nathan they would.

Julia glanced at the clock. She didn't have much time before she needed to get ready for work, and neither did Allie. But she had one question, after looking around the room, this morning. "Allie, do you know where your dad put my painting? The one I gave him on his birthday?"

Allie smiled. "Oh, it's in his room. He wanted it to be the first thing he saw every morning." She paused and looked at the stairs. "You can go see if you'd like. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Julia couldn't possibly. "No, it's perfectly fine, Allie. I was just wondering." She told her. "I better get going. I need to freshen up and get ready for work." She paused. "I'll see you after your shift at the telephone?"

"Yes, of course." Allie looked at the clock and realized she needed to hurry, too. Allie approached and gave Julia a big hug. "Thank you for such a fun night with my friends."

"It was my joy, Allie." And she slowly let go. "Have a good day at work."

"You too, Julia." And Julia grabbed her bag and headed home.

Just before 12 noon, Clara burst excitedly into the infirmary. She walked over to Julia, who was sitting at her desk, and eagerly told her. "Julia, we just got in the most beautiful wedding dress! It's almost exactly what you are looking for! The sleeves are a little different, but it's so perfect. Can you come and try it on?"

Julia was intrigued by Clara's excitement. "Really? You think it could be the one?"

"I do! I really do!" Clara told her excitedly. "And if we need, we can always make minor changes." Clara told her.

"Okay!" Julia answered, excited now, and glanced at the clock. "Can I come by on my lunch break? In say, half an hour?"

"Perfect! I'll be waiting." Clara told her and almost skipped right back out the door.

At 12:30, Julia didn't even eat first, but headed straight over to the dress shop. Clara literally giggled with delight when she saw Julia come through the door. The dress was already hanging in the dressing room, ready.

"I don't know if Dottie sent it over by mistake, or if it's meant to be a sample on the rack, but it's just perfect!" Clara told her, as she led Julia into the dressing room and showed her. Clara was right, this dress was exactly what she had been looking for.

It took a while to get it on, there were a lot of buttons in the back. But when Julia came out and stood in front of the mirror, she almost couldn't breathe. Her heart did funny things and she just knew. This was the dress. The dress that she would wear to become Mrs. Nathan Grant. And she couldn't wait for Nathan to see it.

Julia turned sideways and Clara stood speechless. "Julia," was all she could manage. The dress was just beautiful on her - accentuated her coloring and her silhouette, and matched her quiet elegance.

Next, Clara positioned the mirror so she could see the back. Julia turned another quarter turn, and took in the exquisite lace and all the buttons, that embellished the back. The dress was slightly longer in the rear, making for a modest but delicate little train. No doubt about it, this was the dress. She loved everything about it.

She looked at Clara, and then back in the mirror. Slowly, Julia turned back toward the front. She took in the dress a second or two longer and then whispered, "This is it." Clara had known the moment she'd pulled it from the box.

The fit was nearly perfect. There were only a few minor touches to be made, and Clara went to work, pinching and pinning.

She stepped back and inspected the way the dress fell to the floor. Clara told her, "The length is just right, Julia. Nothing to take up there. How tall are you? 5'7'' or 5'8''?"

From Julia's view in the mirror, she agreed the length was spot on. Still mesmerized, she responded without even realizing it, "I'm 5 foot 8."

Clara spotted one more little section where the dress was too big, and she went back to work with her pinching. When she had those last few pins in place, she followed Julia to the dressing room and helped her step out of it.

Clara was careful to keep all the pins in place, as she carried the dress. "I'll get to work on it right away. Maybe we can have another fitting on Friday?"

Julia felt the excitement deep in her belly as she dressed into her simple skirt and blouse. Her wedding dress could be ready as early as Friday? Somehow, that knowledge made the wedding seem very close...and that made her heart race.

On Tuesday evening, Julia and Allie met Jake for dinner at the cafe. The place was busy, so Bill brought them into the kitchen, to eat with him, at his table. Allie loved when Bill did that, and so did Julia. It felt like a privilege, something only reserved for a special few, not to mention that Bill was different when he sat down with them like that. He was less guarded, more open and warm - in his element. Cooking just did that to him.

Bill, Allie, Jake, and Julia talked and laughed, and enjoyed a great dinner. It did all of them good to be together, and to laugh a little. And, Bill was in a particularly good mood. He even told a few old stories of his early days in Hope Valley, back when it was called Coal Valley. When the mayor had been a woman, someone Bill still admired greatly, and school was held in the saloon.

After dinner, Bill brought out a cobbler fresh from the oven, and served four plates. When dessert was long over, and they were all talked out, Jake walked Julia and Allie back to Julia's apartment. Then he said good night, and headed home.

That night, Julia and Allie were fast asleep - one, dreaming of school starting back, and the other, deep in a dream of a man in red - when a strong, sharp knock sounded at the infirmary door. In fact, the knock was so loud, and broke the silence so abruptly, even through that thick wall, that Julia sat stark upright in bed.

And Julia knew, by that tell-tale knock - the desperation and urgency of it - that something was wrong. She stood quickly and moved towards the adjoining door. She opened it just in time to hear the loud, frightened knock again, and this time, the sound woke Allie, too.

Allie sat up and looked frightened. "Who could that be?"

"It must be an emergency of some kind, Allie. Do you want to stay here?" Julia asked gently, in an effort to diffuse her alarm.

"Alone?" Allie's face said it all.

"Come, Allie." And Allie came, and Julia tucked her safely under her arm.

Together, they moved to the door and Julia asked loudly, "Who is it?"

A frightened young man's voice came through from the other side. "Nurse Matthews? I've got Jimmy, Jimmy McIntosh. He's been hurt real bad and he said to bring him here, to you."

Julia opened the door and found a young man barely holding up a bleeding, unconscious Jimmy McIntosh.

Julia looked down at Allie, who nodded up at her. Allie stepped out from under Julia's arm and stood close to the wall.

"What happened?" Julia asked as she took Jimmy under the arm on his other side, and led them over to the treatment table.

"Some guys jumped us and they had a knife, the kind with a hooked blade. They got Jimmy real good." The young man explained, as he and Julia set Jimmy on the table. He was not in good shape, had already lost a lot of blood, and had walked here from who knows how far.

Julia realized the young man standing in front of her was also bleeding. "And, you…you're bleeding too, young man. What's your name?" Julia asked with a furrowed brow.

"I'm Davy." He paused and looked down. "And yea, they got me, too." The blood stained his shirt at the abdomen and trailed down the front of his pant leg.

Julia walked over to Allie, who hadn't moved a muscle. She bent down and looked her in the eye. "Allie, I need you to do something very important for me. Can you please run and get Faith, and then go get Jake, for me?" Allie nodded confident. She immediately ran into Julia's apartment, donned her shoes, grabbed a lantern, and took off running out the door.

Faith, Julia, and Jake worked long - all night long. And, their work was tough and grueling. Jimmy had severe injuries, a lot of damage done, and over the course of the long surgery to save him, they almost lost him several times. And by the time they were through patching him up, he had lost far too much blood. Davy's injuries were much less severe, so he was a lot easier to put back together. And there was still the risk of infection, for both of them. Faith was in doctor mode and was honest - she didn't give much hope for Jimmy, but Jake and Julia didn't give up on him. They had both felt compassion for him, the first time they'd met him, and they both wanted him to have the opportunity at a second chance.

In the morning, they were all three exhausted, and Jimmy was no better. In fact, he looked even worse, pale and cold and clammy. Two steps from death's door, and all for what, probably an unpaid debt, that some unsavory character had come to collect. It seemed like such a waste of life, as Julia sat there in the chair next to him.

Faith and Julia stepped away with Jake, and discussed a blood transfusion, which Faith thought was Jimmy's best chance at getting over this first hurdle. Even Jake agreed and had done it several times, when he had served a long medic rotation during his military service. It was probably Jimmy's only hope at this point. Though Faith did carefully remind them this was just the first hurdle, of many that Jimmy would have to overcome, to survive.

So, in the early morning, Faith announced the call for blood, just as they had done before Ned's operation. And that was done by simply calling Rosemary and putting her on the job. By 8 a.m., they had a line at the door, and Faith and Julia were soon busy doing simple prick tests to find blood matches. Not long after, they had two matched donors filling bags, and a third one waiting right behind. Two more matches were found later in the morning and they gave blood, too. One of the donors was William, Jimmy's distant cousin, and another was Florence.

And as soon as the first bag was full, Faith hooked it up to Jimmy, and they prayed. Over the course of the day, they gave him three pints altogether, one after the other. And, they held a fourth and fifth pint in reserve.

A short time after the second transfusion was started, Davy woke up. He'd been out since his surgery, and finally came to. Julia checked him for signs of shock or infection, and everything checked out normal. Jake came in and sat with him, and asked questions. A crime had been committed, even if Jimmy and Davy were not necessarily upstanding citizens, and Jake intended to investigate. Davy was vague in his responses, though Jake was clever. He got the vital information and would call Constable Clement in Benson Hills, first chance he got.

While Jake was in with Davy, and Faith was in with Jimmy, Julia went outside and sat on the bench outside. She just needed a breather. It had been a long surgery for Jimmy, and Davy, and a long night besides. She laid her head back against the wall, and closed her eyes. They had done all they humanly could, and with the transfusions, they were giving Jimmy the best chance possible, by human means. But now, it was up to God - if God wanted him to live, he would have to sustain him. So Julia prayed. She put it all in God's hands and felt a unexpected peace wash over her.

Jake came out a few minutes later and sat down. He put a loving, supportive arm around his sister and sat with her for a long time. Julia assumed he was doing the same thing - praying and putting it in the Lord's hands. Then Jake slowly looked over, "I'm proud of you, sis. You and Faith, you did a great job. You both did excellent work and gave him a good fighting chance. Now it's up to his Maker." Julia's eyes filled with tears and she nodded.

"I'm going to call Benson Hills, and put some things in motion for this case." Jake told her.

"Did he give you much to go on?" Julia asked, referring to Davy.

"Not much, but if I know anything about criminals, this particular knife is probably someone's call sign. I'm sure it won't be the first stabbing Constable Clement has heard of with a blade that hooks back." Jake told her. He stood and rubbed his hands down his pant legs. "Jules, if anything happens, you'll…"

"I'll let you know, Jake." Julia told him softly.

"Or if you need me…for anything." Jake told her.

"I won't hesitate." Julia told him. "Thanks, Jake, for being part of the team. We could not have done it without you."

Jake nodded slowly, walked across the street, and got on the phone.

Just before 3 p.m., Julia was alone in the infirmary. She had sent Faith home for a little while, to wash up and pack a few things. Tonight, they would stay overnight in the infirmary and take turns watching over their two patients.

While Faith was gone, Rosemary came by with Allie, who had been worried about Julia. Last night, as soon as Jake had arrived, hot on Allie's heels, he'd not even let her enter, but had taken her straightaway to Fiona. The scene had been worrisome enough for an adult, and nobody wanted Allie to see any of it. So Jake had shielded her and taken her out of there, and for that, Julia was grateful.

Allie had stayed with Fiona up until lunch, and then Rosemary had taken Allie to her house, for the rest of the day.

Now, Rosemary wanted to put Allie's mind at ease, so she brought her by. They stayed out on the porch though, and before Julia joined them, she peeked behind both curtains to verify that her patients were still sound asleep.

Once outside, Julia gave Allie a big, long hug, to reassure her. "Thanks for coming by, Allie." Julia told her.

Allie kept her arms tight around Julia's waist and looked up at her. "Are you okay, Julia?"

Julia took great care to make sure her voice sounded chipper. "I'm fine, Allie. And you? Are you having fun with Rosemary?" Allie looked over at Rosemary.

"Yes I'm having a great time. Rosemary has taught me all the proper etiquette of high tea." When Allie said that, there was a funny edge to her voice. Julia wasn't convinced that Allie's tone was actually appreciative. There was a hint of something else in there - something that sounded almost sarcastic, almost Allie.

"Well, that is a very important lesson." Julia told her with a giggle.

Allie chuckled back, and that's when Julia knew Allie was just fine. It was the combination of her laugh with her signature eye roll, which only Julia could see. And by those two, Julia was reassured.

"Are the guys inside going to be okay?" Allie asked timidly.

"Well, that's what we are hoping and praying for, Allie. And honestly, I think so. You played such a big part in helping them. Allie, the way you ran and got Faith and Jake probably saved their lives. You were very brave." Julia told her.

"It was scary." Allie told her, honest.

"It was. But, are you referring to how they looked when they came in? Or you found it scary to run out into the night?" She asked.

"The way they looked. They were hurt bad." Allie told her.

"That's true. But, they both had surgery, and we patched them up pretty good. And they will be doing much better very soon." Julia reassured her.

"I'm glad." Allie told her. "Weren't you scared?"

"Yes, of course I was scared, and I'm still scared." Julia paused and took a deep breath. Allie was smart as a tack, and Julia believed that even in this situation, honesty was the best policy. "Sometimes, it's normal to be scared, and if we are honest with ourselves, then we admit it. We all have fear at one time or another. But, it's what we do with that fear that counts, Allie."

Julia paused for a moment. "Do I let the fear paralyze me? Or do I turn down the volume of that fear, and focus on helping the two guys who really need it?"

Rosemary smiled at Allie. "Like the plaque in the library, Allie. Always do what you are afraid to do." She paused. "Emerson told us clearly not to be held back by fear, but to run head first into it." She smiled. "Often, fear is an indication that we are on the right track, towards something wonderful. Towards a healing, or a breakthrough, or something good for us. Where there is fear, often hidden just behind it, is a great reward." Rosemary let that sink in. Then time to boil it down. "So whenever we fear something, we should do it, whatever it is, because most likely, it will bring us the greatest reward. And conquering our fear is an added bonus."

Julia made it personal. "Yes, I am afraid. But, I continue forward, despite my fears, because the reward of seeing those two guys healed, is greater than my fear. I focus on the end result, and I count that greater, and my fear loses its power. It no longer has any hold on me." Julia explained.

"So I shouldn't be afraid?" Allie asked.

"No, Allie. What I'm saying is that it's okay to be afraid. But whenever those fears come, you think of a greater thing, and you will forget them. Like last night, you were afraid when Jimmy and Davy came in. But when I asked you to go get Faith, you focused on that task, and their need for help, and you overcame your fear. You saw what had a greater importance: that they needed help, and you helped them. And Allie, you were amazing." Julia told her.

Rosemary was proud, too. "And there are plenty of other things in life that can be scary. Like writing for the paper, or having a baby, or painting, or even math homework." Allie laughed at that one. "But if you focus on how much everyone will enjoy your article, or how much joy the baby will bring, or what the painting will mean to your Dad, you can overcome your fear."

Allie smiled at them and understood. "And the math homework, Mrs. Coulter? What do I think about to get past that one?"

Rosemary chuckled. "I don't know. But when you figure it out, let me know!"

And they all three giggled softly. Julia asked. "So do you have any questions about what you saw? Or is there anything that was particularly shocking?"

Allie looked down at her hands and asked. "Who did that to them?"

"Some very bad men. But the Mounties will get them." Julia felt confident. "They always do."

Allie nodded. "And you will help them get well?"

"Yes." Julia told her.

"Okay." Allie told Julia. "That makes me feel so much better." She let out a long exhale.

Julia was honest. "Me, too. Allie, me too." And she wrapped Allie in her arms again.

Julia looked at Rosemary. She finally pulled back and looked down at Allie. "I should probably get back inside. Allie, are you happy to stay with Rosemary a little longer?"

Allie nodded with a little grin.

"Otherwise, Bill did mention you could hang out with him in his office. And then help him cook in the cafe?" Julia offered.

"I'm happy to stay with Mrs. Coulter a little bit longer. We were just going to the mercantile to get some things to make banana bread." Allie told her.

"Oh, I love banana bread." Julia said with a grateful smile at Rosemary.

"Well then, we'll be sure to save you some." Rosemary told her.

"Oh, I can't wait." Julia replied. Then she gave them both a big hug, before watching them head on down the boardwalk.

Julia took a long deep breath of her own, and finally headed back inside, though when she did, something was amiss. The adjoining door was standing wide open. Julia found that very odd, so she went and peered inside her apartment. Her back door was also standing slightly ajar. What on earth?

Julia suddenly had a sinking feeling, and hurried around the curtain. Jimmy was still out cold, and hooked up to the third blood transfusion, which was nearly finished. His color had already improved slightly.

She went around the other partition and found the bed empty- Davy was gone - covers pulled back, he had completely disappeared.

Julia ran back through the adjoining door and flew out her back door. She looked right and left and in every direction. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, and looked far in the distance, in every direction. Davy was nowhere to be seen, and in no condition to be walking around anywhere.

Julia ran back through one door, then another, and continued straight out the front door. She ran directly across the street to the Mountie office.

Jake was sitting at his desk but looked up when she came in. "What happened?" He asked, solemn and worried.

Out of breath, Julia spat it out. "Davy's disappeared. Gone. He up and left the infirmary. I have no idea where he is." She was growing more worried by the minute. "He's in no condition…"

Jake stood. He tried to get a handle on it. "Gone?" He looked out the door and across to the infirmary, "Why would he?"

"I have no idea. Do you think he was scared? Worried you would find out something?" Julia asked.

"Possibly. Or perhaps, not scared of what I would find out, but scared of someone else. When I questioned him, he was very vague, almost like he was worried someone would find out he was talking to me." Jake told her.

"Jake, he's in no condition to be out walking around. He's still has a high risk for infection and needs to be monitored." Julia informed him.

Jake opened his mouth to respond, but Jed, from the livery, appeared just in front of the open door to Jake's office. They both turned their heads to look at him.

Jed drawled long, "Sorry if I'm interrupting something, Constable. But, it's rather important. Mrs. Thornton's horse, Sergeant, has gone missing."