The middle daughter.
Hi! Can I have a Jack Dawkins x Belle's sister!Reader a fluff version. Can you write this oneshot where that one scene when Jack broke into Belle's house and found her on the floor? Instead of Belle being sick, the reader is sick instead
A/n: I hope this is what you were looking for. X
Belle was sure she and Jack could fix her sister, even with the fear he felt of hurting her, she knew it. She looked to Fanny.
"I know he has feelings for her but he is the only doctor who could do this." She stated, fanny agreed.
"then you must help him sister. I'm sorry I have to go Oliver is waiting."
Belle slumped into a chair in her father's library.
*********
Jack slipped through the window to your room, a new hope in his heart.
"Y/n, I think I've found-" his breath caught in his throat tangled with the unspoken words as he saw you lying on the floor. Books scattered around you. He dropped down beside you brushing the hair from your face. Your skin was white as snow. Jack quickly checked your pulse, the beat was so weak; too weak.
At first he could do nothing, his body was frozen in place, holding you against him.
"Help!" He called out.
Belle came running in, gasping at the sight.
"We need a carriage, now!" He yelled. Belle nodded and ran down through her house. Jack had scooped you up into his arms and carried you down behind her. His chest tightened with fear as he placed you into the flat bed of the delivery cart, hopping in beside you. Belle climbed into the front seat and demanded the driver hurry. Turning back to you both she felt a fear for her sister she had never felt before.
"Can you do it?" She asked him. Jack looked up to her as a tear dropped from his eye. His arms cradled you to his chest.
"I think so, if you help me." His voice broke.
"Do you love her?" Belle couldn't stop herself from asking the question. Jack's eyes met hers once more before turning back to your face. He brushed the back of his fingers across you cheek.
"I don't know what love is, but I would die for her." He admitted quietly.
At the hospital they rushed inside, belle demanded Hetty help them in the theatre. Jack placed you onto the operating table, his fingers hesitated over your dress. Belle touched his hand.
"Jack?"
He pulled in a jagged breath, allowing Belle to take over and untie your blue dressing gown. The two of them worked in silence, his hands firmly inside your body.
Hatty couldn't stop the Governor and his wife from barging into the room. Your mother screamed when she saw you.
"Stop! Don't you dare-"
"If I stop now she does." Jack yelled back. There is an argument between the prof and your mother. Belle marched over to them.
"Jack is the finest doctor in the country, I have permission for this surgery. You will do nothing. Go with the prof and wait elsewhere. We have work to do." She basically shoved her mother backwards. The governor stopped looking back at his middle daughter then to Belle.
"Can he save her?" He asked.
"Yes father, he will save her."
***********
Your eyes fluttered open, a cold hand held yours. Without having to look you knew it to be your mother's. Pain seared through your chest and you realised you were in the hospital.
"What happened?" You ask to the room. Your voice was croaky. Belle came into your vision.
"You're alive that's all that matters."
There is a cough behind her and she moves to reveal your father and Jack at the door. His hands and shirt are still stained with blood.
"ladies if you don't mind, the Doctor and my daughter have need to be alone." Reluctantly the two women followed the Governor out, leaving Jack with you. He perched himself on the side of your bed, moving his fingers to check the dressings on your chest.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Like I have been hit by a moving train. You did it?" You ask.
"I did. You asked me to." He replied taking your hand in his. He was quiet for a moment as a smile drew along his face. It was infectious and you found yourself copying.
"What is it?" You prompt.
"Your father and I spoke, he has given me a very generous offer."
The words panic you slightly.
"He has noted our affections and is willing to allow it, to allow us to marry, he would ensure us a home and have a wage secured for me with the hospital. He offers a large dowry for your hand." You can feel the nerves emanating from his every pour. "I told him I could not take the offer unless..."he took in a steadying breath, "unless.it was what you wanted."
"You have to ask me." You whisper.
"y/n, you are the most annoying woman that has ever crossed my path, you have unnerved me more than any one has. You vex me, daily, yet I find myself incapable of thinking of my work unless you are close by." He looked into your eyes, stroking back your soft hair, "please tell me I am not alone in this? If you hold even half of the feelings for me as I do for you then please tell me now." Tears were welling in your eyes.
"I feel them threefold, Jack. I love you."
His smile widened and he pressed his lips to yours. It was not your first kiss but it felt utterly new. This was not a kiss of lust but one of pure and deep love.
"I found you, in your room. I was so frightened, I've never been so scared." He admitted.
"It was too much, mother had shouted at me, I was frightened. You and Belle had been working so hard and when you both said it couldn't be done I... I'm glad you found me."
"So do we tell your mother we are to marry?" He laughed.
"Oh yes, it's just the fright she needs." You laugh but the action rocks your chest and it pains you.
Jack smooths your shoulder to comfort you.
"I love you, y/n."
"I love you too, Jack."
157 notes
·
View notes
oh hang on so Oliver Twist as a book is largely about child labor, right.
like the commonality between the workhouse, the abusive apprenticeship, and the pickpocket gang is that Oliver is being exploited. for his labor. and Fagin's gang while crossing the line into illegality and therefore in some ways the most dangerous is also the most pleasant of the three.
and ofc which i have underconsidered until now, child labor was fully legal at the time and a major political issue--the 1833 Factory Act had only just recently outlawed employing under-nines on the factory floor, or working 9-13 year olds more than 9 hours a day, and 13-18 year olds more than 12.
it was a struggle to enforce and it was controversial.
so. Fagin's gang replicates that factory owner-child laborer relationship on a tiny, illicit scale, where the kids are taking all the risks and doing all the work and he's getting most of the profit, and it's not fair, but oh he's giving them food and a place to sleep and wouldn't they be worse off without him? (they would is the thing. but does that make it okay?)
with the goal of this being that next time Dickens' milquetoast middle-class readers encountered an argument for the benevolence of a guy employing child labor to maximize his profits they might go, hey! that's not true, he's just like that crook Fagin!
but of course this kind of political messaging works best when it can't be too readily clocked as such--if Fagin was obviously a stand-in for a respectable capitalist, a lot more of the readers would be comfortable excusing him.
which is why he's Jewish, and why the text belabors that point so obsessively--antisemitism is being used as a lever to discourage the public from identifying with Child Labor Exploiting Guy and to characterize his desire to accumulate wealth at the expense of others as greedy, selfish, and illegitimate.
i could never quite figure what the point of using that stock character in that context and so emphatically was. especially after learning that, having had it extensively explained that it was harmful to actual Jewish people to go so hard on this in such a popular novel, Dickens was like 'oh my bad' and walked it back a bit.
because in that case the antisemitism obviously wasn't an end in itself? but if it was incidental flavor, why so much?
but as a screen for his political agenda, it makes sense. using judaism to code an antagonist's profit motive as illegitimate had a long literary history already, but in this case Fagin was already manifestly a criminal so it was like. why.
anyway this isn't about justifying charles dickens' artistic choices that even he somewhat regretted. it's a bit about how easy it can be to fail to put together context even when you have all the pieces, especially at a remove from our own lived experience.
and a bit more about how the tools we use for political ends should be carefully inspected. no matter how ordinary and unremarkable they seem when we pick them up. because we might be missing different historical context due to being embedded in it.
1K notes
·
View notes
the artful dodger
I did in fact binge all 8 episodes already and I really liked the show! For once I don’t have anything critical to say. I think the show balances the adventure, the medical stuff and the romance really well. I don’t think any of it overtakes any of the others. I quite liked the medical drama in a period setting. It’s very interesting as it’s set on the verge of discoveries. Like in the first episode, legs would be amputated even if it’s like a broken bone or something. It’s kind of a refreshing take on a medical show comparatively to something like greys. There’s also the thievery of it all and that’s been interesting and comedic too. And let’s not forget about Jack and Belle. A very PG romance but nonetheless it sparks joy in my cold heart.
I’ve seen criticisms of belle being irritating but I didn’t think that. Now I can see why maybe she would rub people the wrong way. She had the habit of pulling the “I’m a governors daughter card” and just being privileged and naive but I saw it as her using her privilege to try and get a leg up in this world. She’s ahead of her time and she just wants to be a surgeon / advance medicine in a place that’s very hard stuck on how it’s always been done.
I would really like to see a season 2… my hopes are not high just based on streaming platforms track records. The landscape of television in the network world and also the streaming world have been less than desirable. Especially with the strikes, I think studios and networks might be stricter on what gets made as to make a profit…
110 notes
·
View notes