Lucas stood patiently behind the bar as Clara made her little pitch. Not that she needed the pitch. Clara Flynn had stood up for him on many of occasion, even where her husband had been concerned. He would give her whatever she wanted that was within his power to grant. However, she had not given him a chance to get a word in since he had told her to ask her favor.

"I know that Constable Grant is not your favorite person, and we were going to use the café, but almost everyone in town plans to be there. The saloon will give us more room. And if everyone is at the gathering anyway, you will not have many customers. Besides, Bill thinks Nathan might suspect something if Lee asks him to have dinner with him at the café as they usually eat here. So can we use the Queen of Hearts to present Constable Grant with the town's Christmas gifts for him and Ally. Please?"

Lucas smiled. "It is all yours," Lucas told her waving a hand at the room. "What time do you need to be in here to set up?"

Clara looked at him in silence. Apparently, she had not expected him to say yes so easily.

"Really?"

Lucas laughed. "Look. Nathan and I have had our differences, yes. I know I am not his favorite person in town, and yes, I will admit the same can be said for me. However, I would hope that if I hit a hard time this town would help support me and in that fashion, I am more than happy to help him and Ally in their time of need. It was why I gave Bill some money toward the collection you all were taking up, even though no one asked me for the donation and told him not to tell anyone I contributed. I have wanted to do something for Ally, but I know that Nathan will not take anything from me at this point. Nor is there any reason that he should."

"Thank you," Clara told him, the relief evident. "We have been telling everyone to meet at six and Lee is supposed to get Nathan here around six-thirty, so can Abigail, Ellen and I get in here at five?"

"Of course," Lucas told her. "I do have a couple of guests in hotel rooms that I will not be able to run off if they are not out voluntarily but I will have all other patrons out at five o'clock on the twenty third," he promised.

"Thank you, Lucas," Clara said happily. Placing both hands on the bar in front of her, Clara lifted herself up and placed a kiss on the saloon owner's cheek.

"You are welcome," Lucas told her. "Now can you do me a favor?"

Clara looked at him quizzically.

"Make sure that you tell Jesse that you gave me an innocent thank you kiss on the cheek. There are other people in here, and I do not want your husband to hear another version from someone else."

Clara laughed. "I will," she promised before saying good-bye and turning to head for the door.

Lucas watched her go, feeling relieved that someone had finally asked his help in the plans they were doing for the Grants. He had wanted to help, even more than just simply giving money. However, given his tense relationship with Nathan, most people had seemed to want to steer clear of getting him involved. Even Bill had looked at him like he had lost his mind or something.

If he were honest with himself, Lucas knew the real draw was not so much about helping Nathan, not that he wouldn't, but it was more about helping Ally. The spunky girl had captured a piece of his heart the moment she had waltz into the Queen of Hearts while skipping school. He had never meant to get her in trouble, merely hoped the magic trick would help her impress some of her schoolmates.

Lucas remembered telling Nathan that the Mountie should make sure that he had both Elizabeth and Ally's best interests in mind. He realized now that Nathan always had. Yes, Nathan loved Elizabeth but when she had made her choice, Nathan had backed off though the pain that had caused had been clear to everyone. Even to Lucas. The fact that his niece had been hurt in everything as well had only caused Nathan more pain.

Though he may have had the means to give Elizabeth all the material things she would need or want, Lucas realized now that Nathan had been offering her so much more. Nathan had been offering her a love that was genuine and sacrificial. While Lucas gave money, Nathan gave of himself, never expecting anything in return. He put those he loved before himself in all that he did. Even the information he had withheld about Elizabeth's late husband, he had done out of trying to protect her from reopening wounds that had been healing. Nathan had kept that burden and the guilt he had felt secret not because he had been protecting himself but because he had not known how to tell Elizabeth without hurting her.

How many more burdens was the man carrying silently in an attempt to protect those he cared about?

Carson carefully wrapped the clean bandage around Ally's head. For now, he still wanted the extra barrier the bandage offered against infection in place. Everything looked to be healing well but he intended on taking every precaution possible to make sure there were no set backs. Ally was already facing a hard enough battle in her recovery.

"It is healing well," Carson said, both to Ally and an anxious looking Nathan who was sitting in the nearby armchair as Ally lounged on the settee. "Have you been eating all of your meals?" Carson asked. Much of the time he had spent at the Grant household had been during the overnight hours, giving Nathan the ease of mind to be able to get the sleep he needed.

"Yes," Ally replied.

"I think the fact that she hasn't had to eat my cooking of late is helping," Nathan commented.

"Your cooking is not all that bad, Dad," Ally said, "It is just a lot of things come out on the bland side."

Carson chuckled as Nathan shrugged.

"He does his best," Ally added looking at Carson. "A lot of my friends say their father's food probably would not even be edible."

"Maybe I should offer him some cooking lessons for Christmas?" Carson suggested lightly.

"You cook?" Ally asked.

Carson nodded, realizing that Ally probably had no idea of what he did when he had first come to Hope Valley. She had only known him as Dr. Shepherd.

"I do," Carson told her. "In fact, I was the cook at the café for a while when I first came to Hope Valley."

"Was there another doctor here?"

"No, but I was not practicing medicine at the time. See, I had lost my wife during a surgery. She had a tumor in her brain that was killing her so I attempted to remove it. She passed on the operating table."

"I am sorry," Ally said sincerely.

Carson nodded as he continued speaking. "My wife's family blamed me, even after a medical board cleared me of any wrong doing. Sometimes doctors lose patients though we try our very best."

"Doctors and Mounties have a lot in common," Ally commented. "You can't always save everyone, and people still fault you when you tried your best. I can't understand why people would purposely choose a job like that."

Carson looked over at Nathan to see the man looking up at the ceiling in a clear attempt not to cry. He could understand how the man felt. He knew that Nathan had felt the loss of the other Mountie in the prisoner transfer deeply. That he still felt responsibility for the man's death, even after two inquiries had cleared him. He was also aware of the guilt Nathan carried over Jack Thornton's death because disciplinary action had caused his superiors to ask Jack to take the assignment at Fort Clay over him. Heavy burdens to bear and in both situations, Nathan had done what he thought best with the information he had. Inquiry's had justified those actions and yet he still felt responsibility for what happened.

Carson knew exactly how that felt. He looked back at Ally, hoping his words would both help the girl to understand and be a balm to Nathan's raw emotions.

"People like your Dad and myself do what we do because we want to help people. Your Dad and I just do so in different ways. When we can't help somebody despite our best efforts that hurts deeply. When others blame us in those time, it just reinforces the guilt that we already feel. What makes what we do worth it though, are the times when we can save somebody who really needed our help. I've left Hope Valley twice now. Once, running away from the thought of practicing medicine again and another time because I thought I needed to learn more in order to best serve the people I care about. Both times, I came back in time to save someone's life, first Cody and now you. Cases like yours Ally, are what makes my job worth it despite the heartache."

Ally's response was to hug her doctor. Carson hugged the girl back. That simple gesture from his patient was all Carson needed for thanks and for assurance that he had finally made the right choice in regards to the fellowship. He only hoped that Nathan could find moments like this in his own experiences to find his own validation. That perhaps the communities quickly approaching gesture of appreciation for Nathan and Ally might help him realize all the good he had done here in Hope Valley. They all still missed Jack, but Nathan had come to mean just as much to all of them.

When Ally finally pulled away, Carson released her. He glanced over to Nathan to see the man had been able to regain his composure.

"So, I think Ally should start trying to be more active around the house. Start having meals at the table, maybe even help out by drying dishes," Carson suggested.

"Believe it or not, even drying dishes sounds fun at this point," Ally told him, getting chuckles from Nathan and Carson.

"She is still going to tire easily, especially at first. It is important for her to rest if she feels tired, or if a headache comes on. Her body is still healing. I think we can also start teaching her how to get herself in and out of the wheelchair and even how to get around with it."

"Am I past the point where I might regain feeling in my legs?" Ally asked in a shaky voice.

Carson reached out to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "While it is true that the more time that pasts the more likely that is, I would not give up hope quite yet. In fact, it could be that by doing more, you help your brain build the pathways it needs to get signals to and from your legs."

Ally nodded.

"What about taking her outside the house?" Nathan asked.

"Some fresh air would be good for her, if you would like to take her for a walk or outside for brief outings. However, I would still refrain from taking her into town or to large gatherings. She is healing well, but Ally is still healing. It would be best if her body does not have to try fighting off an illness. With one or two visitors, we can monitor if someone is showing symptoms that might be a threat to Ally. We can't do that with a large crowd."

"So that means you do not want me going to the Christmas Concert?" Ally asked. To Carson's surprise the question sounded almost hopeful.

"It would be best if you did not," Carson replied.

Ally gave a sigh of relief at the answer.

"Why don't you want to go to the concert, Ally?" Nathan asked, clearly having noticed the reaction that Carson had.

"Because I think it would hurt too much to see my friends performing and knowing I should be up there with them but I can't be. I know Opal and the others wanted me to go. Robert had even suggested perhaps we could sit together," she admitted softly, her cheeks getting slightly pink at the admission. "At least this way I can honestly tell them that Dr. Shepherd does not want me to go rather than I do not want to go. I know, I am being selfish again."

Nathan moved from his chair and knelt on the floor next the settee. Reaching out, he wrapped Ally in a tight embrace.

"It is not selfish. I know missing out on things is a disappointment to you right now, but things will get better," Nathan told her. "I promise you that, Ally."

"And I have no problem being the bad guy if you don't want to share all of your feelings with your friends. Sometimes it is hard to share with even your friends things that you either know or feel like they won't understand," Carson added. "Just make sure that you share with your Dad, Ally. It is important that you share your feelings with someone and your Dad is always going to be in your corner, no matter what."

"I know," Ally said, resting in her father's arms.

Carson moved his chair back a little so he was not crowding father and daughter quite so much. When the two finally broke apart, Nathan remaining kneeling at Ally's side, Carson spoke again.

"We were going to have a therapy session. How about if some of that therapy is work with the wheelchair."

Ally looked pensive. She hesitated a moment before replying. "I know you said therapy is important Dr. Shepherd, but as you said it was okay for me to be outside, I would really just like it if my Dad could take me outside for a bit."

The girl looked hopefully between the two men. Knowing that Ally's emotional well being was just as important as her physical Carson nodded his consent.

"That is acceptable," Carson said. "However, since it is my night to spend the night here anyway, I am going to come by early and we can have the therapy session right after supper. That sound like a fair compromise to you?"

"Yes," Ally replied.

"You and Faith can join us for supper if you would like," Nathan offered the doctor. "I plan on heating up a casserole that Opal's mother left for us, so you do not need to worry about bland food," Nathan joked, with a wink at his daughter.

Ally's response was to roll her eyes.

"I will accept the offer and extend it to Faith. What time?"

"We usually eat around six."

"I will be here. Thank you," Carson replied.

"You know it is a good thing you know how to cook, Dr. Shepherd because Dr. Carter said she was a worst cook than Dad and if the two of you stay together, one of you need to be able to cook."

Carson laughed though Nathan looked a bit embarrassed by the comment.

"That is a very good point, Ally," Carson told her. Making sure everything he had brought with him was in his bag, Carson closed it and got to his feet with it. "I will see you both this evening. Enjoy your time outside, Ally," he added as he walked to the door.

As Faith was not embarrassed by her lack of culinary skill, he had a feeling that Ally's observation would be shared with her. Though it had never been something he considered, Ally had made a very astute observation. If he and Faith did get married, Carson had a feeling he would be cooking most of the meals and he was not bothered by that one bit.