An eerie silence held everyone in place; no-one was sure of what had just happened. Daniel broke through the line of police, rushing to Sully who lay motionless. He shoved David aside and noticed the pool of blood that had soaked through Sully's shirt.
"Sully!" he shouted as he shook his friend, trying to find where the blood was coming from. He looked back to the police, his face begging for an explanation. The young officer who had fired his weapon looked dumbfounded as their medic ran hearing a loud groan, Daniel quickly turned his attention back to Sully. His eyes opened slowly and blinked a few times, focusing on his friend leaning over him. Relief spread across Daniel's face as he watched him coming to.
"Sully, what happened? I thought... all this blood!"Sully, only now recognising the blood strewn across his clothing, numbly felt his chest for any injury saying, "It's not me, but my head is killin' me." He moaned as Daniel pulled him to his feet.
Looking down over David's still body, they could clearly see the bullet wound in his chest. The medic had given up his task of trying to find life, and Sully was thankful that this hadn't been his fate. The police officers had stepped up to take charge of the situation, and Sully was made to sit so the medic could examine him. His stomach only had a superficial cut and his head a small laceration from hitting a rock when he fell, but overall he would be okay.
Sully and Daniel made their way over to Robert E. who was sitting on a log in the shade; they shook his hand, grateful that he had brought the police to them. As he was on his way back, he remembered that the track he was on travelled near a part of the police search area, and he knew it would be better if he let them know what they had found before heading back. He had pointed them in the direction he came from on the map, but then felt uneasy leaving them to find it on their own, knowing Sully and Daniel would have moved on from there. So he decided to stay with them and retrace his steps.
The search team radioed across to the other locations around the woods, and they re-formed in the area Robert E. had shown them. They continued on along the stream following Daniel and Sully's tracks. They weren't far off when they heard Elizabeth's screams in the distance, and when they reached her, Daniel pointed them in the direction Sully had course by now Elizabeth had already been transported to hospital. So Sully, wanting to get back to Michaela as soon as possible, caught a ride with Robert E. in one of the police cars situated just outside the boundary. Daniel offered to take the horses and gear back with him and meet up with them later.
As soon as they arrived home Sully practically leapt out of the car, anxious to see Michaela. He couldn't stand being away from her, even if it was just for a short time. He hurried through the front door looking for her. Abigail and Grace came out of the kitchen and squealed in delight at their return and pointed them to the lounge.
Michaela had been laughing at one of Brian's stories but the smile on her face fell as she saw the state of Sully as he entered the room. He hadn't changed since the fight with David, and he only now realised what he must look like. Blood covered his shirt, and it was dirty and torn in several places. Michaela clambered out of her chair and rushed over to him, running her hands all over him, touching his face, his neck, his shoulders, searching for any injuries. "Sully, are you alright? What happened out there?" she asked frantically.
Sully stilled her hands against his chest, and pulled her against him; eager to feel her in his arms and set her at ease. He whispered into her ear, "We found her. She's alright, I'm alright. They've taken her to the hospital."
He felt Michaela slump into his arms as she burst into tears, and he scooped her up, holding her firmly against him. He hated to see her cry, but he knew she needed to release the anxiety and tension she'd been holding in, so he simply held her until she had settled.
He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb and kissed her lips, lingering there for a moment, and then leaned their brows together. Charlotte came rushing forward and embraced the pair and the others joined in. As they all rejoiced in the good news, Michaela let out a small laugh at their excitement. Immediately Sully was ushered off to the bathroom to clean up quickly while they gathered Michaela's things and helped her into the car. Grace, Abigail and Charlotte waved them away as they headed to the hospital.
As they drove, Sully could hardly keep his eyes on the road, too distracted by his wife sitting quietly next to him. He slid his hand over her leg and squeezed it gently and she looked up at him smiling. "Hey, ya ok?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she nodded in reply. She inhaled deeply, leaning her head back against the headrest. "I guess I'm just worried about how she's doing."
Sully rubbed her leg gently and spoke softly, "She's gonna be fine, Michaela. She's a strong woman, just like you. But you should know..."
He exhaled not wanting to upset Michaela any more.
"What is it?" Michaela picked up on the reservation in his voice.
"It's just...I don't want ya gettin' too upset when ya see her. She looks pretty bad; scratched and bruised all over," he answered.
Michaela's eyes welled with tears and she took Sully's hand in hers, squeezing it tightly.
"I'll be ok, as long as you're here with me," she smiled softly, but Sully could tell there was still something on her mind.
"What is it, Michaela?" he questioned.
Michaela bit her bottom lip apprehensively and then asked, "When you found mother, did you...I mean, was David there? Did the police catch him?"
It hadn't even occurred to Sully to mention what had happened to David, he hadn't said much about the incident, and honestly he wasn't sure how to tell her what actually happened. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and paused briefly, taking in a steady breath. "Michaela, when we got there and I saw Elizabeth, I... she was pretty shaken up. David was just about to...he had a knife, he was going to kill her," he said slowly, watching for Michaela's reaction.
She gasped and her body tensed as he continued, "When I caught up with him, he pulled the knife on me..."
He ran one hand through his hair as the other rested over his still tender stomach. "We were fightin' and the police showed up. I was thrown to the ground and one of the officers fired his gun, I hit my head and when I woke up...David was...dead."
He watched Michaela's face pale, and her eyes stared off into space. She hadn't said anything and Sully was beginning to worry. Did she blame him for David's death? Could he have done something differently? He reached for her hands and felt her shaking, so he held them more firmly, reassuringly. Michaela couldn't believe that David, the man she had once loved, could have become such a monster. David had not only tried to take her mother, but her husband as well and she couldn't pretend to be sorry that he was gone.
She returned Sully's grasp, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to face Sully, laying a hand on his cheek and caressing it with her thumb "The most important thing is that you're alive, and so is mother. And that's all I care about."
Sully felt relief wash over him and pulled her gently into an embrace, kissing her tenderly.
On their arrival at the hospital, Sully and Michaela quickly stepped to the nurses' station. They were given Elizabeth's room number and told they could go right in. Michaela drew in a deep breath as they stood on the threshold of her room, and then slowly pushed open the door. Sully guided her to a chair next to the bed and stood right beside her.
"Oh Sully," she whispered as she very gently moved a lock of hair off her mothers' face. "She looks so...fragile."
Sully reached over and clasped her hand in his, and they both turned at the sound of someone entering the room.
"You must be Dr Quinn," said a greying doctor proffering his hand. "Your mother is certainly a fiery lady," he laughed. "She made it very difficult for us to treat her. She insisted on having you, only you, as her doctor," he said brightly.
"Yes, she can be rather challenging at times," Michaela said as she shook his hand trying to ascertain whether her mother was actually going to be alright. "This is my husband Byron Sully; he was the one that rescued her," she said.
The two men shook hands. "Well, Mr Sully, it's true to say that you saved her life. I am doubtful that she would have lasted any longer in that terrain."
"So how is she doin' now?" Sully asked.
"Well, she's a little dehydrated, and as you can see she has numerous bruises and some deep cuts, some which needed stitches. She has a sprained ankle and she has a broken rib on her left side. She's going to be sore for quite a while, but I expect she'll recover very well."
"Thank you for everything you've done. We really appreciate it," said Michaela as she turned back to her mother and held her hand in hers.
The doctor left the room and Michaela leaned in and kissed her mothers' cheek softly. "You're going to be just fine," she whispered.
