The Surgeon and the Wolf"
Rourke Meets Jack Dawkins — A Silent Battle Begins
The hospital buzzed with the usual chaos—patients moaning, nurses rushing, orderlies yelling about bandages.
But when Captain Jonathan Rourke stepped through the front doors, the noise dimmed.
It wasn't fear.
It was instinct.
Everyone sensed a predator had entered the building.
Rourke removed his hat, eyes scanning every corner, every face, every movement with the sharp, quiet calculation of a man who never wasted a breath.
Behind the reception table, Hetty Baggett stiffened.
Not good. That man… he's trouble.
And in the far corridor, Jack Dawkins stepped out of a patient room at the exact moment Rourke turned his head.
Their eyes met.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
1. Two Predators, One Stare
They didn't speak at first.
They simply watched one another:
Jack's gaze cold, sharp, unreadable.
Rourke's eyes calculating, dissecting Jack with each second.
Ten seconds passed.
Neither blinked.
Hetty, standing between them, felt her skin crawl.
They're the same. Those eyes… both of them can kill without flinching.
Jack finally broke the silence.
"Can I help you, Captain?"
Rourke smiled slightly.
"I believe you can. I'm here to understand this colony… including its medical talent."
Jack didn't answer.
Rourke continued, stepping closer, boots echoing on stone:
"And I've heard… curious rumors."
2. Testing Each Other Without Words
Rourke stopped an arm's length away from Jack — close enough for tension, far enough for defense.
He lowered his voice.
"A surgeon who can stitch arteries blindfolded.
One who can set bones faster than soldiers can load a musket.
One who heals criminals no one else would touch."
A pause.
"Some call him 'the Doctor.'"
Jack's expression didn't change.
"What does that have to do with me?"
His voice was flat. Controlled.
Rourke tilted his head.
"Nothing. Yet."
3. Rourke Reads the Room — and the Rules
Hetty tried to walk past them with supplies, trying to look busy, but Rourke stopped her gently with a gloved hand.
"Miss Baggett. You work here, yes?"
"Yes, Captain," she said, avoiding his stare.
"Then you may answer a question."
He withdrew a folded paper — a dirty, smudged scrap he'd taken from a bandit's body the night before.
"Do these rules mean anything to you?"
Hetty froze.
Jack's breath hitch was so tiny no normal man would notice.
But Rourke noticed.
Because the paper contained:
The Five Rules of the Doctor.
You will never know who I am.
You will not fight in my hospital or clinic.
I don't want to know your crimes. Only your payment.
Clinic open Monday to Thursday. Urgent cases: green signal.
Betray me to law or crown and I vanish forever.
Hetty swallowed, eyes darting to Jack.
Rourke watched that reaction instead.
So. The surgeon cares about these rules.
He slipped the paper back into his coat.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Rourke murmured.
"A surgeon who acts like a ghost.
Who sets rules for killers and thieves.
Who keeps his face hidden."
Jack finally spoke.
"Sounds like a myth."
Rourke leaned forward just a little.
"So do monsters. Until you meet one."
4. Rourke Makes His First Silent Decision
Rourke didn't accuse Jack.
He didn't threaten him.
He simply stepped back, smoothing his coat.
"Relax, Mr. Dawkins. I'm not here for ghosts," he lied.
He placed his hat back on.
"I'm here for the truth."
Then he turned and walked away without waiting for dismissal.
But as he left the hospital, his thoughts sharpened like a blade:
He didn't flinch at my questions.
He didn't fear the rules.
He read the paper faster than any surgeon I've known.
And his eyes—those are not the eyes of a normal man.
Rourke smiled to himself.
"I can't capture him. Not yet.
I need him to come willingly.
So… I must prepare an offer the Doctor cannot refuse."
Clues in Plain Sight"
Rourke Begins Suspecting Jack Dawkins
Captain Jonathan Rourke had spent days quietly watching the colony, asking subtle questions, and following whispers about the mysterious Doctor.
Every trail eventually circled back to the same man: Jack Dawkins. Not directly — nothing concrete yet — but enough to make Rourke pause.
1. The First Suspicion
Rourke had been walking along the docks when he noticed a familiar pattern:
Thieves he had questioned whispered about a clever "Jack Dawkins."
They spoke of him with respect… not fear.
They hinted at secret knowledge, mysterious surgeries, and a calm, calculating presence in the colony.
Rourke jotted in his notebook:
Jack Dawkins — criminal, surgeon, connected to the Doctor. Needs investigation.
He knew one thing: whoever the Doctor was, Jack Dawkins was tied to him.
2. Observing the Hospital
The next day, Rourke visited the hospital under the pretense of inspecting colony healthcare.
He watched Jack move:
Efficient.
Precise.
Calm in the face of chaos.
Rourke noticed subtle details most wouldn't:
Jack's movements were faster than normal, almost preemptive.
The way he examined patients suggested deep knowledge of human anatomy far beyond the colonial standard.
Certain gestures — how Jack adjusted surgical tools — matched descriptions of the Doctor from informants.
Rourke's mind worked like a blade.
This is him. Or very close to him.
3. Clues in Conversation
Rourke observed Jack speaking with nurses and patients, carefully noting what was said and what wasn't.
A nurse mentioned:
"Mr. Dawkins knows his plants… more than any surgeon should. Learned far from here, I think."
Rourke smiled quietly.
"Distant lands… foreign knowledge. Classic Doctor misdirection."
And then he overheard a conversation between Jack and Hetty Baggett.
Jack said in a low voice:
"Keep the schedule. Don't let anyone slip information outside."
Rourke's eyes narrowed.
Rules. The man has rules. The Doctor has rules. And Jack Dawkins enforces them.
It wasn't proof, but it was enough. He had a trail.
4. Rourke's Decision
He walked away from the hospital, notebook in hand.
"Jack Dawkins may not be the Doctor himself… but he knows him, lives with him, or is him."
Rourke understood the stakes now:
Force wouldn't work.
Threats wouldn't work.
The Doctor's code prevented him from being cornered.
"I need a deal. Or he'll vanish, and the Princess dies."
Rourke closed his notebook with a slow, deliberate motion.
"And I don't fail."