No one could make Sully leave the clinic. He didn't care if it was proper or not, he would only go when Michaela herself told him so and not one second earlier. He put two cots into the room next to the sickbay and then went downstairs to look after Wolf while Colleen sponged Michaela's feverish brow under the watchful eyes of Hannah.
As Sully opened the door to step out onto the porch, he stopped abruptly, astonished at what he saw. The crowd still lingered in front of the clinic and it was obvious that the mood had changed again. As soon as the doctor had been carried inside, someone had asked why she wore an Indian dress. The speculations had grown wild and when Sully came outside, Hank instantly demanded, "Is it some Injun sickness? Then ya better take her out of town again!"
Sully knew he had to think quickly. If he mentioned the dog soldiers, the army would go out to the reservation for sure. They never needed much of a reason to slaughter Indians. If they found out how the renegades had forced a white woman to go with them, that would be the only motive the soldiers needed to pay the Cheyenne a visit. Sully tried to keep his tone even when he replied, "Thanks for being concerned, Hank. I'm sure, Michaela will appreciate that."
This wasn't the answer people wanted to hear and an angry murmur arose. Before the situation could get out of control, the reverend chimed in. "We all are really concerned, Sully. If Dr. Mike has something infectious…"
Sully had decided to tell them as little as possible and cut the clergyman off, "Michaela was lost; she was out in the rain and cold for a few days. Now she has a high fever, that's all."
"Are ya sure 'bout that?" Jake was still suspicious. As the mayor he was responsible for the folks in town and at the moment, he felt very important. "We don't need another grippe."
"Jake," Sully took a deep breath to steady his voice. Although he didn't exactly lie, he hated to be untruthful. However, he needed to convince everyone and hoped that Michaela would understand that he made her look rather clumsy, "Michaela had to see a patient at a place she'd never been before and on her way she got stuck in a thunderstorm. I found her only yesterday."
Chris felt how Amanda moved at his side to join the discussion and hastily gripped her arm to stop her. Astonished, she looked up at him and noticing her fiancé's furrowed brow, she remained silent although she didn't like it. Growing immensely curious, she decided to return to that topic later on.
Sully avoided looking at anyone in particular as he emphasized, "She's just exhausted and needs her rest."
For the townsfolk, Sully seemed to be sincere and as far as they knew him, he was as good as his word and so the crowd at last dispersed. Only Chris and Amanda remained for a moment but Sully didn't have any intention of giving explanations right now and after exchanging an understanding look with the teacher and making sure that Wolf was nowhere to be seen, Sully entered the clinic again to resume his vigil next to Michaela's bed.
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On her way back into consciousness, Michaela met fleeting images that didn't make much sense to her: the dead eyes of an Indian… a cave… a horse ride and… Sully. While she woke more and more, Michaela tried to figure out what had happened and… where was she? A familiar sound made her feel like being at home and finally, her eyelids fluttered open. Her gaze met the ceiling of the recovery room in her clinic but she was sure that she heard the light snoring of Hannah. Was her daughter sick? Why was she herself sleeping then, she should take care of her little girl! Something about the situation didn't feel right…
Carefully, Michaela turned her head towards the sound until she at last saw Hannah peacefully sleeping on a cot right next to her bed. The little girl lay on her back, holding the bunny securely tucked under her right arm. Her daughter seemed to be all right at the moment, but why was it so strenuous for her when she just attempted to move her head to the other side? At last Michaela had made it and the sight her eyes met puzzled her even more. There sat Sully on a chair, his head propped up against the wall, his eyes closed. What was he doing here?
"Sully?" Michaela's voice was hoarse from not speaking for two days. She tentatively reached out to touch his hand and reiterated more sincerely, "Sully?"
Sensing her touch, his eyes shot open. He immediately took her hand in his and bent towards her, whispering with sheer joy in his tone, "Michaela!"
However, Michaela was still in bewilderment. "Sully, what happened?"
For a moment, he didn't know what to do. What should he tell her? How much of it? After glancing at Hannah to see if she was still asleep, Sully carefully changed from the chair onto the edge of Michaela's bed. His thumb caressed the back of her hand as he informed her, "You had a fever. Cloud Dancing couldn't help you and so I brought you here."
Obviously, his brother's name had stirred something inside of her because he could see how her look changed.
Indeed, the mentioning of the medicine man's name flooded Michaela's mind with unbidden memories. The last thing she could remember clearly though, was that a dog soldier had threatened her with a knife on her neck…
Seeing her terrified look, Sully hastily assured her, "You're safe now, you're safe." He wanted to take her in his arms so badly but he didn't know how far back she could remember or if she would even allow it. So he came up with something practical, "Since you're awake, you should start to eat. You haven't had anything for days, just a little honey…"
Startled, because he feared he had said too much, he hastily placed a kiss to her knuckles before he rose saying, "I'll go to Grace, she offered to bring you some soup as soon as you…"
Michaela couldn't explain it but she felt that she needed him at her side and sensed something akin panic rising in her chest with the thought he might leave. Without thinking, she interrupted him and asked almost fearfully, "Will you come back?"
"'Course I will." He smiled reassuringly down at her and then he couldn't resist pressing his lips against her now cool brow. "I'll be back in no time."
When Sully stepped out on the clinic porch, he stood there for a moment and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and silently thanked the spirits that Michaela would make it. He would take care that she got everything she needed to regain her strength. Michaela's reaction on hearing Cloud Dancing's name worried him though, more than he wanted to admit. What if she wasn't able to resume her work at the reservation, to resume her friendship with the people of his family?
Grace had saved some soup for the moment Dr. Mike would wake up and so Sully came back with the food only ten minutes later. When he entered the recovery room again, he couldn't help but grin; Hannah's head lay on Michaela's chest and seeing her father, the little girl lifted her index finger to her lips and informed him with a huge grin on her face, "Shh, ma's seepin'!" Her ma had talked to her and she knew that everything would be fine again.
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The next two days Michaela spent in bed; even if she had wanted to, she wasn't able to get up yet. She still fell asleep quite often, but her sleep was a healing one.
As soon as the townsfolk had heard the news that the doctor was out of the woods, people calmed down. First because that meant they didn't have a deathly Indian illness in town and second because they were glad that they had their doc back.
Grace provided everyone in the clinic with food. She refused to take any money; she said that this was her way of thanking Dr. Mike for giving her business a boost with the daily lunch for the children at school.
Speaking of school, of course Chris was a visitor as well. The only thing the teacher regretted later was that he had brought his fiancée. Although things had been back to almost normal between them, there still lingered uneasiness beneath the surface. When the two of them entered the recovery room on Thursday evening, Chris smiled about the scene before him. Dr. Quinn sat in bed, propped up against several pillows with her hands lying clasped on top of the quilt. Sully, sitting on Hannah's cot, held his daughter, who was enthusiastically reading from her birthday book, on his lap. The little girl stopped though when she saw the new visitors and grinned happily. Her world was all right at the moment, her ma would be well again and her pa hadn't left them until now. Reveling in the moment, the little girl didn't think about that things might change any time.
Chris was relieved to see the doctor in good spirits, although still weak. He said, "I'm glad you are better, Dr. Mike."
"I have a great team, it wouldn't be polite to not get better under those circumstances," was her playful reply.
At this moment, Colleen squeezed past her teacher and Miss Miller and was absolutely serious as she said, "You gotta rest, Dr. Mike. It is not good for you to…"
Michaela nodded and softly responded, "Just a minute, then I'll lie down again, all right?"
"If it's really only a minute…" the girl grumbled good-naturally and turned to leave again.
Amanda was determined not to go before she finally got an answer to her question that she hadn't been allowed to ask yet and so she spoke out before anyone could hold her back again, "How come you got lost? Why don't you know your surroundings by now after living here for so long?"
Chris was highly embarrassed, why did Amanda always try to make Dr. Mike look as if she was incompetent? Seeing that the doctor questioningly raised her eyebrows at Sully, the teacher knew that there was much more going on than just her being lost. He hastily grasped for Amanda's arm to drag her out of the room, but Michaela assured him, "It's all right, Chris."
Then she turned towards the young woman and her soft tone belied her words when she replied, "Maybe it is because I'm the town's and the reservation's only doctor. Maybe it is more important to me to know the newest medical treatments than to take a walk. Maybe I rather ride out to my patients than look for some adventures in the woods. Does that answer your question?"
Before Amanda could respond, Chris had dragged her out of the room. He shortly came back though and before he closed the door he apologized, "I'm sorry, Dr. Mike, Sully. I'll come back sometime tomorrow, alone."
When the teacher was gone, Michaela directed her gaze back at Sully. Seeing his remorseful expression, she quietly told him, "Don't worry, I understand, Sully, but I have to know what you told them so we can both stick to the same story."
Relieved that she wasn't angry, Sully complied.
On Friday, Michaela managed to persuade Sully into leaving her room for some fresh air. She couldn't convince her daughter though and so Sully paid Robert E. a visit and talked with him about the addition for the school and the equipment for the clinic. Sully assured his friend that he didn't want to take his job away but asked him to leave the one room for him that Michaela would use as her private one.
After his talk with Robert E., Sully went back to the clinic only to be friendly thrown out again, this time by Charlotte who assured him that both his women slept peacefully. In the mean time, Sully decided to ride out to the reservation and inform Cloud Dancing that Michaela was recovering.
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After two more days being pampered by Charlotte, Colleen, Grace and not to forget Sully, no one could hold Michaela back from leaving the clinic. Although this building was her house, she finally wanted to be at home and that was out at the homestead. Hannah was delighted as well and in the evening, it didn't need more than two lines of a bedtime story until the little girl was fast asleep.
It had been a sunny day and it was still warm outside. Michaela and Sully hoped that sitting on their familiar place on the porch step might ease the awkwardness they felt since they were practically alone for the first time after the incident. Both had things on their minds they needed to talk about, and Michaela was the first one who gathered the courage to speak. Sitting next to Sully, she gazed down on her folded hands on her lap and swallowed hard before she began, "I want to apologize, Sully."
His head instantly shot up to look at her; this had been the last thing he had expected her to say. In bewilderment he asked, "Why do you think you have to apologize?"
"Because I put Hannah in danger…" Michaela whispered and fought hard to keep the threatening tears under control.
"Michaela!" Sully was incredulous, "That ain't been your fault!"
But she shook her head and insisted, "I should have talked to Snowbird before I left, I'm sure she would have told me not to go. Hannah must have been terrified all alone out there…" Again she trailed off, the remorse she felt for everything her daughter had endured weighed heavily on her.
"Michaela," Sully's voice was tender, "Look at me." When she didn't react, he gently guided her head with his fingertips until he could gaze into her tear-brimmed eyes. "Ya walked into a trap, ya couldn't know it. Nothin' of what had happened was your fault."
Seeing the sincerity and love in his eyes, Michaela relaxed somewhat. She let herself sink against his shoulder and while he laid his arm around hers, she looked down again. She didn't want to pry into his personal life if he didn't give her the information of his own accord, but she had to know why Flying Sun wanted her to die; was it because she was a white woman in general or… She had to know it; if it had been something personally, then she could live with it and resume her work at the reservation, but if it was something out of principle… "Sully?"
"Hm?" he mumbled absent-mindedly, caught in his own troubled thoughts. He couldn't believe that Michaela felt guilty and there were so many questions he wanted to ask. He needed to know about what had happened at the dog soldiers' camp but also how much she remembered about their trip back to the reservation… Suddenly he became aware that she had started to ask him something but had grown silent again. He pulled her into his embrace a little tighter, "Tell me."
Before she could have second thoughts, she tentatively came out with it, "What do you think… Why did she do that?"
She didn't dare to look at him and missed how his face contoured in the pain of the knowledge that he had been the reason. His voice cracked when he admitted, "It's been my fault. I let her keep my necklace and I still have her dream catcher. That made her think we could have a future although I told her that I just wanna be her friend…"
Again Michaela amazed him; he felt her relax in his arms. He had expected anger or jealousy or something like that.
But actually, Michaela was indeed relieved; Sully's statement meant that the incident hadn't been a matter between the Indians and the whites but a personal affair… "Sully, I'd like to ask you a favor."
Curiously, he looked at her with an affectionate smile. "Anything, just ask."
"When you ride out to the reservation the next time, would you please tell Cloud Dancing…" Michaela stopped because she felt Sully tensing up. Puzzled, she looked at him, "Sully?"
Sully swallowed hard, he had feared that moment. He knew though, that deep down he had made his decision that Michaela and Hannah were his life, he only wished Michaela would understand that he still needed to see his Indian family and that she wouldn't feel bad about it. He had to clear his throat before he was able to speak. "Don't worry, Cloud Dancing understands, we already talked about it."
Her puzzlement grew. "Talked about what?"
"We understand if you won't come out to the reservation anymore, we just hoped…" Sully was startled as she abruptly turned away from him. "Michaela? We understand, really."
Odd enough, these words, meant as a reassurance, seemed to upset her even more. Sully tried to pull her close again, but she resisted. She had thought he knew her better than that. As if she didn't know the difference between the Indians as a nation and a single Indian woman that had tried to harm her! Disappointment was a far too weak word to describe her emotion right now. However, she had promised herself to always tell him what she felt and so she at last turned back, replying, "No, you don't. I would never blame all Indians for the action of one of them…" Noticing Sully's troubled expression, she hastily added, "I only wanted you to tell Cloud Dancing that I might need a week until I'm strong enough to ride out…" Her last words were muffled by Sully's chest, because he had pulled her tightly against him.
His breathe was hot against her neck as he breathed against her ear, "I'm sorry, you're right, I shoulda known it… I just wanted to be prepared if worst came to worst… I'm sorry… I love you so much…"
Michaela instantly melted, and being so close to him brought back another memory. She felt her cheeks grow hot and as Sully bent back to look at her, he noticed the blush on her cheeks. His face lit up and his voice was tender when his eyes searched hers, "What?"
If possible, her blush deepened when she asked, "Did I wear your shirt at some point?"
Sully's smile broadened, he brought his hand to her cheek as he replied, "Yeah, and ya looked really cute in it," and he tenderly pressed his lips against hers.
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