Chapter 15

The moment the social worker and the policeman were out of the apartment, Sully snatched up his jacket from the chair. As he donned it while storming towards the hallway, Michaela grabbed for his sleeve. Clutching it tightly, she made him stop momentarily. "Wait," she demanded, "We have to talk…"

With an impatient jolt Sully freed his arm, "Talk?" he growled, "I'll go to Loren, make him come to his senses…"

"Sully!" Michaela's voice held a tone that burned him like red-hot steel, startling him. Momentarily surprised, he stared at her. Seeing that she had his attention at least for a minute, Michaela softened continuing, "Don't you see that you will only make things worse? We have to first…"

"How can it get worse?" he demanded, his voice growing louder yet Michaela cut him off again.

"They could come back and then we won't be able to hinder them from taking Hannah." Of course Michaela understood the uproar of his feelings, but she needed him to see reason. Holding his gaze she waited for her words to sink in. When they did, Sully shrugged his jacket off again, throwing it angrily onto the chair in the small corridor. His moving, however, was too harsh and thus the cloth brushed Michaela's bunch of keys onto the floor.

Katie had heard the strangers leave and thought she was allowed to come out of the living room again. She already had her hand on the doorknob when she heard the voices of her parents. Something in their tone scared her, made her staying inside. However, when she heard the loud sound she opened the door, calling anxiously, "Mommy?"

Seeing the fear in the little girl's eyes, Sully instantly sobered. Reacting faster than Michaela, he crouched down before his daughter, tenderly stroking her hair, "Everythin' is fine, Kates. I just threw the keys down."

Yet Katie wasn't fooled. Tears brimmed in her eyes when she shook her head, knowing it better, "You yelled."

Squatting down as well, Michaela opened her arms for Katie to step into her embrace. "Come here, Sweetheart."

Complying, Katie threw her healthy arm around her mother's neck. As she buried her face in her Mommy's shoulder, the tears broke free. Michaela knew that they came only partly because of the argument she had overheard. As a doctor, she had already expected this reaction last night. It was hard to imagine what the little girl must have felt when the van crashed into their BMW right next to her. "Shh," Michaela soothed gently rubbing her daughter's back, "It's alright. Just let it out, Sweetheart."

Only when the sobs subsided, she explained, "What you just heard… Daddy and I only had a misunderstanding…"

"You yelled," Katie insisted, wiping the tears away with her free hand.

Sully watched mother and daughter and he could tell that Michaela was in pain. She held Katie close to her chest and remembering the glimpse of the bruise he had gotten in the bathroom he knew that it must hurt badly. The familiar feelings of guilt arose inside of him but this time he didn't allow them to overwhelm him. His help was needed and so he sprang into action.

Laying his hand against their daughter's back he assured, "Kates, we didn't mean to upset you. We won't be so loud again…"

"Promise?" Katie asked quickly, looking at him expectantly.

"Promise," he confirmed and rose to his feet, lifting the little girl into his arms, adding, "How 'bout we look after Hannah…"

"I'm tired, too," Katie yawned. "Can I also sleep on the floor?"

"May I," Michaela automatically amended exchanging a look with Sully. Although it would soon be time for lunch it was more important that the children got the sleep that would help their healing plus she and Sully desperately needed to talk. Thus she agreed with a simple nod.

……………………………………………………………………..

Sully had been glad to see Hannah still with her eyes closed. With both little girls taking a nap, Michaela and he could make plans how to get out of this hopeless situation. As he entered her bedroom he froze on the threshold though.

Michaela sat on the edge of her bed with her blouse unbuttoned. She didn't even notice his presence because she was applying some ointment with the utmost caution onto the bruise. Seeing the dark band across her chest fully for the first time Sully clenched his teeth. The blue and purple stood out against the white of her skin like a mark made by a branding iron. It was hard to imagine that it would ever vanish again. "I'm so sorry," he said hoarsely, making her gaze fly to him.

For a moment she was embarrassed feeling his eyes on her bare chest. Yet she instantly read his thoughts and assured, "It's not your fault, Sully."

However, he didn't budge and so she asked for his help, "Could you please bring me a tissue from over there? I forgot to take one but I need it to wipe my fingers before I can do up the buttons."
She barely had spoken the words when he was already at her side. "Here," he handed her the soft material, kneeling down before her, "Let me."

Starting with the lowest, he slowly and methodically closed one button after another, his fingers never touching her though. Only when he was almost done, he bent his head forward, softly putting his lips right above the bruise.

Michaela closed her eyes, relishing his tenderness. How she wished she could simply throw her arms around his neck, holding him tight… Yet she couldn't. It wasn't only that it would cause too much pain at the moment; they had more important things to do.

"Sully," she whispered taking his head between her hands and making him look up at her. "The accident wasn't your fault but you have to stop running away every time we disagree."

As he tried to avoid her eyes, she quickly shifted and placed a tender kiss on his lips. When she came up again, she gave him one of her crooked smiles, "If you don't, you might be outside of this apartment more than in it because I'm stubborn, too."

Seeing the sparkle return to his eyes she knew he had gotten her point. She grew serious again though, knowing they might have not much time. "I think we should first…"
Eager to help, Sully chimed in, "We gotta talk to Loren, makin' him take back the things he said."

Michaela nodded, "Right. But first we should try to find out where Maude stands in this matter." She hesitated.

"What?" Sully wondered, straightening in order to sit down next to her on the bed. "I think that's a good idea."

Yet Michaela shook her head, "What if they say later we have forced them to take back their statements? The youth welfare office could think we intimidated them… Oh, I have an idea! We should call…"

The moment she said the words the phone began to ring. As she reached for it she groaned softly and Sully instantly was on his feet. Laying his hand on her shoulder he gently made her sit down again and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" he asked and then he silently listened to the torrent of words coming from the other end of the wire.

Michaela looked at him questioningly yet he only ran his hand up and down her arm absentmindedly, staring at the floor.

"Thanks, we really appreciate that. Dr. Quinn is right next to me, I'll tell her. Bye."

Slowly laying the phone down, he eventually looked at Michaela, "That was the kindergarten. Miss Chambers was there, asking questions about all four of us."

"That's what I feared would happen," Michaela confessed. "What did…?"

"It was the principal herself. She said that both, she and our kids' teacher set Miss Chambers straight that neither Hannah nor Katie are a case for a social worker. That they are happy little girls, not in any possible way abused and that they had never seen Mr. Bray taking care of the kids. They would confirm that wherever and whenever it might be needed."

Michaela sighed, "I wonder if Mr. Bray knows what he has started." Yet then she straightened determinedly, "Anyway, I think we should call Matthew Cooper and ask for his advice."

……………………………………………………………

The first thing Matthew had told them was to wait for his call before they talked to the Brays. Sully had a hard time accepting this yet Michaela convinced him to comply. He was in the kitchen distracting himself with preparing lunch when the phone rang. Hearing the sound he quickly turned the heat down, making sure that he could leave the room for a few minutes.

Michaela had stretched out on the bed again, trying to relax. As Sully approached her, she had sat up though speaking into the mouthpiece, "I assure you the children are fine."

As she saw his questioning gaze she mouthed, "Maude." Then she listened again before she replied, "No, Mrs. Bray, I'm afraid you can't."

Maude took the receiver from her ear, looking at it in puzzlement. Dr. Mike's voice sounded strained yet her words bewildered Hannah's grandmother even more. Maybe the doctor didn't feel well but this was only more reason for herself to go over there. She hadn't seen her husband all morning but for lunch he would be back for sure and thus she made a decision. "Dr. Mike," her tone was stern, "I know you only ask for help when you need it but sometimes you should just accept it when it's offered. I'll come right after lunch…"

"No!" Michaela instantly interrupted her and Maude was taken aback by this strange behavior. Last night she understood the reason when they were asked to stay away from the little girls. Although, it needed a big deal of her powers of persuasion as to convince Loren that they could trust Dr. Mike's word. Yet now she grew suspicious as well. Clearing her throat she frowned, asking slowly, "Could you please tell me, why?"

The longer she listened to Michaela's response, the more her jaw dropped. In the end, she was only able to whisper, "Oh my God."

For a few moments both women stayed silent until Maude regained her composure. Hearing the entrance opening, she said resolutely, "Dr. Mike, don't worry. I'll have a word with Loren right away. And please tell Sully that I'm terribly sorry. I promise I'll wait till your lawyer talked to us before I contact you again."

Still trying to digest all information she'd just learned, Maude put the receiver down. Looking up, she met her husband's eyes as he entered the room. "Loren Bray," rising to her feet from the chair she instantly attacked him, "What, in Heaven's name, have you done?"

Gaping at his wife in disbelief, the old man didn't immediately respond. Never had she dared to talk to him in such a tone. Although he of course knew the answer, he pretended ignorance, "What the hell are ya talkin' about? Is that a way to welcome your husband?"

"Loren!" Maude was beside herself with anger, "Where have you been all morning? They wanted to take Hannah away from Sully and Dr. Mike!"

"So fast?" Loren was incredulous. From his experience, authorities worked rather slowly. "The woman in the office said they would investigate the case."

Stepping closer to her husband, Maude reiterated, "What have you done?"

"Aw Maude," he rolled his eyes, "C'mon, ya said yourself it's Sully's fault that the girl had this accident. This time I won't just sit and watch as he kills our granddaughter, too." Seeing that his wife wanted to protest he raised his hand as to stop her. "Hannah can live with us. She already has a room here and we have enough time." Puzzled he watched Maude shaking her head and added, "I thought ya love the girl…"

"Loren," Maude sighed and went back to her armchair because she felt her knees weaken. Sitting down, she leaned against the back and closed her eyes for a moment. Eventually she went on searching her husband's eyes, "Yes, I love our granddaughter and that's why I know that you can't do anything worse to her than to take her away from her father and the others. Now tell me, what have you done?"

Eying his wife Loren tried to find out how serious she was. Her trembling hands on her lap and the heightened color of her cheeks gave him the answer and thus he decided that he should give in. Maude had a bad heart and he didn't want to risk her to get an attack. Taking a seat on a chair across from her he reported, "I went to the youth welfare office after breakfast and asked who could tell me what we had to do if we wanted to raise our granddaughter. There was a very eager social worker that took me to her office and asked for our reason. So I told her that Sully is away a lot and the doctor rather works than care for the kids and that Hannah was almost killed last night because of Sully."

"I see," Maude sighed. After learning about the consequences of Loren's activities from doctor Mike she knew there was only one solution. Looking at him she told him, "We'll go to the office and you take back what you said there. Now."

Straightening to her feet she expected Loren to do the same yet he only protested, "What about lunch? I'm hungry…"

Hearing this Maude lost it, "You stubborn old man! You ruin Hannah's life and think about food? Do you really think they would give her to us? We are far too old in the eyes of the law. They will take her to strangers and we might never see her again!"

She had to pause, gasping for breath. Glaring at her husband she waited for him to contemplate her words. He did so and realized that Maude could be right. When he had first met the little girl she won his heart right away. He loved spending time with her and the thought of never seeing her again was pure torture. Thus he finally grumbled, "Alright, you win. Let's go."