Elijah smiled weakly. "Thanks, Ben. It means a lot coming from you.. Ah here we are." He knocked before opening the door.

"Doctor? Are you in? I got a patient who needs your help." He said as he stepped in and got Ben immediately to a seat.

Tristan got up and put his book and notes in a drawer the moment he heard the door open. He made his way to the waiting room. "Mr. Crane," he greeted. Then he looked at the older man. A fisherman, judging from his clothes and hat and the smell of fish that accompanied him. He held the door open and gestured at two chairs. "Please do come into the office if you can. Have a seat there. What's the problem?" The fisherman did look like he had seen a ghost.

Elijah gave him a weak smile but the worry was clear on his face.

"This is Benjamin Ward. Ben, this is Doctor Wells, he's very nice." He nodded to the man and brought him in to sit. "He's had a cough and.. dizzy spells?" He looked to Ben to agree. "You know better than I what you've been through. Don't hesitate to tell him anything and everything. Even if 'it isn't a big deal', got it?"

Ben looked from Elijah to the doctor with a frown Then he gave a brief nod. "I just 'ad a bit of a shock, 's all. And I've 'ad a bit of a cough, not long," he quickly added. Depended on the definition of long. "Got a bit worse just now, so I got out of breath and dizzy."

"How do you do?" Tristan greeted when they were introduced. He wondered if Crane was friends with the man and how that had happened or if he was just kind enough to assist a stranger. It wouldn't surprise him with all he'd heard about him.

"And how long would you estimate you've had this cough?" He glanced briefly at Crane, in case the man knew the patient well enough to verify.

The man looked strong at least, even though he was rather pale and looked tired. Many of the fisherfolk looked older than they were, Tristan knew by now. And no wonder with the work they did and the conditions in which they lived. He had been spared the slums of Leeds, but had heard enough to dread them. But some of Whitby's yards too were entirely unsanitary. The work he did for Douglas confronted him with damp, overcrowded housing, where consumption, typhoid and other disease spread like wildfire. Even if it wasn't consumption, many of those people had poor lungs. And there was no point in giving them the best medical advice. They did not have the luxury of changing the smoke and damp for the clean air of the country side, or of airing their rooms and still being able to heat them up properly afterwards. Nor did they have gardens with clean air where they could hang out their laundry. He had not seen that many newborns die earlier in his career.

Elijah looked uncertain. "Sorry, Ben's been like a father to me.." He explained and tried to think. "You had a cough before I left didn't you? But the weather was worse then, this could be unrelated. The dizziness is definitely new. And you're under a lot of stress, so it could have been building up.."

He wished he had more specific answers, but he allowed Ben to speak and looked towards Tristan apologetically before looking back at Ben with worry.

"It's been comin' and goin' for over a year." Ben admitted. "But I haven't been coughin' up blood, if that's what yer thinking, doctor." He wasn't ready to die and leave his children orphaned.

Poor Mr. Crane. Even if he hadn't told him the man was like a father to him, he could have guessed by the concern on his face and in his words.

No blood, that was something at least. He got up and took his stethoscope. "Let me listen to your lungs." His examined the man, listening to the lungs, the heart, checking his pulse, his throat and doing other doctory things. Then he sat back down.

"I do hear something in your lungs." There were palpitations as well, but that could be caused by the shock he had gotten. "I'll give you something that should help clear your lungs. If there's any blood in what you cough up, I want you to come see me immediately. Otherwise, please return in four weeks." He wanted to tell the man to take rest as well, but he knew there was no point in that. Instead, he asked: "This thing that gave you a shock, is it likely to happen again?" He glanced over to Crane as well.

Crane looked distressed hearing it had been an entire year. He immediately listened to the doctor when he told him what was wrong. It was only slight relief but he immediately stared at Ben when Tristan told him to return immediately if there was blood. He silently wanted a promise that Ben would do so if it happened.

At the question he immediately looked back. "Ah there has been some.. personal distress lately. Family business, I can't promise if it won't return."

Ben didn't like it one bit. Felt embarrassed. He was strong and healthy. He didn't need all this fuss. But he underwent the examination quietly, coughed when requested, opened his mouth when requested, and cursed Lory.

"I will," he lied, when the doctor told him to come back if there was blood. He wouldn't be back at all unless Elijah followed up. He preferred to assume he was fine.

"Elijah worries too much, ser. I'll be fine. It will be fine."