Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The rights to those characters and to the show belong to the creators of the show, to CBS, The Sullivan Company and to A&E.

The Places to Love

Chapter Twenty-nine

The last month was a whirlwind of activity as Sully thought back on it. Much to Michaela's dismay, Marjorie had taken an apartment in Colorado Springs with Daniel as a roommate. Despite Elizabeth's protests, Marjorie contended Boston had nothing left to offer her and even Michaela had to recognize that her sister seemed extremely happy. While Sully convinced Michaela to go easy on Marjorie, Michaela continued to work on Sully about Kat. Even after he and Michaela made up, Sully remained unsure of what to do. Playing it smart, Michaela had backed down two weeks ago giving Sully the time he needed to mull things over. Finally taking another chance, she suggested that the four of them have dinner together a few days ago. Sully had put up little resistance to the idea and over the past two days the thought had grown on him. Somehow having Michaela at his side was going to make this much easier. Letting his eyes roam the sidewalk in front of the restaurant once more, he clicked his tongue when there was still no sign of Michaela. He glanced once more at the clock on the restaurant wall wondering what was keeping her.

"Impatient?" Max asked with a chuckle.

Sully shrugged his shoulders. "It just ain't like Michaela to be late… well unless she's been at work."

Max smiled and nodded. "Well I suppose she has been at work." The two men shared a glance both knowing that it was Max and Michaela's work that had convinced Sully to give his mother another chance.

Feeling Max's hand on his arm, he looked up at the older man and then followed his gaze. "There they are," Max pointed out. Sully smiled and waved through the window of the restaurant at his wife and mother who were just on the other side of the street. Stepping between the parked cars, Michaela turned to say something to Kat before stepping out to cross the street.

Sully wasn't sure when he saw the car. He wasn't sure how he made his way out of the restaurant. It didn't matter though – he couldn't get to her fast enough. The red convertible came out of nowhere. Later they would find out that the driver of the car was high as he ran the red light and sped towards the doctor. Sully was running and yelling, his heart pounding hard in his chest as he watched the events unfold before him in slow motion.

It was Max who saw exactly what happened as Sully's nightmare became his. Kat was the first to see the car, the first to take action. Quickly she stepped in front of the doctor, pushing her backwards as the car hit her right side. The sound of screeching brakes accompanied by the smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Sully stood in the middle of the road, his eyes roaming between his wife collapsed between two parked cars and his mother laying at least thirty feet away where she landed after flying through the air. "Michaela?!" The cry was for assurance and for help.

There was no time for Michaela to cradle her aching head or look over the scrapes on her body. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened but she knew that the look on Sully's face meant something horrible. She pulled herself up on the car's bumper and instantly took off running on legs that would barely carry her. Collapsing beside Kat, she screamed out for someone to call 911 as she instantly began accessing the situation.

Max arrived at the same moment and wanted to cradle Kat in his arms but Michaela prevented him from touching her. "You can't move her. There could be injuries that we will make worse. We simply can't risk it." She looked up at Sully as she spoke, her eyes communicating what she needed.

Dropping to his knees beside Max, Sully picked up Kat's hand and placed it in Max's while wrapping his arm around the older man's shoulder to try and comfort him. Emotion threatened to overtake Sully as his eyes settled on Kat's face. This woman, who he'd spent so much of his life hating, had just saved the most precious thing in his life. Worried that he wouldn't have a chance to thank her, he looked up at Michaela with pleading eyes only to become worried about the pale reflection that met his own. "Ya okay?" he asked nervously.

"She's not breathing," Michaela muttered as she leaned over the older woman and began to administer mouth to mouth. Yet she quickly became winded and Sully let go of Max to move closer. He was grateful that Michaela insisted on him taking the CPR class last year at the hospital, grateful that for once he could assist his wife.

"Let me," he said putting his hand over Michaela's that was pinching his mother's nose closed. There was no protest from Michaela. She felt extremely dizzy and weak suddenly as she fell back onto the street. Raising one hand to the back of her head, she felt the stickiness and knew she was bleeding. The wail of the ambulance siren in the next few moments was a welcome sound. Michaela made no mention of her injuries until Kat had been stabilized as much as she could be and whisked away on a backboard.

Sully only had to take one look at his wife to know she wasn't doing well. "Chaela?" That was the last sound she heard as the blackness that had been threatening finally overtook her.

Cassie pushed open the door of the private room and smiled over at her friend. "You know if you wanted a vacation, you could have just asked." Michaela managed a weak smile avoiding moving her head which was pounding even with the pain medication.

"How's Kat?" Sully instantly asked, torn between being with Michaela or with Max waiting foe news of Kat.

"They're still operating Sully," was all she said but Michaela could tell by her tone and facial expressions that things were not good. She gave her husband's hand a quick squeeze and felt his fingers move against hers. "I'll keep checking though and as soon as I know something…." Her voice trailed off, feeling as if she would be delivering bad news before the night was out. She swallowed hard but instantly remembered that she had other news still to deliver.

Michaela beat her to the punch though. "Is Dr. Randall coming?"

"CAT scan was clear – just a bad concussion." The collective sigh of relief was palpable and it made Cassie smile. "But we did see something not quite normal in your test results."

Both faces instantly clouded over with concern as the couple grasped hands tightly. "What is it?" Michaela asked, her mind searching for what they could possibly have found.

I know it's been an eternity but I promised to finish and so here is the next installment. One chapter and a epilogue left.