All standard disclaimers that I have already used so far with any of the various stories that I
now have on fanfiction.net will apply. For your information, all of the characters that you may not
actually recognize well enough in this story are original characters of mine, unless otherwise stated, in
fact. All the Galaxians, for instance, are mine, whether in combat form or in civilian form. So please
don't steal my original characters from this story or any others, for that matter.
Now without further ado, back to the story. And I hope that you'll all enjoy it, of course.
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The Inverness Chronicles
Book One
Chapter Eight
Meanwhile, back at the hospital that Dr. Thurston usually worked at, Dr. Amy Thurston was
checking on the patient that she'd been working on earlier. The patient, thanks to some quite useful
help for Amy from other more experienced doctors, had survived the required operation. And they
were now beginning to recover from the effects of the operation and the accident that had requited it.
The patient was now talking to Dr. Thurston, in private. And she was now saying, "I'm glad
you were around to help me out, at least at first, Dr. Thurston. Granted, you didn't actually know how
to attend to certain injuries that I'd received in an accident, but at least you were there."
"I was glad to be of service, Dr. Quinn. What I don't understand is how come you were in a
car, when such a thing wasn't actually around in your time period, if I'm not too mistaken."
"It seems that my wagon and horses turned into a car of some sort when we somehow were
caught in a rather unexpected weather phenomenon of some unknown sort. I believe that it was a
tornado or something similar, from what I can recall here well enough. We were all heading back home
to my family's residence, and the next thing I knew, I was in some sort of car. I was alone, both before
and after I was whisked away by something I don't know or understand here. At least in the sense that
there was nobody sentient enough that I could then talk to or with easily enough, of course, Dr.
Thurston."
"Where were you at the time that you were whisked away, as you say, Dr. Quinn?"
"I was in the Colorado Springs area, and heading home as I have said here."
"You don't seem to be from our world, in fact. But you do seem to be from a similar one, just
the same, Dr. Quinn. Particularly from another Earth, in actual reality, from what my medical scans
have told me well enough here, if they're accurate enough here. From what they seem to tell me,
you're apparently from sometime in the last 25 or so years of the 19th Century AD, Dr. Quinn. I can't
be more sure about when you were whisked away, as you say, than that, though."
"Could you just call me Dr. Mike, by any chance, Dr. Thurston? My friends and family often
call me that, whenever possible, in fact, whenever I'm with or sufficiently near them."
Dr. Amy Thurston considered that idea for a few brief moments, and then said, "I suppose that
I could do so, whenever possible, Dr. Mike. I do wonder, though, what Mike is short for here."
"It's short for Michaela, Dr. Thurston. My father wanted a son, and he was really hoping that
I'd be one. But I ended up being a girl, and so therefore, he and my mother added an A to the name
that they were planning to give to the expected son. Which made me then a girl with the name
Michaela, of course. There were no boys in our family, however. I eventually took after him enough in
my life, and I followed him eventually into the practice of medicine. Back then, there were very few, if
any, women doctors, if I remember correctly enough here. Elizabeth Blackwell had either become the
first woman doctor in my country, or would become that sometime in the future, if I'm not too mistaken
here, Dr. Thurston. Eventually I myself became a doctor, and the working conditions, at least at first,
were often quite terrible, in many different ways, in fact. Including, of course, the simple fact that I was
a woman doctor in that particular time period. Back then, the idea of women doctors was quite often
met with more than just a little skepticism and trepidation, by many, if not most, of the people that I'd
then associate with as a doctor. They often thought that a woman like me should get married and stay
at home to raise a whole bunch of children, if I remember correctly enough here."
"And how did you end up in Colorado Springs eventually?"
"Eventually, if I remember correctly enough here, a frontier town needed a doctor. And I went
out west from where I was in Boston, Massachusetts, and became the town's doctor. It took a while
for the town's people to warm up to me, of course, but eventually they did so. I also adopted three
children even though I was unmarried at the time, after their mother had died, in fact. More time
passed, and I eventually fell in love with the man that I later married, if I hadn't already done so before I
adopted the three children that I've just told you about here. We eventually had another child or two,
at least, before I was whisked away by the strange weather phenomenon I've just told you about as
well, Dr. Thurston."
"I suppose that you realize that they might have died by now, of course."
"Of course. But maybe the same thing that brought me to your time and place here might also
be able to bring me back to the time and place that I was whisked away from."
"But the car that you ended up in was totally ruined."
"It was? That's going to be a problem then, isn't it?"
"It might be, or it might not be. I might have an idea on how to deal with that potential problem.
It's probably going to require the help of at least one, if not more than one, of my friends. But I think
that we can find some way to deal with it easily enough here, so that we can get you back to your Earth
when and where you were taken from it, Dr. Michaela Quinn."
"I see. And in the meantime, what do you want me to do, if at all possible?"
"Get a lot of rest, and let your body heal itself as it might after your accident, if you possibly can
do so here. I don't know how long it will take for your body to heal itself here. But I still hope that
you'll be up and about by the time that we might have to try that idea of mine that I've just mentioned
here. This, of course, is for all the obvious enough reasons, as you might expect. Seeing as we're both
doctors, as you now know here, Dr. Mike."
"All right, Dr. Thurston, I'll try to do that as much as I can here, whenever possible. Could I
call you Dr. Amy, by any chance, as well?"
"Fair enough, I suppose. But I also have other patients that I must check in on now, so I'll
have to leave you now, at least for a while. If you need me, just ask a nurse to call or page me." Dr.
Thurston then showed Dr. Quinn her pager, in fact. This was so that she would know what one might
look like, in fact, just in case Dr. Quinn would need to have her paged for any reason whatsoever at all.
"Understood, Dr. Amy. I'll see you later, then, God willing." Then Dr. Thurston left Dr. Quinn
alone in her hospital room again, for all the obvious reasons here. It was now just before local midnight
there, when Amy then left Michaela alone again in her room. And then Michaela went to sleep soon
afterward, and she began dreaming of her friends and family. Especially about her husband Byron
Sully, as a matter of fact.
While she did that, Amy was then continuing to check on her patients as of the current time.
She'd most likely be leaving the hospital by two in the morning, just the same. But before she did so,
she still had to check on her patients again, of course, for all the obvious reasons. Amy checked on her
remaining patients for at least a few moments each, before she began to wrap up whatever else she still
had to do before leaving the hospital again. The wrapping up of all those things didn't take too long, in
fact, before she then left the hospital again for the rest of the early morning, in actual reality.
She went home, and soon enough after doing so, she retired to her and Greg's bed again, of
course. And she then slept for at least a few hours, quite naturally, next to her husband there. By the
time that she woke up again, Greg was already out of the bed, and off to his job, whatever that might
be, in the Inverness area.
Several hours later, then, Amy woke up again, and got her school-age children up and ready
for school, if they didn't get themselves all ready here. And then she called Mrs. Hampton, so that she
could bring up the idea that she'd mentioned earlier to Dr. Quinn, at least, if not anyone else as well.
Mrs. Susan Hampton, who was also the Crystal Sailor Scout Pluto, had powers primarily relating to
time, as did her daughters, whenever possible. She was also the former Susan Meyers, in fact.
Mrs. Hampton was woken up by Amy, when she called, but she realized that Amy still had
something major on her mind at the current time, so she wasn't too upset here with Amy. A little upset,
maybe, but not a lot, in any case at all here. She asked Amy, "What's up, Doctor?"
"Mrs. Hampton, I was wondering if you'd be willing to check out some potentially alternate
realities, timelines and/or Universes that might be related to our current situation here."
"Send me your idea or ideas in an e-mail or two, please, if you can, by the end of the day, and
I'll look into them, Amy."
"Would now be all right here?"
"Wait at least until noon local time here. I had a later-than-usual night last night. And I suspect
you possibly did too, Amy. Maurice came in late as well, and one thing led to another, as you might
sometimes expect here. I won't go into any more details than that here, of course, Amy. For I'm sure
that the same thing has happened more than once, at least, for you and Greg, if not anyone else in our
group of married friends and associates, quite naturally."
"Say no more about such things here, for I get the picture. Where is Maurice now?"
"He had to take the children that are presently old enough to go to school there. And then he
had to go to work. I don't really expect him back here before seven or so, at the very earliest, Amy.
For he often has to commute to work somewhere, and it often is at least seven in the evening before
he's actually able to return home for the rest of the night, in fact."
The women talked a bit longer with each other, and then Amy signed off not too much later.
After Amy did so, she then found several things to do around her house. For she really didn't feel like
going back to bed again for at least a little while longer. Among those things was at least one chess
game over the Internet, if not more than one, as a matter of fact. She also sent a considerable number
of e-mails and pieces of snail mail, before noon in the local area came and went for her here well
enough, as well. She then spent at least an hour or two reading various books and medical journals that
she was now in the process of reading, before she finally decided she was hungry and thirsty enough to
have some lunch for herself here.
She then made herself some sandwiches and a few other things for her lunch. And then she
soon put away all her current reading material for at least a little while. With that then done, she soon
transformed herself into her Crystal Sailor Mercury state of being, and teleported to a palace that she
had under her family's control on this Earth's Moon, in fact. This Palace was called the Mercury Star
Palace, and it had been under her family's control since sometime around her marriage to Greg. It had
been one of the first palaces built after the Scouts had begun to establish bases on this Earth's Moon, in
fact. It resembled, in large part, the very same palace that she'd actually been born in more than a
millennium before back on another Mercury. And this was only the case here if it wasn't the exact
same one that was now present in this Earth's own solar system, in actual reality, of course.
The palace that she'd been born in on that Mercury, if it wasn't the one that was now present
here in this Earth's own solar system, had been called the Anderson Castle. And it had been centered,
if not exactly there, roughly on both Mercury's Prime Meridian and Equator, plus or minus a few
degrees either way for the latitude or longitude there, if not both of them. As for her husband, he'd
been born in yet another Mercurian palace there. And that palace was, of course, the Thurston Palace,
for all the obvious enough reasons here, in fact. Time passed, and they eventually met each other in
their lives. They eventually did so before the end of the Silver Millennium and the Moon Kingdom on
the particular Moon of Earth that they were more familiar with in their lives. Supposing, of course, that
it wasn't actually the very same one that was now present in this Earth's own solar system.
After the Moon Kingdom's Silver Millennium came to an end, and the Moon Kingdom of the
applicable Moon was sacrificed by Serena the Older's first mother, Queen Serenity, versions of Amy,
Greg, and so many others eventually showed up on this Earth, somehow. And they then began to live
their lives as if they'd never before been born in their lives, in fact. And they retained no memories of
there ever having been a Moon Kingdom in actual reality, if it could possibly avoided at all here.
Eventually, though, what had largely caused the end of the Moon Kingdom broke the seal that
had trapped them for many years, and they began to wreak havoc whenever possible. That forced
Luna and other Guardians that Serenity had somehow sent to that Earth to seek out and assemble
Scouts and others to fight the beings that were now causing a great deal of trouble in numerous places
all over this particular Earth. Including, of course, Amy, in due time. Luna had first found Serena the
Older, when she was a teenager. Then Amy, Raye, Lita, and Venus soon followed, not all because of
Luna. Also at least one other Guardian had found one of the Scouts, of course. Meaning Mina/Venus,
in fact. Other Scouts were found and assembled as necessary, in actual reality, when their presences
were required here.
She had teleported herself to this particular palace on this Earth's Moon so that she might be
able to train by herself as a Crystal Sailor Scout for a while. Or as much by herself as possible, in fact.
If she trained with anyone or anything else while there, then it'd mostly be with the use of robots or
something similar enough to them here, as well. Periodically, she'd train in her family's palace on this
Earth's Moon, if she didn't do anything else there whenever she visited it in her life, with or without
others being near her when she did so.
And this was no exception, in actual reality. She wanted to get in some training time by herself,
if at all possible, before she'd have to return home again, for the obvious enough reasons. So she'd
come here for at least a while, in fact. She spent at least an hour or so, most likely, training there,
before she realized that she now had other commitments that she had to attend to in very short order.
She finished whatever she wanted or needed to do in the Mercury Star Palace, for all the obvious
reasons, of course, before she then returned to her family's residence via teleportation again. After she
then teleported back there as Crystal Sailor Mercury, she soon powered down, and she also
transformed herself back into her normal non-Scout state of being, quite naturally.
After doing that, she then checked her e-mails, her snail mails, and her phone calls, in very short
order, of course. And then she got ready for her school-age children to return to their home, quite
naturally. Melody, Cassidy, and Garrett would probably be among them, in fact. Supposing that they
didn't have any other plans in the meantime, before they'd come home again for at least a little while, of
course. However, Amy's youngest child and daughter with her husband Greg, Karen, was now being
taken care of by Mrs. Molly Updike, a friend of Amy and Serena the Older's from back when they
were all still in high school together.
Besides her triplets, Amy had three other school-age children, and one who wasn't yet at least
that old in their life. She and Greg had seven children, and the most recent of them had been born
about two or so years before, in fact. Besides Melody, Cassidy, and Garrett, their other four children
were Isaac, Travis, Morgan, and Karen. Karen was the youngest, as well. She was about three years
or so younger than Morgan. Morgan was about a year or so younger than Travis. Travis was about
two or so years younger than Isaac. And Isaac was about another year or so younger than the triplets
were. The triplets were twelve, and just a few months, at most, past their shared twelfth birthday.
Melody was the oldest of the three, having been born about two or so hours earlier than Garrett, and
about another two or so hours earlier than Cassidy. At most, the actual difference in the ages of
Melody and Cassidy didn't exceed a total of about five hours, in any case at all.
On the triplets' tenth birthday, the girl triplets had both been made Scouts, at least partially, by
their request, but not entirely by request. Amy and the other Scouts who had served long enough in
their lives as Scouts weren't really in support of the idea. But eventually, they let them become Scouts,
if they could do so, and they weren't forced to do so by anyone or anything else at all. Something or
someone like a monster, for example. Eventually, they made the girl triplets Scouts, and ever since,
Melody and Cassidy had served as Scouts, whenever possible, in their lives.
As for Garrett, he didn't yet know that his fellow triplets were also Scouts of some kind. But
he did know that he wanted to be a scientist when he grew up, if at all possible. Little did he know that
he might eventually become a Mercury Knight of some sort if the need arose for him to do here, of
course. Several of the male children of the older Scouts didn't yet know that they might eventually
need to be Knights of at least one sort in their lives, in fact. Including at least one of the children of Lita
and Ken, for example, as a matter of fact. But if and when the need arose for them to know that,
they'd all eventually learn it in their lives, if at all possible, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
However, the group of boys who were descended from the Scouts who knew they might have
to be Knights didn't include Rini's younger brothers Andrew, Brad, and Parker. Andrew was three or
so years younger than Rini. Brad was two or so years younger than Andrew. And Parker was about
two years old, plus or minus a few months or so either way. Between Andrew and Rini, there was a
daughter, and her name was Molly Ruth. Molly Ruth was about a year or so younger than Rini.
Between Andrew and Brad, there was another daughter, born almost exactly halfway between the two
boys, and her name was Teresa Hope. And about halfway between both Brad and Parker, another girl
had been born, and her name was Louise Rose.
Molly Ruth had been given the name of Molly in honor of one of her mother's best school
friends and one of her mother's grandparents. Molly came from the friend's name, while Ruth came
from the grandparent's name. Her mother had been a friend of the current Mrs. Updike for many
years, in fact, ever since her mother and the Molly that she was named at least partly after had been in
school together with each other. And Molly had met Mrs. Updike many times in the past already, of
course, because of that fact.
Molly Ruth was now in fifth or sixth grade, depending on when her birthday had actually fallen
on the calendar, in terms of putting her in school in a particular calendar year. If she wasn't at least old
enough to start one year, she'd had to start the following year, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
Most likely, she wasn't old enough to be just a school year behind Rini, and if that was true, then she'd
had to start school later, quite naturally.
Other children of the Scouts who'd then become old enough in their lives to do so, eventually
started school in them, if they'd not already done so by the time that she'd started it as well.
Eventually, most, if not all, of the Scouts' various children were already in school, for all the obvious
reasons. And the oldest of those children were now in seventh grade, as a matter of fact. Including,
quite naturally, Melody, Cassidy, Garrett, Rini, Melanie, Juniper, and Verana, at least, if not anyone
else as well here, in fact.
Eventually, Melody, Cassidy, and all the boys returned to the Thurston residence again, for at
least a little while, if not for the rest of the afternoon, evening, and/or night. This, of course, was for all
the obvious reasons. The girls went to the room that they both shared with Karen, while Garrett went
with Isaac to their room. Travis and Morgan went to their own room together, but only after they'd
both gotten some graham crackers, cheese, and orange juice for themselves to consume later in their
room. Travis and Morgan shared one room, while Garrett and Isaac shared another. That then meant
that the girls had to have at least one room of their own, of course.
Melody and Cassidy went to their room, and they soon changed out of their school uniforms.
They spent at least an hour after they returned home in their room together, before they both decided to
go over to Lita and Ken's martial arts school for a while. They told their mother that they were heading
there, and how long they'd expect to be there, if at all possible, for all the obvious reasons. And then
Amy eventually let them both leave for that place elsewhere in Inverness. The boys, however, actually
stayed home all evening long. For they didn't want to go anywhere else at the current time, if they
didn't have to, in fact.
After Greg returned home with Karen, Amy eventually could leave their residence again, for all
the obvious reasons. She soon went to the hospital to do whatever she normally would do there, of
course. And on the way there, she heard from Mrs. Hampton again. Mrs. Hampton would want to
see her the following afternoon, if at all possible, at a local restaurant, in fact. Amy said, "Sure, I think I
can be there, if nothing else happens around here to keep me from being able to do that somehow,
Susan."
"Good, Dr. Thurston. If I learn anything else that I think you need to know in the meantime, I'll
try to let you know as soon as I can. And let's pray that there is no more trouble around here for a
while longer with these monsters, of course, Amy."
"Agreed. I really don't want us to have to fight again for a while longer, if we don't want or
need to do that here, Susan. But if monsters come here again, then you know that might not be
possible here, for all the obvious reasons, Susan."
"Yes, I know that, Amy. But what will be, will be, whether we like it or not. I might be able to
delay some attacks, of course, from certain monsters. But as you are probably quite aware here, I
can't possibly prevent all attacks that might occur in any number of timelines, realities, or Universes, for
all the obvious reasons, of course, Amy. Even if I might want to, I can't do that all the time, quite
naturally, Amy. For I am not God. Only He, His Son, and the Holy Spirit have total control of all such
things here, in fact. No matter how much mortals like us, for example, might prefer otherwise, that's
still the case here, Amy. At least when it comes to controlling any number of timelines, realities, and/or
Universes that might actually ever exist in fact, that is."
The two of them talked for a little while longer, then, before Mrs. Hampton said that she now
had other things that then required her rather prompt attention. So Amy eventually let her go, and she
herself eventually arrived at the hospital that she'd normally work at in her life, whenever possible. Dr.
Thurston soon enough checked in there, and went on the clock, so to speak.
Dr. Thurston worked on whatever she then had to do there, no matter what it was. If she
needed to see patients, then she saw patients. If she needed to operate, she operated. If she needed
to do paperwork, of any conceivable kind, even if it was only in a symbolic sense, at least, she did that
too. And eventually, she was about to clock out, seeing as it was now quite rapidly approaching the
end of her current work shift. However, just before she was about to do so, she had to go to the
Emergency Room to help with an emergency operation. As soon as she realized that she'd probably
be delayed for a while coming home, she then called Greg as soon as she could do so, before she went
into the necessary Emergency Room of the hospital.
Greg then asked her, "When do you think you'll be home, Amy?"
"Unknown. Are the kids all in bed?"
"Yes. They're asleep. Do you think you'll be back before school tomorrow, by any chance?"
"I don't know. We just got in several people from what now appears to be a really bad seven-
vehicle accident, and I'll need to be helping out, at least, with at least one of the related operations.
There were about two dozen or so passengers, at least, and three dozen or so passengers, at most, in
the accident. Most of them were killed in the accident, I believe. Supposing, of course, that they didn't
die on the way here, or die from their injuries before they could be extricated from their cars in time.
I'm going to have to hang up now. I'm being paged to ER 6 now. I'll see you later, darling, if at all
possible. I love you, Greg. But now, I have to go."
"May God guide all your hands and minds as you work on all the surviving accident victims,
then, Amy."
"Thank you, and I'll see you later, if at all possible." Dr. Amy Thurston then hung up the phone
she was then on, no more than a few seconds later. And she then prepared herself rather quickly and
rather expertly for the upcoming operation or operations that she'd at least have to help with, of course.
She was ready to help five minutes, at most, after she ended her conversation with Greg as she had just
done. And she was in ER 6 at the side of the necessary ER surgeon, as he began operating on one of
the accident victims.
Where necessary, she helped him and others in the room as needed. If he needed to take a
short break for a while, she then stepped into his place for as long as needed here. For she was also an
excellent surgeon, though not quite as experienced as the surgeon who'd started the operation here.
She periodically picked out pieces of metal and other materials whenever the need arose for her to do
so here. Her hands were quite sure and quite steady as she worked on the various injuries suffered by
the applicable accident victim here, in fact. She did everything just as she actually needed to do those
things here, as well. And she did them at least until she was relieved at least one time more, or the
operation could then end well enough, here. And within one hour or so after stepping in for the other
surgeon, she had removed all the pieces of debris that had entered the person's body easily enough
after the accident. But the operation was still not over, for all the obvious reasons. The operation
couldn't be over until all the damaged parts of the person were taken care of as best as they then could
be, of course.
Such as attending to potentially broken bones or lung injuries, for example, if nothing else as
well. The person she was now at least helping on, if not actually operating on, here had suffered several
broken ribs, a pair of totally ruined kneecaps, and a punctured left lung. And those were the least
serious of the injuries that the person had recently suffered, most likely, in the related accident. Also
several of the arteries and veins between the knees and the shoulders had been at least partially impaled
by bone fragments, if not totally. And because of that fact, the surgeons working on the applicable
person here would have to be particularly careful, when they worked on those assorted bone fragments
here, of course. Part of the person's clavicle or shoulder blade bone had fractured during the accident,
and it had partially punctured the left lung, as had several of the left-side ribs, in fact. The
aforementioned left lung was heavily damaged, if not totally destroyed, as well.
Amy and others continued to work on the person in question here, of course, and do what they
could for them here. Even though they knew that they might not be able to fix everything, they did
whatever they then could do for that person at the current time. It turned out, by the time that the
operation finally ended here, that they'd been unable to save the left lung, at least. Also the kneecaps
had to be replaced by artificial ones, as did several of the now-ruined ribs. They took out whatever
they could then take out. And they replaced those things, whenever possible, with artificial
replacements that looked almost the same as natural body parts, if not entirely like them, in fact. They
had to take out their spleen, and one kidney, specifically the left one. They replaced the person's left
kidney with an artificial one, for they had no sufficiently compatible kidneys of an organic nature. And
after they did whatever they then could do here for the person now in question here, they eventually
ended the operation, of course.
Amy then took a break again, of course, for a little while, at least, before she then would have
to work again on other accident victims from the same accident. If the need arose for her to have to
work on them as well, of course. After she went on break again, she soon retreated to her office for a
while. And she then left instructions that she wasn't to be disturbed while she was there, if at all
possible. Moments later, she was then quite soundly asleep on a couch there, in fact. And she was not
disturbed again until at least five in the morning, if not even later than that.
Eventually, then, a nurse came to her door, and they knocked on it a few times. After they did
so, she woke up somewhat quickly, in fact. And then that nurse said, "Dr. Thurston, your husband is
on line three."
"Understood, Misty. Thank you," said Dr. Thurston moments later. Amy then went over to
her nearest desk, and she picked up the headset of the phone there.
Greg soon asked her, "How are things there with you?"
"Just woke up from at least a nap, if not more than that, honey. I'd just gotten out of the ER
that I was in before. The injuries of the person that I worked on earlier were quite severe, in fact. I
had to do much of the operation with the help of others, even though I didn't open them up, so to
speak. Dr. Blake had to step out for a while, for various reasons I can't say here, for all the obvious
reasons, periodically. And therefore, I had to do much of the operation on a car accident victim from a
seven-vehicle accident."
"How bad were the injuries to that accident victim, if I may ask you this here?"
"Quite bad. We couldn't save a lung or a kidney on their left side. Their spleen was ruined, as
were several of their ribs and both kneecaps. We also had to do some major reconstruction work on
their left shoulder blade or clavicle bone, if not both of those bones. Assorted other bones had broken
or fragmented quite badly between their knees and shoulders as well. And several, if not many, most,
or all, of those various bones had pieces of them at least partly impaled in various blood vessels
between those two areas of the person's body. We had to remove those bone fragments, of course,
from the person's body. And we had to also do some major reconstructive work on them, quite
naturally enough, whenever the need arose for us to do so here. It's still unknown whether or not
they'll actually survive here well enough, in fact. But we all still hope that they will, of course."
They talked for just a little while longer, as well. And then Greg hung up, after Amy had soon
asked him to try to make sure that the kids would be taken care of before school and work as needed.
He realized that Amy probably wouldn't be back home by nine in the morning, in fact. So he'd then
agreed to take care of their children as needed, during her current absence from their residence. Amy
hung up her phone again, of course, after her husband did so first. And then she soon left her office
again, for all the obvious reasons.
After she did that, she then went to the hospital's main cafeteria area to get herself what
essentially amounted to an early breakfast, in fact. She got herself at least one bowl of cereal, one glass
of some kind of juice, and at least a few other things, as well. And she then went to one of the tables in
that main cafeteria area of the hospital, quite naturally. She then had her unusually large breakfast in
relative silence, if at all possible, while she was still there, for all the obvious reasons.
As she eventually left the main cafeteria area of the hospital, she encountered Dr. Hannah
Tompkins. At least that was the name that Hannah normally would then go by whenever she was
acting as a doctor, if not all the time. For she was married to someone else, in actual reality. She was
better known, though, medically speaking, at least, as Dr. Hannah Tompkins. For she used her maiden
name as a doctor, at least, just like Dr. Quinn from another time and place in actual reality. Otherwise,
she'd use her married name either by itself or with her maiden name, whenever possible, in fact. Most
often, whenever she wasn't acting in a professional capacity, she'd use her married name by itself with
her first name. But not all the time, of course.
"Good morning, Hannah. How is the patient that I helped work on earlier today?"
"They're still in the ICU, but they seem to be getting better as time passes here, Amy."
"Do we know their apparent name yet?"
"A DNA test apparently identifies them as Beauregard 'Bo' Duke. And they seem to be from
another Earth, as well, Amy. They seem to be in their middle to late forties or early fifties, at the very
least. And in their late fifties to early sixties, at the very most. They don't seem to be from this
particular Earth, in fact. I think, though I can't really be sure of this at the current time, that they're from
a parallel Earth or something sufficiently similar here. And if I'm right, then there might be at least one
other Beauregard Duke that might have switched places here, leaving us the one that you at least partly
operated on here earlier. And if so, then I wonder what might happen if and when the Bo Duke now
here switches places with the one that belongs on this particular Earth, Amy."
"How so, Hannah?"
"What do you think would happen if he returns to his proper Earth after his recent accident
here?"
"I really don't know, Hannah."
"Don't you think that he might find it at least a bit more difficult to deal with things there,
considering that he'll have at least a few artificial body parts in him for the rest of his life?"
"I suppose he might. But what of it?"
"I'm just saying that it will probably take him at least a while for him to adjust to his changed
circumstances in his life. That's if and when he's ever somehow able to return to the Earth that he's
more familiar with in his own life, of course, Amy. I mean, I think that most people who might find
themselves in an accident like the one that required his presence here might need quite a bit of time to
adjust to major enough changes in their lives."
"Like you, if you were ever in such a position, perhaps, Hannah? I'm not saying that you've
ever been in such a situation before, of course, Hannah. At least to the best of my own knowledge, if
not also to the knowledge of anyone else, you've never been in such a situation before. Not even
during the Silver Millennium, in fact, Hannah."
"No, I've never personally been in such a position. At least not that I know of so far in my life,
that is. Other versions of me might have been, are, and/or will be, quite naturally. But I know that I
myself have never been, up to this point in time of my life, Amy. Whether or not there are actually
multiple versions of me that have ever existed, do exist, and/or will exist in fact, in all possible timelines,
realities, and/or Universe, Amy, I still do know that here, at least, in my life."
"I see, Hannah." The two friends talked only just a little while longer, until just before Hannah
said she then had other things that she needed to do at the current time elsewhere in the hospital. Amy
let her leave again, and head off as was needed for her elsewhere in the hospital, quite naturally, of
course. And then Amy began making the rounds of all of the patients that she was currently assigned
anywhere in the hospital in very short order, as well.
When she got to Dr. Quinn's room, she soon said, "Hello, Dr. Mike. I wonder if you're up to
talking with me right now, in fact."
"I suppose so, Dr. Thurston. What is it that you want to talk about, then?"
"I was wondering what you would often say to people if and when you had to remove certain
organs of theirs after an accident."
"Well, if I remember correctly, I believe I would always tell them the truth, whenever I possibly
could. Why do you ask?"
"Because we at this hospital had to operate on several people, and I had to at least help, if not
do at least some, of an operation on one of them where the injuries were quite severe indeed. You see,
their left lung and kidney couldn't be saved. Much of their left clavicle and/or scapula had punctured
holes of various sizes and shapes in the left lung. Both patellas were ruined, as well. And there were
many assorted bone fragments around between their knees and shoulders, as well. They lost several
ribs, if not all of their ribs, on their left side. Also several blood vessels between their knees and
shoulders were at least partially impaled by any number of bone fragments. Needless to say, the
injuries that they somehow suffered in the accident were often quite severe, it seems to me. And we
had to do some major reconstruction work when they were sufficiently severe in certain areas of their
body. We had to put at least two artificial organs and other artificial things inside them to help them out
here as much as possible. We had to insert artificial ribs and other artificial bones into them to replace
the ones that they had gotten ruined because of the accident that they'd had."
"I see. And when they find out what you people did, you're wondering what they might think
here."
"Well, honestly, I have to say that I am. I'm wondering if they'd understand why we did the
things that we'd done here, Dr. Mike."
"Listen, Amy. You all did what you thought you needed to do here after the accident. Never
question yourself about such things here, if you know that you all did the best that you could then do in
that particular situation. Sure, there might have been other things that you could have done better, or
instead, of course. But I'm sure that you all did the best that you possibly could with whatever items
and information that you then had at your disposals, Amy. There is always a chance that people might
make mistakes during an operation. Or that there might have been something they could have done
either better, or instead, during it. That's part of being a doctor, and that's part of being alive, Dr.
Thurston. I mean, we're all imperfect beings at this time in all of our lives. And because of that, there is
always the chance that certain things won't always work out for people in their lives, no matter what
they do or say in them. If people were afraid to be doctors and other related medical personnel of any
kind, don't you think that the rate of mortality might increase in certain situations? I think that it would
do so greatly, if that were the case here. There are always going to be those people who medical
personnel of any kind won't be able to save easily enough in their lives. And there are always others
who they might be able to save easily enough under most possible circumstances in their lives, Amy.
But even so, we'll all die or fall asleep, if we don't see Christ's return to the Earth or Earths that we're
familiar with in all our lives, Amy. We may have short lives, or medium-length lives, or long lives. But
we'll all die, if Christ doesn't return in our lives, before we do so. You see, Dr. Thurston, death is part
of life, and vice versa. We as medical personnel of any kind, such as doctors, probably know that
better, I think, than most of the other people that we may know in each of our respective lives. No
matter when and where we might all actually come from, in actual reality, Dr. Thurston."
"I don't like the thought of people dying prematurely, Mike. Especially if I've tried to keep
them alive well enough in my life, of course."
"People are going to do that periodically, whether they want to or not, Amy. There are always
some people that can't be kept from dying earlier than most other people in their lives. And there are
also always some people who might out-live most of the people in their lives. That's the nature of being
alive, no matter what time or place you actually come from, in actual reality, if you're not immortal."
"Jesus could have gone back to Heaven at any time without dying, I'm sure."
"True enough. But He had to die to save as many of the rest of us as He possibly could save in
actual reality. He was Divine in nature, but He was also human. He had to walk His world the same as
the rest of us did, do, and will do, Amy. How else was He ever going to be able to redeem the
descendants of Adam, no matter where they came from in actual reality? That was the only way He
could save anyone. He had to live a life as a mortal being, even though He was also Divine in actual
reality. He had to do this because of Adam and Eve's sinning in the Garden of Eden, Amy. If they
hadn't done so, then we would still be immortal, if we actually existed. Because they didn't, they had
to produce offspring, which I believe in your case eventually led to you through their son Abel
somehow. I suspect, though I don't really know this for sure here, that when Cain killed his brother
Abel, a version of Abel, if not the original Abel, might have been sent somehow into another dimension
or timeline or something. And in that dimension or timeline or whatever it might have been, if that's true
enough here, he somehow survived at least long enough to produce offspring with various girls or
women that he eventually found in his life. Some considerable amount of time later, your ancestors
eventually got to producing you, and you were then born, of course. After that, you probably know all
the rest by now, up to this point in time for your own life, at least."
The two women talked just a bit longer with each other before Dr. Thurston had to resume
making her rounds to check on the hospital patients that she was then responsible for here. Dr.
Thurston didn't want to leave, of course, but she still had to, for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally.
And so she then left. As she left, Dr. Michaela Quinn soon thought, "She really seems to care about
her patients very much. I just hope that she doesn't really have to watch another one die too soon and
too needlessly here for at least a little while longer, in fact. She seems to be a really nice lady, and an
excellent doctor. I wonder what her friends think of her. And what my friends and family would think
of her if they ever somehow met her in their lives." Dr. Quinn thought these things just as Dr. Thurston
was then leaving the room, in fact, to attend to whatever and whoever else she now needed to attend to
here in the hospital, of course. And then she soon went back to sleep for a while, as well.
Amy then checked on all the rest of her current patients, even the one that she'd most recently
at least helped on the operation for, quite naturally. When she entered the ICU to check on Bo Duke,
she soon dismissed the nurse that was then working at least a little bit with him, just as soon as she
could do so. She did this in the hope that she could then converse at least a little bit with him, or at
least talk to him, if he couldn't then talk back here. And be able to do so as privately as possible, in
fact.
In fact, he was currently the only adult besides hospital personnel in the ICU. There were
about a dozen or so babies now in the ICU as well. And they were often checked on by other hospital
personnel. But he was the only adult present who actually was now a patient in the ICU, as a matter of
fact. He was currently unconscious, for they'd brought him there after the necessary operation in such
a state. This was so that his new organs could hopefully have at least a little time to adjust themselves
to being in his body now. And it was so that his body could hopefully have at least a little time to adjust
to his new organs as well, of course. He was expected to remain unconscious for at least another few
hours, just the same, though. This, of course, was quite naturally for all the obvious reasons.
His various vital bio-signs were all within acceptable enough parameters for them, for at least as
long as she was checking on him in the ICU, if not longer. Eventually she had to leave, and did so.
And his vitals still remained within those parameters even after she then left, in fact. They stayed within
them quite easily, as well, even though he was still unconscious at the current time. He wasn't in a
coma or anything similar, most likely, in actual reality, but he was at least live-sleeping, in a manner of
speaking. Live-sleeping meant that he was alive, but also asleep, of course. Dead-sleeping would
quite naturally be considered the exact opposite of that state, for all the obvious reasons.
Dr. Amy Thurston was finally able to clock out and leave the hospital behind again for her
family's home. She did so after making sure that she'd most likely not have to return to the hospital
again for at least another day or two, if she didn't really want to do so here. Other doctors and various
medical personnel would take care of things while she was then away from the hospital again for at least
a little while, of course.
It was now just after noon local time on September 8, 2012. And Amy soon was quite alone
again in her family's residence in Inverness. For Greg had eventually decided to take all of the Thurston
children out for at least a while, even with Amy still at the hospital then. She then went very quickly to
bed, and she stayed in bed at least until 6 in the evening, if not later. This, of course, was for all the
obvious reasons. In any case at all, though, she woke up again no later than about 8:30 pm local time,
because she could no longer sleep after then. Or at least not at the current time, anyway.
******************************************************************************
Another rather good-sized battle will probably take place in Chapter Ten, at least, if not also
Chapter Eleven, somewhere, and sometime, everyone. Before then, though, Chapter Nine will actually
also introduce several more characters into the story at least a little bit, if not a lot, readers. And it, or
they, will also have at least something to do with at least one of the main characters for it, if not more
than one of them, in fact. Until then, though, you'll all just have to see what's coming up soon enough,
of course. So please read, review, and enjoy, if at all possible, readers. Until later, then, this is "The
Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers!
Over and out!
now have on fanfiction.net will apply. For your information, all of the characters that you may not
actually recognize well enough in this story are original characters of mine, unless otherwise stated, in
fact. All the Galaxians, for instance, are mine, whether in combat form or in civilian form. So please
don't steal my original characters from this story or any others, for that matter.
Now without further ado, back to the story. And I hope that you'll all enjoy it, of course.
******************************************************************************
The Inverness Chronicles
Book One
Chapter Eight
Meanwhile, back at the hospital that Dr. Thurston usually worked at, Dr. Amy Thurston was
checking on the patient that she'd been working on earlier. The patient, thanks to some quite useful
help for Amy from other more experienced doctors, had survived the required operation. And they
were now beginning to recover from the effects of the operation and the accident that had requited it.
The patient was now talking to Dr. Thurston, in private. And she was now saying, "I'm glad
you were around to help me out, at least at first, Dr. Thurston. Granted, you didn't actually know how
to attend to certain injuries that I'd received in an accident, but at least you were there."
"I was glad to be of service, Dr. Quinn. What I don't understand is how come you were in a
car, when such a thing wasn't actually around in your time period, if I'm not too mistaken."
"It seems that my wagon and horses turned into a car of some sort when we somehow were
caught in a rather unexpected weather phenomenon of some unknown sort. I believe that it was a
tornado or something similar, from what I can recall here well enough. We were all heading back home
to my family's residence, and the next thing I knew, I was in some sort of car. I was alone, both before
and after I was whisked away by something I don't know or understand here. At least in the sense that
there was nobody sentient enough that I could then talk to or with easily enough, of course, Dr.
Thurston."
"Where were you at the time that you were whisked away, as you say, Dr. Quinn?"
"I was in the Colorado Springs area, and heading home as I have said here."
"You don't seem to be from our world, in fact. But you do seem to be from a similar one, just
the same, Dr. Quinn. Particularly from another Earth, in actual reality, from what my medical scans
have told me well enough here, if they're accurate enough here. From what they seem to tell me,
you're apparently from sometime in the last 25 or so years of the 19th Century AD, Dr. Quinn. I can't
be more sure about when you were whisked away, as you say, than that, though."
"Could you just call me Dr. Mike, by any chance, Dr. Thurston? My friends and family often
call me that, whenever possible, in fact, whenever I'm with or sufficiently near them."
Dr. Amy Thurston considered that idea for a few brief moments, and then said, "I suppose that
I could do so, whenever possible, Dr. Mike. I do wonder, though, what Mike is short for here."
"It's short for Michaela, Dr. Thurston. My father wanted a son, and he was really hoping that
I'd be one. But I ended up being a girl, and so therefore, he and my mother added an A to the name
that they were planning to give to the expected son. Which made me then a girl with the name
Michaela, of course. There were no boys in our family, however. I eventually took after him enough in
my life, and I followed him eventually into the practice of medicine. Back then, there were very few, if
any, women doctors, if I remember correctly enough here. Elizabeth Blackwell had either become the
first woman doctor in my country, or would become that sometime in the future, if I'm not too mistaken
here, Dr. Thurston. Eventually I myself became a doctor, and the working conditions, at least at first,
were often quite terrible, in many different ways, in fact. Including, of course, the simple fact that I was
a woman doctor in that particular time period. Back then, the idea of women doctors was quite often
met with more than just a little skepticism and trepidation, by many, if not most, of the people that I'd
then associate with as a doctor. They often thought that a woman like me should get married and stay
at home to raise a whole bunch of children, if I remember correctly enough here."
"And how did you end up in Colorado Springs eventually?"
"Eventually, if I remember correctly enough here, a frontier town needed a doctor. And I went
out west from where I was in Boston, Massachusetts, and became the town's doctor. It took a while
for the town's people to warm up to me, of course, but eventually they did so. I also adopted three
children even though I was unmarried at the time, after their mother had died, in fact. More time
passed, and I eventually fell in love with the man that I later married, if I hadn't already done so before I
adopted the three children that I've just told you about here. We eventually had another child or two,
at least, before I was whisked away by the strange weather phenomenon I've just told you about as
well, Dr. Thurston."
"I suppose that you realize that they might have died by now, of course."
"Of course. But maybe the same thing that brought me to your time and place here might also
be able to bring me back to the time and place that I was whisked away from."
"But the car that you ended up in was totally ruined."
"It was? That's going to be a problem then, isn't it?"
"It might be, or it might not be. I might have an idea on how to deal with that potential problem.
It's probably going to require the help of at least one, if not more than one, of my friends. But I think
that we can find some way to deal with it easily enough here, so that we can get you back to your Earth
when and where you were taken from it, Dr. Michaela Quinn."
"I see. And in the meantime, what do you want me to do, if at all possible?"
"Get a lot of rest, and let your body heal itself as it might after your accident, if you possibly can
do so here. I don't know how long it will take for your body to heal itself here. But I still hope that
you'll be up and about by the time that we might have to try that idea of mine that I've just mentioned
here. This, of course, is for all the obvious enough reasons, as you might expect. Seeing as we're both
doctors, as you now know here, Dr. Mike."
"All right, Dr. Thurston, I'll try to do that as much as I can here, whenever possible. Could I
call you Dr. Amy, by any chance, as well?"
"Fair enough, I suppose. But I also have other patients that I must check in on now, so I'll
have to leave you now, at least for a while. If you need me, just ask a nurse to call or page me." Dr.
Thurston then showed Dr. Quinn her pager, in fact. This was so that she would know what one might
look like, in fact, just in case Dr. Quinn would need to have her paged for any reason whatsoever at all.
"Understood, Dr. Amy. I'll see you later, then, God willing." Then Dr. Thurston left Dr. Quinn
alone in her hospital room again, for all the obvious reasons here. It was now just before local midnight
there, when Amy then left Michaela alone again in her room. And then Michaela went to sleep soon
afterward, and she began dreaming of her friends and family. Especially about her husband Byron
Sully, as a matter of fact.
While she did that, Amy was then continuing to check on her patients as of the current time.
She'd most likely be leaving the hospital by two in the morning, just the same. But before she did so,
she still had to check on her patients again, of course, for all the obvious reasons. Amy checked on her
remaining patients for at least a few moments each, before she began to wrap up whatever else she still
had to do before leaving the hospital again. The wrapping up of all those things didn't take too long, in
fact, before she then left the hospital again for the rest of the early morning, in actual reality.
She went home, and soon enough after doing so, she retired to her and Greg's bed again, of
course. And she then slept for at least a few hours, quite naturally, next to her husband there. By the
time that she woke up again, Greg was already out of the bed, and off to his job, whatever that might
be, in the Inverness area.
Several hours later, then, Amy woke up again, and got her school-age children up and ready
for school, if they didn't get themselves all ready here. And then she called Mrs. Hampton, so that she
could bring up the idea that she'd mentioned earlier to Dr. Quinn, at least, if not anyone else as well.
Mrs. Susan Hampton, who was also the Crystal Sailor Scout Pluto, had powers primarily relating to
time, as did her daughters, whenever possible. She was also the former Susan Meyers, in fact.
Mrs. Hampton was woken up by Amy, when she called, but she realized that Amy still had
something major on her mind at the current time, so she wasn't too upset here with Amy. A little upset,
maybe, but not a lot, in any case at all here. She asked Amy, "What's up, Doctor?"
"Mrs. Hampton, I was wondering if you'd be willing to check out some potentially alternate
realities, timelines and/or Universes that might be related to our current situation here."
"Send me your idea or ideas in an e-mail or two, please, if you can, by the end of the day, and
I'll look into them, Amy."
"Would now be all right here?"
"Wait at least until noon local time here. I had a later-than-usual night last night. And I suspect
you possibly did too, Amy. Maurice came in late as well, and one thing led to another, as you might
sometimes expect here. I won't go into any more details than that here, of course, Amy. For I'm sure
that the same thing has happened more than once, at least, for you and Greg, if not anyone else in our
group of married friends and associates, quite naturally."
"Say no more about such things here, for I get the picture. Where is Maurice now?"
"He had to take the children that are presently old enough to go to school there. And then he
had to go to work. I don't really expect him back here before seven or so, at the very earliest, Amy.
For he often has to commute to work somewhere, and it often is at least seven in the evening before
he's actually able to return home for the rest of the night, in fact."
The women talked a bit longer with each other, and then Amy signed off not too much later.
After Amy did so, she then found several things to do around her house. For she really didn't feel like
going back to bed again for at least a little while longer. Among those things was at least one chess
game over the Internet, if not more than one, as a matter of fact. She also sent a considerable number
of e-mails and pieces of snail mail, before noon in the local area came and went for her here well
enough, as well. She then spent at least an hour or two reading various books and medical journals that
she was now in the process of reading, before she finally decided she was hungry and thirsty enough to
have some lunch for herself here.
She then made herself some sandwiches and a few other things for her lunch. And then she
soon put away all her current reading material for at least a little while. With that then done, she soon
transformed herself into her Crystal Sailor Mercury state of being, and teleported to a palace that she
had under her family's control on this Earth's Moon, in fact. This Palace was called the Mercury Star
Palace, and it had been under her family's control since sometime around her marriage to Greg. It had
been one of the first palaces built after the Scouts had begun to establish bases on this Earth's Moon, in
fact. It resembled, in large part, the very same palace that she'd actually been born in more than a
millennium before back on another Mercury. And this was only the case here if it wasn't the exact
same one that was now present in this Earth's own solar system, in actual reality, of course.
The palace that she'd been born in on that Mercury, if it wasn't the one that was now present
here in this Earth's own solar system, had been called the Anderson Castle. And it had been centered,
if not exactly there, roughly on both Mercury's Prime Meridian and Equator, plus or minus a few
degrees either way for the latitude or longitude there, if not both of them. As for her husband, he'd
been born in yet another Mercurian palace there. And that palace was, of course, the Thurston Palace,
for all the obvious enough reasons here, in fact. Time passed, and they eventually met each other in
their lives. They eventually did so before the end of the Silver Millennium and the Moon Kingdom on
the particular Moon of Earth that they were more familiar with in their lives. Supposing, of course, that
it wasn't actually the very same one that was now present in this Earth's own solar system.
After the Moon Kingdom's Silver Millennium came to an end, and the Moon Kingdom of the
applicable Moon was sacrificed by Serena the Older's first mother, Queen Serenity, versions of Amy,
Greg, and so many others eventually showed up on this Earth, somehow. And they then began to live
their lives as if they'd never before been born in their lives, in fact. And they retained no memories of
there ever having been a Moon Kingdom in actual reality, if it could possibly avoided at all here.
Eventually, though, what had largely caused the end of the Moon Kingdom broke the seal that
had trapped them for many years, and they began to wreak havoc whenever possible. That forced
Luna and other Guardians that Serenity had somehow sent to that Earth to seek out and assemble
Scouts and others to fight the beings that were now causing a great deal of trouble in numerous places
all over this particular Earth. Including, of course, Amy, in due time. Luna had first found Serena the
Older, when she was a teenager. Then Amy, Raye, Lita, and Venus soon followed, not all because of
Luna. Also at least one other Guardian had found one of the Scouts, of course. Meaning Mina/Venus,
in fact. Other Scouts were found and assembled as necessary, in actual reality, when their presences
were required here.
She had teleported herself to this particular palace on this Earth's Moon so that she might be
able to train by herself as a Crystal Sailor Scout for a while. Or as much by herself as possible, in fact.
If she trained with anyone or anything else while there, then it'd mostly be with the use of robots or
something similar enough to them here, as well. Periodically, she'd train in her family's palace on this
Earth's Moon, if she didn't do anything else there whenever she visited it in her life, with or without
others being near her when she did so.
And this was no exception, in actual reality. She wanted to get in some training time by herself,
if at all possible, before she'd have to return home again, for the obvious enough reasons. So she'd
come here for at least a while, in fact. She spent at least an hour or so, most likely, training there,
before she realized that she now had other commitments that she had to attend to in very short order.
She finished whatever she wanted or needed to do in the Mercury Star Palace, for all the obvious
reasons, of course, before she then returned to her family's residence via teleportation again. After she
then teleported back there as Crystal Sailor Mercury, she soon powered down, and she also
transformed herself back into her normal non-Scout state of being, quite naturally.
After doing that, she then checked her e-mails, her snail mails, and her phone calls, in very short
order, of course. And then she got ready for her school-age children to return to their home, quite
naturally. Melody, Cassidy, and Garrett would probably be among them, in fact. Supposing that they
didn't have any other plans in the meantime, before they'd come home again for at least a little while, of
course. However, Amy's youngest child and daughter with her husband Greg, Karen, was now being
taken care of by Mrs. Molly Updike, a friend of Amy and Serena the Older's from back when they
were all still in high school together.
Besides her triplets, Amy had three other school-age children, and one who wasn't yet at least
that old in their life. She and Greg had seven children, and the most recent of them had been born
about two or so years before, in fact. Besides Melody, Cassidy, and Garrett, their other four children
were Isaac, Travis, Morgan, and Karen. Karen was the youngest, as well. She was about three years
or so younger than Morgan. Morgan was about a year or so younger than Travis. Travis was about
two or so years younger than Isaac. And Isaac was about another year or so younger than the triplets
were. The triplets were twelve, and just a few months, at most, past their shared twelfth birthday.
Melody was the oldest of the three, having been born about two or so hours earlier than Garrett, and
about another two or so hours earlier than Cassidy. At most, the actual difference in the ages of
Melody and Cassidy didn't exceed a total of about five hours, in any case at all.
On the triplets' tenth birthday, the girl triplets had both been made Scouts, at least partially, by
their request, but not entirely by request. Amy and the other Scouts who had served long enough in
their lives as Scouts weren't really in support of the idea. But eventually, they let them become Scouts,
if they could do so, and they weren't forced to do so by anyone or anything else at all. Something or
someone like a monster, for example. Eventually, they made the girl triplets Scouts, and ever since,
Melody and Cassidy had served as Scouts, whenever possible, in their lives.
As for Garrett, he didn't yet know that his fellow triplets were also Scouts of some kind. But
he did know that he wanted to be a scientist when he grew up, if at all possible. Little did he know that
he might eventually become a Mercury Knight of some sort if the need arose for him to do here, of
course. Several of the male children of the older Scouts didn't yet know that they might eventually
need to be Knights of at least one sort in their lives, in fact. Including at least one of the children of Lita
and Ken, for example, as a matter of fact. But if and when the need arose for them to know that,
they'd all eventually learn it in their lives, if at all possible, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
However, the group of boys who were descended from the Scouts who knew they might have
to be Knights didn't include Rini's younger brothers Andrew, Brad, and Parker. Andrew was three or
so years younger than Rini. Brad was two or so years younger than Andrew. And Parker was about
two years old, plus or minus a few months or so either way. Between Andrew and Rini, there was a
daughter, and her name was Molly Ruth. Molly Ruth was about a year or so younger than Rini.
Between Andrew and Brad, there was another daughter, born almost exactly halfway between the two
boys, and her name was Teresa Hope. And about halfway between both Brad and Parker, another girl
had been born, and her name was Louise Rose.
Molly Ruth had been given the name of Molly in honor of one of her mother's best school
friends and one of her mother's grandparents. Molly came from the friend's name, while Ruth came
from the grandparent's name. Her mother had been a friend of the current Mrs. Updike for many
years, in fact, ever since her mother and the Molly that she was named at least partly after had been in
school together with each other. And Molly had met Mrs. Updike many times in the past already, of
course, because of that fact.
Molly Ruth was now in fifth or sixth grade, depending on when her birthday had actually fallen
on the calendar, in terms of putting her in school in a particular calendar year. If she wasn't at least old
enough to start one year, she'd had to start the following year, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
Most likely, she wasn't old enough to be just a school year behind Rini, and if that was true, then she'd
had to start school later, quite naturally.
Other children of the Scouts who'd then become old enough in their lives to do so, eventually
started school in them, if they'd not already done so by the time that she'd started it as well.
Eventually, most, if not all, of the Scouts' various children were already in school, for all the obvious
reasons. And the oldest of those children were now in seventh grade, as a matter of fact. Including,
quite naturally, Melody, Cassidy, Garrett, Rini, Melanie, Juniper, and Verana, at least, if not anyone
else as well here, in fact.
Eventually, Melody, Cassidy, and all the boys returned to the Thurston residence again, for at
least a little while, if not for the rest of the afternoon, evening, and/or night. This, of course, was for all
the obvious reasons. The girls went to the room that they both shared with Karen, while Garrett went
with Isaac to their room. Travis and Morgan went to their own room together, but only after they'd
both gotten some graham crackers, cheese, and orange juice for themselves to consume later in their
room. Travis and Morgan shared one room, while Garrett and Isaac shared another. That then meant
that the girls had to have at least one room of their own, of course.
Melody and Cassidy went to their room, and they soon changed out of their school uniforms.
They spent at least an hour after they returned home in their room together, before they both decided to
go over to Lita and Ken's martial arts school for a while. They told their mother that they were heading
there, and how long they'd expect to be there, if at all possible, for all the obvious reasons. And then
Amy eventually let them both leave for that place elsewhere in Inverness. The boys, however, actually
stayed home all evening long. For they didn't want to go anywhere else at the current time, if they
didn't have to, in fact.
After Greg returned home with Karen, Amy eventually could leave their residence again, for all
the obvious reasons. She soon went to the hospital to do whatever she normally would do there, of
course. And on the way there, she heard from Mrs. Hampton again. Mrs. Hampton would want to
see her the following afternoon, if at all possible, at a local restaurant, in fact. Amy said, "Sure, I think I
can be there, if nothing else happens around here to keep me from being able to do that somehow,
Susan."
"Good, Dr. Thurston. If I learn anything else that I think you need to know in the meantime, I'll
try to let you know as soon as I can. And let's pray that there is no more trouble around here for a
while longer with these monsters, of course, Amy."
"Agreed. I really don't want us to have to fight again for a while longer, if we don't want or
need to do that here, Susan. But if monsters come here again, then you know that might not be
possible here, for all the obvious reasons, Susan."
"Yes, I know that, Amy. But what will be, will be, whether we like it or not. I might be able to
delay some attacks, of course, from certain monsters. But as you are probably quite aware here, I
can't possibly prevent all attacks that might occur in any number of timelines, realities, or Universes, for
all the obvious reasons, of course, Amy. Even if I might want to, I can't do that all the time, quite
naturally, Amy. For I am not God. Only He, His Son, and the Holy Spirit have total control of all such
things here, in fact. No matter how much mortals like us, for example, might prefer otherwise, that's
still the case here, Amy. At least when it comes to controlling any number of timelines, realities, and/or
Universes that might actually ever exist in fact, that is."
The two of them talked for a little while longer, then, before Mrs. Hampton said that she now
had other things that then required her rather prompt attention. So Amy eventually let her go, and she
herself eventually arrived at the hospital that she'd normally work at in her life, whenever possible. Dr.
Thurston soon enough checked in there, and went on the clock, so to speak.
Dr. Thurston worked on whatever she then had to do there, no matter what it was. If she
needed to see patients, then she saw patients. If she needed to operate, she operated. If she needed
to do paperwork, of any conceivable kind, even if it was only in a symbolic sense, at least, she did that
too. And eventually, she was about to clock out, seeing as it was now quite rapidly approaching the
end of her current work shift. However, just before she was about to do so, she had to go to the
Emergency Room to help with an emergency operation. As soon as she realized that she'd probably
be delayed for a while coming home, she then called Greg as soon as she could do so, before she went
into the necessary Emergency Room of the hospital.
Greg then asked her, "When do you think you'll be home, Amy?"
"Unknown. Are the kids all in bed?"
"Yes. They're asleep. Do you think you'll be back before school tomorrow, by any chance?"
"I don't know. We just got in several people from what now appears to be a really bad seven-
vehicle accident, and I'll need to be helping out, at least, with at least one of the related operations.
There were about two dozen or so passengers, at least, and three dozen or so passengers, at most, in
the accident. Most of them were killed in the accident, I believe. Supposing, of course, that they didn't
die on the way here, or die from their injuries before they could be extricated from their cars in time.
I'm going to have to hang up now. I'm being paged to ER 6 now. I'll see you later, darling, if at all
possible. I love you, Greg. But now, I have to go."
"May God guide all your hands and minds as you work on all the surviving accident victims,
then, Amy."
"Thank you, and I'll see you later, if at all possible." Dr. Amy Thurston then hung up the phone
she was then on, no more than a few seconds later. And she then prepared herself rather quickly and
rather expertly for the upcoming operation or operations that she'd at least have to help with, of course.
She was ready to help five minutes, at most, after she ended her conversation with Greg as she had just
done. And she was in ER 6 at the side of the necessary ER surgeon, as he began operating on one of
the accident victims.
Where necessary, she helped him and others in the room as needed. If he needed to take a
short break for a while, she then stepped into his place for as long as needed here. For she was also an
excellent surgeon, though not quite as experienced as the surgeon who'd started the operation here.
She periodically picked out pieces of metal and other materials whenever the need arose for her to do
so here. Her hands were quite sure and quite steady as she worked on the various injuries suffered by
the applicable accident victim here, in fact. She did everything just as she actually needed to do those
things here, as well. And she did them at least until she was relieved at least one time more, or the
operation could then end well enough, here. And within one hour or so after stepping in for the other
surgeon, she had removed all the pieces of debris that had entered the person's body easily enough
after the accident. But the operation was still not over, for all the obvious reasons. The operation
couldn't be over until all the damaged parts of the person were taken care of as best as they then could
be, of course.
Such as attending to potentially broken bones or lung injuries, for example, if nothing else as
well. The person she was now at least helping on, if not actually operating on, here had suffered several
broken ribs, a pair of totally ruined kneecaps, and a punctured left lung. And those were the least
serious of the injuries that the person had recently suffered, most likely, in the related accident. Also
several of the arteries and veins between the knees and the shoulders had been at least partially impaled
by bone fragments, if not totally. And because of that fact, the surgeons working on the applicable
person here would have to be particularly careful, when they worked on those assorted bone fragments
here, of course. Part of the person's clavicle or shoulder blade bone had fractured during the accident,
and it had partially punctured the left lung, as had several of the left-side ribs, in fact. The
aforementioned left lung was heavily damaged, if not totally destroyed, as well.
Amy and others continued to work on the person in question here, of course, and do what they
could for them here. Even though they knew that they might not be able to fix everything, they did
whatever they then could do for that person at the current time. It turned out, by the time that the
operation finally ended here, that they'd been unable to save the left lung, at least. Also the kneecaps
had to be replaced by artificial ones, as did several of the now-ruined ribs. They took out whatever
they could then take out. And they replaced those things, whenever possible, with artificial
replacements that looked almost the same as natural body parts, if not entirely like them, in fact. They
had to take out their spleen, and one kidney, specifically the left one. They replaced the person's left
kidney with an artificial one, for they had no sufficiently compatible kidneys of an organic nature. And
after they did whatever they then could do here for the person now in question here, they eventually
ended the operation, of course.
Amy then took a break again, of course, for a little while, at least, before she then would have
to work again on other accident victims from the same accident. If the need arose for her to have to
work on them as well, of course. After she went on break again, she soon retreated to her office for a
while. And she then left instructions that she wasn't to be disturbed while she was there, if at all
possible. Moments later, she was then quite soundly asleep on a couch there, in fact. And she was not
disturbed again until at least five in the morning, if not even later than that.
Eventually, then, a nurse came to her door, and they knocked on it a few times. After they did
so, she woke up somewhat quickly, in fact. And then that nurse said, "Dr. Thurston, your husband is
on line three."
"Understood, Misty. Thank you," said Dr. Thurston moments later. Amy then went over to
her nearest desk, and she picked up the headset of the phone there.
Greg soon asked her, "How are things there with you?"
"Just woke up from at least a nap, if not more than that, honey. I'd just gotten out of the ER
that I was in before. The injuries of the person that I worked on earlier were quite severe, in fact. I
had to do much of the operation with the help of others, even though I didn't open them up, so to
speak. Dr. Blake had to step out for a while, for various reasons I can't say here, for all the obvious
reasons, periodically. And therefore, I had to do much of the operation on a car accident victim from a
seven-vehicle accident."
"How bad were the injuries to that accident victim, if I may ask you this here?"
"Quite bad. We couldn't save a lung or a kidney on their left side. Their spleen was ruined, as
were several of their ribs and both kneecaps. We also had to do some major reconstruction work on
their left shoulder blade or clavicle bone, if not both of those bones. Assorted other bones had broken
or fragmented quite badly between their knees and shoulders as well. And several, if not many, most,
or all, of those various bones had pieces of them at least partly impaled in various blood vessels
between those two areas of the person's body. We had to remove those bone fragments, of course,
from the person's body. And we had to also do some major reconstructive work on them, quite
naturally enough, whenever the need arose for us to do so here. It's still unknown whether or not
they'll actually survive here well enough, in fact. But we all still hope that they will, of course."
They talked for just a little while longer, as well. And then Greg hung up, after Amy had soon
asked him to try to make sure that the kids would be taken care of before school and work as needed.
He realized that Amy probably wouldn't be back home by nine in the morning, in fact. So he'd then
agreed to take care of their children as needed, during her current absence from their residence. Amy
hung up her phone again, of course, after her husband did so first. And then she soon left her office
again, for all the obvious reasons.
After she did that, she then went to the hospital's main cafeteria area to get herself what
essentially amounted to an early breakfast, in fact. She got herself at least one bowl of cereal, one glass
of some kind of juice, and at least a few other things, as well. And she then went to one of the tables in
that main cafeteria area of the hospital, quite naturally. She then had her unusually large breakfast in
relative silence, if at all possible, while she was still there, for all the obvious reasons.
As she eventually left the main cafeteria area of the hospital, she encountered Dr. Hannah
Tompkins. At least that was the name that Hannah normally would then go by whenever she was
acting as a doctor, if not all the time. For she was married to someone else, in actual reality. She was
better known, though, medically speaking, at least, as Dr. Hannah Tompkins. For she used her maiden
name as a doctor, at least, just like Dr. Quinn from another time and place in actual reality. Otherwise,
she'd use her married name either by itself or with her maiden name, whenever possible, in fact. Most
often, whenever she wasn't acting in a professional capacity, she'd use her married name by itself with
her first name. But not all the time, of course.
"Good morning, Hannah. How is the patient that I helped work on earlier today?"
"They're still in the ICU, but they seem to be getting better as time passes here, Amy."
"Do we know their apparent name yet?"
"A DNA test apparently identifies them as Beauregard 'Bo' Duke. And they seem to be from
another Earth, as well, Amy. They seem to be in their middle to late forties or early fifties, at the very
least. And in their late fifties to early sixties, at the very most. They don't seem to be from this
particular Earth, in fact. I think, though I can't really be sure of this at the current time, that they're from
a parallel Earth or something sufficiently similar here. And if I'm right, then there might be at least one
other Beauregard Duke that might have switched places here, leaving us the one that you at least partly
operated on here earlier. And if so, then I wonder what might happen if and when the Bo Duke now
here switches places with the one that belongs on this particular Earth, Amy."
"How so, Hannah?"
"What do you think would happen if he returns to his proper Earth after his recent accident
here?"
"I really don't know, Hannah."
"Don't you think that he might find it at least a bit more difficult to deal with things there,
considering that he'll have at least a few artificial body parts in him for the rest of his life?"
"I suppose he might. But what of it?"
"I'm just saying that it will probably take him at least a while for him to adjust to his changed
circumstances in his life. That's if and when he's ever somehow able to return to the Earth that he's
more familiar with in his own life, of course, Amy. I mean, I think that most people who might find
themselves in an accident like the one that required his presence here might need quite a bit of time to
adjust to major enough changes in their lives."
"Like you, if you were ever in such a position, perhaps, Hannah? I'm not saying that you've
ever been in such a situation before, of course, Hannah. At least to the best of my own knowledge, if
not also to the knowledge of anyone else, you've never been in such a situation before. Not even
during the Silver Millennium, in fact, Hannah."
"No, I've never personally been in such a position. At least not that I know of so far in my life,
that is. Other versions of me might have been, are, and/or will be, quite naturally. But I know that I
myself have never been, up to this point in time of my life, Amy. Whether or not there are actually
multiple versions of me that have ever existed, do exist, and/or will exist in fact, in all possible timelines,
realities, and/or Universe, Amy, I still do know that here, at least, in my life."
"I see, Hannah." The two friends talked only just a little while longer, until just before Hannah
said she then had other things that she needed to do at the current time elsewhere in the hospital. Amy
let her leave again, and head off as was needed for her elsewhere in the hospital, quite naturally, of
course. And then Amy began making the rounds of all of the patients that she was currently assigned
anywhere in the hospital in very short order, as well.
When she got to Dr. Quinn's room, she soon said, "Hello, Dr. Mike. I wonder if you're up to
talking with me right now, in fact."
"I suppose so, Dr. Thurston. What is it that you want to talk about, then?"
"I was wondering what you would often say to people if and when you had to remove certain
organs of theirs after an accident."
"Well, if I remember correctly, I believe I would always tell them the truth, whenever I possibly
could. Why do you ask?"
"Because we at this hospital had to operate on several people, and I had to at least help, if not
do at least some, of an operation on one of them where the injuries were quite severe indeed. You see,
their left lung and kidney couldn't be saved. Much of their left clavicle and/or scapula had punctured
holes of various sizes and shapes in the left lung. Both patellas were ruined, as well. And there were
many assorted bone fragments around between their knees and shoulders, as well. They lost several
ribs, if not all of their ribs, on their left side. Also several blood vessels between their knees and
shoulders were at least partially impaled by any number of bone fragments. Needless to say, the
injuries that they somehow suffered in the accident were often quite severe, it seems to me. And we
had to do some major reconstruction work when they were sufficiently severe in certain areas of their
body. We had to put at least two artificial organs and other artificial things inside them to help them out
here as much as possible. We had to insert artificial ribs and other artificial bones into them to replace
the ones that they had gotten ruined because of the accident that they'd had."
"I see. And when they find out what you people did, you're wondering what they might think
here."
"Well, honestly, I have to say that I am. I'm wondering if they'd understand why we did the
things that we'd done here, Dr. Mike."
"Listen, Amy. You all did what you thought you needed to do here after the accident. Never
question yourself about such things here, if you know that you all did the best that you could then do in
that particular situation. Sure, there might have been other things that you could have done better, or
instead, of course. But I'm sure that you all did the best that you possibly could with whatever items
and information that you then had at your disposals, Amy. There is always a chance that people might
make mistakes during an operation. Or that there might have been something they could have done
either better, or instead, during it. That's part of being a doctor, and that's part of being alive, Dr.
Thurston. I mean, we're all imperfect beings at this time in all of our lives. And because of that, there is
always the chance that certain things won't always work out for people in their lives, no matter what
they do or say in them. If people were afraid to be doctors and other related medical personnel of any
kind, don't you think that the rate of mortality might increase in certain situations? I think that it would
do so greatly, if that were the case here. There are always going to be those people who medical
personnel of any kind won't be able to save easily enough in their lives. And there are always others
who they might be able to save easily enough under most possible circumstances in their lives, Amy.
But even so, we'll all die or fall asleep, if we don't see Christ's return to the Earth or Earths that we're
familiar with in all our lives, Amy. We may have short lives, or medium-length lives, or long lives. But
we'll all die, if Christ doesn't return in our lives, before we do so. You see, Dr. Thurston, death is part
of life, and vice versa. We as medical personnel of any kind, such as doctors, probably know that
better, I think, than most of the other people that we may know in each of our respective lives. No
matter when and where we might all actually come from, in actual reality, Dr. Thurston."
"I don't like the thought of people dying prematurely, Mike. Especially if I've tried to keep
them alive well enough in my life, of course."
"People are going to do that periodically, whether they want to or not, Amy. There are always
some people that can't be kept from dying earlier than most other people in their lives. And there are
also always some people who might out-live most of the people in their lives. That's the nature of being
alive, no matter what time or place you actually come from, in actual reality, if you're not immortal."
"Jesus could have gone back to Heaven at any time without dying, I'm sure."
"True enough. But He had to die to save as many of the rest of us as He possibly could save in
actual reality. He was Divine in nature, but He was also human. He had to walk His world the same as
the rest of us did, do, and will do, Amy. How else was He ever going to be able to redeem the
descendants of Adam, no matter where they came from in actual reality? That was the only way He
could save anyone. He had to live a life as a mortal being, even though He was also Divine in actual
reality. He had to do this because of Adam and Eve's sinning in the Garden of Eden, Amy. If they
hadn't done so, then we would still be immortal, if we actually existed. Because they didn't, they had
to produce offspring, which I believe in your case eventually led to you through their son Abel
somehow. I suspect, though I don't really know this for sure here, that when Cain killed his brother
Abel, a version of Abel, if not the original Abel, might have been sent somehow into another dimension
or timeline or something. And in that dimension or timeline or whatever it might have been, if that's true
enough here, he somehow survived at least long enough to produce offspring with various girls or
women that he eventually found in his life. Some considerable amount of time later, your ancestors
eventually got to producing you, and you were then born, of course. After that, you probably know all
the rest by now, up to this point in time for your own life, at least."
The two women talked just a bit longer with each other before Dr. Thurston had to resume
making her rounds to check on the hospital patients that she was then responsible for here. Dr.
Thurston didn't want to leave, of course, but she still had to, for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally.
And so she then left. As she left, Dr. Michaela Quinn soon thought, "She really seems to care about
her patients very much. I just hope that she doesn't really have to watch another one die too soon and
too needlessly here for at least a little while longer, in fact. She seems to be a really nice lady, and an
excellent doctor. I wonder what her friends think of her. And what my friends and family would think
of her if they ever somehow met her in their lives." Dr. Quinn thought these things just as Dr. Thurston
was then leaving the room, in fact, to attend to whatever and whoever else she now needed to attend to
here in the hospital, of course. And then she soon went back to sleep for a while, as well.
Amy then checked on all the rest of her current patients, even the one that she'd most recently
at least helped on the operation for, quite naturally. When she entered the ICU to check on Bo Duke,
she soon dismissed the nurse that was then working at least a little bit with him, just as soon as she
could do so. She did this in the hope that she could then converse at least a little bit with him, or at
least talk to him, if he couldn't then talk back here. And be able to do so as privately as possible, in
fact.
In fact, he was currently the only adult besides hospital personnel in the ICU. There were
about a dozen or so babies now in the ICU as well. And they were often checked on by other hospital
personnel. But he was the only adult present who actually was now a patient in the ICU, as a matter of
fact. He was currently unconscious, for they'd brought him there after the necessary operation in such
a state. This was so that his new organs could hopefully have at least a little time to adjust themselves
to being in his body now. And it was so that his body could hopefully have at least a little time to adjust
to his new organs as well, of course. He was expected to remain unconscious for at least another few
hours, just the same, though. This, of course, was quite naturally for all the obvious reasons.
His various vital bio-signs were all within acceptable enough parameters for them, for at least as
long as she was checking on him in the ICU, if not longer. Eventually she had to leave, and did so.
And his vitals still remained within those parameters even after she then left, in fact. They stayed within
them quite easily, as well, even though he was still unconscious at the current time. He wasn't in a
coma or anything similar, most likely, in actual reality, but he was at least live-sleeping, in a manner of
speaking. Live-sleeping meant that he was alive, but also asleep, of course. Dead-sleeping would
quite naturally be considered the exact opposite of that state, for all the obvious reasons.
Dr. Amy Thurston was finally able to clock out and leave the hospital behind again for her
family's home. She did so after making sure that she'd most likely not have to return to the hospital
again for at least another day or two, if she didn't really want to do so here. Other doctors and various
medical personnel would take care of things while she was then away from the hospital again for at least
a little while, of course.
It was now just after noon local time on September 8, 2012. And Amy soon was quite alone
again in her family's residence in Inverness. For Greg had eventually decided to take all of the Thurston
children out for at least a while, even with Amy still at the hospital then. She then went very quickly to
bed, and she stayed in bed at least until 6 in the evening, if not later. This, of course, was for all the
obvious reasons. In any case at all, though, she woke up again no later than about 8:30 pm local time,
because she could no longer sleep after then. Or at least not at the current time, anyway.
******************************************************************************
Another rather good-sized battle will probably take place in Chapter Ten, at least, if not also
Chapter Eleven, somewhere, and sometime, everyone. Before then, though, Chapter Nine will actually
also introduce several more characters into the story at least a little bit, if not a lot, readers. And it, or
they, will also have at least something to do with at least one of the main characters for it, if not more
than one of them, in fact. Until then, though, you'll all just have to see what's coming up soon enough,
of course. So please read, review, and enjoy, if at all possible, readers. Until later, then, this is "The
Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers!
Over and out!