Doctor ~ G.Blythe [1]

seventy-eight.

+ winnipeg +

I stood in the dining room of my house, standing at the arch way with my hands clasped in front of me as we all milled in the silence. My father sat at the table, his chair pushed far away from the table as he stared at me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion as my mother stood to his side. I looked between the two of them, expecting someone to start shouting at me at any moment.

My parents had heard of the events which involved me slapping Billy, someone having told them after church. I rubbed my lips together, unable to guess what the atmosphere in the room currently was. "Do you believe it's alright to slap people, now?" my father asked me, his voice cutting through the air as I stared at him for a moment, shaking my head. "Only when it's Billy Andrews" I said with a small shrug as my father shot me a hard look.

"Catherine" he said as I stared back at him for a moment, knitting my eyebrows together defensively. "He didnt have her permission" I said forcefully, wanting them to know that I didn't just slap him for fun, even though I wouldn't have minded if that was the case. "I don't think there's much we can do, William" my mother said softly as she set her hand on the back of my fathers chair, both of them looking at each other. "She hasn't endangered any connections" my mother told him as I let out a small scoff, both of them turning back to me.

"If there was a connection between our family and the Andrews and I think I would" I started, shaking my head before my father interrupted me before I could continue. "Catherine" he said again as I let out a small sigh, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Sorry" I said quietly as we all fell silent once again, my father setting his hand on the table as he raised his eyebrows at me. "Did you hurt your hand?" he asked me as I stayed quiet for a moment, wondering if this was a trap or not.

"No?" I replied, shaking my head slowly as he nodded his head at me, letting out a small sigh. "Good" he replied as he leaned back in his chair o me again, my eyes drifting from him to my mother, extremely confused. I was expecting much more than this, probably a large fight as to why I was in the wrong which would result in me ignoring both my parents for a few days. "That's it?" I asked cautiously, my father nodding his head as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you expect more?" he asked me as I shook my head quickly, not wanting to backtrack any of this conversation. "No no, that's alright" I said, holding my hands out as I nodded my head, extremely relieved and happy that this was the extent of the conversation. "Thank you" I said quietly, slowly inching my way out of the room before either of them could change their minds.

!

"Josie?" I asked quietly, pushing open the wooden door as I poked my head around the corner, seeing the blonde bundled up in her bed sheets. "Your mother let me in, I'm here to see if you're alright" I said quietly as I walked into the room, Josie turning over and looking at me as she let out a heavy sigh. Her cheeks here stained with tears and flushed a deep red colour, her blonde hair in tangles as she clutched onto her bed sheets.

"I don't want to talk to you" she said, coughing deeply as I stood at the door, closing it behind me as I slowly crept towards the bed. "I didn't have anything to do with it, I would have never let Anne do something like that if I did know" I said to her as she sat up, leaning her head against the headboard as she wiped her cheek.

"Why would she do that to me?" Josie said with a sob, putting her head into her hands as I walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge before resting my hand on her leg. "I'm not sure" I said comfortingly as Josie shook her head, pushing her hair away from her face as she sniffled. "I wanted to keep it as quiet as possible" she told me, looking up at me as tears fell from her chin, making me shrug my shoulders quickly.

"But it is Anne" I told her quietly, knowing not to expect anything less than a full blown article from our very own Anne Shirley Cuthburt. "I'm ruined" Josie said as she fell forward, burying her head in her bed sheets as she cried heavily. "No you're not, I won't let you be" I replied, setting my hand on her back as I tried to be as soothing as possible right now. "Don't be foolish, this is it, I need to move to Winnipeg" she said to me, her vice muffled from the sheets as her shoulders shook as she wept.

"Stop talking about Winnipeg" I said to her, sick of hearing that you had to move to Winnipeg if your reputation was ruined. "I'm sorry if I was out of line when I hit Billy" I said to her hushed, never having apologised to her before as she moved her head to the side, looking up at me. "Its alright, I wanted to do it myself" she said to me as she closed her eyes, which were still leaking out large tears.

"Is what Anne did so different?" I asked her as she shot her eyes open, sitting up quickly as she looked at me questionably. "She told the whole town that I took part in marital activity" she snapped at me, shaking her head as she sighed, slouching her shoulders over. "She has spoiled any potential engagements, my life is over" she said loudly as she fell back down, putting her head on my leg as she continued to cry.

"It's alright" I said, putting my hand on her back once again, and rubbing it in circles, which is what my mother does to me when I was upset. "You'll be just fine, I promise" I told her, letting out a small breath, trying to make it so she wouldn't hear it, because it's not good when the person who is meant to be reassuring you also is unsure, which is what I was at the moment.

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A/N: hello, here's another chapter as I promised
I don't have much to say except from prepare yourself for some exciting chapters coming next but i hoped you enjoyed this one :)
please vote and comment and i will see you soon