Elijah was glad to have met the doctor who assisted with Noah, though he never caught his name. He found out later, so it wouldn't be quite as embarrassing. But with his personal troubles,  mostly because of that article. He was having trouble sleeping and certain people were constantly whispering behind his back. It was even effecting his job and it had only been a few days.

He walked slowly into the doctor's office and looked around, rubbing his gloved hands together.  The place seemed welcoming enough and he waited patiently for the doctor to see him.

Consultation hours were only in the mornings and even then, there were mornings when Tristan only saw a handful of patients. He was grateful for Douglas sponsoring him to see the poor in the afternoon, or he would already have been forced to move to a smaller home.

This was another quiet morning. When the lady who had come for the wart on her nose (but really to tell him all about her frustration with her daughter-in-law) had left, Tristan popped his head around the door of the waiting room and was glad to see at least one patient. "Ah, Mr. Crane. Do come in."

He showed the constable into the office: a large space, with a desk in the corner, a chamber screen, a high table and several cupboards. In the back there were several high windows, the bottom parts of which were paneled over to offer privacy, while the top part still provided daylight.

"Have a seat," he gestured. He seated himself on the other side of the desk, his back towards the windows. "What can I do for you, sir?"

Elijah was grateful he was being seen so easy. Everything in him felt weird being here. As he sat, he slowly folded his hands over his lap and hung his head. It took him a moment to form the words.

"I-it's not..physical..but..please.. I need help. I've been stressed. It isn't just work. T-there's this paper that prints rumors saying some things about me. And.. maybe it's all in my head. I know it's been spreading but.. " he covered his face. "I feel like people are staring and whispering. Maybe it's in my head. I can't sleep well. I can't eat well. Is there something you can do?"

Poor man. He did look rather worn out and thin. He had heard something about the Whitby Gazette having gone on a campaign against PC Crane, but he hadn't read anything of the sort during his stay here.

He folded his hands on the desk. "I'm sorry to hear that. How long have you felt this way?"

Elijah just stared at his gloved hands as he tried to think on how to answer it.

"I always worried about being judged for not being a good constable. Well ever since the last time a paper wrote about me, calling me incompetent or said I was threatening him when I merely asked him not to print such things." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "But now, I'm honestly worried. It isn't just what they think of me. I could be arrested if people believed I..I mean.." He had a very good lawyer he believed in on his side. Between him and Father Brennan, they were the only people that gave him the strength to leave his house, really.

"It's more than before, much more. But I feel like it's been just added onto the pile towards a tipping point. I've had feelings of inadequacy and wanting to prove myself since I was a kid. But I can't be a rarity. I just.. need help with how bad it's gotten. Which is since the paper was printed. It's been what.. four days? Five?"

Tristan listened quietly. He wondered what the newspaper had accused him of that could get him arrested, and he wondered whether it was true too, and it was a guilty conscience that haunted the constable.

Four or five days. He couldn't remembering reading anything of the sort in the Whitby Gazette, but it could have been one of the trashier newspapers, and then again, Tristan normally merely skimmed the headings until something caught his attention.

"I understand. That sounds as though you have a lot on your plate. Is there truth to the newspaper's statements, and evidence you are concerned about? Or is it mere gossip?"

Elijah cracked a smile but it was one full of pain. He shook his head slowly.

"Funny enough the one I'm most upset by personally is that they accused me of beating women, because I was asked if I hit women and I admitted to this woman that sometimes I had to be rough with women for the job. I don't like it, I hate violence. But they also accused me of..." His voice died as he didn't want to say it out loud. He never easily could. "Just because I'm of my age and never married, or dated women, or visited the brothels. I can't be just a quiet man who likes to spend quiet evenings home alone. I have to have some dark secret." That had been his life up until recently, though it certainly didn't mean the alternative was true.

"I don't think I can admit anything, doctor. I hope you understand." He had no idea how Dr. Wells felt and wasn't sure he could handle saying it.

Tristan's pity grew quickly when he understood what the other man implied. He had been on edge since Wilde's trial, but at least he was a nobody and people didn't speak about him for that reason. That someone might accuse him of 'gross indecency' was his greatest fear. He could only imagine how Mr. Crane felt.

"Of course. And whatever you've said up to this point and whatever you may say after, Mr. Crane, will stay in this office. We doctors cannot share what we learn professionally," he tried to reassure the nervous man. "I'm certain a court would understand the necessity of force in your job, and if there is no evidence in support of the other accusation, I doubt you need to fear arrest. Our minds have a tendency to assume the worst will happen, but it barely ever does."

Although... things did seem to go in the worst possible way in this town more often than in other places. As if some divine powers tormented Whitby's people and watched for sport.

He shook his head lightly. Where had that thought come from?

"I could prescribe you something to calm your nerves if that will help you feel better, perhaps restore some sleep. But it will only treat the symptoms, not the cause, I am afraid."

Elijah was very grateful, he didn't know there were so many understanding people in town (and couldn't even consider they all understood his worries more personally). He sat up straighter and rose his head. The doctor was right, he worried the worst. Though the worst did seem to fall into his lap more often than not.

"You are right. It isn't like I've been picking up men or anything. I've had one lover in my entire life and even that was very brief. How could they prove anything from that?" He sighed feeling a bit better. "I will try to not let these worries haunt me."

His eyes met the doctor and he seemed deep in thought. "I think I would like that. Just being able to get a solid night's sleep would be wonderful. It.. isn't too strong or addicting is it? It's important I keep my mind sharp as much as possible."

Tristan nodded quietly. He hoped for Mr. Crane's sake, that he was right and he had left no evidence, and that the former lover was not the unreliable blackmailing type. Crane didn't sound like the sort of man who would visit brothels. Either way, it was sufficient if Crane believed he was safe. If he wasn't, there was not much Tristan could do for him anyway. If some kind of hunting season had opened with Wilde's sentencing, all they could do was lie low and move under the cover of darkness, and hope it would pass soon.

He rose. "I'll give you something mild. It shouldn't be addictive, if you use it according to instruction and for a short period. I will give you a small dose, enough to last you for a week. Come see me again, if your anxiety continue after that." He moved to one of the cupboards, rummaged through it. Found a bottle and empty vial and held up the vial to the light as he carefully poured something into it from the bottle.

After storing away the larger bottle and closing the vial, he returned and held it out to Crane. "Mix five drops of this into a cup of tea or warm milk before you go to bed. No less than nine hours before you wake up. It will make you drowsy. If you feel particular anxious during daytime, you could mix one drop into your morning tea. No more than that."