Michaela wasn't surprised when a very large number of people who showed up for Abigail's funeral; it seemed as though everyone in town and most of the surrounding area were there, even Hank, who, for once, hadn't said anything snide; nor did he have his characteristic smirk. Michaela stood next to Sully, Hanna in her arms, lending as much support to her friend as she could. Charlotte stood on her other side, her hands resting on Colleen's shoulders; Matthew stood next to his mother, Brian in his arms. Rev. Johnson stood on the other side of Sully, saying the service; next to him stood Loren, who had his arm around his wife. Maude was crying; she often used her handkerchief to wipe at her tears; Loren stood with his lips pressed tightly together. Olive stood next to her sister in-law, sorrow on her face, but her eyes dry. There was a redheaded woman next to Olive, whom Michaela didn't know; there was a yellowing bruise beside her mouth, a slightly darker one on her cheek and a very recent one next to her eye along with her eyebrow being split; Michaela didn't like to jump to conclusions as to how the woman got them, but she had seen such injuries more than enough to know that the culprit was the man standing with his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Jake stood a bit away from them, closer to Hank; he held his hat in his hands, staring at it; Michaela tended to try to think the best of people, but she had honestly expected him to crawl into the bottle again, however he had remained mostly sober; she had only seen him down a couple of shots since that night.

Michaela barely heard the Reverend speaking and wasn't really aware of anything until he handed the shovel to Sully. Sully hesitantly took it; he filled the head with dirt, but stopped; eventually he haltingly let the dirt drop into the hole; then slowly, as if in a daze, handed the shovel on. Michaela reached out a free hand to place it on his arm; he looked at her, staring for several moments before he turned and walked away, leaving everyone in the cemetery.

Michaela was worried about her friend; after Abigail died no one saw him until they went to get the body for burial, and as far as Michaela knew he hadn't spoken a word to anyone since that night.

Michaela continued to stare after him, watching his slumped form long after he had disappeared from sight.

"Dr. Mike."

"Hmm?" She turned her head to find Charlotte watching her with concern; Michaela gave her a tight, worried smile and glancing in the direction Sully went.

Charlotte looked at well and sighed. "He needs time." She looked back at the younger woman. "Don't worry."

Michaela gave her a wry smile. "Too late."

"Dr. Mike."

Michaela turned in the direction of the voice; Olive was walking over; the redheaded woman and her husband with her; they came to a stop in front of the doctor. "Dr. Mike, this is Dorothy Jennings and her husband, Marcus Jennings." Michaela heard the barely concealed disgust in Olive's voice when she said the husband's name. "Dorothy's Maude's sister." Olive turned to the couple. "This is Dr. Quinn; she's the new doc here in town.

Marcus nodded and tipped his hat slightly. "Ma'am."

Dorothy smiled warmly and extended her hand to Michaela. "It's a pleasure to meet ya; Abigail wrote me about ya."

Michaela accepted her hand; returning her smile. "It is wonderful to meet you as well; though, I wish it could have been under better circumstances."

Dorothy nodded sadly. "Maude and Olive told me that you had become close to Abigail and Sully."

Michaela swallowed hard and nodded.

Olive saw that she was close to tears. "How's our little Hanna doin'?" She smiled down at her great-niece.

Michaela managed a less sad smile. "Well, though she isn't exactly happy about having to feed from a bottle and she has been rather restless at night, she seems to be doing alright."

"This is Hanna?" Dorothy moved closer to look down at the bundle in Michaela's, who nodded, arms. "Oh! Well, ain't she just that prettiest thing!"

"Yes."

Dorothy's head suddenly shot up, looking worried. "Who's been takin' care of her?"

"Don't worry," Olive said quickly, "Dr. Mike has; Abigail asked her to and she's Hanna's Godmother."

Dorothy was inwardly surprised at the approval in Olive's voice, but smiled and nodded.

"Mrs. Jennings?"

Dorothy looked at Michaela.

"I noticed that you have a…cut above your eye; would you like me to take a look at it…maybe give you something to make sure it doesn't get infected?" Michaela bit her lip.

Dorothy looked at the doctor, startled and started to say something.

"She's fine. She just hit is on a cabinet door. 'Scuse us." Marcus defensively cut in; he grabbed Dorothy's arm and led her away.

The women stood watching, apprehensively; Olive actually had a grim look on her face.

Michaela glanced at the other two women. "She didn't hit it on a cabinet door."

Charlotte shook her head.

"Not without help leastwise," Olive put in.

"Ya can'thit your dog, horse or any other animal, but ya can hit your wife and children." Charlotte's voice reflected her deep disgust.

8

It was late and Michaela was carrying a pail of milk from the barn; Hanna had woken up hungry and the milk that they had was spoiled. She set the bucket down; she turned back, closing the barn door.

"Dr. Mike."

Michaela whipped around with a startled gasp; a hand flying to her chest.

"It's me." A familiar figure stepped out of the shadows, a calming hand held out in front of them.

Michaela let out a relieved breath. "Sully! You scared me!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to." He lowered his hand and came to stand in front of her. "I need ta talk t' ya."

Michaela swallowed. It had been four days since the funeral; she hadn't seen Sully since that day. She looked at her friend, taking in the dark smudges under his eyes that weren't from the darkness, the redness of his eyes, and the noticeable weight loss. She had a gut feeling about what he needed to talk to her about, but she decided to try to be hopeful. She wrapped her arms around herself, and managed a smile that hopefully didn't look too forced. "What is it?"

Sully opened his mouth; then closed it again. Michaela stood quietly, waiting for him to find his words.

"I-I've gotta…be goin'."

"Oh!" She acted surprised, turning away from his to pick up the bucket. "Well, I probably should get Hanna ready to go home."

"No. Dr. Mike…"

Michaela stood in place, her back still to him, knowing what was coming.

"I-I can't stay 'round here. I gotta leave…for awhile."

She could hear him shifting a little.

"And…I don't think I can –"

"Stop." That soft but firm word was enough to indeed silence him. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, before opening them again and turning to face him, tears just barely held back; she gave him a small, very forced, smile. "How long will you be gone?"

Sully looked at her face, in particular her eyes, realizing she knew and had known; he swallowed thickly. "I dunno."

Michaela nodded, looking down for a moment; then she looked up, smiling through the tears that were now in her eyes. "Hanna will be waiting for you when you get back."

Sully swallowed again; he had thought nothing could hurt as bad as when Abigail died, but for some reason seeing Michaela so sad tore at his heart. He stepped forward and enfolded her in his arms.

Michaela wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder, allowing some tears to escape.

They stood there like that for a while, giving and receiving comfort.

"Thank you." Sully's voice was raspy.

"You're my best friend, Sully. I'll miss you." He could hear the tears in her voice.

"I'll miss ya too, Dr. Mike. You'll never know how much it means t' me, you bein' the one takin' care of Hanna." Sully swallowed. "Abby'd want that."

The door to the house opened. "Dr. Mike – Oh!"

They pulled apart; Charlotte was standing in the doorway, Hanna in one arm. "Evenin', Sully. I didn't know ya were out here."

Sully glanced back at Michaela; giving her a small, grateful smile, which she returned; he rubbed his hand along her arm, both comfortingly and in a silent thank you. He nodded to Charlotte before taking Hanna in his arms. "I just needed t' talk ta Dr. Mike, but ya can here this too." He looked back at Michaela. "I have somethin' else ta ask of ya."

Michaela nodded for him to continue.

He took a deep breath. "I want you and Hanna to move into the homestead."

Michaela gaped at him.

"I-I cleaned…cleaned it up so it's ready for ya both. Our horse, Stubborn, and the cow are in the barn; the chikens are in the chiken coop."

"Sully, I –"

"Dr. Mike," Sully quickly cut in, "ya don't have enough room for you and Hanna to live in one of the rooms here in the bordin'house." He glanced over at Charlotte. "No offense intended, Charlotte."

Charlotte shook her head. "None taken."

Sully turned back to Michaela, who was biting her lip.

"Sully, I – it's just…"

He nodded. "I know." His eyes were haunted. "But that's another reason I want ya t' move in. I-I don't want…the last thing that happens in that house ta be Abigail's death…and neither would Abby." He swallowed, looking down at Hanna in his arms. "She wanted ta see our children runnin' and playin' round that place." He looked back up at Michaela. "Please."

Tears were returning to Michaela's eyes, she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she finally closed it, swallowed and nodded.

A look of relief and gratitude crossed Sully's face. "Thank you." He looked over his shoulder and whistled; Wolf came trotting forward; Sully knelt down, scratching behind the animal's ears before he looked up at Michaela once more. "I'm leavin' Wolf with ya." Michaela opened her mouth to protest, but Sully spoke before she got a chance. "Please. It would make me feel better." He looked at the animal. "When wolves decide someone's part of their pack they'll protect ya no matter what." He looked back up at Michaela. "Wolf knows Hanna's family and he's already started acceptin' ya." He nodded. "He'll keep ya safe."

Michaela swallowed. "What about you?"

The locked gazes for several moments before Sully looked back down at Wolf and addressed him. "Ya stay here and look out for Hanna and Dr. Mike." The animal whimpered but when Sully stood, giving Wolf one last scratch behind the ears, he went to sit next to Michaela. Michaela couldn't help but wonder at how Wolf seemed to understand Sully, even though he was supposedly just an animal.

Sully looked down at his daughter; a large lump had formed in his throat and he almost couldn't swallow it away. He bent his head down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back for ya; 'til then, ya be good for Dr. Mike." He gave her one more kiss before quickly placing her in Michaela's arms, turning and disappearing into the night.

8

Well, there you have it! I hope it was ok! I was actually debating all the way up until I wrote this chapter whether or not to have Dorothy in it, but in the end I did and I liked it; I hope it was ok. Thank you for all of the reviews!