-Part 1-
"Hey, Adam." Hoss greeted his older brother as he walked into the ranch-house. But, as the rest of the Cartwrights took a second look at Adam, they could tell something was going on. His face was solemn, and there was a look in his eyes that told them something was troubling him.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Abbie said, immediately standing and walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Adam, what's going on?" Ben asked.
"Something bad is happening in Virginia City." Adam said.
"What are you talking about, Adam?" Joe asked.
"There's some kind of illness going around in Virginia City. They're talking about putting the city into quarantine. This illness is serious. The doctor said five people have died from it already. I saw a couple people that were sick in the doctor's office. The doctor said there's nothing he can do for it. You have to let it run it's course, if the fever doesn't kill you first." Adam said.
"An illness?" Abbie asked.
"Has anyone survived it?" Sarah asked.
"Three people have lived through it so far." Adam said.
"So, then, it is possible to survive it." Sarah said.
"Possible, but not likely. Three people survived. FIve died." Adam answered.
"I don't like those odds very much." Joe said.
"Adam, were you exposed to it?" Abbie asked.
"I don't know. The doctor doesn't know how it's spread." Adam said.
"You mean, you may get sick?" Abbie said.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Adam said.
"Adam..." Abbie said, looking at him, her grey eyes full of concern.
"Listen, Abbie. I don't want you going into town. Alright?" Adam said.
"Adam, you probably already brought it back to all of us." Joe said.
"Joseph." Ben said sternly, looking at his youngest son.
"Sorry, pa." Joe said.
"Now, let's all just calm down. Just 'cause Adam was in town doesn't mean any of us are gonna get sick." Hoss said.
"It's true. There are different ways for illnesses to be spread. Each illness is different." Sarah said.
"We may be able to wait it out if we stay away from town as much as possible." Ben said.
A few days later, Abbie woke to a pounding in her head. She flinched, groaning and putting her hand on her forehead. She sat up, looking over at Adam, who was still asleep beside her. She didn't want to wake him. She thought that maybe if she splashed some water on her face, she would feel better. She stood up, still leaning on the bed. She took a few steps away from the bed before she felt a wave of heat come over her. She fell to the ground, knocking over a chair on the way down. The sound of the chair hitting the floor woke Adam, who saw Abbie laying on the floor. He immediately got up and ran over to her.
"Abbie. Abbie." he said, trying to shake her awake. She looked pale, and her face was moist with sweat. He felt her forehead, which was extremely hot.
"Abbie. Come on, Abbie. Wake up. Look at me." Adam said, stroking her blond hair. Abbie coughed and opened her grey eyes, weakly looking up at Adam.
"Adam." she said, "What happened? It's so warm in here." She blinked weakly up at him, and grabbed his arm.
"Abbie. Hang on. Let me get you into bed. You'll be alright." Adam said. She closed her eyes again. He lifted her up. She was limp, almost like dead weight, and it scared him.
"Pa!" he yelled for Ben as he carried Abbie over to the bed and layed her down gently on it. A moment later, Ben was in the doorway.
"Pa, get a doctor. It's Abbie. She's sick." Adam said. Ben looked at his daughter-in-law. She was laying there in bed, eyes closed, breathing labored, and her skin moist with sweat.
"I'll ride into town and get the doctor." Ben said, and he hurriedly left the room. Abbie weakly squeezed Adam's hand, and opened her eyes again, looking up at him.
"Don't worry, Abbie. I'm not going to go anywhere. I'm staying right here with you. I promise. You're going to be alright. Pa went into town to get the doctor." Adam said, holding her hand firmly as he sat down on the bed, "This is my fault. I'm going to try to fix this, Abbie." He touched her face gently, and it scared him how warm she was. Abbie reached her hand up and touched Adam's cheek with her fingertips.
"It's not your fault, Adam. Even if you hadn't gone into town, someone would have eventually ended up coming here and exposing us to the sickness." she said. Just then, Hoss and Sarah appeared in the doorway.
"Dad burn it, Adam, what's goin' on? We heard you yellin' and I saw pa ride off mighty fast." Hoss said as he and Sarah entered the room.
"Abbie is sick. Pa rode into town to get the doctor." Adam said.
"Sick?" Hoss asked. One look at her told them that Adam was right. She was sick, very sick. Hoss was by far no expert on these things, but even he could see that she looked bad, though he would never say so to Adam. Hoss knew he was worried already, and he didn't want to worry him more. Sarah walked over to the bed and placed a hand on Abbie's forehead.
"She has a really high fever, Adam. We need to do something to get her fever down as much as possible." Sarah said, "We need to keep her cool. We need to get a cold cloth to put on her forehead."
"I'll go get it." Hoss said, going to get a washcloth. He wet it with cold water and gave it to Sarah. Sarah placed the cold washcloth on Abbie's forehead. Just then, Ben came in the front door with the doctor, who was a short old man. They walked up the stairs and into the room. The doctor checked over Abbie.
"There's not much I can do for her, Mr. Cartwright." he said, "Like I said, we don't even know what this illness is. All I can tell you is to try and keep her fever down as much as possible. It was a good idea, putting the cold cloth on her forehead. Keep doing that as much as possible."
"That was Sarah's idea." Hoss said, smiling.
"Well, you're a smart young lady." the doctor said. Sarah smiled politely at him.
"Thank you. My father was a doctor. I learned some things from him." she said.
"Another thing I can tell you is to make sure she drinks as much water as possible. She could easily become dehydrated." the doctor said.
"Thank you, doctor." Adam said.
"You know, I'm surprised all this noise ain't done woke Little Joe up." Hoss said. For some reason, this comment sat wrong with Ben.
"Hoss, will you go check on your brother?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure, pa. But, you know Little Joe. He ain't the earliest riser. He's probably fine." Hoss said before leaving the room. A few moments later, Hoss came back into the room, a serious look on his face, an odd thing for the usually happy-go-lucky Hoss.
"Pa, you might want to come here and have the doc look at Little Joe." Hoss said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Ben asked.
"I tried to wake Joe up three times. I tried yellin' at him, shakin' him, I tried everything, pa. He just now finally opened his eyes, just barely, though." Hoss said. Ben walked out of the room with the doctor and Hoss following behind him.
"Adam, stay here with Abbie. She needs you right now." Sarah said before following the others.
"Abbie." Adam said softly, touching her cheek, "You have to fight this. I know you're strong. You have to pull through this. I... I need you to pull through this."
Meanwhile, the others rushed into Joe's room. He was laying in bed, his eyes closed, his face soaked with sweat. He looked like he was struggling to breathe. The doctor checked Joe over and determined that he also was suffering from the mysterious.
"Like I said, the only thing really to do is to try and keep the fever down and let it run it's course." the doctor said.
"Thank you, doctor." Ben said.
"If you'll excuse me, Mr. Cartwright, I have a lot of patients to tend to back in Virginia City." the doctor said before taking his leave.
"Of course." Ben said. Sarah left the room for a moment and returned with a cold washcloth.
"I brought a cold cloth for his head." she said.
"Thank you, Sarah." Ben said, "I'll take care of Joe."
"Ben, if you don't mind me saying, you'll worry yourself too much. I'll tend to Little Joe. I have experience and knowledge when it comes to taking care of sick people." Sarah said.
"Sarah, I can't let you do that. I know how darn dedicated you are, and you'll wear yourself plum down to nothing. I'll take care of Little Joe. He's my little brother. It's my job more 'an yours." Hoss said.
"Alright, Hoss. Just make sure to take care of yourself, too, alright." Sarah said, kissing his cheek before she and Ben left the room.