Chapter 14: Small to Say the Least

Sully's form was stiff with anger and shook slightly as he made his move towards David's retreating body. However, he was cut short by Michaela, who lunged for his arm, holding Sully back. "No, Sully don't…leave him…let him go…" Michaela whispered with pleading eyes beckoning Sully.

Sully shook his head, as he tried to determine whether to do as Michaela requested or what his gut longed to do. "Michaela…you heard what he said…I can't let him…"

"He won't do anything…Sully, he's clearly not right in the mind…"

"My point exactly!"

"…And that means someone is bound to recognize that…I'd be surprised if he lasted a week!" Michaela assured him. But when Sully's eyes met hers, Michaela nearly leapt back at the sight of them. Never before had she seen such pain and anger that clouded Sully's oceanic eyes as she did now. "…Sully?"

Sully, however, turned away from Michaela and stared out at the distant peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Concerned and discouraged by his concealing actions, Michaela tried again to gain his response. "Sully? Sully, please…I'm so sorry for all of this…"

At the sound of her words, Sully exhaled and shook his head as he rotated back towards Michaela. Initially avoiding her gaze, Sully gently placed his hand on her upper arms and drew Michaela close to his chest, kissing the crown of her head. "Don't be sorry…God, Michaela it isn't your fault…"

Michaela pulled back slightly and tried to catch his gaze. When she found that he continued to look away, Michaela lightly placed her hand on his cheek and led his face to look into hers. "Please…please talk to me?"

Sully look down momentarily before nodding. "Michaela…I can't lose you. I won't let that happen. And as long as David is here, there's still that risk." Sully backed away from Michaela and walked over to a bench where the three Cheyenne children sat huddled together.

"But Sully…"

"Michaela, didn't you hear him? Did you not see that menacing look in his eyes? I don't care if he is the craziest man alive today! Clearly he was still smart enough to get his job back here at the hospital…didn't that even puzzle you for one second?" Sully said bitterly as he turned his head to look up at Michaela.

Michaela bit her trembling lower-lip, as her eyes left Sully's and she gazed back out to the majestic mountains. "Yes, I wondered about that…but he was always very clever. He always got what he wanted…" Michaela's voice trailed off as realization came over her at the understanding of her words. "Oh God Sully, what do we do?"

Sully stood and walked over to stand behind Michaela, placing his hands comfortingly on her shoulders. "I'm not sure. But we'll figure it out…"

A sudden shout emitted from within the hospital startled Michaela and Sully. The automatic doors suddenly flew open to reveal two young children surrounding a young man. "Please, you've got to help us! Ya can't just leave him out on the streets like this!" The older boy exclaimed.

"I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do. I suggest you get you bother and sister to an orphanage and figure out your own life from there." A nurse said calmly before turning back into the hospital and leaving the three alone at the door.

"Damn it!" The young man whispered under his breath.

Michaela, who had watched the entire scene take place with Sully, looked curiously at the young man. He looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly the young girl next to the fair-hair young adult peaked over at Michaela and gasped when she saw her. "Mike! Mike! Look Matu, it's Dr. Mike!" The young girl squealed and ran to Michaela.

Michaela instantly recognized the young girl as the one she had met so many months ago during her first month of internship. "Why, hello little Colleen!" Michaela exclaimed while swooping the girl up into her arms. "What brings you here?"

Colleen glanced over at her bother. "My little bwoder, Bwian, he's weal sick. But da hospital won't let us in cause we don't got held insuwance."

Michaela puzzled over the child's sentence for a moment before putting it all together. "Oh health insurance!"

"Tat's what I said!"

Michaela smiled briefly at Colleen before glancing over at her clearly embarrassed older brother. Gently, she smiled at the young man and walked over to him.

"Here let me take her." The young man spoke in a low voice, clearly trying to hide his young age, while he took Colleen from Michaela's arms.

"You're Matthew, I presume?" Michaela asked kindly.

"Yeah, I guess you were the one who found Colleen a few months back." It wasn't a question, more a statement; and Michaela could only nod her head in response. "Yes, well thank you, we'll be going now…" Matthew muttered as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Michaela suddenly shouted after him. "Do you need help?"

Matthew turned to face Michaela with a slightly puzzled look on his face "Help?"

"Yes, help…the hospital didn't let you in…" Michaela said calmly.

Matthew diverted his eyes and bounced nervously on the balls of his feet. "Well, yeah…but we can handle things on our own thanks…"

Michaela shook her head and placed a compassionate hand on Matthew's arm. "It's ok…I want to help you…"

However, Matthew shook his head again. "We don't need your charity!"

"It's not charity…" Michaela sighed. "…I hate asking this way, but…did your mother….did she die?"

A look of pure sadness and mourning flashed across Matthew's face but he quickly replaced it with a monotonous mask to hide his pain. "…Yeah….yeah she…passed on…'bout two months ago…"

"I'm sorry…where have you been staying?"

Matthew's body once again went into nervous fidgets. "…Well….here and there…"

Michaela sighed heavily at his response. "Matthew, answer me truthfully, how old are you?"

Matthew looked up briefly at Michaela before diverting his eyes to his shoes. "I'm…18…" But as Michaela continued to stare at him, egging him for the truth, he finally gave in. "…Fine, I'm 16…but I can't put us into some orphanage where we'll most likely be split up…we've got to stick together…"

Michaela's heart broke for the poor boy, who had been through so much; and she moved her arm around Matthew's shoulder to comfort and console him. "Oh, it's ok…we'll figure it out…" Michaela glanced up at Sully, who had kept his distance through the entire meeting. She knew that they had there hands full with the Cheyenne epidemic and David's recent appearance, but Michaela just couldn't bear to leave these poor children who had lost everything they ever had. "…We'll figure it out…"

Sighing heavily, she pulled herself away from Matthew and looked down at the young boy standing next to him. "And this…this must be Brian." The fair-haired boy nodded, while Michaela knelt down, glancing up at Matthew. "Do you know his condition or his illness?"

Matthew nodded slightly. "We're pretty sure it's strep throat…but we aren't positive…"

Michaela, however, nodded in agreement as she examined Brian's tonsils. "No, I believe you're diagnosis is correct…he just need's an antibiotic…shouldn't be too difficult for me to get…"

"Wait a second…what do you mean? You heard the nurse…" Matthew asked as a look of confusion crossed his face.

Michaela stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees, before looking up at Matthew. "I'll get the medicine for you…I need to get some for these children as well, but…"

"Wait…no, you're gonna be stealing that….no, thanks for your offer, but I can't have ya risking your job for us…" Matthew said as Sully walked forward.

"Michaela…what are ya talking about?" Sully asked. "Matthew here is right; I can't let ya risk losing your job for the Cheyenne's sake…"

Michaela shook her head while she looked up at Sully and then at Matthew. "No…I would rather help you and lose my job, or even my medical license than to sit here and watch countless people be turned away because of their inability to pay. I won't stand for it." Just as Sully was about to come in with a rebuttal, Michaela put her stubborn foot down again. "It's my decision, and it's final."

"But where do you plan on keeping these children or the Cheyenne?" Sully reasoned.

"At our house of course!" A voice sounded from the shadows. Slowly, William walked up from where he had been standing unnoticed by the hospital wall.

"Will?" Michaela breathed.

William sighed as he walked up to Michaela. "I'm sorry Michaela…I…I should have believed you before and I should have been there for you…I just didn't want to believe that David could do such things…but I'm here now. And, from what I can hear, you're gonna need all the help you can get with this excursion."

Michaela smiled at William before turning back towards Matthew. "So will you let me help you?"

Matthew looked between Michaela and his little brother a few times before giving in. "Yeah…but only because I don't want him getting any sicker than he already is…"

Michaela smiled at him, happy that he had come to that conclusion. "Good…I think we should go…we have a lot of planning to do…"

With a nod of agreement cast by the entire group, everyone found their way to various cars and made the journey to Sully and William's cabin.

"No, no, no, no! Dr. Bernard is going to notice your absence, Michaela!" William shouted for the tenth time.

"Then who is going to look after the children during the day?" Michaela argued back.

"I already said I would" Sully chipped in.

"But you're going to be start building again Sully!" Michaela reasoned.

"I can give up the job if we need to…"

"No, Sully, I'm not going to have you give up your job for this." Michaela said as she shook her head, puzzling over the situation.

"Michaela, aren't you risking the same thing?" Sully answered back, leaving Michaela speechless.

"Why don't we just call Dorothy…I'm sure she would help!" William suggested as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

At William's suggestion, Michaela's eyes went wide and she shook her head immediately. "No…no, no, no, no! We are not calling Dorothy!"

"Why not, Michaela? Are you two in that big of an argument?" Sully questioned.

Michaela rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, it's just…um…it just wouldn't be a good idea…"

"Well, I don't see any harm in asking, so I'm going to call her." William said deliberately.

Michaela's eyes went wide and she quickly tried to get off of her stool to run and grab the phone from William. Unfortunately, Michaela tripped over the stool leg and fell to the ground as William called Dorothy. Hearing the soft beeping of the number being dialed, Michaela remained on the floor and cupped her face in her hands, dreading the outcome of Dorothy's involvement.

"Hello, Dorothy? Hey, this is Will…" William spoke into the phone as Sully crouched next to Michaela to see if she was ok. "Hey listen, I'm here with Sully and Michaela and we're kind of in a mess…we could really use your help..."

Michaela shook her head and brought her knees up towards her chest.

"…Um, no it's nothing to do with him…" William's voice suddenly got quieter. "…Yeah, yeah she knows he's back…I think she's ok…." William whispered into the receiver.

Michaela, however, knew exactly what and who they were talking about, and it honestly did nothing but annoy her.

After a few more incoherent comments from William, he hung up and turned to address Michaela and Sully. "She'll be here in a few minutes…seems your petty argument has been put aside…at least Dorothy has let it go." William said with a challenging smile.

Michaela sighed deeply and looked up at William with the grandest fake-smile she could manage. "Well then, I'm sure we will have a delightful time!" William looked at her for a moment, puzzling over Michaela's odd behavior; before he turned and left to sit in the living room.

Once William was out of earshot, Sully placing a comforting hand on Michaela's back. "Hey, ya want to tell me what's going on with you and Dorothy? I mean, before…you just told me it was because she was surprised over our…our relationship…"

Michaela looked up into Sully's concerned and compassionate gaze. "Sully…there's so much that needs to be said….so much that I have no right to say….you….well, she…Sully, I don't want to put you in this awkward position that I'm in…" Michaela sighed.

Sully shook his head in confusion. "What awkward position?"

Michaela inhaled deeply. "Sully…you really need to talk to Dorothy about a few things…"

Sully smiled slightly. "What do you mean? What things?"

Michaela buried her face into her knees, uncomfortable with the entire subject. "Oh Sully…Dorothy….she cares for you!"

Sully's smile broadened even more. "Well of course she cares about me! We've been friends for almost a decade!"

Michaela shook her head impatiently. "No Sully, I mean she has feelings for you!"

Sully's smile faded slightly as he became more and more confused with the entire situation. "What…what do you mean?"

Michaela suddenly tilted her head back and let out an exasperated sigh. "Sully, Dorothy…she…she loves you!" Michaela's words seemed to bounce off the walls and ricochet across the room.

Sully was completely speechless as he tried to grasp what Michaela had just told him. "Wh…what?"

Michaela shook her head again. "Sully, I'm not the one you need to be talking to about that…she just blurted it all out to me earlier today…but I can tell you that it isn't anything new. Supposedly she loved you before you even met Abigail…"

Sully's head was spinning as he contemplated how to handle the entire situation. "Michaela…I…I had no idea…"

"I don't blame you at all Sully…I just don't know how to handle it…she said she would accept our relationship, but that it would be very challenging for her to do so…"

Sully shook his head. "It's just all so odd…I never even thought about it…I never picked up on it…I feel so stupid, that I should have seen it coming!"

Michaela leaned her head against Sully's shoulder and placed her hand comfortingly on his back. "Don't blame yourself Sully…it's not something that we need to get all caught up in, seeing as we have plenty of other things we can do that in…"

Sully nodded in agreement as he continued to stare off into space. "Our troubles are never going to be small are they?"

Michaela smiled slightly at Sully's comment. "No…but perhaps it will strengthen us…together…" Sully turned as Michaela looked up into his gaze, inviting his lips to meet with hers, and they shared a tender kiss that sent sparks down Michaela's spine. As she felt herself lean into Sully, their moment of romance was interrupted by a knock at the front door.

Michaela and Sully quickly parted and stood as they heard the familiar tones of Dorothy's voice in the entrance hall. This was sure to be an interesting meeting.

Oh I hope that was an ok chapter... it's really late and I'm exhasted but I really wanted to get this next chapter out. Please read and review!