Heart was worried sick; it was already 3 o'clock in the morning, but Atlantis' fever didn't want to break. Ever since she read that letter from Colleen, her beloved daughter couldn't stop crying and repeating that she wanted to go, needed to go to Colorado Springs. Heart tried to calm her down, but all her words fell on deaf ears. Atlantis' little son was confused at first, and then he broke down in tears. The child was so attached to his mum that whenever Atlantis was sad or worried about something, it was as if the little one felt that, and he would just start to cry. Heart had a difficult time to soothe him. It took three stories about leprechauns to calm the little boy, and only then he drifted off to sleep.
Now, Heart was sitting by her daughter's bedside, washing her face with cold water. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she watched that darling, pale face. Atlantis had gone through so much; she just wasn't herself anymore. All the things she'd suffered from her husband, the escape from that abusive home and then the hiding - all that took its toll on her; she grew sick and was fighting with a terrible cough ever since.
When they arrived in England, Heart found them a place to stay, hoping that a new environment would help her daughter to heal. A few weeks ago, Atlantis asked her what she thought about her contacting her friend Colleen again. Heart knew how much Atlantis missed her during all these years. She also knew why she couldn't contact her before. Hoping that it would bring some joy back to her, Heart had agreed.
Now, she regretted it. She didn't think that Atlantis still had feelings for Colleen's older brother. She couldn't believe how on earth she could think that – when it was so obvious, considering…
"Mum?" All of a sudden Atlantis' quiet voice was heard.
"Yes, dear, I'm here," replied Heart, softly caressing her daughter's forehead that was bathed in sweat.
"I gotta go, Mum, I have to. I need to make sure that he's all right," her voice almost drowned in tears.
"First you have to get well, Atlantis," said Heart, swallowing her tears.
"There's no time for that. I have to go now, Mum…" Another attack of cough hit Atlantis' chest, stopping her in the middle of the sentence.
"Ssssshhhh, calm down, Atlantis, please…" Heart had barely finished her sentence when the entrance of the house burst open. Both women screamed with fear when they saw who was standing at their threshold.
"No…" Atlantis mumbled through tears.
~*~
"NO!!!!" screamed Matthew, abruptly awakening from his nightmare. His breathing was heavy and fast; he could feel the beads of sweat dropping from his forehead.
He looked around. He was alone in homestead. The room was dark, outside it was quiet. He lay back onto the pillows, still breathing heavily. As he wiped the moisture from his brow, he tried to remember his dream. What was so horrible that woke him?
Staring at the ceiling, Matthew tried to calm down. Tried to remember…
He had been in an unfamiliar house. He saw a little boy sleeping in his bed and heard somebody coughing in the other room. Then everything happened so fast; the doors slammed open and he saw a very drunk man storming into the room, trying to attack the young woman that was obviously very sick. Matthew couldn't see her face, but something in her voice was familiar to him.
"MATTHEW!!!! MATTHEW, RUN!!!!"
It didn't make sense. It just didn't make sense. Who was that woman? And why did she tell him to run? Run from whom?
~*~
One month later"Horace just delivered these, Dr. Mike", said Matthew, unloading the boxes from the wagon together with Sully and Brian.
"Oh, thank God, my medicine finally arrived!" smiled Michaela and took one box from Matthew's hands.
"These should be enough till Christmas, I reckon," said Colleen, taking another box.
She barely finished her sentence when a strange noise distracted them. The whole family turned around.
The noise came closer and all of a sudden, a carriage stormed into town, with somebody screaming, "Dr. MIKE!! HELP!!"
Michaela gasped and rushed toward the carriage. Before she even reached it and had time to see who was calling her name so desperately, she heard Colleen call, "Heart?!"
Mike watched as her daughter ran toward the vehicle, quickly opened the door and then screamed, "NO!! ATLANTIS!!!!!"
Michaela was quickly by her daughter's side, hugging her while Sully picked up an unconscious Atlantis and rushed with her into the clinic. Heart jumped from the rider's seat and sobbed, "Dr. Mike, you gotta help her, please!"
"Calm down, Heart, calm down. Everything will be all right. Tell me what happened," said Dr. Mike as she and Colleen hurried to follow Sully.
Matthew and Brian went toward the carriage to take it to Robert E. when they heard soft sobbing from inside. Creasing his brow, Matthew slowly opened the door, only to see a little boy with brown hair and big hazel eyes curled up on the seat, crying. He couldn't be older than three years, Matthew thought. He reached for the child to caress his soft hair and felt the child shivering with fear.
"Hey," Matthew whispered. "It's all right, don't be afraid."
"I want my Mummy," cried the little boy. "Where did you take her?"
Matthew shared stunned looks with Brian. This was Atlantis' son?
Trying to recover from the shock, Matthew said, "Dr. Mike will help your mum. Don't worry."
As he tried to hug the little boy, the child winced with fear. "Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you. I just wanna take you to see your mum," Matthew assured.
The soft voice eventually reached the little boy and he looked at the men in front of him for the first time ever since the door opened. They both looked friendly, he thought, maybe they really didn't want to hurt him.
"Hi, I'm Brian. What's your name?"Brian tried to start a conversation.
The little boy rubbed his eyes and sitting up, he quietly replied, "Matthew."
Matthew felt a lump growing in his throat. Tears were welling up in his eyes and he didn't even know why this hit him so hard.
Brian watched as his brother just bent into the carriage and picked up little Matthew, carrying him outside. Without a word, Matthew took him to the clinic.