Matthew, Hank, Loren, Jake, Horace, Robert E., the Reverend, Colleen and Brian hovered in various corners of the clinic room, all quietly watching Michaela conduct the initial examination.
"Wolf came back into town again yesterday afternoon, and we were all at a loss as to what to do, so we decided might as well go back out there," Timothy explained, Michaela checking Sully's vital signs as well as pupil reaction.
"But then we came to a cliff, we thought about turning back, but Wolf barked and we decided, we'd come that far. So we found him, just lying there. We thought he was dead at first, but he was breathing, so we got him back here as quickly as we could," Timothy concluded, watching Michaela frown as she felt Sully's head for any signs of trauma. Taking a deep breath, she was momentarily overwhelmed by the emotional reaction to the fact that Sully was alive, however forced herself to remain clinical; if she didn't, she knew she would be of no use to him.
"There's swelling to the back of his head, indicative of sub cranial hemorrhaging. If he's been unconscious for the last three days, there's no way of knowing how long he'll survive," she trailed off, checking his pulse and pupils again.
"Well, when the doctor gets here tomorrow, he'll sort it out. Ma, come on. There's nothing you can do," Matthew grasped her arm loosely, just wanting to get her back upstairs.
"No. His pupils are fully dilated, and his pulse is weakening. If I don't do anything, he won't live until tomorrow," Michaela stated sharply, turning to Colleen.
"Matthew, take everyone outside. Colleen, help me prepare for surgery," she looked up to see the look of disapproval sweep across Matthew's face.
"Ma, don't do this," he pleaded, knowing he couldn't persuade her otherwise.
"I have to Matthew," Michaela replied immediately.
Shaking his head in defeat, Matthew gestured for everyone to leave, taking Brian by the hand, and escorting him from the room.
Colleen waited until they were alone, passing Michaela a clean apron.
"Ma, you sure this is a good idea? You know you should be stayin' in bed." Colleen buttoned up the back of the apron for her.
"Colleen, if I don't do anything, he'll die. I have to try." Michaela was struggling with the reality that Sully, was actually lying on the table in front of her, clinically still alive.
Colleen nodded, understanding Michaela's decision, if not agreeing with it.
"What do you need?" Colleen sighed, taking the instrument case across to the desk, opening it and draping a clean sheet over a tray to place the necessary instruments on.
"Large, medium and small scalpels, trephine scalpel, forceps and clamps." Michaela awkwardly managed to pull Sully onto his side, tilting his head so as to be able to gently cut several pieces of his long hair, exposing the swollen portion of his skull.
"Colleen, can you finish here, please," Michaela pulled away, momentary discomfort washing over her. Looking up as the young girl approached her, Michaela busied herself looking for a particular medical book, quickly finding it, skimming over the relevant pages.
"Ready, Dr Mike," Colleen announced several minutes later, stepping away, the bottle of chloroform and a rag in each of her hands.
"Right, well, I," Michaela paced across the room towards Colleen, stopping suddenly with a low gasp, her right hand going to her lower abdomen.
"Ma!" Colleen rushed to her side, pulling her towards the nearby cot.
"We have to do this." Michaela moved uneasily to the side of the examination table, nodding for Colleen to begin the administration of the chloroform. Michaela waited several minutes before reaching for the medium scalpel, sighing as she lingered it against Sully's head, glancing up at Colleen before returning her attention to the field, making the initial incision gently.
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X.O.X
~.~
"If you ask me, he doesn't stand a chance," Jake trailed off taking his seat on the bench next to Loren, as others positioned themselves in various spots on the porch outside the clinic.
"Well nobody asked you, did they?" Loren retorted, Brian making himself comfortable on his lap, still sleepy.
"Sully's gonna be all right, Mr. Slicker. You'll see, Ma'll fix him," The young boy rested his head against Loren's chest, his eyes dropping closed.
"Well, it ain't Sully I'm worried about. Dr Mike ain't well enough to be doing this. I shouldn't have let her," Matthew folded his arms angrily, looking from the Clinic door back to the townspeople.
"Let her? Jake sniggered. "Nobody tells Dr Mike what to do. Ain't you learnt that by now, son? She does what she wants." Jake had been feeling awkward ever since he'd walked into the tepee two days ago and found her.
He'd remembered the conversation he'd had with Loren and Dorothy several months back, realizing the very thing they'd speculated about, had come true.
"I just can't believe he was still alive." the Reverend shook his head.
"I thought we'd never find him. Thank God Wolf knew where he was going. Where is he?" Robert E. looked around, not knowing where the wolf had gone.
"Must still be inside," Horace raised an eyebrow, nobody having bothered to retrieve the wolf from the Clinic earlier. Matthew looked up, suddenly remembering Hank's change of attitude.
"Anyway Hank, care to explain yourself?" Matthew watched as everyone glanced at Hank, confused.
"Just decided it weren't proper, lettin' the whole world in on our business, is all." Hank adjusted his stance awkwardly.
"What you talking about, Matthew?" Loren frowned, noticing that the small boy had fallen asleep in his arms.
"This worm's been making some nasty friends. Some reporter showed up this morning, poking his nose in, sneaking around," Matthew informed the men, who were unaware of the happenings.
"Yeah, that's right, a Mr. Woods. I got a telegram last week about him." Horace recalled.
"Yeah, except by the time he arrived, weren't no hangings to report anymore. So he and Hank here found somethin' more interestin' to write about." Matthew shot Hank a disgusted look.
"Hey, I told you, he won't be any more trouble anymore. It's taken care of. He'll be leavin' first thing in the mornin' on the stage." Hank avoided the scowls he was receiving from the men around him, crossing the porch to make his way back across the street to the Saloon.
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X.O.X
~.~
Michaela finished clamping the field open, wiping a hand over her damp forehead.
"Trephine scalpel," she requested, turning to Colleen, not able to conceal the obvious pain she was in.
"Ma," Colleen handed her the instrument, however more worried about her health at this stage.
"I, I just have to relieve the pressure. See here," Michaela indicated with the trephine scalpel, placing it against the exposed portion of his skull.
"Here, look here, see the slight fracture here?" she pointed to the hairline fissure, blood seeping through it. Colleen frowned, stepping closer to look.
"It's tiny. So that's where he hit his head?" She queried, handing Michaela some gauze to clean the blood away, allowing her to see more clearly where she needed to cut.
"Yes. He's very fortunate there was a small crack, it allowed the blood to escape, albeit slowly. Had it not, he would have died days ago." Michaela let her eyes drop closed briefly, swallowing in an attempt to continue against the sensation of blood trickling slowly down the inside of her legs.
"Ma, surely you could stop just for a moment? Just rest a bit?" Colleen squeezed her arm, hoping she'd relent.
"It won't be much longer," Michaela opened her eyes once again, positioning the trephine scalpel over the small crack, drawing a breath as she awkwardly twisted and pushed down against his skull.
Colleen gasped at the sound of the small instrument cutting into the bone, turning from all the blood.
"Colleen, gauze. Colleen?" Michaela turned, her voice slightly raised, the damage was more severe than she'd expected. Seeing the girl faced away, she reached for the white cloth herself, attempting to soak up the pooling blood and remove the small bone fragment.
"Colleen?" Michaela repeated, having cleaned up the wound slightly, waiting whilst the blood and clear fluid drained from the excised portion of skull.
"I, I'm sorry," the young girl eventually turned around again, bracing herself as she inspected the surgical site.
"We just have to wait until the bleeding stops and then we can suture the wound closed." Michaela stood back from the examination table, wiping her blood-stained hands in a nearby cloth.
"Well, how long will that take?" Colleen inquired, noticing how pale her mother had become.
"Shouldn't be too long." She paced slowly to the side of the examination table.
"Ma? You bleedin' again?" Colleen narrowed her eyes, taking in the paleness of Michaela's skin along with the tentativeness of her movements.
She nodded discretely, checking Sully's pulse and pupils.
"How is he?" Colleen administered some more chloroform.
"It's too soon to tell, but he's holding on. We won't know until he wakes up. If he wakes up," Michaela glanced across at Colleen.
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X.O.X
~.~
"It's been over an hour. Surely if she could save him, we'd know by now?" Loren checked his pocket watch, looking down at the young boy sleeping peacefully on the bench beside him.
"Well, if he was dead, she'd have told us right out. I guess waiting is a good sign?" The Reverend, always the optimist, interjected.
"Maybe," Jake pondered, scuffing his feet along the ground.
"Dead or not, I still don't think she oughta be doin' this. Colleen and Dorothy said she was to stay in bed 'til the doctor arrives tomorrow." Matthew began pacing along the edge of the porch, hands stuffed deep into his trouser pockets.
"Moanin' about it ain't gonna change anything Matthew," Loren responded, careful not to disturb Brian.
"Yeah, I know but if she ain't finished soon, I'm going in there." Matthew resolved, setting his jaw firmly.
"Did anyone contact her family?" The Reverend asked.
"Don't think she'd want them to know, all things considered," Matthew answered, everyone falling silent.
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X.O.X
~.~
Michaela swabbed the blood from around the incision site, satisfied that the blood flow seemed to have reduced.
"There. Hopefully, that's it," Michaela looked across at Colleen, preparing to close.
"How long before he wakes up?" Colleen questioned, reaching for a clean gauze, wiping Michaela's forehead again. She merely shook her head weakly, removing the clamps and taking the needle and suture Colleen handed her.
Michaela shifted uneasily, Colleen quickly grabbing her arm to steady her.
"Ma!" the girl gasped, taking the needle from her, and waiting for her to regain her balance.
"I have to finish, Colleen," Michaela reached again for the needle, managing to slowly suture the incision closed.
Colleen looked up, hearing footsteps coming from the corridor.
"Miss Dorothy?" she called, surprised when the noise turned out to be Wolf, padding across the room towards them.
"How'd you get in here?" Colleen muttered in the animal's direction. Wolf, however, had a greater concern. Arriving at the edge of the examination table, he sniffed the hand suspended from the table. Determining it to be his master's, the wolf softly licked it, lying down on the floor by his side loyally.
"What now, Ma?" Colleen looked across to notice that Dr Mike had completed suturing the wound.
"There's nothing to do now, except wait. I'll keep monitoring him, overnight, hopefully we'll know by morning." Michaela passed the instruments back to Colleen, taking a deep breath and blinking several times to reorient herself.
"I'll sit with him overnight, Ma," Colleen insisted.
Michaela simply nodded, wiping the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her sleeve.
"Can you walk?" Colleen reached for her arm, genuinely worried for her by this point.
Michaela looked down at her hands gripping the edge of the examination table tightly.
"I just need a few minutes to catch my breath, I'll be all right," Michaela reassured her daughter.
Colleen nodded, her eyes darting between her mother and Sully.
"Want me to get someone to move Sully upstairs?"
Michaela took a more controlled breath, trying to distinguish the deeper lower abdominal aching from the biting, burning pelvic pain.
"Ah!" Michaela gripped her abdomen firmly, feeling the heavier discharge, accompanied by dizziness and more intense pain.
"Ma!" Colleen grabbed Michaela's left arm tightly with both her hands, trying desperately to support her weight as she felt her drop to the floor.
"Matthew, Matthew, help!" Colleen screamed, shaking her mother's arm in attempt to stir her from unconsciousness.
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X.O.X
~.~
Everyone outside looked up at the sound of Colleen's terrified scream.
"What on earth was that?" Timothy looked over towards the door, Jake being the closest to the handle and not hesitating before bursting through into the Clinic.
Jake, Matthew and the Reverend were the first to rush into the room, their eyes moving from Sully's unconscious form on the examination table, and down to Colleen crouched over Michaela's body.
"Help me, please!" Colleen sobbed, tears streaming from her as she kept her mother's arm clutched in her hands.
"Oh my God!" Timothy rushed into the room, looking between Jake and Matthew for help.
"We gotta get her upstairs," Colleen kept crying, looking between each of the men in turn.
"Colleen, what the hell happened?" Matthew was the first to make it to her side, squatting down next to her, reaching for Michaela's other arm. He should have trusted his gut instinct and insisted she stayed in bed.
"She, she's bleedin' again. She's been in heaps of pain, but she wouldn't stop." Colleen moved out the way whilst Jake carried Michaela back upstairs, the Reverend trailing behind them. Loren put Brian back to bed before joining them.
"Well, is she gonna be all right?" Matthew demanded, once they'd got Michaela settled into bed.
"I don't know, I'll have to examine her," Colleen looked petrified, when Dorothy appeared sleepily in the doorway behind them all.
"What's going on?" Dorothy voiced, having heard the commotion of people coming up the stairs.
"The men found Sully, brought him back in, but Dr Mike insisted on operating. Passed out a few minutes ago." Matthew supplied.
"Oh no." Dorothy entered the room, placing an arm around the worried girl.
"Come on, you all leave us, Colleen knows what to do." Dorothy gestured for the men to give them some privacy.
"She's right, come on, we'll get Sully into a bed downstairs." Matthew instructed, thinking it was a good excuse to get them to leave.
"Matthew's right, nothin' we can do here," Loren supported, as they out into the corridor, closing the door.
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X.O.X
~.~
"Miss Dorothy, I tried to talk her out of it, but," Colleen felt fresh tears well up in her eyes, as she helped Dorothy remove the apron and slip Michaela's arms from her dressing gown.
"I know what your ma's like. I'm sure she was only doing what she thought was right," Dorothy replied.
Colleen carefully lifted Michaela's nightdress, revealing her bloodstained legs.
"Yeah. Just not right for her," Colleen sighed, replacing the packing in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"It'll be all right, Colleen. The doctor'll be here in the mornin'" Dorothy tried to console the young girl, knowing there was nothing more they could do.
~.~
X.O.X
Friday, 14th May, 1869
One Day Later
X.O.X
~.~
"Miss Dorothy? Miss Dorothy?" Brian pulled on her sleeve, trying to wake her.
The red-haired woman had fallen asleep in the rocking chair beside Michaela's bed early in the morning hours, Colleen placing a blanket over her before returning downstairs to check on Sully.
"Miss Dorothy?" Brian eventually succeeded in waking her.
"Hmm? Oh, Brian, what are you doing awake?" Dorothy squinted against the sunlight filling her tired eyes, her body stiff and sore from spending the last few hours asleep in the wooden chair.
"It's mornin'. Sully's still sleepin', Colleen stayed with him last night. Can I go get breakfast at Grace's?" Brian quickly arrived at the real purpose of his waking her.
"Oh, I suppose so," Dorothy trailed off, suddenly getting to her feet to check on Michaela.
"What's wrong, Miss Dorothy?" Brian noticed the urgent look on her face.
Dorothy touched Michaela's forehead, finding her drenched with perspiration.
"Brian, your ma's not well. Can you get Colleen for me?" Dorothy grasped Michaela's right arm firmly, trying to wake her.
The young boy ran quickly from the room, finding his sister downstairs attending to Sully.
"Colleen? Miss Dorothy wants ya. Says there's somethin' wrong with Ma," he informed her, getting a proper look at Sully's unconscious form.
"Ah, right. Brian, you stay here with him." Colleen wearily stood, having had no sleep the previous night since Brian had woken her.
Brian followed her request, quickly making himself comfortable in the chair beside the bed, glancing from the bandage around Sully's head to the various cuts and bruises on his face.
"Sully?" Brian whispered, taking his hand warmly.
"Sully, you gotta wake up. Ma said you were dead, but I knew you weren't. You couldn't be. Please, you gotta wake up," Brian lowered his head, getting no response. Letting go of Sully's hand, the small boy sat back in the chair, finding some licorice in his pocket and pulling it out. Looking between the candy and Sully, Brian stuffed the candy back into his jacket, not noticing Sully's right arm move ever so slightly.
"You just gotta get well. Ma got so upset when she thought you were dead. You can't die Sully." Brian cupped his chin in his left hand, gazing around the room slowly.
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X.O.X
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Loren added up the items placed in front of him.
"That'll be a dollar twenty, Mrs Peterson." He sighed, noticing Jake enter the general store.
"Please add it to my account, Mr. Bray." The young woman smiled, taking the groceries after Loren nodded affirmatively.
"Mornin' Loren," Jake trailed off, clear that he wasn't there to buy groceries.
"Business slow today, Jake?" Loren pushed a pencil behind his left ear, idly organizing things on the counter.
"Yeah," Jake trailed off, glancing around the store uncomfortably.
"I ain't heard anything, Jake, if that's what you're plucking up the courage to ask me," Loren growled, beginning to count the money in his cash box.
"That weren't what I; All right, yeah it was," Jake looked around auspiciously for any sign of Dorothy.
"She ain't here," Loren read his mind, noticing the store had emptied by this stage.
"Oh," Jake nodded thoughtfully, not feeling comfortable opening up to Loren.
The men distracted themselves for several moments, Loren fixing up the counter, Jake glancing through a week old edition of the Gazette. Loren, although initially frustrated, dropped his guard once they were alone.
"Jake, there ain't nothin' we coulda done differently," Loren looked up, assessing the younger man's reaction.
"Oh I know, I know. I just didn't think it could really happen is all. I thought Sully'd find her. Hell, I almost wish we'd found both of 'em at the bottom of that cliff, ya know," Jake returned the newspaper to the pile, straightening it up unconsciously.
"Yeah. It's one thing to talk about it, 'nother for it to happen," Loren mused, resting his elbows on the countertop.
"Wish we'd done somethin' sooner. Gone out there with Sully. Maybe we shouldn't have waited so long after he left," Jake couldn't meet Loren's eyes.
"Jake, can't turn back time. Just gotta move on," Loren tightened his jaw nodding sternly.
"I can't. I feel like we let her down. After everything she's done to save us, we didn't do nothin' to stop this happenin'. Even after I said I wouldn't let nothin' like this ever happen. I promised Dorothy, remember?" Jake scuffed some dirt across the floorboards idly with his shoe.
Loren nodded, reminded once again of the poignant discussion they'd had over coffee several months ago, no-one realizing at the time they'd be facing the situation they mulled over so indifferently.
"Well, I ain't done any better. I as much told Dorothy woulda been better if they'd killed her," Loren sighed.
"Maybe woulda been better if they had killed her," Jake ventured, looking in the direction of the Clinic back to Loren, his face downcast.
"Not for Brian, it wouldn't," Loren decided, reaching for some brown paper, folding it into three cone-shaped bags.
"You're right. It's just when we were talkin' about it, we were talkin' about Dorothy, we were talkin' about Catherine. It was, different." Jake watched as Loren crossed the room, slowly beginning to fill the brown paper with various forms of candy.
"Yeah. Everyone thinks Dr Mike can take care of herself," Loren answered, not recalling the last time he'd had such a heartfelt conversation with Jake Slicker.
"Includin' Dr Mike." Jake stopped quickly turning when he heard the approaching horses.
"Oh no," Loren shook his head, dropping the bags of candy onto the counter as he moved quickly to the porch.
"Who?" Jake squinted, following Loren outside.
"My sister," Loren replied without missing a beat, a hand rubbing his left temple as Olive dismounted the wagon, running over to them.
"I just heard. It's not?" Her face was flushed, jaw dropped in disbelief.
"It's true," Loren coughed, Olive looking between the two men in utter disbelief and horror.
"Well, is she all right? Who's looking after the children?" Olive, in her usual style, attempted to start managing things.
"Not particularly. Unconscious the last time I saw her. Dorothy's sitting with her until the doctor arrives from Denver," Jake reluctantly informed the older woman. Despite having good intentions, Olive had a prying way of making everything her business and of insisting she was the only one capable of handling matters.
"Well, what about the children?" Olive continued demandingly, despite the fact she and Michaela had settled their differences, she still felt as though the children should have been hers.
"Stayin' at the Clinic. Colleen's lookin' after Sully. We found him at the bottom of a cliff yesterday, brought him in. Can't say I've seen all that much of Matthew, though. Think he's keeping to himself." Loren leant on the counter lightly, looking up as the Reverend entered from the porch.
"Mornin' Olive," the Reverend joined the small group, taking his hat from his head.
"Reverend, I just heard. Is there anything I can do?" Olive offered.
Loren smirked, knowing it was only a matter of time before she tried to get involved.
"Aw, Olive, now don't go sticking your oar in. Everyone's been doing fine these past few days," Loren attempted to fob her off, however being met with a cold stare.
"Loren, she's my friend," Olive stated strongly, her voice low, yet direct.
"They're all over at the Clinic, Olive. Dorothy could probably use a rest. She and Colleen have been up all night from what I've heard." The Reverend brushed her arm lightly, Olive quickly leaving without so much as a word.