Chapter 10

"Michaela!" Sully shouted as Michaela's body went limp.

Warren had fallen to his knees and was scrambling for his gun. As much as Sully wanted to hold Michaela in his arms, he lunged for Warren, noticing the blood trickling from his leg. Although Sully never knew Michaela to have ever thrown a tomahawk in her entire life, she had managed successfully to hit him in the knee. Sully tackled him, kicking his gun farther away from him in the process. They fought on the ground, Warren throwing a few good punches Sully's way. For the most part, however, Sully was able to duck or move before Warren's fist could make contact with Sully's body. Eventually, Sully pinned Warren to the ground and knocked him unconscious. Sully immediately reached for the gun and held it over the man's body. He placed his finger on the trigger but he could not pull it. He thought of all of the things that the man did, or could have done to Michaela, but he could not pull the trigger. Sully knew that if someone found out about it, he would be charged with murder because he was stealing Warren's "wife" from him. But more than that, Sully could not help the fact that he loathed guns and could not imagine ever killing, even the man who lay before him, with one.

Satisfied that Warren was, in fact, unconscious, Sully ran to Michaela whose body was covered in her own blood. As Michaela had thrown the tomahawk, Warren had fired his gun. The bullet whizzed by Sully and hit Michaela square in the shoulder before Sully even knew what was going on.

"Michaela!" Sully cried, tapping her loosely on the cheek. There was no response. Sully looked at her chest. It was barely rising and falling. He knew that he was losing her. Sully quickly scooped her up in his arms, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her there and ran out of the homestead. He placed her gently across the back of his horse and then hopped on behind her and rode off. He could not take his eyes off of her as he rode. Her whole body was bruised, her right arm badly mangled. Her hair was matted and her once beautiful skin was callused, bruised, and dirty. Her clothing was torn and filthy and her fingers bled. As Sully rode, the tears in his eyes blurred his vision.

"Sully!" Matthew yelled as Sully galloped past him and Robert. As Sully heard his name, he pulled on the reins, stopping his horse. Matthew, with Robert not far behind, quickly rode over to where Sully stopped. Sully had forgotten that they had chosen to meet in that spot if anything happened.

"Dr. Mike!" Matthew yelled, brushing her hair away from her face. He stared at her bloody shoulder.

"She's hurt real bad," Sully exclaimed.

"We gotta get her to a doc," Robert said. "There's a hospital in town."

"Can't take her to a hospital," Sully replied.

"Sully, she's gotta go or she'll die!" Matthew shouted.

"That's the first place he'll look," Sully explained. "We gotta take her somewhere where she'll be safe."

"And if we wait too long, she'll die!" Matthew responded.

"Ya didn't kill him?" Robert questioned.

Sully looked over at Matthew and did not say anything in response. He knew that only Matthew would be able to understand why Sully could not take the life of even the one man he wanted to kill more than anyone else. Although Matthew carried a gun, Sully knew that shooting it was not his favorite thing to do.

"What're we gonna do?" Matthew asked.

"You're gonna go back to Colorado Springs." Sully instructed.

"What?"

"Ya gotta go, Matthew."

"I ain't goin' nowhere!" Matthew argued.

"Warren thinks he's got a right to your ma 'cause he thinks they're married. If he can't find her, he's goin' after Brian and Colleen."
"How do ya know that?"

"He told me." Sully sighed, knowing that Michaela was was running out of time but he still didn't know what to do. "You gotta go back and protect 'em, Matthew. Your ma won't ever forgive herself if anythin' happens to 'em…and neither will you. Besides, there ain't nothin' ya can do now. We found her. Now we just gotta get her some help and pray that she's strong."

"Ain't no one stronger than Dr. Mike," Matthew commented.

Sully smiled. "She's just gotta prove it one more time."

Matthew nodded. He didn't want to leave but he knew that it was up to him to protect Brian and Colleen. He knew that Robert E and Grace would do anything they could to protect them but he also knew that Sully was right. If anything happened to them, he would never forgive himself for not being there.

"We gotta go. We'll find a doc somewhere," Sully said.

Matthew quickly kissed Michaela on the forehead and shook Sully's hand.

"I'll be prayin' for her," Matthew said.

"You just worry 'bout protectin' your brother and sister," Sully replied.

Robert began to ride off and Sully followed, more slowly so as not to jostle Michaela.

"Sully!" Matthew yelled after them. Sully stopped and turned. "What do I tell Matthew and Colleen about ma?"

"Tell 'em…" Sully paused. "Tell 'em that their ma loves 'em very much," he finally said. Matthew nodded and watched Sully and Robert ride out of sight.

Brian stood in front of the candy jars at the general store. He stared at the multi-colored candies but his mind was far from their sweetness. He couldn't stop thinking about where his ma was at that moment. He was bursting to tell someone about it besides Grace, Robert E, and Colleen. They all just kept telling him that he shouldn't worry but he sensed that they were just as worried as he was.

Loren noticed Brian from across the store. It wasn't uncommon for the boy to take his time looking at the candy, but Brian would have made his choice by now or he would have asked Loren if there was anything new since the last time he was there. Brian hadn't even said hello to him when he entered the store.

"Decided what you want?" Loren asked, walking over to him.

"Don't think I want any candy today, Mr. Bray," Brian answered.

"No candy?" Loren replied, knowing that there was definitely something wrong with the boy. "But you always want candy."

Brian almost forgot that Loren didn't know that his ma had been kidnapped. Brian looked at the older man and quickly hugged him. Although surprised, Mr. Bray hugged him back.

"What's wrong, boy?"

"Mr. Bray, if somethin' happens to ma, can I live with you?" Brian asked him.

Mr. Bray didn't know what to say.

"Nothin's gonna happen to your ma," Loren assured him.

"But if somethin' did happen to her. Ya wouldn't let 'em send me away to an orphanage or nothin' would ya?"

Loren shook his head. He had no idea what was going on but he knew that something had deeply disturbed Brian.

"'Course not."

"Promise me you'd take care of me," Brian pleaded.

"I promise, boy, I promise." Brian held onto him more tightly, crying.

Sully knocked on the door once more. He and Robert had ridden nearly twenty miles out of town. Sully wished that they could have gotten further but he knew that Michaela wouldn't make it. As it was, she was barely breathing and the bleeding had not lessened even though Sully had placed a cloth over it as she would have instructed, had she been awake. Sully knew that the bullet was still lodged in her body somewhere.

"Maybe he ain't home," Robert suggested.

Sully banged again, looking over at Michaela who was slumped over the back of his horse. They had been looking everywhere for a doctor but they hadn't found one. Finally, Sully saw a sign from a distance that said clinic on it. The sign was leaning against the wall at the back of an older looking building. The building was in the middle of nowhere, which Sully was thankful for. Sully prayed that the door he was knocking on actually was the door to a clinic and that the sign was not just being used for old firewood by some family. When no one answered the door after a few minutes of banging, Sully thought of going back into town to the hospital even if there was a better chance that they would be found there.

Sully knocked again and finally, the door opened.

"What?" The man asked angrily. By the man's disheveled attire and hair, Sully guessed that he had been asleep. He was an older man, probably in his sixties. He wore spectacles that were perched at the end of his nose. What little hair he had left was grey and it stuck out in all directions.

"Are you a doctor?" Sully questioned.

"What do you want?" The man barked. He was obviously not very happy to have been woken up.

"Please, I saw the sign for the clinic in the back and I need a doctor," Sully explained.

"You look fine to me."

"My fiancé needs a doctor," Sully corrected, pointing the man to Michaela. He moved towards her, about ready to take her off the horse. He knew, though, that if the man in front of him was not a doctor, taking Michaela off the horse would only cause her more damage.

"Take her to the hospital in town then," the man replied.

"Please, sir, we can't," Sully said. "Please, are you a doctor?" The man walked slowly out to the horse that held Michaela. Although Sully expected the man to start looking over Michaela's wounds, he brushed the hair out of her face and stared at her closed eyes.

"I know this woman," he said.

Sully nearly panicked, wondering if the man meant that he recognized her as Warren's "wife."

"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person," Sully said, about ready to climb back on his horse.

"Dr. Quinn," the man said. "Dr. Michaela Quinn from Boston. I went to the lecture she gave in Boston last year."

"So you are a doctor?"

"Her remedy could have saved lots of patients," the man explained. "I tried telling the docs about it at the hospital but they wouldn't hear of it. Said that kind of medicine doesn't have any place in their hospital. Don't know if they wouldn't use it because it was Indian medicine or because it was presented by a woman. I suppose it was a little bit of both. It's a shame, really."

"Please, sir, she needs your help," Sully begged.

The man sighed. "Bring her in."

Hours later, Sully stood outside the room where he had laid Michaela tenderly on a small cot. Although Sully begged to stay by her side, the doctor ordered him out of the room to stand in the hallway. The clinic was smaller than Michaela's, having only the one room and the hallway. Sully guessed that the man lived above the clinic. Robert had gone outside to tend to the horses and keep a look out for any sign of trouble.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Sully asked as the doctor emerged from the room.

"Managed to get the bullet out but she lost a lot of blood. Looks like it got infected some, too. I sewed up some of her other cuts and put some medicine on her bruises. Her shoulder's broken and she needs to eat and get some fluids in her."

"But is she gonna be alright. Is she gonna wake up?"

The man shook his head. "I just don't know. It's up to her now."

Sully sighed. "Thank you. Can I see her now?"

The doctor nodded and Sully entered the small room. Michaela was lying on the small cot, her small body covered with a large quilt. Her face was badly bruised but she looked peaceful in her sleep. Sully leaned over and kissed her lightly, a tear falling from his cheek onto hers. Sully sat beside the bed on a stool, holding her hand as gently as possible.

"If you brought someone to me with these injuries," the doctor said, "I would have told you that they wouldn't be alive. She's a strong lady."

"Yes, she is," Sully agreed.

"I'm Doc Hall," the doctor said. Sully hadn't realized that he hadn't even known the man's name. Sully shook his hand as the doctor dragged over another stool. "Sorry about the reception I gave you earlier. I'm afraid that I haven't been practicing since they built that hospital. Folks would rather go to them fancy doctors then come to my clinic so I closed it and retired."

"You saw Michaela speak in Boston?"

Doc Hall nodded. "Last medical conference I went to. She was a real good speaker. I have to admit that I wasn't too happy about listening to a woman doctor but she certainly is a smart lady." Sully nodded. "I have to tell you, though, I didn't let you in here because I saw her speak in Boston."

"Then why did you?"

He sighed. "I was a doctor for thirty-five years out here. Moved out here from Chicago when I was twenty-six to start a new practice where there were no doctors. I've seen my share of patients here and I've lost my share of patients. I've seen husbands lose their wives in childbirth. I've seen women lose their children from snake bites and such. I've seen folks lose their kind from everything you can imagine. But I have never seen a person in this clinic with such love in their eyes for another human being as you have for this woman. That's what made me open my doors for you. I respect Dr. Quinn very much but I would have sent you to that hospital if I didn't see that look in your eye."

"I love her with every part of my soul," Sully replied. "She's my heart song."

"Well, that may be just what Dr. Quinn needs to make it through this."

"What's that?"

"Knowing that there's someone here waiting for her when she wakes up. Knowing that she'll be loved for the rest of her life." Doc Hall stood up, placing the stool back in the corner of the room. "You stay with her. I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

"I don't know how I'll ever thank you," Sully said.

"You promise me that you won't ever let her go and that'll be thanks enough."

Sully nodded. "I promise."