Restoration in the River

Can't Buy Me Love

A very happy 56th to Jules! Enjoy a bonus chapter thanks to Mr Lennon's birthday! Hoppy Birdy Julian!

Oh and warnings ahead if you're a bit squeamish, and don't deal with descriptions of blood and life-threatening situations! (It's towards the end of the chapter!) 

The gentlemen sat out on the verandah, sipping their drinks and enjoying the view.

A City Cat cruised by on the river.

"What time do those bloody things go til?" Julian asked.

"About a quarter to ten" Harvey answered, chuckling "many a time, I've tried to board one of them drunk after a night out in the city!"  

Julian laughed, looking down into his glass.

"I'm a friendly drunk, so I'm told, can't remember a thing when I come to!" Harvey smiled.

"Me too!" Julian said "though, over the years I've gotten better at holding my liquor! I often end my days with a night out around the world often after four in the morning!" 

"Do you like it here in Brisbane?" Harvey asked.

"I do!" Julian answered with a smile, he wasn't lying, 'the river city', as Brisbane was affectionately known as, was growing on him. 

"If you uh, do settle down with Emmie, those wild nights out till after four am will probably have to stop" Harvey advised. 

"Then I'd rather be woken up at four am, with the cry of a little one!" He told the detective. 

"You?? Becoming a Father? At nearly sixty??" Harvey asked, shocked. "Son, you DO realise Emmie has been terrified of becoming a Mother because of what happened to her Mother, and her Aunty, my other sister, she died in childbirth too, the child died as well."

"I...I...I didn't think of that!" Julian stammered. 

"Fate has not been kind to the Gordon daughters, Julian," He said. "I lost both my sisters, in just two years!" 

"She never told me that, Harvey!" Julian stated, shocked and saddened.

"She's got quite a lot to tell you yet, Son!" The Detective told him. "Julian, my boy...she just wants a man, to call her own... to love, to cherish, to spoil, to live for!"

"But she loves being a doctor too, Harvey!"  

"I know Julian, I know! She saved my partner's life once!" He said proudly, looking down into his glass.

"Oh?" Julian prompted, curiously.

"She had been only a doctor for not even a full year. She was a rookie, a junior doctor! Me, being as stubborn as I am, my Father too was as stubborn as a goat, got myself into a bit of a jam with my partner at the time trying to bust a serial killer right smack bang in the middle of the city...

"And this was twenty-five years ago right?" Julian interrupted. 
 
Harvey nodded "yes Son, I was a fifty-year-old detective chasing a fit and fast young man, that had slaughtered dozens of women that had migrated to Brisbane to hunt more prey!"  

"Is it a Gordon thing to be stubborn and loyal to one's occupation?" Julian asked, grinning.

"Is it a Lennon thing to stumble out of a bar somewhere in the world after four am?" Harvey challenged, eyebrow raised. "Can I continue? Didn't your mother Cynthia teach you it was rude to interrupt, especially your elders!?"

Julian had a sip of his drink, grinning sheepishly at the detective. 

"Kids these days!" Harvey muttered "ANYWAY... my partner and I had managed between the two of us to trap him down a dead end, and there aren't many of them in the city I assure you! It wasn't a movie scene where there is a maze of dead ends! Annnd, we thought we had him! We honestly did...but we didn't! his nickname? The Bloodhound! His number of victims, twenty!" 

Julian listened, absolutely captivated. 

So captivated neither of them saw Emmaline come to the door leading out to the verandah with her plate and a glass of sparkling water, with a twist of lime.

"Ahhhh! The Bloodhound, such a devastatingly gorgeous young man with the thirst for hunting his prey, young women!" She said, "is he up to the part where his partner, almost got his throat slit?" 

"Kitten!!" Harvey growled, a smile hidden but visible.

"I do apologise for my anger and wanting to push you away Julian, I don't want to see you get hurt is all! May I join you, gentlemen?"

They both gestured for her to take a seat in between them.

"So, yes...The Bloodhound had me and Logan, my partner cornered, it was a stalemate, we thought we had him, he thought he had us!" Harvey continued "And before I know it, Logan, also known as 'Wolf' saw him pull out the signature blade he used on his victims. He, being the hero or the jackass, in this case, decided it would be best to wrestle with him, unarmed as he had lost his gun somewhere during the pursuit, me being the smart one pulled out my gun and tried to shoot The Bloodhound, but I couldn't get a clean shot, the last thing I wanted to do was blow my partner's and one of my closest friend's head off! Wolf suffered quite a few deep lacerations before I managed to get a clean shot right through his head, The Bloodhound's head that is! Anyway...it was the first major emergency my Emmie had to deal with! He was rushed straight to The Brisbane Private, and straight to a young, inexperienced new doctor! It was either sink or swim for my Emmaline!" 

"I still remember the blood..." Emmaline cast her mind back to when she was just starting out. "It was everywhere, poor Wolf was drowning in his own blood. We were understaffed and overworked, Uncle Harvey was right, I had to sink or swim!"

"You swam, Emmaline...you swam!" Julian said proudly.       

Harvey grinned "She swam so well she's considered the best damn doctor here in the city!" 

"How much blood did Wolf lose Emmaline?" Julian asked.

"Almost all of it but two litres" she answered "I was covered in my Uncle's partner's blood as I so desperately tried to stop two major arteries from bleeding out as I watched him go into shock! If too much blood volume is lost, a condition known as hypovolemic shock can occur. Hypovolemic shock is a medical emergency in which severe blood and fluid loss impedes the heart to pump sufficient blood to the body. As a result, tissues cannot get enough oxygen, leading to tissue and organ damage.  It took me weeks to get him back on his feet! He had ten units of blood transfused in a time frame of twenty-four hours! And the number of stitches I had to use to get him all sewn back up was more than a rookie doctor can handle!"  

"Over sixty-nine per cent Julian, die from a Massive Blood Transfusion," Harvey said solemnly. 

"But Emmaline got Wolf though right?" Julian asked.

"Barely" She answered, "I almost lost him a few times!" 

"I have a photo of my Emmie, just after she got Wolf sewn back up and in between his transfusions, are you squeamish, Son?" Harvey said, getting out his iPhone.

Julian swallowed "no, show me..." 

The Detective showed him a photo of a twenty-five-year-old Emmaline, absolutely covered in blood, standing beside the bedside of an unconscious Wolf hooked up to many wires, drips and machines and a ventilator, looking down and sobbing.

"They say a first life-threatening case for a rookie doctor determines just what type of a doctor they'll be, fate threw a cruel and malicious hand at my Emmaline that day, but she proved herself to be a strong doctor and woman!" Harvey said proudly.

Julian looked at Emmaline with love and his chest bursting with pride. He was now certain she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. 

No matter what fate threw at them.