Chapter 29

Sully had already made up his mind; he knew Michaela needed help and that's why he would take her to Cloud Dancing and not into town. He just had to decide whether they should start their journey right away or wait until morning. He was still kneeling next to her, bent over her feverish body and while his mind was working, his gaze roamed over her face. Fine beads of perspiration covered her brow, the dark lashes fluttered unsteadily and her lips were lightly parted. From time to time, a tiny wheeze accompanied her breathing and Sully couldn't help but look down at her heaving chest. It was then that he saw something tucked under her camisole. He wondered why he hadn't noticed the fine leather string around her neck before and was momentarily distracted from his worried thoughts.

Curiosity and excitement got the better of him; did she still have…? He had to know and after glancing at her sleeping face once more, he carefully pulled the item out of her camisole. His eyes filled with tears again, she still cherished his beads!

Suddenly, Michaela struggled for air and Sully was thrown back into reality. He instantly moved to sit behind her, cautiously pulling her into a sitting position so that her back leaned against his chest. As a coughing fit racked her body, Sully held her comfortingly tight, whispering words of reassurance in her ear, until the episode subsided. If it was possible, his concern grew; he could do nothing for her at this place, not even make some tea. He had left his canteen back with his horse since he had known that he was going to follow the creek and that water would be in reach all the time.

With Michaela still securely held in his arms, Sully bent forward slightly to judge the sky again. The colors were already fading, but between the greenish-blue and yellow stripes that seemed to be painted with a rough brush between a few remaining clouds, there was no trace of red. Relieved, Sully sighed silently; it wouldn't rain tonight. Next, he had to think about the practical things. Michaela's clothes were still damp, she couldn't wear them and therefore, they were useless at the moment. If she wanted them back later, he would come here again. For now, his shirt had to do and so he tenderly laid her down onto the branches again and reached for his blue and white striped shirt.

As soon as her head touched the soft ground, Michaela woke up. The first thing her eyes met was the green of the pine needles and she experienced the strong feeling of a dé jà vu: She had been here before… Sully had been there with her… She struggled to sit up while she asked in a hoarse tone, "Sully?" desperately hoping that she wasn't caught in another nightmare and that he would answer.

Sully instantly turned back and replied the same way as he had earlier, assuring her, "I'm here," and pulled her back against his chest.

Michaela relaxed in his embrace, Thank God, it wasn't just a dream! For a few moments, her senses were clear and she looked down on his strong arms that held her protectively. She gave in to the urge to touch him and pulled her right arm from beneath his and laid it on top of his tanned one. She had never thought that the skin of such a strong man could be so smooth. Absent-mindedly, she ran her fingers over the fine curled hair that covered his lower arm and she marveled at its softness. While she reveled in the feeling of having him so close, a deep blush made her cheeks grow even hotter as she noticed that she could even smell him. However, she didn't move away because all the sensations together made her feel as if she were at the place where she belonged. Only when she felt his strong and quick heartbeat against her back, did she become aware that she was just clad in her underwear and that Sully's upper body was obviously naked. Growing extremely embarrassed, she tried to wriggle out of his embrace but it was as if Sully had read her thoughts.

"Shh, it's alright," he tried to sooth her. "Your clothes are all wet and ya couldn't keep them on."

Sully felt how Michaela calmed down a little. Though he struggled with his own emotion, Sully knew he had to act quickly since she could fall asleep again any moment. "I wantcha to put on my shirt until we are at the place where I left my horse. There I can wrap ya in a blanket," he whispered near her ear.

Michaela wearily nodded. She felt cold again and a warm shirt sounded tempting. Relieved, Sully sprang into action. He would have loved to hold her longer, but of course he knew it wasn't the time for that right now.

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Once they were down at the creek, Sully made sure that Michaela drank some water and as soon as they reached his horse, he wrapped her shirt-clad body into a blanket.

Slipping in and out of consciousness, Michaela only knew that she was safe and so she didn't care if they rested or moved, if she slept or was awake. The only thing she cared about was to call for Sully as soon as she didn't feel his arms around her. Actually it was this fact that told him that Michaela's condition grew worse and that they had to ride to the reservation as quickly as possible.

They rode all night, with Wolf at their heels. Every so often they took a break and Sully made sure that Michaela drank water when they paused. Most of the time, her body was limp in his arms, occasionally shaking with coughing fits, and so his back ached from the unusual way he had to hold her while they rode. He didn't pay attention to his discomfort though, all he wanted was to make headway so that Michaela could get the help she needed.

When dawn approached, they reached the reservation. The Indian village was still sleeping, only two young men, who were keeping guard, stepped out from behind the trees at the edge of the camp as soon as they recognized the rider.

Sully didn't slow down his horse though; he rode straight on towards Cloud Dancing's teepee. He didn't have to call for his brother; as soon as he reached the medicine man's tent, the Indian opened the flap from the inside and emerged.

"You have found her," Cloud Dancing stated the obvious.

Sully didn't waste any moment with chitchat but demanded, "Ya gotta help her! She has a fever and a terrible cough."

Cloud Dancing nodded and reached out to take Dr. Mike's body from Sully's arms. Both men tried to be as gentle as possible so as to not make her feel even more uncomfortable. With Michaela in his arms, the medicine man turned to take her inside of his teepee. Feeling the light shake of her body, he knew he had to hurry.

In the meantime, Snowbird had been woken up as well and listened to the short requests her husband made in Cheyenne. As soon as she knew what to do, she organized help for her friend. They needed dry clothes for Dr. Mike after she had been washed, and a fever tea had to be brewed. Outside, the men would prepare the medicine wheel. While the medicine man's wife carefully undressed the white woman and cleaned her scratches with a soft piece of leather, she reproached herself about not being insistent enough on getting the truth out of Flying Sun. If she had been, she could have sent some men after the dog soldiers to prevent them from taking Dr. Mike with them… Snowbird took a deep breath, she knew that those thoughts were fruitless and that's why she rather directed her attention fully at the task before her.

Michaela was caught in her own world of freezing and burning, hurting and sleeping. When she opened her eyes from time to time, she didn't recognize her surroundings clearly, it seemed though she was back with the Indians - but hadn't Sully been with her? Maybe he had been a dream and so she closed her eyes again to go back to that dream… back to him…

Michaela didn't notice that a few hours later, she was placed into the center of a circle made out of stones. She neither heard the medicine man chanting nor saw him throwing a tobacco offering on the coals in the crackling fire nearby. Only when she was forced to drink a bitter tasting tea from time to time, her eyes shot open to meet the soothing blue ones of the man she needed at her side.

Sully left his place next to Michaela only one time to fetch fresh brewed tea from Snowbird and Michaela chose exact that moment to become a little more alert. Opening her eyes, she looked around and her gaze fell onto a nearby teepee. In her delirious state she couldn't realize that the tent didn't mean danger because the dog soldiers didn't even have one; her semi-conscious mind only told her that there were Indians. Cloud Dancing watched her carefully, he wasn't sure if his ceremony worked and seeing her terrified look when she stared at the tent, he knew he couldn't help her. His heart saddened; he only hoped that he hadn't judged her wrong and that she would be strong enough to forgive the men and the woman who had put her through her ordeal.

When Sully came back and sat down again, the medicine man tossed herbs into the fire, sending up a shaft of colored smoke for the last time. Then he rose to his feet and just walked off a ways. Sully was puzzled and grew anxious. Straightening as well, he followed his friend and grasped his arm to hold him back. "How is she?"

Cloud Dancing contemplated what to say and responded at last, "She fights hard."

Sully's heart started to panic. "Will she live?"

The medicine man looked back at the small figure in the center of the circle, lying on a buffalo hide. All he knew was that it wasn't in his hands anymore; maybe love was the last option… His tone was grave when he spoke again, "That's up to you."

Sully didn't want to believe it, his brother was just giving up? He tightened his grip on the Indian's arm and demanded, "You gotta help her!"

Cloud Dancing didn't meet his friend's eyes as he advised, "You must take her into town."

"But there is no doctor!" Sully instantly protested.

"There is her family," the wise man replied.

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Loren would never admit it, but he was deeply concerned. On top of the fact that Dr. Mike had abandoned her clinic, she had left Hannah alone for several days now. As far as he knew, she wouldn't do those things unless something had happened to her. Why had she to go out to the reservation at all! He had known it right from the start that it wasn't a good idea to get involved with the Indians, but that woman was so stubborn and never listened to well-meant advices. Those people were savages, who knows what they had done to her… Of course there was a little hope, it looked as if Sully was with her, he hadn't been seen in town lately either. Although, that wasn't a guarantee, his former son-in-law still vanished quite often…

His train of thoughts was interrupted when he felt a little hand tugging at his sleeve. Loren looked down at his granddaughter who sat next to him on the bench under the oak in the graveyard. Seeing the anxious pale face, the old man's heart immediately melted. Charlotte had asked him to look after her since she had to take care of a young woman in labor and Colleen was still at school. Although the reason that he watched her was a distressing one, he was glad to spend some time with the little girl. Since Dorothy's arrival, those occasions had become less frequent. If only he could bring his sister-in-law to her senses…

Hannah felt that she had lost her grandpa's attention again. However, he was the only one she could ask for a shoulder to cry on right now and so she at last crawled on his lap and tried to make herself comfortable in his arms. Although a huge relief had flooded her body when she had sensed that her pa had found her ma, the little girl felt a frightening feeling growing inside of her since yesterday. Something wasn't right; she wanted her ma… Leaning her head against her grandpa's chest, Hannah tried to seek comfort out of his closeness and sighed heavily when she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

The soft crying of his little girl brought Loren back to reality. He knew that he couldn't just sit here any longer without doing anything; he would talk to Hank and Jake about a search party and maybe even ask Sergeant McKay, who still camped with his men on the meadow behind the church. Just when he had made up his mind to go for help, Hannah suddenly straightened in his arms. Startled, he looked down at her and asked puzzled, "What is it?"

Hannah didn't respond but searched the road that led into the woods with her eyes. She was sure that she had heard something and when a rider emerged between the trees, she excitedly pointed at him and called out, "Pa!"

Loren squinted his eyes in an effort to recognize what his granddaughter saw, and since the rider came closer in full speed, the old man quickly was able to acknowledge that it was actually Sully. There was no holding Hannah back anymore; she jumped down to the ground and ran towards her pa. The girl abruptly stopped in her tracks though when she saw her ma. Her mother's body lay limp in her pa's arms and she had her eyes closed. The little heart started to pound wildly with fear, but at the same moment hope entered it. Her ma was at home and Hannah just knew that everything would be well again.

Business was still slow and so Hank sat on a chair on his porch, bent back to savor the sun on his face. Hearing a rider approaching in full speed, he lazily opened one eye to see if it was worth it to look at the commotion. Recognizing that it was Sully who had just arrived in front of the clinic, the barkeeper was instantly fully awake and jumped up to go over there. He didn't believe his eyes, for a moment he thought that an Indian woman, clad with a typical Indian dress, lay in Sully's arms, but seeing the coppery hair, his initial astonishment about the situation was quickly replaced with renewed anger and he hissed, "Ya can take that squaw back to where ya came from, we're gonna hire a real doc for the town."

Sully had other things on his mind than arguing with the barkeeper right now and so he dismissed the sarcastic remark. Pointing at Michaela's limp body with his eyes, he only said, "Here, you gotta hold her. I need to unlock the door."

Without further ado, he put Michaela into Hank's arms and jumped down from his horse to open the clinic, and the saloon owner once again surprised himself. He had held that woman this way before and noticing her closed eyes, the feverish cheeks and her labored breathing, his heart once again went out to her. If the Indians were responsible for the state Michaela was in, he would make sure that they would pay for that.

The commotion in front of the clinic had instantly attracted the usual crowd and people gasped when they saw their doctor so sick. Many of them had been angry at her the last few days because of her absence, not that anyone of them had needed her help, but looking at her helpless body in Hank's arms made them secretly feel guilty for their harsh thoughts, and by the time Sully carried her into the clinic, they had already forgiven her. All, except for Dorothy Jennings, of course. Sensing that the mood had shifted in favor of Dr. Quinn, the red-haired woman didn't speak out loud what was on her mind, "It serves her right, why had she needed to go out there to those savages in the first place? Well, she'll have enough time for her "good deeds"… Hopefully a doctor will answer our advertisement soon."

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Although Michaela didn't really notice anything about what was happening to and around her, as soon as she was settled in bed, washed with her favorite soap and clad in a cotton nightgown by Grace, feeling a little hand in hers and sensing Sully's presence, her instincts told her that she was safe and at last a comforting blackness engulfed her.

Word about Dr. Mike being back and awfully sick had spread fast and as soon as Colleen heard the news, she convinced Mr. James to let her go and to excuse her from school for the next several days. It didn't take much time or effort to get his permission and so she rushed towards the clinic as soon as the teacher had nodded.

During the epidemic, Colleen had learned from Dr. Mike about how to use the quinine and immediately started administering it. She also knew which ointments helped to ease breathing and she carefully rubbed it onto the doctor's chest and back. The only things left to do were to wait, pray and hope.