Chapter 1
Five years later.
Katie knocked on the door of her mother's office, hearing no response she carefully opened the door. In the low light spilling from the oil lamp she could make out her mother, asleep in the armchair, a medical journal open on her lap. Katie sighed and made her way into the room.
Kneeling down beside the chair, Katie observed her mother before gently touching her forearm.
"Ma?"
"Sul...?" Michaela's eyes fluttered open.
"It's me Ma" Katie told her, gently removing the book from her mother's lap.
Michaela stared blearily around her office, before focusing her eyes on her daughter. She smiled, it was moments like these when she could see Sully in her daughter. Most of Katie's features were her own, but the brilliant blue eyes were Sully's, and so was the concern that shone from them.
"What time is it?" Michaela asked.
"Late" Katie told her standing up, "You didn't come and get me, so I came and got you" Katie smiled and held out the eye glasses that were sitting on her mother's desk "You're supposed to wear these when you're reading Ma"
Michaela smiled impishly at her daughter "Yes I know" taking the glasses from Katie's slender hand she positioned the wire framed lenses on her nose and scanned her office. The large oak desk bore the testament to her busy day, papers and journals scattered across the polished surface. Slowly she stood up, gently rolling her head to try and ease the stiffness that she was feeling. As she did she caught sight of the clock on the wall. "Katie, it's 8 o'clock!"
"I know, I helped Joy with her math and then I went to wait for Pa's train but Horace got a message to say it would be late because there is a tree on the line." Katie explained, carefully straightening her mother's books. "Then I helped Loren and Miss Dorothy in the store, they were having a little trouble getting things on the top shelves"
Michaela observed her daughter for a few moments, she was still so young yet sometimes she seemed so grown up, and as much as Katie looked like her, she was definitely her father's daughter when it came to temperament, except for the stubbornness, which was a Quinn trait through and through. "Did Horace say when the train would be in?"
"About now" Katie held out her hand for her mother and began to lead her to the door.
The pair walked arm in arm through the hospital, it was beginning to quiet down after a fairly hectic day. The hospital never seemed to be still, when it had opened Michaela had only planned for it to be open 12 hours a day, with a small contingent of nurses to mind whatever patient there may be in at the time. That plan had failed miserably, as people travelled for miles to be treated at the hospital, in fact it was only this morning that she had drawn up plans to hire another physician, the patient load had become too much for just her and Dr Simon Fischer, even with the 3 students from Colorado University working their internships. It was a question of balance, balancing case loads, balancing the books, balancing staff levels. She could employ another nurse in an attempt to ease the burden and request another student from the university, or employ another Doctor and let two of her existing nurses go. That and the pressing need for a porter come caretaker, it seemed like an insurmountable problem, at least for tonight. But at least Sully would finally be home from his trip.
The train eased into the station, an hour and a half late, a fallen tree had blocked the way and clearing it had taken time with the rain beating down from the dark sky.
Harrison climbed down the steps of the train. It had been a long time since he had been in Colorado Springs, and in the gloom it appeared that little had changed, except for a few more houses. As he turned to leave the station he caught sight of something that made him stop. A woman and a blonde girl rushing down the platform with beaming smiles adorning their pretty faces. He recognised them both, the older woman was unquestionably the Doctor, just a little greyer and slightly fuller but it was the girl that caught his attention, where she had been pretty before now she was stunning, a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. The pair rushed towards a man who had disembarked the train from the other end. Harrison watched as the pair approached him. Harrison looked surprised, it was the foreman, but he looked so different with his much shorter hair, and dressed in a suit. Quietly Harrison turned away from the family reunion and slunk off into town to find a bunk, but as he left he could not help himself but to turn around and take another long look at the blonde girl.
Sully walked into the bedroom and smiled, Michaela was sat at her vanity, peering over her glasses and staring intently at the roots of her long hair. In the last year her mid life had consumed her and she had needed the eye glasses more and more, her long hair had began rapidly losing its colour, and she had gained a bit of weight adding shape to her slender form. Despite that she was still beautiful though she did not seem to be able to see it herself.
"I've heard that there is treatment that can be used to colour it" Michaela asked looking at Sully through his reflection.
"I like it the way it is" Sully whispered coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
"But it makes me look old" Michaela moaned, resting her head into Sully's chest.
"You're a grandmother, remember, you are allowed to look old" Sully teased her gently, he didn't get the reaction he hoped for and instead of her beautiful smile, he watched her eyes fill with tears. He instantly regretted his comment, the subject of the grandchildren was a sore subject for Michaela, with both Brian and Colleen still in Boston they very rarely saw the Colleen's two boys or Brian's young daughter. They even struggled to see Matthew he was so busy with his legal practice even though he was only a short train ride away. "You're not old, Michaela, you're just as beautiful as the day you stepped off that stage"
Michaela smiled at him through watery eyes "You always know just what to say" she turned her head so her lips found his, but as they did they were interrupted by the sound of the door being hammered upon. Michaela groaned, she had distinctly requested that she not be disturbed tonight, especially as Sully had returned from his three week trip.
"I'll get it"
He left, leaving Michaela to pull on her robe over her nightgown. In what seemed like a moment Sully was back, a frantic look on his face.
"Sully?" Michaela asked concerned by the way her husband appeared.
"It's from Brian," Sully paused, his eyes filling with tears "Laura and Charlotte, they're sick; the Doctors don't think they are going to make it"
Katie rushed after her parents as they hurried to get their belongings loaded onto the first train of the morning. Her parents had been rushing since Horace had brought the message late last night. They had began a mad scramble to gather the things that they would need for a potentially lengthy stay in Boston and that Katie would need for a stay in town, Something which Katie did not agree with.
"Ma I want to come" She begged her mother, desperately trying to get her parents to let her come along, it was not that she resented being forced to stay with Dorothy and Loren it was she hated to be apart from her parents, especially when there was a chance that her two year old niece whom she had only seen twice could be dying.
"You have school Katie." Michaela shot at her before turning to Doctor Fischer who had come to get his instructions from his employer. "The university will require updates on the interns..." Michaela started to reel off at the young doctor.
Exasperated Katie spun on her heels and rushed to her father, who was helping the porter to load the heavy trunk. "Pa, please let me come"
Sully pushed the trunk fully onto the baggage car and turned to face his daughter. "You can't Katie" he said simply, he held his arms open for her, when Katie didn't step into his embrace he dropped them to his sides. It seemed that Katie was changing as much as she had done when she was a small child, more and more she was turning into a version mother. Sully took a step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, Katie stood firm, almost shrugging her shoulder out of his grip. "I know you want to come, but your Ma wants you to stay"
"I want to see Charlotte" Katie reasoned plaintively
"I know, but your Ma doesn't want you to miss school," Katie relented finally stepping into her father's comforting embrace "She doesn't want you to get sick either"
"But..."
"Ssh, I know but we'll be back in a few weeks." Sully released Katie as the porter sounded for immediate embarkation. "I'll let you know when we arrive" straightening up he called for his wife, who was still reeling off instructions to her bewildered looking colleague.
The train let off its whistle to indicate its immediate departure and Sully quickly pulled Michaela onto the train. As the train began to move, Michaela appeared to remember her daughter and turned towards the young girl who had begun to run down the platform.
"Bye Katie" Michaela called watching as Katie was forced to stop by the embankment "I love you"
Dr Simon Fischer sat down at his desk exhausted, for all the admiration he had for his employer she could be so officious at times. His head was buzzing with all the instructions she had given him. He'd been so excited when he had accepted this position 4 years ago, the chance to work in a hospital, something so much more exciting then working at his father's small practice. In reality it had been so much more difficult than he had expected. When he'd accepted the position he thought it would be a nice new hospital, he'd get to perform surgeries and at the end of the day go home to his lovely home and wife. The lovely home and wife had never materialised through, Simon had never had time to even have the notion of meeting an appropriate woman let alone court one, and as for the house, it was a distant dream, he still remained in his 'temporary accommodation' of a room at Michaela's old clinic, the building which Sully used as his office. It could be worse he supposed, he could have shared the interns dorm in the attic space of the hospital; at least he had his own door.
The door opened and a rather damp and flustered nurse rushed in. "Dr Fischer!"
"Evelyn?" Simon stared at the young woman curiously.
"The pipe to the sink has broken" the young nurse breathily told him.
Simon groaned she needn't explain more, by the sink he knew that she meant the sink in the nurse's dorm. The sink presented a perpetual problem, not least because the water seemed to rebel at being forced four stories up in the air. Michaela had assured him that Sully would fix it on his return, but he had never had a chance. If the leak wasn't fixed soon Simon was sure that the water would penetrate the ward below.
"Get the patients moved into the other ward" Simon told her tiredly.
"Mix the wards" the nurse looked at him shocked. "We can't move them anyway, Mr Gregson has to remain immobilised and Mr Adams is too large for Jenny and I to handle"
Simon sighed "Fine, go get Robert E, I'll move the patients" it was times like this that the requirement of a porter or caretaker was so sorely felt. They had had a porter until recently, but the man had moved away and Sully had been acting as caretaker, in the time he had off from his work. Simon followed the damp nurse out of his office, today was going to be a long day.
"Can I join you?"
Katie looked up from her uneaten food at the question; she was seated in the middle of the cafe silently stewing over the situation. The man before her gave a crooked smile, and she appraised him, taking in that his clothes didn't fit him properly and that he was in dire need of a good shave and haircut.
"I'd sit elsewhere but all the tables are full" Katie glanced around the cafe, seeing that what he said was true "So can I?" the man asked again.
"Sure, it's a free country" Katie whispered sullenly to him.
The man sat down gratefully and signalled to Grace that he'd like to order. "I'll have what she's got" he ordered quickly. Katie ignored the man and continued to push her food around her plate. "Something eating you?"
Katie looked up at his question. "It's not important"
"Sure it is" the man pressed her "It's not right that a pretty girl like you should have a scowl on her face"
Katie smiled slightly at his compliment "My Ma and Pa just left, my niece and sister in law are sick"
"And you wanted to go with them" the man accepted his food from Grace with a beaming smile. Katie shrugged, "Didn't want to get left behind with your grandparents"
"What?" Katie looked up at the man confused.
"Saw you in the store, are the old couple not your grandparents?" the man asked her innocently.
Katie shook her head "That's Loren and Miss Dorothy" She looked up at the man with a curious look "Have you been following me?"
"Nah, needed some supplies, beside town ain't big enough for me to follow you, just wanted some food. I'm Harrison, what's your name?" Harrison asked knowing perfectly well what her reply would be.
Katie stared at the man cautiously for a few moments before finally answering.
"So Katie, what can I do to put a smile on that pretty face of yours" Harrison asked, adopting a persona that to a casual observer would sound like a friendly uncle trying to cheer up the girl.
"You can't"
Before Harrison had a chance to react a flustered looking young woman ran into the cafe. "Grace, where's Robert E?"
The cafe owner stared the young nurse down "He's out doing some repairs at the Chateau. Why?"
"We've got a burst pipe at the hospital, the water is going everywhere"
"I'll do it" Harrison spoke, earning himself the gaze of the cafe clientele. "Used to work on building sites, sure I can handle a bit of indoor plumbing."
Simon looked up at the sound of footsteps, he had successfully moved the male patients into the female ward, and thankfully the only female patient was so elderly she wouldn't have noticed if she was sharing the ward with a horse. Now he was desperately trying to fix the spurting pipe, something he was failing in, it just seemed to him that this new indoor plumbing was more trouble than it was worth. He looked relieved as Evelyn returned followed by Katie Sully and a man, who although he was not the trusted blacksmith was carrying a tool box.
The man took control immediately reaching into his tool box for something to patch the pipe with. After a few moments the water stopped spurting into the room.
"That will hold it for a bit, until I can replace the pipe" Harrison muttered, wiping the water from his face. "Need to replace the whole section here" he pointed at the pipe, indicating to the sodden physician what was required.
"Have you done this type of work before?" Simon asked, drying his hands with a cloth that Katie had passed to him.
"Yeah," Harrison muttered "Done a bit of everything"
"Do you need a job?" Simon asked looking almost desperate at the man.
Harrison looked at the male doctor with surprise, before his eyes fell onto young Katie stood only a few steps behind him. "Yeah"
"Excellent" Simon held out his hand "We need a caretaker and porter, the job is yours if you wish"
Harrison glanced at Katie, who was smiling at him, the thought that he might have a legitimate reason for seeing her everyday was enough. He seized the Doctors hand shaking it roughly, "Best see to getting a spare piece of pipe"