Julie McMillan had
been a source of pride and exasperation to her father, Doctor
Benjamin McMillan. Julie was the youngest of Mary and Doc McMillan's
two daughters. Josephine was a quiet, well behaved young lady even
at an early age. Julie was born during the worst thunderstorm that
anyone in Camden Corners could remember. With claps of thunder
nearly breaking the sound barrier, the neighbors could still hear
Julie's cries the moment she was born. She was a rough and tumble
tomboy all through her childhood. Even the older boys in town didn't
mess with Julie and if they did they had the bruises to show for it.
Tommy Campbell was the only boy who wasn't afraid of Julie. He
always treated her like a girl and Julie didn't like that one bit.
As the years went
on, she noticed her heart did flip flops when Tommy came around.
That made Julie so mad she would punch him just because he was near
her. Tommy just smiled at her and went about his business.
Tommy had known
from a very young age that he wanted to be a doctor. When he was
nearly 7 years old, his Momma had become very ill with a high fever
that strained her heart. Doc McMillan had been by her bedside day
after day until she showed signs of improvement. All of the
neighbors that stopped by to see her left in tears. Although they
didn't say anything to Tommy, he knew they all thought his precious
Momma was going to die. Doc told him that he would not give up on
her until she was well again and he was as good as his word. Doc
believed in miracles as well as medicine and after his mother fully
recovered, so did Tommy. From that point on, Tommy followed Doc
around whenever he could. Eventually he applied to medical school
and off he went with Doc's blessing.
Julie missed Tommy
when he left town although she wouldn't admit that even to herself.
Julie didn't know when her interest in medicine had begun. Maybe it
was because she was following around after Tommy as he was following
around after Doc. She announced one evening that she had decided to
go to medical school herself and become a doctor.
Doc thought it was
a noble profession, but not for a female. It was difficult enough
for a man, but women had it so much harder. Julie, always up for a
challenge, was not to be dissuaded. Mary told Ben he'd better just
give in because Julie would do what she wanted anyway. Doc, Mary and
Josephine saw Julie off at the train station. Mary knew Julie
wouldn't appreciate tears from any of her family so they all remained
stoic until the train left the station. If medical school had been
difficult for Julie, she never let on. Dr. Julie McMillan graduated
with honors and was ready to practice medicine alongside her father
and Tom who had joined her Dad the previous year.
Doc McMillan was
happy to have the extra help with his patients. He had been the only
doctor in Camden Corners for many years. Mary began helping Doc with
his office work when he started his practice on the first floor of
the old McMillan family home. Together they decided it was high
time they took a vacation and planned a trip to St. Louis to attend
the World's Fair and maybe see some of the sights along the way.
Martha Wharton's
niece, Louisa was coming to Camden Corners to stay with her aunt for
an extended period of time. Martha suggested that Louisa would be
available to help out with the office work while Mary was away.
Louisa had worked for doctors before so Mary would be happy to have
her fill in while she was gone. When Louisa arrived at the McMillan
house. Mary invited her into the reception area and since all the
doctors were with patients, she began to show her the files and went
over the routine of the office. Doc and Julie both finished with
their patients and Mary introduced them to Louisa.
Before long Tom
came out of the examining room after stitching up Willie Burke's
split lip. He stopped in his tracks as Louisa Andrews threw her arms
around him and gave him a big kiss on the lips.
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