Come, Josephine

Chapter 22

1927

The doctor's place

  Jack shut the door firmly behind him, careful not to disturb his sleeping daughter. The doctor had said she was fortunate to survive, and if she hadn't had arrived when she did...
   No, he couldn't, wouldn't, think about that.
   Josie was alright, and hadn't lost her life to the people who hunted them all. Perhaps now that Caledon Hockley was dead, they might get a moment's peace.
   He supposed he would have plenty of time to think about that later.
   He turned to the young man in front of him, and tried to make himself appear causal, unruffled. He channeled whatever inner strength he had, and supposed Rose would need him to be strong.
   Right in that moment, however, he had more to worry about. He would have to concern himself with the young man who stood in front of him.
   Nick was Jack's height, if not taller by half an inch, and had a lanky, gangly way of moving. He almost reminded Jack of himself twenty years ago, if it hadn't been for his dark hair and eyes.
God, Jack was beginning to feel his age.
"Thank you again," he started, and tried not to fall over his words, "I can't thank you enough, really, for the trouble you have gone through."
Nick nodded, maintaining a carefree appearance Jack longed for. Hadn't he once been so easy-going?
"Certainly, sir- couldn't leave a damsel in distress."
Jack laughed, "Josie has gotten herself into quite a few messes recently, hasn't she? Believe it or not, she's not normally like this."
Nick joined in the laughter, but only momentarily. He said, "do you know what happened? The full account, I mean..."
   Jack thought about how he should remain quiet for a moment and think over his words carefully. Revealing too much could hurt them all.
   "The doctor told me he believes it was a hunting accident, but due to the events of the past week for my wife and I, I can assume it was something else."
   "Sir, I must admit, a man took me to your home at gunpoint. He knew where you were, and knew Josie's actions over the last few days, but wanted me to lure Josie out. He seemed be under the impression that you were home also but Mrs Dawson was away. Said he would kill me and my family if I didn't..." his voice trailed off.
   Jack nodded, and pieced things together. He could understand that Cal's henchmen had tracked them down, lured Rose away from the house, and planned to kill Josie and himself. That way, Rose would have nothing to return to.
He half turned to the sound of the door clicking shut. Rose had stepped out into the hall, and she went to his side. Resting a soft hand on his forearm, she gave him a shaky smile, "is everything okay?"
"Yes, I was just thanking Nick here for helping Josie."
She gave a half nod and took her hand off of his arm. She turned to Nick with a kind expressions, "yes, you must forgive me for being rude. I meant to apologise, but Josie's condition was... distracting."
Distressing is closer to it, Jack couldn't help but think.
Nick nodded, and Jack felt a little fonder of him, if that was possible. There was something endearingly bashful about him, he realised, and he had a gentle nature. Something about Nick was the opposite to the people they had just escaped, and that was calming.
Rose appeared at ease too, Jack noted, and everything seemed acceptable. The doctor had reassured him that Josie would recover fully, and nothing seemed amiss otherwise.
"It's alright, Mrs Dawson, I am grateful that I managed to get here in time," Nick said with a shrug.
"Well, Josie was certainly lucky, but I think we should address what you said in there about the lake," Jack replied.
As Nick went to answer, Jack raised a hand to pause him. He saw Rose stiffen in his peripheral vision and he half-turned back to her. Her eyes were wide with stress, and her face was a fraction too-pale, even for the given situation. He placed a hand at her elbow to steady her, "Rose, I think you need to rest."
Her eyes lost their far-away look and she met his eyes with steadiness, "Jack, I'm fine-"
"No, you aren't," he persisted, "Rose, you're running on nothing. You're exhausted."
She tried to argue, but Jack reached across and opened the door behind her, "go and sit with Josie, she needs you."
Rose finally nodded and accepted his order. It wasn't usual that she obeyed anyone, even Jack, but she knew he had her interests at heart. She kissed his cheek weakly, and he offered a grim smile. He certainly hated to order her about, knowing her past, but he couldn't help but worry.
As the door shut behind her, he fixed his attention back on Nick, "We can discuss this at a later time- would you like to join us for dinner when Josie is feeling better?"
"Of course, sir," he grinned ear to ear, as if he was looking forward to the occasion.
Jack went to head back into Josie's room, and noticed that Nick was still standing there, "Nick, go rest. You've done a great thing, but you should take care of yourself; Josie wasn't the only one hurt."
Nick, at last, turned and went back to the room he had come from.
Jack sighed, and went back into the room where his family waited.