Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Dr. Quinn Medicine. I just borrowed them from Beth Sullivan, CBS, and whoever else has rights to the characters.

This is my very first story so if you think it is bad, please be gentle!

Derailment

By Deepmitch

It was the end of the term and now summer was here! Colleen could hardly sleep that night for she knew that tomorrow; she would be going home for the summer to see her family and friends. Colleen woke up early the next morning, packed up all of her things from the boarding house, said her goodbyes to numerous friends, and left for the Denver train station.

Once the train was called for Colorado Springs, Colleen raced like a small child to get a window seat. She loved to watch the familiar scenery on the way back home. She thought to herself that she would be home in a few hours and with that, she simply smiled! Once settled, Colleen noticed a young mother and her daughter (probably four or five) board the train, sitting across from her. Looking at the little girl, she immediately thought of her baby sister Katie. She loved college but one of the hardest things about being away in Denver was that she was missing Katie growing up. Coming back to reality, she noticed the little girl had dropped the doll she was carrying. She picked up the doll and went to hand it back to the little girl. "Excuse me sweetheart, I don't think you want to lose her." The lady responded, "Thank you so much!" "Honey, say thank you to the nice young lady!" The little girl, somewhat shy, quietly said "Thank you!"

After some time had passed, Colleen was growing restless as she wanted the train to go faster to get home faster. Because of this, Colleen thought she could easily pass the time by befriending the lady and her daughter. "I'm sorry, I did not introduce myself earlier, my name is Colleen Cooper." "Hello, my name is Caroline Chambers and this is my daughter Maggie." "Hello Maggie, do you know that you remind me of my baby sister." She is just a few years younger than you are." "Really?" "Why yes, you do!" "So, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Colorado Springs?" "Actually, we are going to be building a new life there." "You see, my husband died in Denver from injuries he received from a fire." "So, I decided to take myself and my daughter away from the big city and some friends have spoken fondly about Colorado Springs so, here we are." "Well, Colorado Springs is a fine place!" "All the people in the town are so nice, warm, and friendly." "I live there with my ma, pa, and brothers but go to college in Denver." "I plan on being a doctor someday." "A lady doctor?" "Yes, my ma is a doctor as well; she is the doctor of the town." "I have never heard of a lady doctor before but now that I think of it, why not?" The ladies shared a good chuckle together and then with that came a very large crash. The car that Colleen was in was bouncing every which way and passengers were screaming. Colleen was scared beyond belief as she soon realized that the train had jumped the tracks. She was trying to hold onto the seat in front of her and then the car violently lurched forward and there was darkness.



The Sully homestead was extremely busy that afternoon. Michaela was running through the house making sure everything was perfect for her oldest daughter homecoming. Sully attempted to calm her down but to no avail. "Ma, we are going to be late," Brian exclaimed after hitching the wagon. "Alright, I'm coming" With that, the family was off to meet Matthew and the rest of their friends at the train station. The family arrived right on time at 2:50, ten minutes before Colleen's train was due in. Everyone was excited to see Colleen. Michaela was both excited and proud. Her daughter, her little Colleen was little no longer. She was turning into a beautiful young woman and the way that she carried herself in both her studied and life made her the proudest mother.

3:00 came around and there was no train. Michaela shot a glance over to Sully and he knew immediately what she was thinking. "Don't worry, the train is late, that's all." By 3:30, Michaela knew something was wrong, she could feel it in her stomach. Then, a wire was coming in for Horace to take down. "TRAIN WRECK, TRAIN WRECK!" "The 3:00 train crashed just south of Monument," Horace exclaimed. "There are some causalities and a lot of people were hurt." Michaela felt like her heart had skipped a beat as she started to cry and with that she started to run for the clinic, handing Katie over to Dorothy.

At the clinic, she changed out of her nice summer dress and put on some clothes that were more suitable for ridding. Then, she packed, while trying to compose herself the supplies that they would need for the wreck site. Once outside the clinic door, a number of men in town were already ready to ride. Jake, Robert E., Loren, Andrew and the Reverend were ready to go. Also waiting of course were Sully and Matthew and then she turned to her younger son who also wanting to ride along. "Brian, I think it would be best if you stayed behind." "Why?" "Thats is my sister out there and she needs my help." Tears profusely coming out of her eyes now, she said "Brian, now don't argue with me, you are staying here with Dorothy and Katie!" With that, Michaela turned to get onto Flash but hesitated, thinking about what could have happened to Colleen. Sully got down off his horse and quickly embraced her, "we will find her and bring her home!" Michaela had been through so much in her life but the thought of losing a child was more than she could ever handle. Michaela simply nodded and then she mounted Flash and then they were all off to the site of the crash.

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